NJ gov christie vs the teachers unions

[BlahBlahYouToo]

http://townhall.com/video/governor-christie-this-is-not-about-teachers-its-about-unions-/

christie telling it like it is.
too bad the general public is too dumb to comprehend.

 

[classy]

I voted for Christie, but his act is getting old quickly. He is going to find out that if he thinks he is going to just destroy everything he disagrees with, he'll be out after one term. No one wants to see him keep arguing against working class people and unions. He said he would restore the homeowners rebate, but thats a lie. Add to that, he vetoes a bill that would have caused a small increase on those making more than a million a year that would have at least restored the rebates to seniors. He needs to get his act together.

 

[misle]

http://townhall.com/video/governor-christie-this-is-not-about-teachers-its-about-unions-/

christie telling it like it is.
too bad the general public is too dumb to comprehend.

It's really too bad more politicians aren't like him.

Christie had good reason not to raise taxes on the rich, because it worked so well for Maryland.

 

[Hacp]

I voted for Christie, but his act is getting old quickly. He is going to find out that if he thinks he is going to just destroy everything he disagrees with, he'll be out after one term. No one wants to see him keep arguing against working class people and unions. He said he would restore the homeowners rebate, but thats a lie. Add to that, he vetoes a bill that would have caused a small increase on those making more than a million a year that would have at least restored the rebates to seniors. He needs to get his act together.

He's doing exactly as he needs. The "working" class people are getting absurd pensions. No more pensions for public sector union members.

 

[ProfJohn]

I voted for Christie, but his act is getting old quickly. He is going to find out that if he thinks he is going to just destroy everything he disagrees with, he'll be out after one term. No one wants to see him keep arguing against working class people and unions. He said he would restore the homeowners rebate, but thats a lie. Add to that, he vetoes a bill that would have caused a small increase on those making more than a million a year that would have at least restored the rebates to seniors. He needs to get his act together.

Why don't just write a check and send the government of NJ some of your money since you seem to think they are doing a good job of spending it properly.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

I voted for Christie, but his act is getting old quickly. He is going to find out that if he thinks he is going to just destroy everything he disagrees with, he'll be out after one term. No one wants to see him keep arguing against working class people and unions. He said he would restore the homeowners rebate, but thats a lie. Add to that, he vetoes a bill that would have caused a small increase on those making more than a million a year that would have at least restored the rebates to seniors. He needs to get his act together.

you must not have watched the video.

i see what you're proposing is spend, spend, spend... typical...

 

[classy]

you must not have watched the video.

i see what you're proposing is spend, spend, spend... typical...

Ah... I live here.....I voted for the guy

But since he has been in office all he has done is just go from place to place and put down unions. Like all the problems are union based. Its becoming a complete joke. He said he was for people in our state, but all he has done so far is just push a very clear republican agenda. It has become the same old political talking points, blame unions and don't tax the rich. But he didn't have a problem raising payment for registrations for everyone which to me was stupid. I haven't heard one thing about finally putting the sales tax money that was suppose to go towards lowering property taxes, where's that money? He was going to restore property tax rebates? Yeah okay So far its no different than with Corzine, just political gum flapping, but no worthwhile action. But Christie has taken it a step further, I'll just blame workers of the state and teacher unions. Give me a break.....

 

[Hacp]

Ah... I live here.....I voted for the guy

But since he has been in office all he has done is just go from place to place and put down unions. Like all the problems are union based. Its becoming a complete joke. He said he was for people in our state, but all he has done so far is just push a very clear republican agenda. It has become the same old political talking points, blame unions and don't tax the rich. But he didn't have a problem raising payment for registrations for everyone which to me was stupid. I haven't heard one thing about finally putting the sales tax money that was suppose to go towards lowering property taxes, where's that money? He was going to restore property tax rebates? Yeah okay So far its no different than with Corzine, just political gum flapping, but no worthwhile action. But Christie has taken it a step further, I'll just blame workers of the state and teacher unions. Give me a break.....

New jersey has the highest tax rates. The way you fix government is by cutting spending, not taxing productive people.

 

[RedCOMET]

Can some one tell me why a profession that presumably requires a college degree/ additional training and state certification requires a union? A degree coupled with a state certification for being a teacher tells me that type of job is not like working in say auto manufacturer which might require a union to protect its member.

 

[Cuda1447]

Can some one tell me why a profession that presumably requires a college degree/ additional training and state certification requires a union? A degree coupled with a state certification for being a teacher tells me that type of job is not like working in say auto manufacturer which might require a union to protect its member.

