To The Editor:
I want to use the taxpayers’ savings account (fund balance) to give myself and Department heads raises.
If that statement upsets you, come to the public hearing on the Oswego County Budget on: Thursday Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. on the fourth floor of the County Building, 46 E. Bridge St., Oswego.
We the “Guardians of the Taxpayers’ Money” will be there bringing our concerns, suggestions and disagreements with the spending of your tax dollars.
Come join us.
Honorable Frank Castiglia Jr. Legislator 25th District
Minority Caucus Leader
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Now that the elections are over, you are wanting a raise. WHY didn’t you bring the matter up before elections ?
Re: “Anonymous, don’t be jealous of the wealth and success of others. Only 42% of American’s pay taxes. Do you pay any? If you want to pay more, you won’t be stopped.”
Inequality is bad for the public good. It leads to Great Depression(s) and Great Recession(s). It makes the Middle Class disappear. It makes corporate profits unprecedented … and executive compensation unprecedented. It buys politicians and makes government dysfunctional.
Your crude remark about 42 percent … the income tax is one chunk of federal revenue and it’s less progressive than it’s been since before the New Deal … the rich are paying a smaller percentage of federal revenue than during more prosperous decades in the middle of the 20th century when there were no major financial crises, no great recessions, more egalitarian wealth distribution … the payroll tax is another chunk, regressive tax, impacts workers disproportionately (compare w/ low capital gains taxes for rich, etc.) … so working people pay taxes every paycheck …
Re: “jealous” … the concentration of wealth is not a matter of jealousy … I would absolutely not want to possess immense wealth if others lived in poverty because I understand how bad inequality is for society … these are matters of justice and functioning democracy … concentrated wealth produces concentrated power … the Slave Power before the Civil War, the Money/Corporate Power today … Americans are not voting for the fascistic right-wing governments they’re receiving (2000, 2016) … the influence of money in our politics is strangling democracy … the Tax Bill was and is a piece of legislation bought by rich donors to Republican politicians.
The United States Senate, with few exceptions, is a body composed of millionaires … the government does not represent the people of the country, it represents a class … what Bernie calls the Billionaire Class, what others call corporate power, military-industrial complex, the oligarchy, the plutocracy, the reign of Goldman Sachs, Wall Street, centralized financial and corporate power.
The point, sir, is that the rich as a class are not taxed enough, and so much of what is taxed is diverted to military and empire spending, that the working people of America, of all colors, across all political affiliations, are losing a class war the rich have been waging relentlessly since 1980, and with increased ferocity with the billionaire president and the Republican Congre$$.
I guess Republican voters think that by giving the rich and corporations popular support for their vicious class war against the American people, including against the Republican people who vote for them, they’ll somehow be the beneficiaries when the $ starts trickling-down at long last. The billionaire president and the millionaire Senate Leader Mitch McConnell are working so hard for you, average Republican voter. Giving huge tax breaks to billionaire American hedge fund managers in the Virgin Islands is why you vote Republican! Fact is Republicans and Democrats alike are working longer hours for lower wages and fewer benefits. The Middle Class disappears while the rich have never possessed such vast wealth and corporate/Wall Street profits have never been higher.
The United States has evolved (devolved?) into an aristocracy. One tier holds vast wealth, immense influence on political power, writes the laws Republicans shuffle through Congress. The rest of the American people, the great majority, the working people of the country, watch their economic condition stagnate and decline.
The distribution of wealth, the tax rates, all of that is political decision-making … right now the rich have undue influence on the lawmakers. That situation is in urgent need of correction (hence the already palpable popular enthusiasm at the prospect of Bernie Sanders unseating Donald Trump in 2020).
Concerned Citizen: I”m not looking for a raise. I’m a member of the Minority Caucus and I want to stop the Rep. Majority Caucus from getting a raise by using you the taxpayers fund balance to do it. They say they are doing you the taxpayers a favor by using the fund balance to balance the budget. That is not the way to balance a budget. Then throw in the fact that they want to give themselves raises …It’s not right. Come to the meeting a speak your mind.
hate the rich – check
mention oligarchy – check
mention plutocracy – check
mention aristocracy – check
vilify corporations – check
Liberal talking points spoken – check
Engaging in endless class warfare , and envying those who work to improve their lives is not a healthy way of life for anyone.
Having an appreciation for a deeply failed form of governance such as Socialism isn’t either.
