Cops Being Laid Off In Boston, But Remember We Can’t Possibly Increase Taxes
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We all know its the poor people who use up the police force anyway, right?
24 Responses to “Cops Being Laid Off In Boston, But Remember We Can’t Possibly Increase Taxes”
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© 2000-2011 Oliver Willis
58%!
Down from about 72% on inauguration day?
Wow, the Dow really is like a tracking poll!
Oh, and it’s great to see that Oliver believes in polls again!
Although, another 9 points and we’ll see idiot polls and pollsters back in his crosshairs.
There’s nothing like predictability.
Damn, wrong thread.
I’m finally going to blame Bush for 9-11 because the Dow tanked on Obama’s watch!
Damn, wrong troll.
Let’s see… Massachusetts has 2 Democratic Senators, 10 of 10 Representatives are Democrats, every single state-wide office is held by a Democrat, the state legislature is over 85% Democrats in each house, it’s already one of the most taxed states in the union, the state has lost population most years since the last census and will most likely lose one (possibly two) seats in Congress after the next census (if Rahm Emanuel doesn’t rig the counting)…
Yup. Sounds like the people of Massachusetts need to pay even more taxes. Sound solution, Oliver.
J.
“The illusion that government can be a universal provider, and yet society still stay free and prosperous…. The illusion that every loss can be covered by a subsidy. The illusion that we can break the link between reward and effort, and still get the reward.”
–Margaret Thatcher
Oh, here’s a possible factor in the situation: in 2008, over 1,400 BPD officers took home over $100,000.
link
J.
Dennis, fwiw, Margaret Thatcher ruined her party (she never let the fresh blood come up), and can be found to blame for a lot of our ills today. The deliberate downgrading of society (she maintained that no such entity existed) was stunningly bad.
“The illusion that government can be a universal provider, and yet society still stay free and prosperous…”
Um, yeah. Let’s see how things go when we privatize the police. Should be awesome.
Yes, how dare those cops take a six figure salary for getting shot at! Wall Street needs its bonuses, baby!
Oliver, most of those making all that money are getting the bonuses for working details, not walking the streets. Boston is bad, but it ain’t no Detroit or Washington, DC.
Funny how you’re so quick to excuse the absolute Democratic domination of the Bay State, though. Remember, Massachusetts is easily the bluest of blue states.
Let me recap:
US Senate seats: 100% Democratic.
US House seats: 100% Democrats.
Governor: Democrat
Statewide offices: 100% Democratic.
State Senate: 85% Democratic (34/40)
State House: 88.75% Democratic (142/160)
Surprisingly, Obama only got about 63% of the votes last November.
J.
most of those making all that money are getting the bonuses for working details
is that what the kids are calling EPIC FAIL these days?
fwiw, Margaret Thatcher ruined her party (she never let the fresh blood come up), and can be found to blame for a lot of our ills today.
Come on, now. She had help.
J.G.Thayer: “Oh, here’s a possible factor in the situation: in 2008, over 1,400 BPD officers took home over $100,000.”
So $100,000 for a cop is too much, but asking people who make more than $250,000 to pay a little bit more in taxes is class warfare?
Interesting.
1430 Boston cops pulled down between, roughly, 100K and 239K last year. Just to pull a number out of the air, say it was an average of 125K. (It’s most likely higher.) That works out to $178,750,000. If those cops gave up the slightest, minuscule amount of that, then Boston wouldn’t have to lay off any officers.
I repeat: if any of those good union members would give up just a little of their pay — most of it not salary, but from paid details outside of their duties — then the BPD would be fine.
Alternately, if the city of Boston or the state of Massachusetts had something resembling honest and competent leadership, then things would also likely be fine.
Strowbridge, here’s a simple question: you say “just a little more.” How much is enough? The so-called “stimulus” bill is huge, and loaded with pork and waste and payoffs. The proposed budget it stuffed with earmarks and worthless crap.
And you want MORE?
I think I understand you now. You aren’t interested in making things better, you just want to punish those who have more than you think is fair. You don’t give a rat’s ass about how their money is spent, as long as it’s taken out of their hands and under your control.
J.
J.G.Thayer: “I repeat: if any of those good union members would give up just a little of their pay — most of it not salary, but from paid details outside of their duties — then the BPD would be fine.”
So cops shouldn’t work harder to try and get a little more money? Why do you hate capitalism?
“Strowbridge, here’s a simple question…”
It would have to be simple coming from a cretin like you.
“you say ‘just a little more.’ How much is enough?”
It’s $4.10 a day for someone with a taxable income of $300,000.
“The so-called ‘stimulus’ bill is huge,”
It has to be huge. Bush fucked up the economy big time. The people who recognized this problem and were warning people for years now say the stimulus bill is too small and contains too many tax cuts.
Who are you going to listen to? The people who were wrong for the past 8 years, or those who were right?
“and loaded with pork and waste and payoffs.”
Name it. Given concrete examples, not bullshit talking points.
“The proposed budget it stuffed with earmarks and worthless crap.”
And the Republicans are pulling in more pork per person than the Democrats are. But you are still blaming Obama.
“And you want MORE?”
God you are a fucking retard. I honestly thought this was an act, but you really are this fucking stupid.
Fortunately you and your kind only make up about 25% of the population and you are quickly losing whatever political power you have left.
Man, now I remember why I loathe “discussing” things with you, Strowbridge. I have to get my waders cleaned to deal with all the shit you fling.
But I see you’ve already got your loophole planted to dismiss any examples of pork in the “stimulus” bill — Name it. Given concrete examples, not bullshit talking points.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Recovery_and_Reinvestment_Act_of_2009
Concrete examples, like 4.6 billion shoveled at the Army Corps of Engineers, which already has plenty of unspent money in its budget? 7.2 billion for “complete broadband and wireless internet access?” IT improvements for the State Department and the Farm Service Agency?
