THOUSAND POINTS of RIGHT

ARCE - BOYLE 10th ANNUAL BENEFIT

2012-01-09T18:00:00.004-05:00

FF David Arce & FF Michael Boyle

Tenth Annual Benefit
Saturday February 4, 2012

Where:
PD O’ Hurley’s Bar & Grill
174 W 72 Street (off Broadway)
New York, N.Y.
212-873-1900

Time:
4pm – 7pm

Donation:
$40.00 at Door - Beer, Wine, Food
50/50 sold at door

Sponsor:
PD O’Hurley’s Bar & Grill

All proceeds going to the Arce-Boyle Memorial Fund

For more information we can be contacted at:
ARCEBOYLEFUND@AOL.COM

Facebook@ArceBoyleFund
(Email us your email address)
Mary Hanrahan-Figgins 781-290-6537
OR
Jimmy Boyle 516-972-2948

Checks can be mailed and made payable to:
Arce-Boyle Memorial Fund
C/0 Marge Arce
4 School Street
East Williston, NY 11596

We are a non-profit 501 (c) 3 corporation that was created by John Mills and the Colleran, O'Hara, Mills law firm as a way to preserve the memory of David "Buddha" Arce and Michael Boyle, while at the same time benefiting families who are in need.

This circle of love that Michael and David created remains unbroken.

BRAINS & BRAWN !

2011-07-28T21:03:00.010-04:00

New Haven Firefighters Settle Claims of Racial Bias
(Click Here)

White firefighters who won a race-discrimination case before the Supreme Court in 2009 will receive about $2 million in damages from the City of New Haven, officials said Thursday. The settlement helps end a seven-year-long legal battle that propelled national debate over racial justice.

The Supreme Court ruled that officials had violated white firefighters’ civil rights when they threw out the results of promotion tests in 2003 because too few minority applicants did well.

The case became an issue in confirmation hearings for Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who ruled against the white firefighters when she served on a federal appeals court.

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THOUSAND POINTS of RIGHT

Isn't it great that Shaitberger and the IAFF backed Obama. The 'Big Picture', of this once great nation, escapes these fools. The Thousand Points of Right warned that if Obama was elected, he may have the opportunity to nominate 3-4 U.S. Supreme Court Justices. So far he's got 2... another term and it will be 2 more ! That will be the final blow and death knell to our Forefather's U.S. Constitution !

The AFL-CIO, SEIU and IAFF are blinded by excessive salaries, 'plastic', re-election and abusing YOUR almost Million Dollars in dues that the UFA and UFOA forks-over to the IAFF 'every year' !

'Politics is Local' still holds true today. Former Active Firefighters, Police, Teachers, etc should focus on Local Politics. We have the numbers and we need to protect our hard won benefits. Perhaps we can count on the unions small numbers to help the large Former Active City Employees in their pursuit of electing politicians who are sympathetic to Retiree issues ! They may be helpful.
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BRAINS & BRAWN
(Click Here)

"The brain benefits from being used, so that, in a neat circle, resistance training may both demand and create additional brain circuitry. Imagine what someone like Einstein might have accomplished if he had occasionally gone to the gym."

PRIVATE - KEEP OUT

2011-07-27T23:41:00.000-04:00

City Pension Funds Refuse to Release Recipients’ Names
(Click Here)

New York City officials are keeping secret the names of tens of thousands of retirees who get pensions from the city, a step that breaks with decades of tradition and has outraged advocates of open government.

The change in the funds’ practice first came to light when the city’s police pension fund refused to turn over the names of pensioners to the Empire Center, a branch of the Manhattan Institute, a conservative policy group.
The Empire Center maintains a database of city and state workers and retirees that is widely used by the news media. It sued over the decision to withhold information; the pension fund prevailed in court late last year, and the case is now being appealed.

CANCER & GROUND ZERO

2011-07-26T22:48:00.000-04:00

Report: No Proven Link Between Cancers, Ground Zero
(Click Here)

A federal health agency said Tuesday there is not yet enough medical evidence to show that first responders to the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks are more likely to get cancer as a result of the time spent at the World Trade Center site. While controversial, the finding may be revised as more studies are done

The finding, rather than ending the debate about which illnesses can be blamed on Ground Zero exposure, will only increase the attention placed on any new scientific studies about cancer risk, particularly since the government’s conclusions will help determine which cancer patients receive payments from a new victim compensation fund.

PTSD

2011-07-25T22:30:00.001-04:00

Ten Years Later, 9/11 Tragedy Has Wide-Ranging Psychological Impacts
(Click Here)

Short-term and long-term psychological effects of the 9/11 attacks spread far beyond New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pa., according to research published by the American Psychological Association.

The terrorist attacks of 9/11 have brought a substantial and enduring burden of posttraumatic stress disorder on those people who lost loved ones, as well as on firefighters and recovery workers. Research over the past decade has broadened the understanding of PTSD following large-scale disasters such as terrorism.

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED

2011-07-25T21:10:00.001-04:00

'The eagle couldn't have picked a better person'
(Click Here)

The eagle had landed on the grave of Sgt. Maurice Ruch. To those who knew Maurie, he was a calm and deliberate giant. He stood 6 feet, 4 inches tall, with broad shoulders, but he was also unassuming and unpretentious.

Some cultures believe the eagle is a symbol, not only of patriotism and dignity, but a messenger between heaven and earth. The eagle had a very good eye when he landed on Maurie.

ECHOES OF 1975 NEW YORK

2011-07-24T23:38:00.001-04:00

Echoes of New York in 1975 as views harden (Click Here)
In 1975, years of fiscal mismanagement came to a head when banks refused to finance the short-term debt sales that New York relied upon. Elected officials, bankers and union leaders furiously cut deals, averting repeated threats of default for months, and eventually hammered out a long-term plan.

Traditional adversaries – Republicans and Democrats, banks and the head of city workers’ unions - worked together for a common goal of “saving” the city. In today’s divisive US political environment, such compromises have been harder to find.

While lessons can be learnt from the New York saga, those who were at the centre of it say today’s problems in US states and cities are different. The mounting issue of unfunded public pensions was not part of the mix in 1975, while states and the federal government also face fiscal deficits.

But some veterans of the New York crisis say the latest downturn has revealed more fundamental problems that will not fix themselves even if if the economic rebound continues. “Even assuming an improvement in the economy, I think structural deficits and the neglect of infrastructure, maintenance investments, the level of new roads, bridges, subways [are all] a ticking time-bomb,” says Mr Ravitch.

3 Truck - Paddy Brown

2011-07-21T20:51:00.001-04:00

NYC fire truck lowered into 9/11 display
(Click Here)

A crane lowered the 60,000-pound battered remains of the truck, shrouded in a white protective covering and decorated with the flags of the Fire Department of New York and the United States, 70 feet into the site as family members of firefighters who died on 9/11 wept, dozens of firefighters saluted and bagpipers played the national anthem.

To some, the ceremony was like a second funeral for the Ladder Company 3 firefighters who died nearly 10 years ago. "It's almost like saying goodbye again," said Carolyn Brown, 47, of Westbury, N.Y., whose brother Patrick "Paddy" Brown led the firefighters of Ladder Company 3 on 9/11.

CATCH AS CATCH CAN

2011-07-13T12:40:00.001-04:00

Disability pension collected by able-bodied ex-cop shows flaw in the city's retirement system
(Click Here)

Former city cop gets caught doing construction work right after retiring on a tax-free three-quarters disability pension, then tests positive for cocaine - and what do the police unions do about it? Back him to the hilt, of course.

Using their 50% control of the Police Pension Fund board, the unions blocked the city from cutting off the pension the police-officer secured after reporting that he had suffered a shoulder injury that disqualified him from service.

This case vividly illustrates why the courts must uphold the public's right to inspect the names of all public pensioners and the amounts they receive. The ability of fellow citizens to check up on suspected chiselers is a crucial check against abuse.

FEAL GOOD FOUNDATION

2011-07-11T12:27:00.000-04:00

Hero of Zadroga health care law steps up to push for first-responder wireless netwok in D.C.
(Click Here)

Ten years after the towers fell, the average teenager with a smartphone still has better communications than most emergency responders.

Feal and a dozen or so retired cops, firefighters and Ground Zero workers will target 15 senators likely to vote against the Public Safety Spectrum and Wireless Innovation Act. The goal is to change minds - and get the legislation passed in time for the 9/11 anniversary.

It is baffling that nearly 10 years after the attacks of 9/11, one of the key recommendations from the 9/11 Commission report has yet to be implemented," New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said.

OVERSIGHT BY FDNY & BLDGS DEPT EGREGIOUS

2011-07-09T23:15:00.003-04:00

A History of Concern: Acquittals in Deutsche Bank Blaze Prompt Deeper Questions
(Click Here)

Al Hagan, president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, said that LMDC owned the building played a key role in the documented mismanagement of the demolition site. He said he believes the LMDC is responsible for what happened and didn’t happen at the 130 Liberty site. "The responsible people were never brought to task ever," Hagan said. "There appeared to be a series of scapegoats and fall guys that were brought to the forefront and charged."

One of the most significant disclosures to come out of the exhaustive probe was the fact that not only had the fire department never properly inspected Deutsche Bank but also it had failed to conduct required inspections for all demolition and construction sites citywide.

In a phone interview with WNYC, Morgenthau, the former DA, said that the failures of oversight by both the FDNY and the Buildings Department were so egregious on Deutsche Bank that there was a faction of career prosecutors in his office that wanted to criminally indict them.

"The most important thing is, before this case. the FDNY did not take building inspections seriously.

FDNY ENTRANCE EXSCAM

2011-07-07T08:29:00.001-04:00

FDNY To Offer Entrance Exam Next Year
By: NY1 News

The New York City Fire Department is offering next year its first entrance exam in more than four years. The test will be held early next year, but the sign-up process could reportedly begin as early as tomorrow.

Applicants would be able to apply through mid-September.