Why? I dont understand what you think the requirements of a union are? Uneducated workers? Easy to get jobs?

 

[NesuD]

MEA: Michigan education association. The state teachers union. All the local teacher unions are affiliated with it. There is only one health insurance provider for teachers in Michigan. The MEA. All unionized teachers health insurance premiums are paid to the MEA's insurance unit. A unionized teacher's health insurance in Michigan typically costs twice what the average private sector plan costs. It is widely thought that the MEA reaps huge profits from their insurance scam which are then used to fund exactly the kind of political bullying that Christie is describing in his state. Fortunately it is illegal for teachers to strike here in Michigan. My district's teachers are going on a year without a new contract. I hope the overpaid weasels never get one. The district is cutting everywhere to stay in the black. The residents are experiencing the second worse state unemployment rate in the country. Everyone is making sacrifices. The teachers unions still are demanding salary and benefit increases. Screw them! funny how their liberal, socialist, wealth redistribution, points of view get forgotten when it is their turn to sacrifice for the greater good.

 

[brencat]

Ah... I live here.....I voted for the guy

But since he has been in office all he has done is just go from place to place and put down unions. Like all the problems are union based. Its becoming a complete joke. He said he was for people in our state, but all he has done so far is just push a very clear republican agenda. It has become the same old political talking points, blame unions and don't tax the rich. But he didn't have a problem raising payment for registrations for everyone which to me was stupid. I haven't heard one thing about finally putting the sales tax money that was suppose to go towards lowering property taxes, where's that money? He was going to restore property tax rebates? Yeah okay So far its no different than with Corzine, just political gum flapping, but no worthwhile action. But Christie has taken it a step further, I'll just blame workers of the state and teacher unions. Give me a break.....

You're an idiot. We in NJ have the highest property taxes by far relative to other states. NY isn't far behind us but that place is a joke too. $70 billion in wealth has left NJ over the past 10 years -- why, if it's such a great place to live and retire?

The moment my Dad retired, my parents left the state for PA -- 3% flat tax and they don't tax pension or SS income there and the inheritance tax in PA is extremely low. Common sense tells you you don't live in NJ if you can afford to go elsewhere. Somehow liberals with all their supposed intelligence can't seem to grasp that people will vote with their wallet and their feet if given a chance. And that's exactly what's happened to the people with wealth (many retirees) in NJ -- they're gone!

The raise in sales taxes to 7% was supposed to fund property tax rebates and it was supposed to be TEMPORARY. What a surprise -- tax was raised, and property tax rebates were canceled the next year due to "funding problems." So we have no rebates now and a permanently higher sales tax. This is what the liberals in this state do constantly -- lie. Many of us, including myself warned this would happen.

Bottom line -- Christie is doing a fantastic job. We need to cut costs and the size of govt here massively. Teachers and state workers need to start paying reasonable % of their incomes for health care. And pensions need to be scrapped in favor of 401ks for all new employees going forward. That is the only long term solution to bring the NJ budget down.

How is it that PA with 3-4x the land mass, more roads to service etc, has a lower operating budget than NJ ? Lower taxes, lower cost of doing business = more revenue as wealth moves there and makes it home. Common sense.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Ah... I live here.....I voted for the guy

But since he has been in office all he has done is just go from place to place and put down unions. Like all the problems are union based. Its becoming a complete joke. He said he was for people in our state, but all he has done so far is just push a very clear republican agenda. It has become the same old political talking points, blame unions and don't tax the rich. But he didn't have a problem raising payment for registrations for everyone which to me was stupid. I haven't heard one thing about finally putting the sales tax money that was suppose to go towards lowering property taxes, where's that money? He was going to restore property tax rebates? Yeah okay So far its no different than with Corzine, just political gum flapping, but no worthwhile action. But Christie has taken it a step further, I'll just blame workers of the state and teacher unions. Give me a break.....

the unions ARE the problem, of course he is going to go after them. did you even watch the video?

i don't see what's so hard to understand.
everyone else here seems to see this except for you.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

MEA: Michigan education association. The state teachers union. All the local teacher unions are affiliated with it. There is only one health insurance provider for teachers in Michigan. The MEA. All unionized teachers health insurance premiums are paid to the MEA's insurance unit. A unionized teacher's health insurance in Michigan typically costs twice what the average private sector plan costs. It is widely thought that the MEA reaps huge profits from their insurance scam which are then used to fund exactly the kind of political bullying that Christie is describing in his state. Fortunately it is illegal for teachers to strike here in Michigan. My district's teachers are going on a year without a new contract. I hope the overpaid weasels never get one. The district is cutting everywhere to stay in the black. The residents are experiencing the second worse state unemployment rate in the country. Everyone is making sacrifices. The teachers unions still are demanding salary and benefit increases. Screw them! funny how their liberal, socialist, wealth redistribution, points of view get forgotten when it is their turn to sacrifice for the greater good.