Make an argument for the “Education” part of the bill being justifiable as emergencies, vitally needed to help the economy RIGHT NOW. Increased Pell Grants? Head Start? Raises for teachers?
No, don’t bother saying whether they are good or bad. That’s not the point. The point is that they are being sold as critical for rescuing the current economic crisis. Those are, at best, long-term projects — they will do virtually NOTHING in the short term for the economy.
And the Republicans are pulling in more pork per person than the Democrats are. But you are still blaming Obama.
I didn’t mention Obama. But he is championing the budget, pork and all.
Yes, there is a lot of Republican pork. five Senators refused any earmarks — three Republicans and two Democrats. In the House, 44 refused — I can’t find a breakdown, but I’ll wager that it was disproportionately Republican as well.
But so what? Are you trying to tell me that I can’t criticize something bad if some Republicans engage in it, too? “Tu quoque” isn’t an argument, it’s a confession.
I don’t give a rat’s ass about party politics. I don’t give a shit about helping or hurting parties. You’re the one with that fixation — don’t try dragging me into your twisted little world.
But I see with all the shit you flung, you didn’t answer my fundamental question — how much is enough?
Your focus remains not making sure government has the money it needs to perform vital tasks, but in making sure the “right” people pay what you consider their “fair share.” If you were honest, you’d fight wasteful spending FIRST, because that robs money from needful projects.
But that would require more effort than just flinging your shit around, so I can see why you don’t like that.
J.
Jay Tea: I repeat: if any of those good union members would give up just a little of their pay — most of it not salary, but from paid details outside of their duties — then the BPD would be fine.
Am I mistaken, or aren’t you one of the ones who has expressed the view that those who work harder and earn more shouldn’t be punished for their success? And now you want those who have put in extra effort to not reap the rewards of that? More, that they should actually give up their pay and turn it over to those who make less!
When did you become a “socialist”?
“So cops shouldn’t work harder to try and get a little more money? Why do you hate capitalism?”
No comment here? Or were you late for work, again?
J.G.Thayer: “But I see you’ve already got your loophole planted to dismiss any examples of pork in the “stimulus” bill — ‘Name it. Given concrete examples, not bullshit talking points.’”
I like how you admit you will give talking points… and then you do.
“Man, now I remember why I loathe “discussing” things with you, Strowbridge. I have to get my waders cleaned to deal with all the shit you fling.”
The irony of this statement is unbelievable.
“Concrete examples, like 4.6 billion shoveled at the Army Corps of Engineers, which already has plenty of unspent money in its budget?”
So you even know what the Army Corps of Engineers does?
“7.2 billion for ‘complete broadband and wireless internet access?’”
The United States has some of the slowest internet access in the industrialized world. You Don’t think that has a negative effect on businesses?
“IT improvements for the State Department and the Farm Service Agency?”
Lord help us! Obama’s trying to the efficiency of government agencies.
Like I thought, you have nothing to offer but talking points.
“No, don’t bother saying whether they are good or bad. That’s not the point. The point is that they are being sold as critical for rescuing the current economic crisis. Those are, at best, long-term projects — they will do virtually NOTHING in the short term for the economy.”
Japan’s economic doldrums lasted a decade. A FUCKING DECADE.
This is not a problem that will end in six months.
The fact that you don’t understand this, says more about your lack of understanding of macroeconomics than it says about anything else.
“I don’t give a rat’s ass about party politics.”
That’s a lie. Anyone who has read your posts here knows that. You might be able to convince yourself otherwise, but no one on this side is stupid enough to fall for it.
“Your focus remains not making sure government has the money it needs to perform vital tasks, but in making sure the ‘right’ people pay what you consider their ‘fair share.’ If you were honest, you’d fight wasteful spending FIRST, because that robs money from needful projects.”
Like all of that money that went to Blackwater?
I don’t recall you railing against that while Bush was in office.
“I don’t give a rat’s ass about party politics.”
This here is comedy freakin’ gold.
I thought Chairman Obama’s pork barrel spending was supposed to save their jobs. He said so in his pseudo SOTU speech:
http://www.factcheck.org/politics/fact-checking_obamas_speech.html
How about the good leaders of MA use some of their Big Dig (that we ALL paid for) kick backs to help?
Raising taxes in Massachusetts is always both the first and the worst solution to problems. But with a state that is so, so solidly Democratic, and has been for years and years, it should come as no surprise.
J.
J.G.Thayer: “Raising taxes in Massachusetts is…”
Is not what I asked about. Are you ignoring my post because you are late for work, again?
Strowbridge, so much of the shit you fling isn’t worth paying any attention to. My comment about other cops taking fewer details and overtime was an attempt to appeal to that infamous union solidarity to address the problem.
Let’s run some numbers: 1,430 Boston cops took home over $100,000 last year, with the highest paid one getting almost $240,000. Just to pull a number out of the air, let’s say that the average was $125,000. (It was probably higher, but let’s use that number for the sake of argument.) That puts the payroll for just those officers at $178,750,000. I’d put the real number closer to a quarter of a billion dollars.
In a single year.
There HAS to be room in that budget for cuts short of layoffs. Especially in Massachusetts.
As far as your bloviating about the points I raised: I never argued against any of them. I argued that they are NOT directly tied into the concept of “stimulus,” and many of them are not the business of government at all.
Unless, of course, one is inclined to turn towards the government as the found of all good things, of the only possible source for economic development and technological advances.
Fuck that.
“The government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have.”
You’re all happy to give that kind of power to the government now that your people are running things. That is either the stupidest thing you’ve ever said (and that’s saying a lot) or the most dishonest (and that’s saying even more).
J.