A federal judge reportedly signed off on the process, but there are still some legal issues to work out. The same judge has agreed with a federal lawsuit claiming the city's previous firefighter exam discriminated against blacks and Hispanics

BANKRUPTCY COMING TO A STATE NEAR YOU ?

2011-07-06T09:58:00.001-04:00

State's Bankruptcy: Back In Time to Steal Your Pension and Benefits.
(Click Here)

The threat of the federal government providing State bankruptcy protections has disappeared from the news since it first surfaced, to much republican applause, six months ago. This is an ominous silence.

The fiscal crises most states are experiencing will necessitate their need to use bankruptcy protection. All State employees, or employees whose jobs or pensions exist per contracts with the State, should be alarmed because State bankruptcy protections will suddenly, if not overnight, take away your contractual rights. Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection is currently available only to municipalities. If Chapter 9 is applied to the states it will mean the reduction of any expected pension benefits for current employees and retired former employees.

THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS ??

2011-07-05T11:14:00.000-04:00

CityTime Crime Is Mayor Bloomberg's Shame
(Click Here)

Michael Bloomberg has always yearned to be remembered as one of the great New York mayors -- maybe the greatest. Now, thanks to a monster City Hall scandal, the central bragging right of his administration -- Bloomberg's savvy businessman-approach to governing -- is teetering.

The scandal is known as CityTime, and it involves hundreds of millions of dollars stolen or wasted from beneath the mayor's slumbering nose. (If you think New York is the city that never sleeps, think again.)

The thefts took place over a seven-year period from 2003 to 2010, and became bolder as the years passed. A $63 million project mushroomed into a $650 million boondoggle. All this to stop janitors, typists and other city workers from cheating on their timesheets.

Bloomberg needs to talk frankly about how such a mess happened on the watch of a mayor who's supposed to be a great manager -- particularly of things financial.

It might not make him feel better. But at least he'd be educating us in how to make sure that when the next scandal hits, it doesn't involve billions.

CUTS IN PENSION COLA OK

2011-07-02T22:16:00.008-04:00

Two Rulings Find Cuts in Public Pensions Permissible
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Judges in Colorado and Minnesota have dismissed court challenges by retired public workers whose pensions had been cut — developments that may embolden other states and cities to use pension reductions as a tool to help balance their budgets.

The two lawsuits sought to reverse reductions in the cost-of-living adjustments that Colorado and Minnesota had previously promised to retired public workers. Generally speaking, once lawmakers have agreed to provide certain pension benefits to public workers, it is difficult, if not impossible, to roll them back because of protective language in state laws and constitutions and years of court interpretations.

One judge drew a distinction between a base pension and a cost-of-living adjustment, often called a COLA. He suggested that the inflation adjustment could be reduced, but the base pension could not.

Appellate courts in other states, including California and West Virginia, had found that cost-of-living adjustments could not be reduced.

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Thousand Points of Right

No one knows what affect these decisions will have on Bloomberg, Coumo and Company. Remember that there is still a budget deficit in the billions for the next few years and Bloomy has already taken all of the billions he tucked away for future retiree health care costs.

If Bloomberg decides to follow suit with the court decisions rendered above, there will surely be an outcry from all City & State retirees who do not participate in the VSF. There are literally hundreds of thousands of non-participants who would demand that the non-constitutionally protected VSF must go first, before any thought is given to taking away or reducing the prior pension supplementations and the 2000 COLA, which contained the catch-up increases.

Let's hope Bloomy is smart enough not to start, what would likely be a war among NYC retirees. jg

MUSLIM, AGE 18-35, OR NOT ?? WTF ??

2011-07-01T18:29:00.004-04:00

Congressman King 'Gravely Concerned' by Stowaway
(Click Here)

According to media reports, Nigerian resident Olajide Oluswaseun Noibi used a expired boarding pass last week to board a Virgin Airlines flight at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. The man was arrested at Los Angeles airport trying to use another old boarding pass to fly to Atlanta.

"I am gravely concerned about the security breach at John F. Kennedy International airport by a Nigerian national last week whereby the man was able to successfully pass through the security checkpoint and fly from New York to Los Angeles using an expired boarding pass issued in another person’s name," Peter King said in a letter to TSA Administrator John Pistole.

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Thousand Points of Right

According to the World Factbook, over fifty percent of the population of Nigeria adheres to Islam. So, inquiring minds would like to know if the Nigerian "stowaway", who evaded airport security with a simple trick, is a MUSLIM, Age 18-35, or NOT ?? WTF ?? jg

FDNY COMPANY PATCHES

2011-06-29T12:49:00.001-04:00

Firefighter's Pride
(Click Here)

For more than 100 years, the firefighters of New York have been devising clever slogans for their firehouses, drawing on history, imagination and quirks of personal character to identify themselves and to distinguish their companies from the rest of the department. About 30 years ago, they began to match these slogans with colorful, artistically rendered patches. Today, many firehouses have doors adorned with the images on the patches

Worn on sleeves, the patches are a fire company’s statement of uniqueness. They emerged not only from the custom of companies’ coining nicknames for themselves, but also from an even older tradition of decorating fire engines with elaborately painted murals.

MORE ELIGIBLE FOR 9-11 FUND

2011-06-28T09:59:00.001-04:00

More Eligible For 9/11 Fund
(Click Here for Entire Article)

A new $2.8 billion program for those sickened by exposure to the Ground Zero site would be open to more residents of lower Manhattan than a previous victims fund, but they will have fewer face-to-face chances to make the case for compensation.

To decide which ailments are deserving of future payments, the special master of the fund will rely largely on the conclusions of the 9/11 Health Program, a collection of medical experts at the Fire Department, the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and New York City, overseen by a federal health official.

Psychological injuries won't be covered under the proposed rules because the law passed last year creating the fund said it was for physical injuries.

The new fund will make payments to those afflicted with a variety of long-term health problems, like breathing disorders and gastrointestinal disease.

The most notable change is the geographic boundaries. Previously, only those who worked at or very close to the World Trade Center site were eligible. The new area encompasses the area south of Reade and Centre Streets, and the Brooklyn Bridge

RULES FOR 9-11 FUND

2011-06-28T09:09:00.000-04:00

Push to open 9/11 vics' fund

The Obama administration yesterday released draft rules for reopening a $2.8 billion compensation fund for 9/11 victims, giving New York lawmakers reason to hope that money will get to Ground Zero workers and other victims by year's end.

"These draft-compensation rules are a vital step toward getting long-overdue help to those who were injured by Ground Zero toxins," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan), who led the charge to pass the legislation last year.

Supporters said they hope to have the rules finalized by the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

FDNY PIPES AND DRUMS

2011-06-27T13:00:00.000-04:00

343 FDNY heroes who will never be forgotten
(Click Here)

When a firefighter's remains were identified or when a firefighter's family decided to go ahead with a memorial without remains, Rescue 4 Firefighter Liam Flaherty would take brief leave from The Pit and serve in another capacity. He was and is the drum major of the FDNY Emerald Society Pipes and Drums. The band would give the firefighter a sendoff just as it had at line-of-duty funerals before 9/11.

The one difference came at the end, after the band led the way from the church and the mourners had heard the last sorrowful notes fading in the distance.

Traditionally, this had been the moment the band turned around and marched back playing an upbeat tune such as "Garryowen" or "Atholl Highlander" to signal that the firefighter's spirit lives on with his comrades.

With the murder of 343 members of the FDNY and so many bodies missing, the band decided it would be inappropriate to go uptempo until the final funeral.

What seemed to be the final funeral was for 29-year-old Firefighter Michael Ragusa. His remains had not been recovered, and his parents held off until the second anniversary of the attack neared.

The band strode with a lively step down the center of the street back toward the church, playing one rousing tune and then another. There were cheers and a few tears, and nobody could have doubted that the spirit was as strong as ever.

9/11 - TEN YEARS LATER

2011-06-26T10:15:00.001-04:00

The long fight to rebuild Bravest after 343 FDNY lives were lost
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Amid the dust that blanketed lower Manhattan, the Fire Department started its rebirth. The losses were astronomical. The 343 firefighters who died had nearly 4,400 years of experience combined, badly depleting the department's institutional knowledge and tradition.

Hundreds more worked unending hours at the smoldering World Trade Center site, digging through rubble to find the remains of colleagues while breathing in toxins that damaged their lungs.

Another 2,000 firefighters retired in the first two years after the attacks, many of whom were capitulating to the cries of loved ones to walk away from the job while they still could.

Knowing that the experience of the men who were lost could never be replaced, the FDNY responded by vastly ramping up its training program for a suddenly green workforce.

Major fires - and fire deaths - have plummeted in the last decade, while the number of medical emergencies has increased dramatically.

The FDNY also has worked to improve its radios, which failed during the terror attacks. Cassano acknowledges the system may still not work perfectly in certain skyscrapers. Still, concerns remain: "Post-9/11, FDNY has not addressed its radio problems completely - even the new ones don't work as well as they should.

For many in the Fire Department, the greatest challenge of the present may still be the past. Reminders of Sept. 11 are everywhere, from the memorial wall at MetroTech to the empty lockers at firehouses throughout the city.

DEMS ABANDON UNIONS

2011-06-24T18:07:00.003-04:00

Political Allies Turn on Unions
(Click Here)

Democrats in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut who have counted on public-sector workers for votes and financial support for decades are now squeezing them for budget savings.

As state budget season moves to a close, public workers are seeing their pensions, benefits and salaries cut by billions of dollars by Democratic allies, with or without their consent.

New York's Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo negotiated an agreement with the state's largest union, the Civil Service Employees Association. The deal would mean no raises, a furlough and increased payments for health-care benefits in exchange for a guarantee of no layoffs.

Union leaders called the deal fair, noting it preserved collective-bargaining power and didn't slash benefits. But workers still must ratify the deal.