nj teachers union was not willing to take a 1 year FREEZE in their wages and contribute a measly 1.5% to THEIR OWN health benefits.

they are going to force the residents to pay yet higher taxes (already one of the highest in the nation) to fund their benefits and pensions.
they will end up bankrupting the state.

these morons are doing what UAW did to GM.
unions like these are evil.

 

[CLite]

He is doing a great job, but it's such an incredibly long uphill battle.

A decent time's article: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1997284,00.html?hpt=C2

The first paragraph describe Christie's efforts so far.

In New Jersey, taxes are high, the budget's a mess, government is inefficiently organized, and the public pension fund is blown to kingdom come. Which makes New Jersey a lot like most other states in 2010. What makes the state unusual is its rookie governor, a human bulldozer named Chris Christie, who vowed to lead like a one-termer and is keeping his promise with brio. He has proposed chopping $11 billion from the state's budget — more than a quarter of the total — for fiscal year 2011 (which starts July 1). He's backing a constitutional cap on property taxes in hopes of pushing the state's myriad villages and townships to merge into more efficient units. He's locked in an ultimate cage match with the New Jersey teachers' union. It may be the bitterest political fight in the country — and that's saying something this year. A union official recently circulated a humorous prayer with a punch line asking God to kill Christie. You know, New Jersey humor. And in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Christie didn't talk about the possibility that his fiscal initiatives might be compromised or defeated; he pictured himself "lying dead on State Street in Trenton," the state capital. Presumably that was a figure of speech.

For those that don't know much about NJ one of our biggest problems is the dozens of municipalities each with a judge / chief of police/etc/etc. bringing in massive pay checks and benefits for life. If he can break those it might have a bigger impact than breaking the teacher's union tbh.

 

[classy]

the unions ARE the problem, of course he is going to go after them. did you even watch the video?

i don't see what's so hard to understand.
everyone else here seems to see this except for you.

Because I am not supporting him because he is republican. I supported him because I thought he would do a better job. I am not into the political idealogy bs. For all who has said he is doing a good job, is completely full of bs. All he has done is do a blame game. He wants unions to cave, but yet won't require some of his rich buddies to do the same. I voted for Christie thinking he would be different, so far just more of the same nonsense, just the shoe is on the other foot. Here is a damn fact, you are not going to bust up unions. Period. Move on to something else. Why do republicans think they can destroy institutions they disagree with. And many of the school districts did accept the pay freeze and are willing to accept the healthcare contributions. So for those who said they didn't, another lie. Here is the guys problem, he wants to take the middle class folks and force them to pay more, but doesn't want to do the same for the those who make more. If you want a teacher who makes $50,000 pay more, then how in the hell can you excuse a person making $500k to not pay more. Doesn't make sense. And that is what he is doing.

 

[Hacp]

Because I am not supporting him because he is republican. I supported him because I thought he would do a better job. I am not into the political idealogy bs. For all who has said he is doing a good job, is completely full of bs. All he has done is do a blame game. He wants unions to cave, but yet won't require some of his rich buddies to do the same. I voted for Christie thinking he would be different, so far just more of the same nonsense, just the shoe is on the other foot. Here is a damn fact, you are not going to bust up unions. Period. Move on to something else. Why do republicans think they can destroy institutions they disagree with. And many of the school districts did accept the pay freeze and are willing to accept the healthcare contributions. So for those who said they didn't, another lie. Here is the guys problem, he wants to take the middle class folks and force them to pay more, but doesn't want to do the same for the those who make more. If you want a teacher who makes $50,000 pay more, then how in the hell can you excuse a person making $500k to not pay more. Doesn't make sense. And that is what he is doing.

So you think magically raising taxes will encourage more business owners to move to New Jersey? When NJ has some of the highest taxes in the US, you fix things by not raising taxes!

 

[Craig234]

New jersey has the highest tax rates. The way you fix government is by cutting spending, not taxing productive people.

LOL at the propagandist equating big wealth to 'productive'. Ya, If I own a billion dollars of stock, that's 'productive'. Not the people working in the companies to grow the value.

