From Mark Pazniokas, CT Mirror:
A vote on the tax deal struck over the weekend was delayed Monday as legislative leaders sought revisions demanded by rebellious members, some in response to an outcry by major corporations over a tripling of a computer-services levy and an increase in other business and income taxes.
By 11 p.m. it was clear that a vote in the House would be postponed until Tuesday as House Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden, acknowledged having to make significant revisions that he declined to specify.With press releases threatening to send jobs elsewhere, and in quieter one-on-one conversations with potentially sympathetic lawmakers, corporate giants like General Electric and Aetna made a late push to shake votes away from the fragile tax deal struck over the weekend.
Full story here.
1) The Travelers Companies, Inc. (TRV)
After Hours: 100.46 Up 0.13 (0.13%)
finance.yahoo.com/q/bs?s=TRV+Balance+Sheet&annual
Not doing too bad
2) General Electric Company (GE)
After Hours: 27.36 Up 0.03 (0.10%) 4:54PM EDT
finance.yahoo.com/q/bs?s=GE+Balance+Sheet&annual
Not doing too bad
3) Aetna Inc. (AET)
After Hours: 117.59 Up 0.26 (0.23%) 4:54PM EDT
finance.yahoo.com/q/bs?s=AET+Balance+Sheet&annual
Doing well
All doing well but still need tax breaks from the taxpayer to survive.
They all could well afford to help pay for better transportation in Connecticut.
Perhaps if we cleaned our own house and did not compensate our government employees 42% MORE than equivalent private sector employees, businesses would have the confidence CT was serious about fiscal responsibility to both the citizens and business.
www .aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/-biggs-overpaid-or-underpaid-a-statebystate-ranking-of-public-employee-compensation_112536583046.pdf
Jennifer Buchanan, come on now, AEI, you have got to be joking, that’s like a husband asking his wife, “honey, how am I doing?” A conservative think tank for Republicans, please Jennifer, you can do better than that.
You may not like the source, but if you take the time to see how the data was gathered and analyzed, it is a very comprehensive study. However, there are about 10 other studies I can cite you from other sources. Is this source more to your liking? Each one of them states the same, sorry Ron, but they do.
reason.org/news/show/public-sector-private-sector-salary
The Reason Foundation supports the privatization of (or, public-private partnerships for) almost all government functions. Leonard Gilroy, Reason Foundation’s Director of Government Reform, describes privatization as “a strategy to lower the costs of government and achieve higher performance and better outcomes for tax dollars spent.” Jennifer, “birds of a feather stick together.” Jennifer, it’s getting worse, please.
When I find a Democrat progressive agenda-driven report on better outcomes for tax dollars spent I will share it with you. I doubt sincerely it exists–and just what is wrong with better outcomes for tax dollars spent?
OK my friend Ron, here is a source you can really dislike.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, total employer compensation costs for private industry workers averaged about $28 dollars per hour, while total compensation costs for state and local government workers averaged almost $40 per hour. Moreover, the benefit packages of state and local workers average about 5 percent more than that of privately employed workers. Even more significant is that while about 61 percent of private industry employees had access to paid retirement benefits, 89 percent of state and local workers have such access. Medical care benefits are available to 71 percent of private industry workers, compared with 87 percent of government workers. For family coverage, the employer share of premiums was similar for private industry and government.
I am in favor of public employees being compensated with the same benchmarks for private sector employees, no one should be punished financially because they wish to work for the government. However, I do take exception to our tax dollars over paying and over compensating.
Jennifer, so what private sector worker would you use to base paying firefighters and police officers who every day put their lives on the line for the residents of Bridgeport? Remember the Bridgeport fire dept is the busiest in the state and one of the lowest-paid in the state.
Ron, none of these reports examine the police or firefighters, there is no private sector equivalent. I happen to believe public safety needs to belong to a public union and no one can afford to pay for the services provided by police and firefighters. It’s not that we don’t want to, it is just the reality that putting a price tag on public safety service is indeed priceless to those of us who benefit directly or indirectly from the service provided.