9/11 DISABILITY RETIREMENTS

2011-06-21T12:44:00.000-04:00

9/11 attacks have increased the number of firefighters taking disability retirement
(Click Here)

Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, have reported that the number of New York firefighters taking disability retirement has shown a surprising increase since the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York City. In their article, published recently in the online version of American Journal of Industrial Medicine, the researchers noted that seven years prior to the attacks, 48% of New York’s retiring firefighters took accidental disability retirements, while seven years after 9/11, the figure has increased to 66% percent. Half of these retirements were related to injuries or illness contracted during the attacks and their aftermath.

The toppling of the World Trade Center Towers sent clouds of toxic chemicals billowing into the air, which hung over Manhattan like a hazardous fog for weeks. First responders and cleanup crew were never instructed to wear any type of respiratory gear, and thousands of firefighters, policemen, and EMTs inhaled these carcinogens over prolonged periods of time.

MLC SLAMS DOOR ON UFA & UFT

2011-06-20T21:56:00.002-04:00

Teachers aim to salvage no-layoff deal
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The Municipal Labor Committee and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn had been talking of tapping into a health care fund to stave off 4,166 teacher layoffs and 20 firehouse closures, but the plan fell through last week when leaders of some city unions balked at it.

Mr. Mulgrew has the support of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, as the deal would keep all firehouses open. But adoption appears to be a long shot because other municipal unions would not see direct benefits and argue that the Health Insurance Stabilization Fund, which is run jointly by the city and the unions, was not meant to rescue the speaker and the mayor from difficult budget decisions.

They contend that thousands of municipal jobs have been cut in recent years and that using the health fund money to save teachers and fire companies means it won't be there to help other workers down the road.

A deal could be a political coup for Ms. Quinn, who is widely expected to run for mayor in 2013, as it could help her land an endorsement from the United Federation of Teachers. Moreover, it would allow her to avert blame for a budget that slashes teaching positions and closes firehouses.

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THOUSAND POINTS of RIGHT

This, of course, would not be the first time that the unions allowed the CITY to raid the Health Stabilization Fund... and certainly not to the benefit of Former Active Firefighters. Note: The Health Stabilization Fund has nothing to do with the Billions that Bloomberg set aside for future Retiree Health Care costs which was pilfered by the CITY, without a word from the unions, to balance the 2010 & 2011 budgets. jg

FISCAL REMEDY FOR NYC

2011-06-20T20:27:00.000-04:00

Pension Proposal: A Fiscal Remedy for New York
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Police and firefighters currently have no minimum age requirement; as a result, one-third of all New York City fire retirees and one-half of all City police retirees are under age 60. In localities outside New York City, over 80 percent of police and fire retirees in the last year were under 60, increasing the length and cost of benefit payouts.

Many New York state, city and local employees contribute only 3 percent of their earnings toward their pensions for only the first 10 years of employment. This proposal would require a 6 percent contribution from all employees for their entire length of service.

In the governor's plan, pension benefits will be calculated based on the highest five years' of earnings with maximum eligible wages capped at $179,000. Overtime pay will no longer be included in the earnings used to calculate benefits.

Because pension benefits are constitutionally protected, the benefits of current employees and retirees would remain unchanged.

HEALTH INSURANCE STABILIZATION FUND

2011-06-18T21:11:00.000-04:00

Unions throw monkey wrench into city budget deal
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The resistance of the unions to self-funding a plan to avert layoffs of the teachers and hundreds of other city workers jeopardizes a city budget deal that had been in the works.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn had asked MLC Chairman Harry Nespoli to come to the table to discuss ways to prevent the layoffs. Talks centered on tapping into the Health Insurance Stabilization Fund, which is run jointly by the city and the unions.

Not all of the committee's 90 unions are against the deal, but enough are resisting it to put its outcome in doubt.

WOMEN RECRUITS SOUGHT BY FDNY

2011-06-16T10:14:00.000-04:00

Women Recruits For FDNY Sought
(Click Here for Entire Article)

It will be five years next January since the City of New York last gave a test for the position of firefighter with the New York City Fire Department.

Word that applications will become available in July and August to be filed in September for an examination administered in either November or December is, as yet, unofficial.

“The city is in the midst of creating a brand new exam.” A federal judge invalidated the 2007 firefighter exam on the grounds that it discriminated against minorities.

What Maglione is sure of is the department’s desire to have women apply for the next written exam. “FDNY seeks a workforce that reflects the diversity of the city’s available talent pool,” Maglione said.

OBAMA/HOLDER DOJ RACIAL QUOTAS

2011-06-13T00:50:00.001-04:00

Racial Quota Scandal at Obama Justice Department
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Here’s how messed up the situation has gotten at the Obama DOJ when it comes to racial discrimination. As you may recall, the DOJ abandoned its own lawsuit against members of the radical New Black Panther Party who threatened and intimidated white voters on Election Day 2008. (The leftist NAACP appears to have helped call the shots on the case dismissal.)

And now these new documents detail a scheme by DOJ officials to bully the City of Dayton, Ohio, into lowering testing standards for firefighter and police recruits because minority candidates did not perform well enough on the written exam. (One of the most shocking claims by the DOJ is that it’s not all that important for firefighters to be able to read and write!)

This “racial quota” scheme, while clearly shameless in its intent, also seems to violate laws against discrimination and Supreme Court precedent.

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THOUSAND POINTS OF RIGHT

The UFA & UFOA pay $1M in yearly dues to the IAFF and the IAFF spends multi-millions each election year to place Racists like Obama into office. In the upcoming 2012 election, the IAFF has decided to (monetarily) stay out of the Presidential election and spread their wealth on electing local politicians, nationwide. Too late guys ! You have already helped to ruin this once great nation. Be careful about who or what you ask-for... you just might get it, AGAIN ! Hopefully, Weiner is off their election list ! jg

DEFER PENSION DISCLOSURE VOTE

2011-06-13T00:30:00.003-04:00

NYC pension board said to defer disclosure vote
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The city's largest public pension fund [NYCERS] is said to have postponed a vote on whether to disclose retiree's names and benefits and publish current investment returns.

The mayor and comptroller have pledged greater oversight and disclosure for the city's five pension funds, which have assets exceeding $113 billion. City support of the funds for civil servants, police personnel, firefighters, teachers and school administrators will cost taxpayers about $8.4 billion in the mayor's $65.7 billion proposed fiscal 2012 budget.

“There's absolutely no reason to withhold retirees' status from the public; it's the taxpayers' money,” said the mayor's spokesman. “We don't see any legitimate justification for failing to disclose the information.”

NYC FIRE MUSEUM

2011-06-13T00:01:00.000-04:00

The coolest relics of New York's Bravest
(Click Here)

To say that the history of New York City is intimately tied to its fire department is an understatement. Firefighting shaped everything from politics to the street grid, and of course was an essential part of the 9/11 story.

A visit to the New York City Fire Museum, with its collection of 10,000 objects, brings that past vividly to life.

PETER KING: "INVITATION TO AN ATTACK"

2011-06-10T07:02:00.000-04:00

Budgeting for Insecurity
(Click Here for Entire Aeticle)

House Republicans talk tough on terrorism. So we can find no explanation — other than irresponsibility — for their vote to slash financing for eight antiterrorist programs. Unless the Senate repairs the damage, New York City and other high-risk localities will find it far harder to protect mass transit, ports and other potential targets.

The programs received $2.5 billion last year in separate allocations. The House has cut that back to a single block grant of $752 million, an extraordinary two-thirds reduction. The results for high-risk areas would be so damaging that the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Peter King of New York, voted against the bill as “an invitation to an attack.”

SCRUTINY ON NYPD SETTLEMENTS

2011-06-10T06:22:00.000-04:00

Amid City Budget Crisis, New Scrutiny on Millions in NYPD Settlements
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Last year the city of New York paid out $135.8 million to satisfy claims brought by the public against the NYPD.

The council has vowed to find the estimated $300 million needed to save 4,000 teachers jobs and the $50 million to keep 20 fire companies operational. All totaled, the city is expected to pay out somewhere between $600 and $720 million in FY 2012 alone to satisfy all claims brought against the city.

Not surprisingly HHC, with its 11 acute-care hospitals and scores of community clinics, has always ranked at the top for payouts for malpractice and tort claim settlements - except for last year when the NYPD's payouts surpassed HHC's last year by more than $5 million.

NEW YORK PENSION FUNDS

2011-06-09T11:39:00.000-04:00

Cuomo Urges Broad Limits to N.Y. Public Pensions
(Click Here for Entire Article)

“By making sensible pension reforms that won’t impact a single current employee or existing retiree, this legislation will create $30 billion in savings over the next 30 year", stated Mayor Bloomberg.

Senator Martin J. Golden, a Brooklyn Republican said, “It’s difficult to try to get this off the ground in the next five or six days,” adding, “It’s definitely got labor up in arms, that’s for sure.”

VSF APPEARS TO BE SAFE

2011-06-08T12:07:00.000-04:00

Mayor's Battle to Stop VSF Payments Fizzles

Chief Leader - June 07, 2011
by MARK TOOR

Six months after it began, Mayor Bloomberg's campaign to stop the payment of Variable Supplements Fund benefits to current and retired uniformed workers appears to have failed.

No home-rule message has been introduced in the City Council, as would be required for the State Legislature to make the changes necessary to cancel the annual $12,000 checks. And with the Legislature's session close to an end, there is no sign that any Albany lawmaker is willing to introduce a bill.

INJUNCTIVE RELIEF FOR VICTIMS

2011-06-07T22:15:00.003-04:00

FDNY Racial Bias Trial Heads to Damages Phase
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The court found the city liable for disparate-impact discrimination in July 2009, and for engaging in a pattern or practice of intentional discrimination against black firefighter applicants by the following January.

The victims of the city's discrimination were divided between those who were not hired and those whose hirings were delayed.

A trial for injunctive relief for victims of the city's discrimination will begin on Aug. 1.

A bench trial on disputed issues related to back pay will begin on Aug. 8, and a third trial on noneconomic losses is slated for Aug. 15. Each trial will last less than a week.

DIVERSITY REFEREE ??

