Sunday, February 28, 2010
‘Crippling cities and towns across Massachusetts’
The story is excellent. But the problem isn’t just health care, though that's the largest component of the current problem. It’s also extravagant pensions, sick and vacation payouts, and laws and rules that protect public-sector workers and encourage money grabs. … Elizabeth Debski’s quote is a mini classic: “The system was there. … I find it hard to believe that anyone wouldn’t take what the system offered.”
Sound familiar?
Because that’s where the money is – Willie Sutton on why he robbed banks.What type of job allows a healthy person to effectively retire with a full pension and health benefits for life at the age of 42? Could your average private business or nonprofit survive for long with such perks? The answer is self evident: No. And yet Massachusetts state and local governments keep chugging down the path toward eventual crisis and insolvency, assuming that taxpayers will bail them out and/or that powerful syndicates within the ‘system’ can overwhelm and outlast occasional bouts of outrage. …
The story is excellent. But the problem isn’t just health care, though that's the largest component of the current problem. It’s also extravagant pensions, sick and vacation payouts, and laws and rules that protect public-sector workers and encourage money grabs. … Elizabeth Debski’s quote is a mini classic: “The system was there. … I find it hard to believe that anyone wouldn’t take what the system offered.”
Sound familiar?