The “raises” you reference are part of a management compensation package that was approved by the full Legislature a few years ago after a number of years of no raises at all. Isn’t that a breach of contract? You don’t do that to union protected employees but this small group is at your mercy? The incentive part of the raise is tied to performance evaluations, so I guess the democrats evaluations will reflect their opinion that department heads are not doing a good job? Yet all year we hear nothing of any poor performance so the public has to assume that folks are doing a good job.It covers more folks than just department heads, do you propose only honoring the contract for those people and screw the department heads? The very people who bring in grants and seemingly do a good job running their respective departments in a financially responsible manner?
The billionaire donors to the Republican Party find class warfare a very healthy way of life.
Capitalism is the system responsible for the climate crisis, for Wall Street and corporate crime, for Republican politicians serving the interests of billionaire donors instead of the people of America. [not socialism]
“Envying those who work to improve their lives” … like who? The Walton heirs? Wall Street thieves? Slaveowners? (arguments today defending billionaire control of government, defending corporate power, defending inequality resemble those employed to defend the liberty of slaveowners just over 150 years ago, their rights to property, to disproportionate political power, etc., etc.)
No, I don’t envy the oligarch. I oppose the existence of oligarchy.
All workers work to improve their lives. Some people get rich under capitalism. Most don’t, through no fault of their own. The system is going to produce concentrated wealth and inequality regardless of the choices people make. Working to improve your life is one thing, being part of a class of ultra-rich Republican donors actively seeking to repeal the New Deal and the Great Society is something else. The unprecedented “success” of the billionaire class alongside the disappearance of the Middle Class is not an accident. It is a result of class war waged from the billionaire class upon the people of America. I would think a concerned citizen such as you Taxed would relish the opportunity to fight for social justice instead of defending billionaire efforts to wreck the lives of average Americans.
R.Baldwin, Just because your doing your job doesn’t mean you get a raise. Keeping your job is your reward. Union contracts are binding and union personal are the worker bees. Appointed Dept. heads are just that. Not being able to give raises doesn’t mean your not doing your job it just means the taxpayers can’t afford to give you a raise this year. If I have to take from the savings account to give you a raise, we can’t give you a raise. Try working in the private sector where raises aren’t given to department heads and supervisors ever . Also the raises mentioned are also raises to Elected Officials . If you feel that department heads and legislators should get raises come to the meeting and stand up and say that. If we can give raises out without taking from the savings account then raises should be given.
“Some people get rich under capitalism. Most don’t, through no fault of their own. The system is going to produce concentrated wealth and inequality regardless of the choices people make”. -Annonymous.
This is so far from the truth (and reality) that it needs to be corrected. Okay, let’s start with a few of the people who “get rich” under capitalism.
1) Major league sports players
2) Rock Stars in the music industry
3) Entertainers in Hollywood and television
4) Politicians in federal government
* Note: A good majority of these people are not Republicans.
2) These people MADE choices. They didn’t achieve success by doing nothing, (although that may not apply to example #4).
3) Most people don’t get rich for a wide varity of reasons. Here’s a few reasons why that often relate to the average individual without any natural talent that have to rely on job skills and employablity to make a better living.
1) Drug and alcohol usage in excess..(substance abuse).
2) Criminal Arrest record.
3) Personal appearence.
4) Lack of a work ethic.
5) Lack of education.
6) Lack of Employment opportunities.
7) Getting married and having kids at an early age.
8) Undesirable personal traits…(liar, thief, sex pervert, etc..)
9) Inability to communicate well with others.
10) Lack of ambition and motivation.
All of these examples ARE quite often due to “their own fault and personal lifestyle choices”.
There’s plenty of blame to go around rather than just bashing and blaming “the rich, the Republicans, and the system” for everything wrong in this world.
Anonymous, it sounds like you support a socialistic society and economy. Our economy can’t support all of the illegal immigrants from Central America and Mexico. It certainly seems that the policies of Democrats do not attract legal citizens who can vote, so Chuck and Nancy want to import illegals to vote for their parties platforms. At the end of the day, the people who are harmed are not the wealthiest 1% of our country. The people who are harmed are the middle class. We have paid into Social Security in hopes that we’ll actually collect any of this tax that we have paid our entire work lives or careers.
I am not jealous of successful people. So glad that there is some measure of tax reform about to pass Congress. The Democrats are probably not happy because their special interest contributors will lose, and there goes Chuck and Nancy’s fundraising base.
So tired of the politics of division. Sing a new song, please.