2011-06-07T14:15:00.004-04:00

NY Judge Weighs Referee in FDNY Diversity Case

A federal judge is thinking about appointing a referee to weigh claims of black and Hispanic applicants who claim New York City's Fire Dept. entrance exam discriminated against minorities. Each applicant could have a hearing under the proposal by Brooklyn Judge Nicholas Garaufis. The New York Post says that could further delay the long-running legal dispute. There could be thousands of claims.

The city is currently creating a new firefighter test that could be ready by December.

W T F ??

2011-06-03T21:20:00.010-04:00

THOUSAND POINTS OF RIGHT

W T F ?? The statements below, by Councilman Comrie, are among the most ignorant, idiotic and inane reasons for possible improvements or cures to FDNY diversity. The Vulcan Society of the FDNY should protect its current and future members from this measure, which will only result in the "dumbing-down" of the proud history of both the society and the FDNY.

Furthermore, Council Resolution Number 647 A does not specify if NYC High Schools include Catholic High Schools in NYC. It better ! jg

DIVERSITY AT WHAT PRICE ?

2011-06-03T21:18:00.003-04:00

Make FDNY Diverse: Council
(Click Here for Entire Article)

City Hall last week backed a bill sponsored by City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) to bring more diversity to New York’s Bravest.

Under the bill, New York City high school graduates and city GED recipients would receive five credit points for their test to be firefighters. Currently the Fire Department only gives extra points to city residents, regardless of their academic background.

Comrie said drives to recruit more minorities were made in the 1990s, but that still did not do anything to make the FDNY more diverse. Comrie added that the number of black firefighters has declined nearly 6 percent over the last two decades.

Aside from making the force more diverse, Comrie said the added points would help the FDNY save lives more efficiently. “Living in New York City and attending high school within the five boroughs helps individuals familiarize themselves with, among other things, the city’s neighborhoods, topography, infrastructure and layout,” he said.

POLICE & FIRE PENSION COSTS TO DECREASE

2011-06-03T21:15:00.000-04:00

NYC pension costs to peak in 2016
(Click Here for Entire Article)

NYC Pension Cost Projections through 2060, found the long-term decline in pension costs is primarily due to the introduction of new, less expensive benefit plans that took effect between 1995 and 2009.

The increase in pension cost through 2016 would not be materially impacted by new benefit changes or tiers that are applicable only to new employees, it added.

Police and Fire pension funds will experience the most significant costs decreases over the next 30 years, it said. Police will decrease from 65.1% of salary in FY 2010 to between 39.2% and 33.4% of salary in FY 2040. Fire will decrease from 83.1% of salary in FY 2010 to between 46.6% and 41.5% of salary in FY 2040.

This study demonstrates that, over the long-term, New York City's pension funds provide a secure retirement for firefighters, police officers, teachers, and other City employees at a reasonable cost to taxpayers.

VSF ON 'HIT LIST' ??

2011-05-22T21:00:00.001-04:00

Gov. Cuomo owes it to the taxpayers not to falter on the path toward historic pension reforms
(Click Here for Entire Article)

High on the list, Cuomo must:

Propose giving future staffers the option of enrolling in a traditional pension plan or in a 401(k)-style retirement savings account.

Fashion a package that would also place incoming New York City and transit authority workers into equally economical benefit plans.

Enable City Hall to scale back or eliminate the extra payouts to retired police and firefighters known as the variable supplement fund.

Bringing those numbers under control will unfortunately take years, because the benefits of current workers, no matter how overgenerous, are constitutionally untouchable. Any reforms would apply only to newly hired workers.

--------------------------------------------

NOTE: VSF (Defined Benefit) is NOT Constitutionally protected

FCC - 2 SPEEDS - SLOW & STOP

2011-05-22T20:33:00.003-04:00

How Disaster Strikes Slowly
(Click Here for Entire Article)

When the World Trade Center in New York City was attacked, the Fire Department and Police Department had radio systems that were incompatible with each other. They could not coordinate their responses as the buildings were evacuated.

Though the 1993 attack failed, it brought new attention and concern to an issue that had plagued emergency services since the invention of radio. Police and fire fighters complained about their radio snafu, and the city government procured a new system—which did not work. By Sept. 11, 2001, both departments were back to using their old systems—UHF radios for the police and VHF for the Fire Department.

A digital broadband wireless network would be a big step forward. According to the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee, fire fighters would receive floor plans before entering burning buildings. Police on a call would receive current records about previous arrests, warrants, firearms licenses and protection orders pertaining to the address before they knock on the door. They might even be able to talk to each other.

The committee would like to allocate 10 megahertz of radio spectrum to public safety radio networking and order the Federal Communications Commission to "ensure nationwide operability and build-out." Unfortunately, the FCC is an agency that is up to speed on only one thing, and that's delay.

PROPOSED FIREHOUSE CLOSURES

2011-05-18T12:04:00.000-04:00

City Releases List of 20 Targeted FDNY Companies
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The list of proposed closures are:

E004 42 South St. Manhattan
E026 220 West 37th St. Manhattan
E046 460 Cross Bronx Expwy. Bronx
E060 341 East 143rd St. Bronx
E157 1573 Castleton Ave. Staten Island
E161 278 McClean Ave. Staten Island
E205 74 Middagh St. Brooklyn
E206 1201 Grand St. Brooklyn
E218 650 Hart St. Brooklyn
E220 530 11th St. Brooklyn
E233 25 Rockaway Ave. Brooklyn
E284 1157 79th St. Brooklyn
E294 101-20 Jamaica Ave. Queens
E306 40-18 214th Place Queens
E328 16-19 Central Ave. Queens
L008 14 North Moore St. Manhattan
L053 169 Schofield Ave. Bronx
L104 161 South 2nd St. Brooklyn
L128 33-51 Greenpoint Ave. Queens
L161 2929 W 8th St. Brooklyn

6,000 POINTS OF LEFT

2011-05-13T14:24:00.000-04:00

Court: Chicago must hire 111 black firefighters
(Click Here for Entire Article)

A federal appeals court ruled that the Chicago Fire Department must hire 111 African Americans who passed a firefighters entrance exam 16 years ago and pay millions of dollars to thousands more who took and passed the same test.

An attorney for the black firefighter candidates said that the 111 jobs would be filled from the applicants who passed the 1995 test and their pensions would be adjusted as if they'd been firefighters since 1995. And, said Joshua Karsh, 6,000 others who also passed the test will divide "tens of millions of dollars" that would have been paid 111 firefighters from 1995 until today.

-----------------------------------------------------------

THOUSAND POINTS of RIGHT

What ever happened to Investigative Background Checks ??? The Chicago 6,000 might be whittled down to "THE CHICAGO 7" ! WTF ??

WHY NOT CALL A SPADE - 'A SPADE'

2011-05-12T15:13:00.000-04:00

NYPD arrests 2 Queens [MUSLIM] terror suspects
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Two anti-Semitic "lone wolves" planned to dress up as Hasidic Jews and slaughter worshipers at city synagogues - after selling guns and drugs to finance the diabolical plot, cops said.

Details of the mission were revealed Thursday after the Queens duo - whom neighbors called knuckleheads - were charged with terrorism and hate crimes. Neighbors wondered if the men were serious - or capable of causing such mayhem. "There's no way they could be terrorists. They are too stupid."

-------------------------------------------------------------

THOUSAND POINTS OF RIGHT

Why didn't the Daily News Headline identify the terrorists as MUSLIMS ?? Evidently the MUSLIMS weren't STUPID or KNUCKLEHEADS, as they were not going to Blow-Up themselves. It could be they deduced (on their own) that 72 Virgins wouldn't be waiting for them. Who knows ??

THERE SHE BLOW$

2011-05-07T16:14:00.000-04:00

Bloomberg Offers $65.7 Billion NYC Budget
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The mayor used $3.2 billion in surpluses saved in past years to prepay 2012 expenses and to make up for $3 billion less in state and federal aid. The reserves weren’t enough to stave off the 8 percent reduction in city’s 75,000 teachers, including about 4,000 who face dismissal, Bloomberg said.

While the surplus helped avert deeper service cuts this year, such reserves won’t be available when the city faces budget deficits of approximately $4.8 billion in fiscal 2013, $5.1 billion in 2014 and $5.3 billion in 2015, Bloomberg said.

He called on the Legislature to enact new pension laws that would permit the city to negotiate benefit terms directly with unions, without state approval. New employees should be required to contribute to their retirement benefits, and to work until 65 before receiving a full pension, the mayor said.

----------------------------------------

THOUSAND POINTS OF RIGHT

Well, if there was actually any moneys left in the Retirees' Health Care Reserve Fund... It's 3 Sheets to the Wind. There She Blow$ !!

HI HO SILVER, AWAY !

2011-05-05T15:00:00.000-04:00

Station’s Lone Black Firefighter, Off Duty, Is Not Allowed at Obama’s Visit
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The Lone Black Firefighter attached to the Midtown firehouse visited by President Obama on Thursday was not allowed to be there during the event because he was not officially on duty, a decision that drew criticism from the Vulcan Society, an organization of black firefighters.

Besides the Lone Black Firefighter, more than 30 other firefighters who were off duty on Thursday also did not receive permission to attend.

The Lone Black Firefighter said he had met Mr. Obama twice before when he was assigned to be on the department’s standby team for presidential visits.

-----------------------------------------------

THOUSAND POINTS OF RIGHT

Ah, what's the use ? When the Vulcan Society gets involved, it's all about discrimination. A Fair & Balanced reporter for The NY Slimes would have asked how this Lone Black Firefighter was chosen to be on the "Department's Standby Team for Presidential Visits?" Then a good follow-up question would have been... How many firefighters from his house are also on the "Standby Team" and finally, how many firefighters from his house have met the President twice before ?? WTF ?? Hi Ho Silver, Away !

TWO OF A SPECIAL KIND

2011-05-03T10:24:00.002-04:00

NYC Firefighters Temper Excitement Over Bin Laden Death
(Click Here)

Dan McDonough retired two years before the attack on the World Trade Center but was close to many firefighters who lost their lives, including eight from his former company.