Jennifer, a few things about the private sector, their main interest is profit and service, the private sector can pick up and move to the next town, the next state, to the next country or selling to someone else or go out of business. Based on the private sector pay scale the mayor and the police and fire chief are underpaid. The private sector can pay someone doing the same task as someone else a different rate of pay.
I know that and understand. However unless I am invested in the company and expect a dividend I am not vested in how or where they choose to conduct their business. Of course my social beliefs play into who I choose to purchase from or not. As a taxpayer, I do have a vested interest in seeing qualified employees with fair pay, as I said, I do not think anyone should be penalized financially for wanted to work for the government, but I do have a real problem with their compensation being 10 to 40% higher than private sector equivalent compensation. A lot of these issues are due to when the economy was booming contracts were awarded without the voice or, wait, what will happen if the projected rate of return is greatly reduced, how will this be funded. The answer is always, tax people more, and when one is throwing out numbers of 1 billion dollars underfunded, it is not fair to the employee who took the future retirement benefits in lieu of increase in income, and it certainly is not fair to the taxpayers who were told they were paying into the system to cover the government benefits.
Jennifer, with Pension Plan “A” police and fire paid 8% of their weekly pay into their pension for their career but their money was placed into the City’s General Fund and their money was used to run the City and it wasn’t invested but now there are those who want to punish police and firefighters by reducing or taking their pension away. The employees risk their lives and paid into their pension and this is how they are to be treated.
Ron, I agree. You paid into your pension and the funds were raided and used for other expenses. Not your fault, doing or control. I believe I stated this is first and foremost unfair to those of you who operated fairly under your contracts. We taxpayers also paid our taxes under the assurance public sector employee benefits were being funded and managed. You were overpromised by both your union and the legislature. While it may feel like people are mad at you, we are really mad at our elected officials and union reps who sold you, the employee down the river, and us the taxpayers down the river. Until there is data and news releases about the problems, most of us operate under assumption our government is doing the right thing and honoring their obligations. Major League retired ball players just got a reduction in their pension payments. United Airline pilots lost their full pension for more than two years when the company was merged and their pension funds were raided. This is NOT supposed to happen to anyone. A promise is a promise, and we are all suffering with you. I am sorry if you feel as if the public is trying to deny you your rightful due. If that is the case, the backlash is in the wrong direction.
Jennifer, we were not overpromised by our union because the union negotiated in good faith, when the City went to the table crying they were broke we took a zero pay raise. How is that being overpromised?
Jennifer, you are now going to compare United Airline pilots and Major League retired ball players to police and firefighters? How important to society are both of these private sector employees compared to police and firefighters, which group are needed by society? Private sector have one of the most important rights in America that police and firefighters do not have, they have the right to withhold their labor from their employer and go on strike where police and fire will go to jail if they go on strike. Remember, retirees have no one fighting for them, they are no longer a union member when they retire, they are helpless.
Ron, my point is everyone is affected by pensions not being paid as promised. No matter what job you have, you work in good faith that bargains will be kept. Knowing you have no union representation once you retire is a pretty big leap of faith in my opinion when it comes to taking no raises over more retirement benefits. Letting the city underfund or raid your money, and our tax dollars allocated for your retirement is just plain BAD, and should be an offense with harsh punishment for any leader agreeing to this. Government needs to figure out how to operate within their budgets, and not punish workers and taxpayers for their bad management. Add the companies they award contracts to who inflate their costs, do shoddy work and are hired because of connections to politicians, well, we all suffer. Your career choice is just that, and it was a good one, with risks often taken for granted by the public. The pain of losing financial security, no matter the career is still pain, which should be felt by no one.
Numbers have no agenda or political party. You may want to discredit the source ’til the cows come home, but it will not make 2+2 be any answer except 4. Unless you use new math.
Connecticut on the fast track to look like Rhode Island. The only ones left are the public sector workers/unions and illegal aliens.
More like Detroit if we continue our tax-happy ways.