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San Diego money manager Charles Brandes suffers with sagging newspapers
Too bad that I did not go on some sort of public record around 1980, when I predicted that news in newspaper format would eventually be delivered on what I called then a sort of computer terminal. ========================= Do you mean like this KRON news report, made in 1981!!!! It is truly amazing to look back on this vodeo and see what has happened; . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WCTn4FljUQ .— March 3, 2011 4:23 p.m.
San Diego money manager Charles Brandes suffers with sagging newspapers
Dang. Those rich old guys sure like their trophy wives! ============ When I make my first million I am buying one of my own!— March 3, 2011 4:19 p.m.
Lerach: Don't Blame Public Union Members. Blame Wall Street
Big Business has crushed the private unions in this country, with the collusion of the government. We pay for this with falling real wages, and a resulting collapse of demand ================= I agree with this, due to outsourcing to thrid world countries with the help of gov. . . . Government employees have surged ahead only by dropping anchor. =================== This I do not agree with. Gov unions have surged ahead beacue they do not compete in a free and dopen market not because they dropped any sort of anchor. They engage in so called "collective bargaining" except there is no bargaining on the side of the taxpayer, they buy off polititicans like the cheap whores the politicians are. Do you really think you would have 2,000 FF applicants for every one muni FF opening if the gov did not comp the job at $200K per year??? A job that requires NO COLLEGE DEGREE. No way, in the real world that FF job would pay $30K-$40 plus a fair benefit package (not the Cadillac package they have now). Public unions should never have been allowed collective bargaining because there is no bargaining with people they have paid off. . . They make no more than the private sector union workers did before. ================ Actually in the mid 1980s' before the crazy run away gov compensation we have seen the last 15 years, the entry level wage for a cop or FF was in the low to mid $30K range in this state-$32K-$33K was the average. That was not that long ago, 25 years. They had basic pensions, nothing like what they have today. A union tradesman at that time, before the industry was wiped out by illegal immigrant labor, made about the same wage-be it electrician, dry waller, framer, concrete- they all made a similar wage to the cop and FF. Today we see what has happened, probably 80% of thsoe union trade jobs are gone-forever, and the ones that still do exist pay about $50K per year, less than double from the mid 1980's. While cop and FF have seen their compensation rise to $200K before any overtime is added in, and these jobs have copious amounts of OT built into them, and increase of 500%. Cop and FF jobs have seen their compensation NEARLY DOUBLE in the last 10 years alone. The reason is they have a monopoly (like teachers) and there is no real "bargaining" in the so called collective bargaining process. It is an outright fraud.— March 3, 2011 4:16 p.m.
Lerach: Don't Blame Public Union Members. Blame Wall Street
Note to SP: Muni employees cannot retire at 50. =========== Wrong. Cops, FF, Life Guards, Prison Guards and at least 15 other "safety" classifications (all muni/gov employees) can ALL retire at age 50 with 90% of their highest years salary, plus annual COLA's- so they will EXEED their 90% highest years salary within 3-4 years. So at age 55 they will be receiving MORE in retirement than when they actually worked. In 30 years-age 80- they will be receiving double what they made when they actually worked.— March 3, 2011 3:57 p.m.
City's Latest Attempt to Thwart Kessler Suit Fails
He will always have a job giving motivational speeches to Alzheimer's victims. ============= Between KFC Sanders, Arnold and Obama, I have no idea who has failed more spectacularly....but all three have been about as big of a disappointment as one can imagine. At least in KFC Sanders case I did not vote for him, which is some consulation to me (I plead the 5th on Obama and Arnold).— March 3, 2011 11:54 a.m.
Lerach: Don't Blame Public Union Members. Blame Wall Street
I tell them they now have a Cadillac plan instead of the Yugo plan. SS= Max benefit age 67....... Muni Pension= Max benefit ages 50-55 SS= Max pension $29K Muni= Max Pension up to several hundred thousand dollars SS= Max pension value $360K Muni= Max pension value up to $10 million There is no comparison, it is not even close. If I had my way I would freeze all muni/gov pension plans and put every muni employee back into SS. The system is very biased and unfair as it currently is. The taking of value from the many to benefit the connected few.— March 3, 2011 8:27 a.m.
Lerach: Don't Blame Public Union Members. Blame Wall Street
but in the main, worker's pensions (and everyone's retirement promises) need to be protected ================= I disagree as to public pensions. Public pensions that have been granted retroactively, and that are on average 2-3 times MORE than the median wage of private citizens still working in this state, should not be protected.— March 2, 2011 6:17 p.m.
City's Latest Attempt to Thwart Kessler Suit Fails
This sounds like "Gary Aguirre Syndrome" where the dirty crooks at the top cover for their crooked buddies while harming the little guy at the bottom who is trying to uphold the rule of law. Once again-America has turned into a Banana Republic where the wealthy and connected few have a different set of rules to live by than the rest of us.— March 2, 2011 3:32 p.m.
Lerach: Don't Blame Public Union Members. Blame Wall Street
All of this is being done not only because the states and municipalities are broke (they definitely are), it is being used as the excuse to destroy the unions. === No one is trying to destroy private sector unions, just the public sector unions-and I do not want to destroy them but I do not want them to be allowed to continue on with collective bargaining. My position is that public sector employees should not have the right to collective bargaining, because there is no bargaining. You have one set of gov employees (public employee unions) paying off another set of gov employees (elected officials) to give away the store in what is basically a quid pro quo fraud in the public sector. It is a monopoly. They already have civil service job protections. It does not add up today. Up until 10 years ago I was a hardcore Democrat my entire life, and a STRONG union supporter my entire life also. But whta has happened with public sector unions and te Democratic party in the last 15 years has destroyed my faith in that party. I am NOT a Republican either, they are just as bad with Big Business special interest groups.— March 2, 2011 3:29 p.m.
David Copley Retains High-Priced Downtown Influence Peddler
But May 3 will mark the second anniversary of Copley’s sale of the U-T to Beverly Hills–based Platinum Equity, forcing the onetime newspaper magnate, now retired at 59, to seek power and influence elsewhere. According to a City lobbying disclosure filed ============================ 1) Newspaper Magnate= Funny #1 2) Now "reitred" at age 59= Funny's #2-100!!!! Copley never put in an honest days work in his life. He is a trust fund baby with a silver spoon, who has accomplished nothing on his own. Everything he has accomplished is related directly to his trust fund status.— March 2, 2011 10:03 a.m.