"Of the 343 firefighters that passed away, I participated in probably 400," said former firefighter Minogue, who added that the number of funerals exceeded the death toll because for some, they held memorials, then funerals after bodies or parts were found.

"Initially everybody was really happy but those who actually survived the attacks and lost people there, the happy emotion was short-lived because it brings back all the terrible thoughts of that day," said McDonough. "When they bombed us, they were dancing in the streets. Now we're dancing in the streets. That kind of worries us, what happens next? When's this going to end?"

ALL IAFF POLITICS IS LOCO

2011-04-27T15:54:00.000-04:00

IAFF goes LOCAL, ends donations to federal candidates
(Click Here for Entire Article)

To be sure, there will be residual benefits to federal candidates from labor's intensified efforts, and the national firefighters union's decision won't preclude local chapters from engaging in federal races either through donations or voter turnout operations.

The IAFF spent nearly $15 million in the 2010 midterms on behalf of federal candidates, both Democrats and Republicans.

Union members vote disproportionately for Democrats. So, while a candidate or party committee may not receive a direct donation, they are likely to benefit from an uptick in political participation by labor supporters motivated by local or state issues.

THOUSAND POINTS of RIGHT

2011-04-26T13:16:00.012-04:00

VSF For ALL ? COAAP ?

INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW:

The below Web-site is of extreme interest. It has been recently updated and the amount of information is remarkable. If you are not inclined to digest the information, please pass it on to those with Inquiring Minds. jg

VSF4ALL
(Click Here)

.................................................................................

THOUSAND POINTS OF RIGHT !

Disability Retirees Beware !

A Debt Crisis is on the horizon. The stock market is probably in for another hit. Over 50% of Americans do not pay any taxes. Even by increasing taxes on the 'so called' rich, isn't enough to substantially reduce our $14 Trillion debt. So what is the answer ? The answer that seems to be taking hold is a National Sales Tax, Consumption Tax, Fair Tax, Flat Tax... Take your choice.

What does this have to do with Disability Retirees, you might ask? Well, the IRS, as we know it, would be disolved and ALL Americans would pay TAXES on products they purchase, or ALL Americans would pay a FLAT TAX or FAIR TAX. No matter how you look at it, YOU will be paying approximately a 20% FEDERAL TAX on purchases (Not to mention State and Local Taxes).

Ask your Unions... NOW... What would be the affect on a current Tax Exempt LOD Disability Pension, if any of the above Taxes would take the place of the current Tax Statutes/IRS ?? It seems that the ONLY worrisome issue for the Unions is the possibility of losing the VSF. Of course, NO Firefighter would want to see that happen BUT would ALL Firefighters (Active & Former Active) be Up-In-Arms if LOD Disability Retirees effectively lost their Tax Exemption ?? ASK NOW !!

We all witnessed a terrible split among Former Active Firefighters (FAF), when a large group of Service Retirees (COAAP) collected moneys, hired attorneys and actually filed an Amicus Curiae (Friend of the Court brief) to the U.S. Supreme Court, in order to prevent LODD Retirees from rightfully participating in the VSF.

This is mentioned, only because RUMORS have now been circulating that some of these same COAAP-sters are purposely being very quiet about those with less than 20 years on the job and the Unborn possibly losing the VSF. WHY ? Well, RUMOR has it, it's because they are now getting along in age and won't be collecting the yearly VSF for much longer. That being said... If the VSF was to be lost to the categories mentioned above, then those currently receiving the VSF could possibly Divide the Spoils... Maybe $200,000.00 each. OUCH ! Could this be true ? No wonder why the COAAP-sters are LYING low.

2011-04-22T10:50:00.000-04:00

9/11 Responders To Be Warned They Will Be Screened By FBI's Terrorism Watch List
(Click Here)

A provision in the new 9/11 health bill may be adding insult to injury for people who fell sick after their service in the aftermath of the 2001 Al Qaeda attacks.

As doctors and administrators begin acting on the federal instructions, participants in the 9/11 treatment and monitoring programs will soon be told that their names, places of birth, addresses, government ID numbers and other personal data will be provided to the FBI to ensure they are not terrorists.

Any of the responders who are not compared to the database of suspected terrorists would be barred from getting treatment for the numerous, worsening ailments that the James Zadroga 9/11 Health And Compensation Law was passed to address.

FDNY DISABILITY CLAIMS

2011-04-19T22:28:00.000-04:00

FDNY prepares report on 9/11 disability claims
(Click Here)

The numbers explain the drastic increase in the amount of money the city has doled out in pensions since the catastrophe.

The report compares the rate of "accidental disability retirements" among firefighters during the seven years prior to the World Trade Center attacks and the seven years following.

In the prior seven years, 3,261 firefighters retired. Nearly half, or 1,571, left under the condition of accidental disability, which refers to on-the-job injuries and illnesses.

In the seven years after 9/11, the FDNY had 4,502 retirements — 66 percent of which, or 2,970, were classified as accidental disability.

Of that 66 percent, 1,402 were associated with Sept. 11 ailments.

REAL TIME

2011-04-19T10:51:00.000-04:00

New York City delivers mobility in a carrier-free world
(Click Here)

The New York City Wireless Network, or NYCWiN for short, was officially launched in May 2009 and now has more than 380 radio sites installed (mostly on rooftops) throughout all of the city's five boroughs. The city claims 99% reliable coverage on the simulcast network

With the New York City Fire Department, one of the goals of NYCWiN is to merge the world between broadband and point-to-point radio communications.

All of the information from the ground is transmitted in real time, streaming to others in the field or in stations while all emergency calls are stored on the city's servers.

“We're now monitoring fire ground communication point to point,” Harte said. “It's something we're proud of.” Firefighters can listen to the event in real time without having to be within reach of radio traffic and commanders can determine the severity of the incident before deploying additional resources.

CONSTITUTION PROTECTS BENEFITS

2011-04-13T10:16:00.001-04:00

Taxpayers foot $850M bill for Wall St.’s pension fees
(Click Here)

New York City taxpayers are helping to pay $850 million in Wall Street investment fees — even as these financial gurus have produced only meager results for strapped city and state pension funds.

City Comptroller John Liu this week released a comprehensive analysis of NYC pension costs over the past decade, revealing why they have risen from $1.2 billion to $7.7 billion.

Liu said one of the major factors in the shortfall was higher than expected investment and administrative fees, which were $71 million in 2005, and have risen more than four-fold to $313 million.

These higher fees aren’t paying off. The City pensions saw annual returns for the last five years of a meager 2.8 percent.

But, with the target return at 8 percent — which is more a political than fiscal decision — taxpayers are forced to make up the shortfall.

But pension beneficiaries are protected by the state constitution’s impairment clause, which does not allow for diminished benefits, even for budgetary needs.

The pensions have a guaranteed return of either 7.5 or 8 percent a year, and any shortfall must be made up by taxpayers

RADIOS: 10 YEARS LATER

2011-04-12T20:56:00.005-04:00

Sen. Gillibrand, Commissioner Kelly Want Wireless Network For First Responders
(Click Here for Entire Article)

New York City acted to improve coordination between the police and fire departments after the 2001 terror attacks, but Gillibrand and Kelly said the Police Department still needs a broadband network that would allow it to communicate with other agencies, including federal law enforcement.

“We must ensure that our officers, firefighters and emergency workers can effectively communicate with one another during a real time of national crisis,” Gillibrand said. “It’s time to bring our first responder technology into the 21st century.”

Gillibrand was a co-sponsor of a bill that would reserve part of the radio spectrum for first responders. She and Kelly were urging Congress to pass the bill before the 10th anniversary of the attacks this Sept. 11.

NYPD RADIOS

2011-04-12T20:44:00.005-04:00

NYPD Radios Still Don’t Work In Subway System
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Interference and underground reception issues are among the things preventing many of the radios used by street cops from working in the subways.

A company working on the project said they’re still waiting for the go-ahead for the upgrades that are needed to make this $144-million system work. The MTA says the NYPD is still evaluating proposed solutions. Meanwhile, transit bureau cops and the FDNY are using the new system that allows them to communicate with each other underground.

LIU HAS DIFFERENT VIEW

2011-04-07T10:44:00.001-04:00

City comptroller fires pension salvo at mayor
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Michael Bloomberg and one of his most vocal critics, City Comptroller John Liu, agree on one thing: The city’s pension costs have skyrocketed about 400% in the past decade. But what caused the increase is of less importance at this point. Since both sides agree that costs have indeed skyrocketed, the question becomes how to pay for pensions.

The year 2000 is an important benchmark because that is when significant benefit enhancements were passed that would eventually cost the city $12.6 billion—or 40% of the cost increase—over the decade. The changes gave retirees cost-of-living increases. Certain employees were given benefit bumps and many were allowed to stop paying into the fund from their paychecks after 10 years. Police and fire pension funds were allowed to put more of their overtime costs toward calculating their benefits.

The mayor, for instance, has proposed a change in state law to allow him to reduce a $12,000 “bonus” to retired uniformed workers that costs the city an additional $600 million annually. Mr. Bloomberg also wants to be able to negotiate pensions directly with unions. Currently, pension benefits are set by the state. Presumably, Mr. Bloomberg would attempt to negotiate cheaper benefits for future retirees.

OBAMA AND SHARPTON - WHO'S NEXT??

2011-04-06T07:25:00.003-04:00

President Obama looks to Rev. Al Sharpton for help in 2012 reelection bid

-----------------------------------------

THOUSAND POINTS OF RIGHT

If the above headline isn't enough for pabulum puking union liberals to see the Big Picture, then we can be sure that No-Bama will be re-elected ! The Rev. Sharpton will be taking time-out from Ambulance Chasing and being on the Wrong Side of the Truth (Tawana), in order to assist in President Obama's re-election bid. Will Rev. (Ransom) Jackson take time-out from threatening large corporations, in order to campaign for Obama ? Will Rev. Wright (Wrong) ask for forgiveness from The Anointed One and change his Racist Tune ? Who knows ?