And for the CEO's who get the big bucks, obviously the rest of the world's CEO's are not productive, only earning 20 or 40 times the average worker, like we use to here, not 400+.

 

[Patranus]

LOL at the propagandist equating big wealth to 'productive'. Ya, If I own a billion dollars of stock, that's 'productive'. Not the people working in the companies to grow the value.

How do you think companies raise capital to grow and hire workers?

 

[Craig234]

How do you think companies raise capital to grow and hire workers?

All depends how concentrated the wealth is.

If it's the extreme of '14 families' in a South American country, they self fund or get it from foreign investors.

In our country, the 'ownership class' - a small percentage of people who own the large majority of stock - provides most of it.

In the meantime, many Americans own a relatively tiny bit of stock.

With more distributed wealth, the funding would come from more people, and I would not be pointing out how concentrated the wealth is.

 

[classy]

So you think magically raising taxes will encourage more business owners to move to New Jersey? When NJ has some of the highest taxes in the US, you fix things by not raising taxes!

I didn't say that. Corzine played the "poor" guy vs rich guy story. All Christie has done is put the shoe on the other foot "rich" vs poor. He says tell the teachers union to take a pay freeze and pay 1.5% towards medical. Pay freeze for one or two years aint bad and the contribution towards medical I think is decent too. So far so good. He says it will save the state 800 million. Sounds great. He wants everyong to chip in. But you know what else would add 800 million to the state budget, the millionaires tax.

But he is requiring one group to pay, but lets not make another group pay. But what has he done so far is try to bust up unions. The same old tired republican montra is, unions are bad. So he so far has stepped and fetched to the republican label totally not taking care of NJ's business. Here is a thought make everyone pay what is fair. Thats what he said he was going to do. Well it sounded good during the campaign....................

When I say I live here, I mean I really live here. I live in one of the highest tax towns in south jersey. So I don't care who is what political party, I just want someone to do a job to benefit all and just not some. So far we are 0-2 with Corzine and now Christie. There is also some other stuff with the guy I won't go into. But he is not taking care on business, it looks good, looks great to outsiders, but its just more bs.

 

[Hacp]

I didn't say that. Corzine played the "poor" guy vs rich guy story. All Christie has done is put the shoe on the other foot "rich" vs poor. He says tell the teachers union to take a pay freeze and pay 1.5% towards medical. Pay freeze for one or two years aint bad and the contribution towards medical I think is decent too. So far so good. He says it will save the state 800 million. Sounds great. He wants everyong to chip in. But you know what else would add 800 million to the state budget, the millionaires tax.

But he is requiring one group to pay, but lets not make another group pay. But what has he done so far is try to bust up unions. The same old tired republican montra is, unions are bad. So he so far has stepped and fetched to the republican label totally not taking care of NJ's business. Here is a thought make everyone pay what is fair. Thats what he said he was going to do. Well it sounded good during the campaign....................

When I say I live here, I mean I really live here. I live in one of the highest tax towns in south jersey. So I don't care who is what political party, I just want someone to do a job to benefit all and just not some. So far we are 0-2 with Corzine and now Christie. There is also some other stuff with the guy I won't go into. But he is not taking care on business, it looks good, looks great to outsiders, but its just more bs.

They need a pay CUT. When private businesses are firing or cutting pay, state workers have not felt the pain. They need to feel the pain. And no, a wage freeze is not a pay cut. A pay cut is a pay cut.

 

[Jaskalas]

How do you think companies raise capital to grow and hire workers?

Government pays them with stimulus (duh)!

 

[classy]

They need a pay CUT. When private businesses are firing or cutting pay, state workers have not felt the pain. They need to feel the pain. And no, a wage freeze is not a pay cut. A pay cut is a pay cut.

Pay Cut for whom? State workers is whole another can of worms. More questionable stuff. He wants to close mental institutions, librarys, the guy is just completely foolish. I am sorry. And don't even get me started on the only Black State State Supreme court justice nonsense, that just reeks. How about the medical marijuana bill that folks have worked on for years, now he wants to tie that up even a few more years because he wants to centralize. He is not taking care of business............

 

[classy]

There is one thing I would like to add as far the teachers union goes as well. They are doing their job. NJ public schools have been among the best in the country for decades. Top 5. Now NJ teachers are among the top paid, but they are also producing top results. NJ is one of the few states where a good portion of public schools revival even top private schools for quality of education. So while both Christie and the teachers union each have legitimate arguments, this is not a case of these folks not producing results that coincide with their pay. So thats another reason why I am little shocked at this dogmatic attack. Find some middle ground and move on. For once be a leader......