Detroit emergency manager eliminates retiree health care benefits. Obamacare and $125 instead

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


LOL I know about the politicians, they are the reason Detroit is in the state it is in right now, and they bled that city dry. And are basically getting a slap on the wrist for it!

Haven't been a fan of unions, since having first hand experience with their corruption, but I am curious, because any other time, they are all over our news here, and there isn't a peep from them on this.

chiefsmom

Haven't been a fan of unions, since having first hand experience with their corruption, but I am curious, because any other time, they are all over our news here, and there isn't a peep from them on this.

The article makes it appear as though it's all politics:

The unions, which bargain for the city’s 28,500 current and retired workers, including the largest, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), made it clear they would do nothing to oppose this attack. AFSCME and the other unions have long collaborated with the Democratic-run city administration in slashing the wages and benefits of municipal workers.

The same thing happened in Mass a couple of years ago. At the same time Walker was being burned in effigy for "busting" the unions in Wisconsin gov Patrick in Massachusetts was signing off on more cuts and more limits than those of Walker and it never made the news save for a few local papers.

It appears to simply be partisan insanity. When a group affiliated with a party is being assaulted by the opposing party all hell breaks loose. When they are being assaulted by members of the same party they just bite down on a leather strap and take it in silence.

Party loyalty is really a sickness in this country.

reply to post by chiefsmom


Who's getting the slap on the wrist?
Innocent pensioners? Or the corrupt politicians?


And, just to be clear, retirees are NOT union members.
And, until recently, the unions kept their distance from the potential cuts to pensions.
They've only becomes active since the potential cuts are looming to their membership's future pensions.

reply to post by 727Sky


While unfortunate for the public retirees, I don't see why I am expected to feel more regret for them than the non public that lost their retirement in2008.
He made a decision and his city might just survive because of it

I am almost laughing reading this, not about the people's situation but the blaming of the republican party.

I am so sick of hearing it's one side or the other, but for the record and for the sake of being honest it was a very very corrupt Democratic administration that had a stranglehold on Detroit for over 40 years.

First in line was Mayor Coleman Young - Never caught

en.wikipedia.org...

Next was Kwame Kilpatrick who was convicted of multiple counts and is serving 28 years in a federal pen.

en.wikipedia.org...

These two cronies stole 100's of millions from Detroit if not billions. I won't go into any examples because most people don't have hours to waste reading their crimes.

This is the main reason Detroit has no money for their medical benefits. Period end of story.

The party arguing needs to stop, and we need to stop letting "Our" so called parties our ego's pick, hide behind those party lines, even when they lie, cheat, steal and in many cases committed murder.

Peace,

RT

P.S. And for the record, Obama turned his back on the now Mayor Bing, who personally asked him for help with the City of Detroit, when Obama was here. And I me literally turned his back. Sad situation here in Detroit.

reply to post by DontTreadOnMe


First, Politicians, getting the slap, when they should be getting the boot.

And I guess it depends on the union then, because the union hubby was in, (corrupt SOG"s) you still had to pay your union dues, even after you retired. It was the union fund that would have paid his retirement.

reply to post by chiefsmom

I am a member of 2 different ones. They are getting hit hard....so hard....the gov is taking AWAY retirement, medical etc.

Of late, the AFSCME local downtown Detroit is trying to negoitiate just or KEEP the retirement going. Wages and benefits and retirements are all a thing of the pass.

We never thought after we worked for all those years that they would cut like they are doing now. People bought new cars, homes etc based on something they thought would last forever...and yet...as we feared, its all being cut or removed entirely.

M.S. (AFSMCE, AFM and PPN member)

reply to post by Connman


You don't even know what this is about if you made that statement. This is Michigan's nightmare from the Fascist Rick Snyder our governor. He places private companies to usurp the elected officials and this private companies (managers) get full access to the tax coffers without oversight or the public's permission.

Rick Snyder killed democracy in Mi. You better hope this does not spread, we cannot get rid of him or do anything about it. Its a horrible situation for everyone here.

LoneGunMan

This is Michigan's nightmare from the Fascist Rick Snyder our governor. He places private companies to usurp the elected officials and this private companies (managers) get full access to the tax coffers without oversight or the public's permission.

Rick Snyder killed democracy in Mi. You better hope this does not spread, we cannot get rid of him or do anything about it. Its a horrible situation for everyone here.

Rick Snyder didn't create this situation.

Rick Snyder is one man trying to handle 40 years+ of what is left from a vial corruption in the City of Detroit, which I might add was Democratic Party controlled for the entire time.

It's time to focus on cleaning up the corruption and mess that was left, and stop trying to divide people by picking a side.

When someone makes a mess and they were wearing a blue suit, does it really matter that they were wearing a blue suit, or should we stand around and blame the person with the blue suit, and cry like babies?

The mess needs to get cleaned up and Detroit didn't have the viable people to do it, so the State stepped in.

reply to post by LoneGunMan


Your more then likely might be correct in saying that I don't totally understand the total cause of it but when I read crap like this from the text below it's where I base my opinion.

"retired workers earning less than $20,000 a year in pension benefits."

Now I stand with what I said. To get that kind of pension they made what per year? Not what the average Americans pay is/was for sure which again is under $20,000 a year. And I won't hear none of the college crap that is not a college education job they held. It was just unionized. And I guarantee I work way harder in much nastier conditions then they would with some of the jobs I've worked. That's a fact.

And don't think Michigan is all alone in this. I come from Steel Mill country that got this type shaft years ago. Suppose if the labor wasn't so costly being Unionized it wouldn't have been shipped overseas for cheap labor. Just might be these over paid workers helped kill this country from making things right here at home.

There is a phrase for what Detroit's emergency manager is doing it's called "asset stripping" the healthcare act is just another tool for it.

I never understood why people bashed unions. In the 1950's half of the country was unionized now it's less then 6%. My grandparents were all in unions and they were all able to retire with full pensions and lived out their days happily.

I don't get why people would be against the working man having rights in the workplace or a living wage. I guess being under paid and unappreciated has become the american way. A nation where employers won't even give you full time work or a lunch break. Everything's been outsourced to the point the only thing left is to get 2 part time jobs shoveling horse dung.

Over the past 20 years I've witnessed everything my grandparents fought and worked for be systematically destroyed. 1% of the nation has more wealth then the bottom 90% combined and people have the nerve to say the American worker is being greedy for organizing to get fair labor rights and wages.

My job was outsourced in the mid 2000's. I've been on welfare ever since. I have become a parasite to a system that threw my future overboard. I will live under a freeway over pass before before I sell my soul and shovel house dung 10 hours a day for practically nothing. Up yours corporate America!

reply to post by wantsome


Sadly in order to destroy the unions, the agenda tagged a few bad apples and push them as been how all unions operated, it was an agenda but propaganda in the US is such a power tool and the gullible always fall for them.

look how Our government is full of corrupted and dirty politicians selling the constituents for money to the corporate dictatorship and they get away with it because once again propaganda keeps the gullible believing that everything they do is for the good of the people.

We got more corrupted trash in government stealing from the working class that unions bad apples, we have lost thanks to bad politicians policies our jobs, our incomes and our nation, but nobody does anything about it.

The irony.