BUT one thing is for SURE... The AFL-CIO, SEIU and the IAFF (Headed by Shaitberger who donated over $12M last year, in campaign contributions), will be trying to ensure 4 more years of ineptitude, corruption and failure !

THE ZADROGA ACT

2011-04-05T20:43:00.000-04:00

Recognizing Health and Compensation for 9/11 Recovery Workers
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Injuries from the polluted air and toxic chemical exposure have been related to a number of respiratory and gastrointestinal system conditions, including:

- Cancer, such as leukemia, sarcoma, lymphoma, mesothelioma
- Asthma and chronic cough (dubbed "World Trade Center cough")
- Lung disease and lung cancer - Sarcoidosis in the lungs - Silicosis
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

If you have suffered injury as a result to toxin exposure at Ground Zero, you may be entitled to money under the Zadroga Act -- even if you received previous compensation from insurance, workers' compensation or a lawsuit.

For help filing a claim for compensation under the Zadroga Act contact a New York attorney experienced in helping injured recovery workers and victims' families following the 9/11 attack.

SILVER COULD BE VERY COSTLY

2011-04-04T21:08:00.001-04:00

Bloomberg's claim that tight, new budget will be cause of potential teacher cuts isn't true
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Silver says Hizzoner's claims that the new state budget cuts will lead to city teacher layoffs is pure fiction.

Like Gov. Cuomo, Silver said the city has enough "rainy day" reserves that can be used to make up for cuts from the state budget. "It's raining in New York," Silver said.

"It's been raining now for two years and whatever you have put aside, now is the time to use it. These are the days that they were put aside for."

---------------------------------------------------

THOUSAND POINTS OF RIGHT

Here goes the remainder of the Retirees Health Care - Lock Box - which has been used to balance both the 2010 and 2011 NYC Budgets.

STEP INCREASES

2011-04-03T10:02:00.000-04:00

A Ruling for Buffalo
(Click Here)

Court makes the right decision in blocking workers' step increases

The City of Buffalo finally caught a break in labor disputes, as the state's highest court ruled that city and school district employees are not entitled to step increases lost during the city's 38-month wage freeze.

This is big. Really big.

STATE READY TO PAY 'STEP HIKES

2011-04-01T18:58:00.005-04:00

50,000 State Workers to Get Increases as Contracts Expire
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Andrew Cuomo earlier said he wanted to negotiate away the step increases, which go into effect on Friday. Stopping the raises, as well as longevity bonuses between $1,250 and $2,500 for more than 30,000 [STATE] employees, would have been difficult: They're long-standing elements of the union contracts.

Under the state's Triborough Amendment, the payments remain in place even after a contract expires.

Under the step system, State employees begin at a "hiring rate" and get increases for seven years until they hit the "job rate," or top of the pay scale. Then there is longevity pay after five and 10 years. The increases will cost a total of $140 million.

WAGE FREEZE & 'LONGEVITY STEPS' [???]

2011-03-30T19:51:00.007-04:00

Court Ruling Will Save Buffalo Taxpayers Over $100 Million
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The state's highest court, the Court Of Appeals on Tuesday denied Buffalo firefighters, police officers and teachers back pay from a period during which Buffalo's Control Board had imposed a wage freeze on all city workers. The wage freeze ran from 2004-2007.

Tuesday's decision is the latest in a three year legal battle between the city and its unions over the disputed money, which revolves around automatic increases in pay called longevity steps.

The yearly steps that the union members will not receive could cost them tens of thousands of dollars over the course of their careers.

NEW YORK'S WHITEST

2011-03-29T11:38:00.001-04:00

The Obama Administration's Dangerous Demands for the FDNY

I thought this PJTV Video:"New York's Whitest? The Obama Administration's Dangerous Demands for the FDNY" was interesting and hope you do too.

NEW YORK'S WHITEST
(Click Here) Click Back Arrow < (Top Left of Page) to return to Site

STATE BUDGET MEANS MORE NYC CUTS

2011-03-29T11:37:00.004-04:00

Bloomberg says state budget means more NYC cuts
(Click Here for Entire Article)

City officials say they've already used projected tax revenue to close anticipated budget gaps. A $300 million reserve is required by law and can't be used to fund programs, the city says, and a $2 billion reserve to pay for retiree health care has already been drained too far, city budget director Mark Page has said.

The Mayor said the city would continue to push state legislators to remove teacher seniority protections and allow the city to negotiate future pension terms with its workers

New York City had already asked its agencies to propose cuts of between 2 and 4 percent to their budgets in case the mayor's budget demands were not met in Albany.

City budget officials have begun reviewing the suggestions, and some of the additional cuts will be included in the mayor's next budget proposal, Bloomberg's office said.

DEEPER CUTS TO NYC SERVICES

2011-03-27T11:26:00.003-04:00

Proposed Deeper Cuts To New York Services A Mere Beginning
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The proposals for this year include making up shortfalls in the budget by putting thousands of teachers in the city out of work as well as reducing library hours and closing some fire stations. The Financial Control Board warned New Yorkers that around $1 billion in additional budget cuts would be necessary in next years budget.

City Hall has stated that costs such as health care, pension contributions, debt service and court settlements and judgments are predicted to grow annually by eight percent.

NEW YORK CITY vs. NEW YORK STATE

2011-03-25T00:16:00.004-04:00

N.Y.C. vs. N.Y.S., the Pension Battle
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The city negotiates wages and health benefits directly with its employees’ unions. The way it usually works, the mayor negotiates a pension deal, which state lawmakers approve and then later “sweeten” for their friends in the unions. Legislators have been even more generous to city employees because the city, not the state, pays for their generosity.

The city’s contributions to the pension fund — for 293,000 employees and about 235,000 retirees — have risen from $1.5 billion in 2001 to an estimated $8.4 billion next year. Payouts to retirees have nearly doubled from $6.6 billion in 2002 to more than $11 billion this year. City officials estimate that from 1996 to 2009, the Legislature has added $1.7 billion to the city’s annual pension benefits. The costs would be even higher if governors had not vetoed hundreds of other sweeteners.

Under the state’s Constitution, previously approved pension deals cannot be renegotiated. But with control, Mr. Bloomberg could immediately — without negotiations — cancel year-end bonuses for new retirees at a savings of $200 million in this next fiscal year. He also wants to negotiate new pension tiers for newly hired workers. The mayor’s budget experts estimate their proposal could save $1 billion over the next eight years in pension costs.

In 2000, an election year, the Legislature agreed to annual cost-of-living increases for retirees that currently mean an additional $696 million annual payout. A second law that same year cost $406 million annually. That law allowed many police officers and firefighters to calculate their pensions based on their final year’s earnings — including sudden, last-minute bursts of overtime — instead of the average of their earnings in their final three years. The law also forced the city to double its share of extra pension contributions for the uniforms from 2.5 percent to 5 percent.

The mayor is calling for a tough new tier for new uniformed employees — police, fire and sanitation workers. And he wants to end the “heart bills” and cancel those year-end bonuses — currently worth up to $12,000 — for new retirees. Overtime would not count toward the final salary calculation, and pensions would be based on an average of the last three years of salary, with overtime no longer included.

AND THEN THERE WERE 344

2011-03-12T01:12:00.002-05:00

City Agrees to List Retired Firefighter Capt. James Corrigan's Name on WTC Memorial
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Corrigan, 60, retired from the FDNY in 1994 and was working as a life safety coordinator for Silverstein Properties when he died helping firefighters evacuate a day-care center in the towers.

On July 26, 2010, a Queens judge sided with his widow, saying there was "no rational basis" for keeping the 30-year-veteran's name from appearing beside fellow firefighters.

A day later, Mayor Bloomberg vowed to fight Justice Augustus Agate's decision in an appeal. "The Fire Department has a reasonable decision they made a long time ago," Bloomberg said. "You had to have been an on-duty fireman, an active firefighter or officer, to be included."

SLICING THE FDNY

2011-03-11T19:42:00.002-05:00

Slicing the Fire Department
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Unlike the Police Department, which has been held relatively harmless during the administration's nine rounds of budget cuts, the Fire Department has been repeatedly targeted.

Last year, Bloomberg threatened to shutter 20 companies at night. At the time, when asked if he thought the Fire Department was too large, the mayor said: "The way the Fire Department works is fundamentally if you want to cut back, you have to close companies. It's one of these things, you can never have too much, but I can tell you we can't afford much."

Not since the 1970s has the department been under such heavy fire. Then the city shuttered 16 fire companies and lost approximately 2,000 firefighters.

So far the cuts in mass have never materialized. For the past three years in a row, the City Council has used its discretionary funding to stave off company closures.

Even though the department had a record year in 2010, the type of calls it responds to has changed drastically over the years.

In the 1970s, the men in yellow and black were kept busy hosing down blazes in the Bronx (the department responded to 56,810 structural fires in 1976). Last year, the department responded to less than half that number. In 1976, FDNY rushed to more than 96,000 non-structural fires. Last year, it went to just over 18,000.

Since Bloomberg's first budget proposal in 2002, the Fire Department's budget has increased by more than 50 percent. During that same time period, the Police Department's budget -- which has always been almost three times the size of the FDNY's -- grew by 37 percent.

Bloomberg administration officials attribute increased cost in uniformed services to the rising cost of health care and pension benefits. Those services are taking a larger portion of the budget and forcing the city to reduce services.

At the City Council, which has to approve a final budget, Crowley said they are not willing to sustain any cuts to the FDNY. She said the council will push the administration to weed out unnecessary overtime costs -- costs she said are double the $55 million the city would save closing companies.

"RETIREE LOSSES W/O REPRESENTATION IS TYRANNY"

2011-03-09T00:12:00.007-05:00

Mayor Looking to Roll Back Health Care For Workers and Retirees
(The Chief 3-08-11)

The Bloomberg administration Feb. 28 presented the Municipal Labor Committee with a list of health-benefit-reduction proposals including initiating employee contribution to plans, the eliminating of Medicare Part B reimbursements for retirees, and requiring 20 years of service to vest into retiree health benefits.

