Legislature turns down wage cuts in favor of taxes

[macuu222]

The state legislature turned down Lingle's idea of wage cuts in favor of increased taxes to balance the budget.

What rock did this legislature crawl out from? You don't raise taxes in a recession! You get rid of the fat! Lingle is right on this one. Leave the taxes alone...and start reducing wages.

http://www.starbulletin.com/news/2009040...rkers.html

[Jon]

LOL... 15th verse same as the first....


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I do not believe that America is better than everybody else...
America "IS" everybody else.
HBAT

[JerryCarr]

Let me remind everyone that the government employees unions are consistently contributors/endorsers in political campaigns at all levels in Hawaii. Did anybody seriously think the legislators would upset that gravy train? Our State Representative, Faye Hanohano, is an officer in the corrections workers union, so don't expect her to support a leaner government.

At a time when many people in Hawaii are making sacrifices and facing hard times, our State Government wants to increase the tax burden. What's wrong with this picture?

[Seeb]

There is lots of fat other places to cut, cutting wages is the most Destructive thing you can do.

[Jon]

Ummm no, the state should have to deal with things just like the people, when times are bad you cut back, and the state can cut services, jobs or wages.... and as the government is a service organization, services should be last...


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I do not believe that America is better than everybody else...
America "IS" everybody else.
HBAT

[Seeb]

so what do you do when you have to go to the hospital and theres no one there but the janitor.
call the fire dept " we'll be there in a couple hours only 1 guy on today".
how peasant will the people at dmv be if their just got their house forclosed on.
if the inspectors cant pay their bills.

[Jon]

so are you saying that Government jobs should be protected from an economic down turn? So if everyone else on the Island has to take a 25% pay cut, the Government jobs are safe and taxes will have to go up to keep them high paid... not a very good way to manage a business, and soon everyone in Government will be the rich people and they will have a bunch of surfs to order around.





-----------------------------------------------------------
I do not believe that America is better than everybody else...
America "IS" everybody else.
HBAT

[ric]

It seems to me that most of the new "stimulus" package or whatever you want to call it goes to government agencies, agencies to 'monitor' healthcare, research projects for universities, other regulation, etc. most of which is done by gov't, and that the government is getting fatter and fatter when the biggest hits (loss of jobs) recently have been in the private sector (largely ignored by stimulus $$). Folks who go to work in government at any level have no idea what goes on in private sector, they never make decisions with their OWN money, just spend ours. They never have to make a realistic decision or prioritize and sacrifice like private business and personal households do.

[loffelkopffl]

lingle continues to live in her own dreamworld, going before the legislature the other day and saying she's going to save $278 million by wage concessions when they haven't even proposed anything to the unions is beyond ignorant, she needs to get on the same horse as her hero and ride off into the sunset

[gtill]

Mabe she hasen't publisised it yet, but be sure she's sounded them, and as other states are getting compliance by cutting hours etc, she wants to remind the legislature of what they need to be doing, cutting costs.