The administration's list of "concepts" has five aims: to implement co-premiums on all basic plans, requiring employee contributions for the currently free Group Health Incorporated option; to establish co-payments and deductibles under the HIP-HMO plan; to eliminate Medicare Part B for all retirees; to eliminate the city's annual $35-million contribution to the Health Insurance Stabilization Fund; and to require 20 years of credited service to have health benefits vest as a retiree.

District Council 37 Retirees Association President Stu Leibowitz said in a phone interview that the demands "are not inconsistent with where they've been coming from for the last few years. The Mayor wants to pick on retirees, whom he considers a very vulnerable part of the population. He feels he can afford to make an example of the retirees, and he's unfortunately informed by this hysterical climate that says retirees receive too much."

He added, "To single out this population, to me it's heartless and unfair. In order to do it he would have to change the city Administrative Code, because health benefits for retirees are not covered by collective bargaining." All of the changes would require legislative action, either in the State Legislature or the City Council

"FIREHOUSE FLUNKIES"

2011-03-07T22:56:00.002-05:00

Justice Department Puts Political Correctness Over Safety
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.’s obsession with racial grievance-mongering could get Americans burnt to a crisp in their own homes. That’s because his Justice Department is trying to force the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) to hire flunkies who got 70 percent wrong on a basic, fire-related multiple-choice, open-book test.

On Feb. 28, Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, submitted a proposed order for damages for rejected applicants who scored 25 or higher on the 85-question exams. New York’s taxpayers would be forced to pay compensation to the flunkies to make up for years of seniority supposedly lost when the city chose not to hire them. Minority rejects also would receive seniority over firemen who had been working all the while.

FDNY is a justly proud organization which lost 343 heroic firemen saving lives during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. By promoting race over ability, the Justice Department is undermining the fire department’s ability to do its job, which puts lives in danger.

TENS OF MILLIONS OF INFIDELS SUPPORT KING

2011-03-06T15:26:00.003-05:00

Rep. King is feeling heat over Muslim hearings - protests, twitter campaign planned by celebs
(Click Here)

Sean ( P-Diddy) Combs, Kim Kardashian and others will tweet the slogan with the hashtag #mar6.

"The idea of those people Tweeting "I am a Muslim, Too'' is huge, Simmons said. "Tens of millions of Americans will know we stand with Muslims."

Rep. King (R-L.I.) will hold hearings next Friday to "raise awareness of the radical threat within the United States coming from within the Muslim community."

"I'm not going to give in to political correctness," King said. "I don't care how many celebrities he gets."

Judge (Liver Lips) Playing Haberdasher

2011-03-06T14:33:00.005-05:00

Judge Garaufis' mob 'ties'
(Click Here)

Taking time off from crippling New York’s Fire Department, federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis lately has been playing haberdasher to a mobster. It’s bad enough that Garaufis tears the shirt off his back to accommodate the sartorial desires of such as Basciano, convicted in 2007 for murdering a gangland rival. But what’s worse is the utterly hostile manner in which he treats upright citizens who come before his bench.

Case in point: Garaufis has done untold damage to the FDNY by seeking to impose racial-hiring quotas and dictate the exact racial makeup of its new recruits. To that end, he’s blocked the FDNY from hiring new classes of rookie firefighters, burdening veterans and costing the city millions in overtime pay.

What it adds up to: Garaufis has a special place in his heart for killers convicted in his own courtroom. The FDNY? Not so much.

PENSION REFORM ??

2011-03-06T10:56:00.002-05:00

Time is Ripe for Pension Reform
(Click Here)

While unions in the Cheese State are fighting to keep their Legislature from usurping their bargaining rights, in New York, they have long done the opposite. This has paid off handsomely for the unions, as our Legislature has awarded them all sorts of benefits. These sweeteners, as they are known, have helped drive up costs for localities large and small, including New York City.

Like sugar in batter, pension sweeteners, once added, are virtually impossible to remove. But the Legislature can change the recipe that has proved rather unhealthful for New York's taxpayers.

The state government need not create a new tier for New York City. Instead, it should grant the mayor the right to negotiate one with its unions. Mayor Michael Bloomberg is lobbying for this power, and he wants to collectively bargain on other parts of city employees' compensation packages as well. For us, the question is who should be responsible for the city's finances. The answer is obvious: the mayor.

Voters should be able to hold accountable the elected officials who negotiate public workers' entire compensation packages. If Mr. Bloomberg is given this authority, he should drive harder bargains with the unions than he has in the past, when he handed out raises that were roughly twice the rate of inflation. The contracts he signed have played no small role in driving the city's pension costs from $1.5 billion in 2002 to a projected $8.4 billion next year.

--------------------------------------------------

Thousand Points of Right

Hmmm? Don't remember Former Active Firefighters (FAF's) doing too well since 2002. In fact, we passively lost benefits. As FAF's know, the unions CAN NOT negotiate for Retirees but it seems that some "Hard Won" benefits are allowed to slip, slide away ! jg

COPS & FIREMEN vs TEACHERS ?

2011-03-02T22:02:00.003-05:00

Cops vs Teachers: Who's Worth More in Tight Times?
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Are some public-sector workers more equal than others? Are cops and firemen more deserving of public money? The general public, some elected officials—and more than a few cops and firefighters—seem to think so.

As the war over public sector workers' rights and perquisites spreads from Wisconsin into Ohio, Tennessee, California and other states, public opinion favors firefighters most.

A Harris Poll conducted in July of 2009 asked which of 23 vocations people respected most. Firefighters ranked #1, and by a big margin, coming out ahead of nurses, teachers, union leaders and even cops.

NYPD PENSION FUND OKs HEDGE STAKE

2011-03-02T22:00:00.000-05:00

NY City police pension fund OKs hedge fund stake
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The board of New York City's police pension fund has approved the first investment in a hedge fund by any of the city's pension funds. The hedge fund investment will diversify the police pension fund's assets. The Permal Group was chosen at a March 1 board meeting, but its selection still must be finalized.

New York City's five pension funds have an unfunded liability estimated at $76 billion to $122 billion, which puts more pressure on its investment managers.

The hedge fund allocation is expected to total $150 million -- a fairly small amount for the $23.1 billion police pension fund. Some of New York City's other pension funds are also exploring hedge fund investments.

CONTRACTS & FRINGE BENEFITS

2011-03-02T21:25:00.002-05:00

Mayor Backs Unions' Role
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The United Federation of Teacher's contract expired in the Fall of 2009. Bloomberg has to re-negotiate their renewal and all of the other city's major labor contracts. It's going to be those contracts and their fringe benefits that will really determine how much flexibility mayors that come after him are going to have as they try to face challenges as yet unknown.

Even before the Wisconsin flare-up over public unions, Bloomberg had started to shift from the aggressive stance he struck in his State of the City Address. For some time, he was describing a $12,000 annual payment paid to retired police and firefighters as an over-the-top "Christmas bonus." He has since dropped that reference.

In reality, it was what's called the supplemental variable annuity payment. It was the result of negotiations between the police and fire unions that went back decades. Under the city union deal, the city was given greater flexibility in how it invested pension funds as well as the chance to actually withdraw cash out to help with the city's budget.

FDNY GETS POOR MARKS

2011-02-26T18:32:00.002-05:00

Mayor's Report Gives FDNY Poor Marks

From response times to civilian fatalities, nearly every statistical measure examining the New York City Fire Department during a four-month snapshot at the beginning of the current fiscal year shows its performance worsening, a report released by City Hall on Friday revealed.

The Preliminary Mayor's Management Report—a 200-plus page compendium of statistics chronicling city government's performance between July 1 and Oct. 31, 2010—painted an ostensibly bleak picture of the FDNY

RIGHT TO WORK LEGISLATION

2011-02-25T17:51:00.004-05:00

Labor's Last Stand
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Gov. Scott Walker’s gambit has rightly elicited outrage, but considering the breadth of the attack unions are facing nationally, it is only the tip of the iceberg. Right-to-work legislation has been filed in twelve states; this is in addition to the twenty-two that already have such laws on the books. In technical terms, this legislation makes it illegal for employers to condition employment on union membership or the equivalent dues payments even when a majority of workers vote to form a union; practically speaking, it makes building and maintaining a strong union very difficult, which in turn makes it harder to organize new workplaces because there are few positive examples of unions to point to.

In Virginia, the corporations and right-wing ideologues decided that the existing right-to-work law wasn’t sufficient, and introduced a measure to embed the right-to-work provisions in the state Constitution. Three more states—Montana, Ohio and Wisconsin—are expected to have bills introduced converting their legal status to right-to-work.

WISCONSIN PUBLIC SCHOOL 8th GRADERS

2011-02-25T17:45:00.000-05:00

Two-Thirds of Wisconsin Public-School 8th Graders Can’t Read Proficiently
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Two-thirds of the eighth graders in Wisconsin public schools cannot read proficiently according to the U.S. Department of Education, despite the fact that Wisconsin spends more per pupil in its public schools than any other state in the Midwest.

In the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests administered by the U.S. Department of Education in 2009—the latest year available—only 32 percent of Wisconsin public-school eighth graders earned a “proficient” rating while another 2 percent earned an “advanced” rating. The other 66 percent of Wisconsin public-school eighth graders earned ratings below “proficient,” including 44 percent who earned a rating of “basic” and 22 percent who earned a rating of “below basic.”

ANDREW CUOMO & THE UNIONS

2011-02-25T17:30:00.002-05:00

Meanwhile in New York...
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The unions are watching what is happening in Wisconsin, and events there could make it harder for the unions to strike a deal with Mr Cuomo. The rank and file are deeply offended by the actions of Scott Walker. New York is generally pro-labor, with 24% of the state’s workforce unionised.

But unlike Mr Walker, pragmatic Mr Cuomo is sticking purely to finance, not ideology. And over in New Jersey, Mr Christie said in his own budget address this week that pension reform is neither a Republican nor a Democratic issue, but an issue of moral responsibility. “The day will come, mark my words,” he said, “when the pensioner will retire and there will be no pension…I am worried for the police officer. I am worried for the firefighter. I am worried for the schoolteacher.”

GOVERNMENT PENSIONS

2011-02-22T09:21:00.000-05:00

Government Pensions, an Obesity Epidemic
(Click Here for Entire Article)

In New York City, the No. 2 guy in the fire department retired on a pension worth $242,000 a year. In New York State, a single official holding two jobs and one pension took in $641,000. A lieutenant with the Port Authority police retired with an annual pension of $196,767, and 738 of the city's teachers, principals and such have pensions worth more than $100,000 a year. Their former employer, it goes almost without saying, is steamed. Their former employer is me.

These examples of pension obesity were culled from the local newspapers, which never fail to shock with revelations of how good life is for those who once worked for the city, the state or any one of several public agencies. In some cases, retirement came a mere 20 or so years after first reporting to HR and, if you were lucky enough to fake a disability - oh, my aching back! - the sky is virtually the limit. Fully one-third of all New York City cops who retired during a recent 17-month period did so on disability. They have dangerous jobs, we all know - but not nearly as dangerous as Long Island Rail Road workers. Almost all of them retired on disability. All aboard!

A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME...

2011-02-13T16:43:00.004-05:00

Call it a Bonus or Variable Supplement, $12,000 Annual Payment to Police and Fre Retirees Must Go
(Click Here for Entire NY Daily News Article)

Whether you label them bonuses, as Mayor Bloomberg does, or hard-bargained benefits, as the unions prefer, the payments are unaffordable at a time when retirement costs are breaking taxpayers' backs.

Bloomberg is pushing Albany for broad pension cutbacks. Among the changes, he would strip the $12,000 annual payouts from retired personnel and bar them from future retirees.

It's easy to see why. This is the rare retirement benefit not locked in by the state Constitution - and it costs the city hundreds of millions a year.

That said, the Legislature has no appetite for cutting payments to retirees who depend on them. And, in truth, it would be a harsh sacrifice to demand from a single segment of the workforce.

Clearly, though, lawmakers must stop these payouts for anyone hired from this day forward. And that must be a first step toward blowing up the whole unaffordable retirement system for government workers.

MAYOR vs. POLICE & FIRE UNIONS

2011-02-10T23:02:00.003-05:00

Showdown: Mayor vs. Police and Fire Unions
(Click Here for Entire NY Times - City Room - Article)

Buckle up, Fight Fans: A Bruiser is Brewing Downtown

In one corner, a three-term mayor battling out of a budget morass. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg says he is trying to provide services without raising taxes and wants to eliminate annual payments to retired police officers and firefighters to save $1 billion in costs.

In the other corner, the powerful leaders of the police and fire unions, representing a muscular cadre of members who view the longtime perquisite as a product of past collective bargaining sessions and an integral piece of their pension. Their mantra: A pension is forever.

What City Hall wants to take away is known as variable supplement funds, created under Mayor John V. Lindsay and dating back to 1968. Through complex investing strategies, the retirees get annual payments that are now fixed and have grown to $12,000 today from $2,500 in 1988.

They are a rare thing, these so-called VSF funds. Though they are theoretically tied to the overall New York City Employee Retirement System pension funds, they are a rare entity in the state and not a constitutionally protected pension benefit. Rather, they represent a sort of side payment set up by state statute, which is fundamentally why the Bloomberg administration has been so aggressive in singling out the money in them.

The mayor’s proposal, articulated at his State of the City address last month, requires passage by the State Legislature, but it is not clear if it requires a request from the City Council. The unions will take their fight to lawmakers next.

Many current and former officials say that Mr. Bloomberg’s moves deserve negotiation with the unions, considering that such benefits were hashed out over the negotiating table in the past.

The following excerpts from the decision by the state’s highest court in the case of DeLuca v. DeLuca:

The fund for police superior officers, “along with its counterpart for police officers below the rank of sergeant, the Police Officers’ Variable Supplements Fund (POVSF), were the result of contract negotiations between the City of New York and the unions representing police officers.”

Notwithstanding its ties to the pension system, the Legislature has declared that the PSOVSF, like the other variable funds, is not, and should not be construed to be a pension fund (see, Administrative Code of the City of NY § 13-279). In cases examining VSFs of various uniformed services, we have recognized that such funds do not violate the State Constitution’s pension-impairment clause (NY Const, art V, § 7).

And:

We conclude that VSF benefits are a supplement to pension fund payments and, as such, a form of compensation for past services related to the first 20 years of police employment, notwithstanding the date they mature.

VSF Not Protected by State Constitution?

2011-02-09T23:18:00.003-05:00

NYC Firefighters/Police Fight for $12,000 Payment
(Click Here for Entire Article)

(Reuters) - New York City's firefighters and police officers rallied on Wednesday to stop Mayor Michael Bloomberg from "stealing" a $12,000 a year payment for their retirees.

The yearly payment -- which is paid on top of regular pension benefits -- has become the flashpoint in a series of pension cuts Bloomberg unveiled last week

The payment's history, includes whether it ever allowed the city to earn a windfall from the stock market or whether a union benefit, once granted, can ever be taken away.

New York City is struggling under costly pensions granted unionized public workers. Many governors and mayors can only start curbing pensions for people yet to be hired because the current benefits are protected by statutes, union contracts or state constitutions.

The yearly payment is one of the very few pension benefits that is not protected by the state's constitution.

The state legislature might have to enact a law to cancel the annual payment. But it is not clear whether the Democratic-led Council would have to approve.

Hearts & Souls of Legislators

2011-02-07T19:47:00.003-05:00

PENSION COMMITTEE TO SAVE NEW YORK CITY
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Former Bloomberg campaign manager Bradley Tusk is taking on one of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's most pressing issues: pension reform.

Mr. Tusk will be working with former Mayor Edward Koch. Longtime Koch confidant Arnold Kriss, a former Brooklyn district attorney candidate, will provide legal advice. Mr. Kriss is counsel to Mr. Koch's NY Uprising, for which Mr. Tusk provided free consulting.

Mr. Kriss planned to file paperwork with the state by Monday to create a nonprofit advocacy group that will lead what Mr. Koch calls “a campaign to reach the hearts and souls of legislators.”

Mr. Koch believes that hand-wringing over pension reform's absence from the state budget is premature. “The governor is on our side, so far as we know,” he said. He added that public sentiment has shifted against public-sector unions since he was mayor in the 1980s.

Chickens Have Come Home To Roost

2011-02-06T11:58:00.003-05:00

Bloomberg's Rx for Pension Problems Won't Cure it for Long, Long Time
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/02/06/2011-02-06_future_can_wait_mike_union_pension_rx_little_help_now.html

"You could look back mayor after mayor, governor after governor, Legislature after Legislature, and see it's happened for a long time," said state Sen. Martin Golden (R-Brooklyn), head of the pensions committee. "The chickens have come home to roost."

For example, city workers' pensions will be based on the generous 4% pay raises Bloomberg approved when he was contemplating running for a third term - despite the looming recession.

And those $12,000 payments - which Bloomberg calls a holiday bonus - were negotiated by past mayors with unions in exchange for giving up other pension benefits.

Still, while unions are united in their fury now, they are watching their backs - in case some abandon solidarity to make early deals with Bloomberg in hopes of getting the best possible offer.

"There is, unfortunately, a very long history of cutting deals," said one union veteran. "I've been around for a very long time, and unfortunately it's a fact."

CUT VSF TO SAVE TEACHER JOBS

2011-02-05T22:25:00.004-05:00

How to Save 10,000 NYC teachers
By Azi Paybarah - WNYC - The Empire

Michael Bloomberg says the answer is to cut the $12,000 payment the city makes to retired firefighters and police officers.

“We need the governor to put it into the budget,” Bloomberg said this morning on WOR. “That would save 10,000 teacher jobs right there alone.”

The mayor is set to testify in Albany on Monday about the governor’s proposed budget. On February 17, the mayor will deliver his preliminary budget to city lawmakers.

VSF ON CHOPPING BLOCK

2011-02-03T08:40:00.003-05:00

Bloomberg Demands City-Union Pension Reforms
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Mayor Bloomberg threw down the gauntlet yesterday before the city's municipal labor unions, demanding massive, wide-reaching reforms in the pension system -- including a call to stop workers from racking up overtime just before retirement to pump up their taxpayer-funded nest eggs.

Labor leaders had been bracing for a pitched battle with Bloomberg, but what they didn't expect was the breadth of demanded givebacks.

Among the givebacks, extra $12,000 pension payments made each year to cops and firefighters would be eliminated, not only for future workers as proposed earlier but for everyone, including current retirees.

PROPOSED CUTS TO NY CITY PENSIONS

2011-02-02T22:14:00.002-05:00

NYC mayor proposes cuts to city worker pensions
(Click Here for Entire WSJ Article)

Bloomberg argues that he has no choice but to reduce pensions for future hires and cut the yearly payments for some retirees.

Future city police and firefighters could not boost their pensions by working overtime in their last years on the job under cuts proposed Wednesday by Mayor Bloomberg.

The proposal, subject to state lawmakers' approval, would eliminate a $12,000 yearly payment received by many current police and fire department retirees. Uniformed employees who work fewer than 22 years would have to wait until the age of 65 to collect their pensions. Bloomberg wants to be able to negotiate pension terms at the same time as salary and other benefits during collective bargaining.

THE CITY'S FISCAL CONDITION

2011-01-28T08:25:00.007-05:00

Bloomberg Takes Out a New Budget Playbook
(Click Here for Article)

The focus on cuts in education and human services next year looks premature in terms of the city's actual fiscal condition. According to the Independent Budget Office's December Fiscal Outlook, New York City is in surprisingly good shape. It has lost fewer jobs than projected, and increased city revenues, not acknowledged in the city's November plan, will add $525 million to the current fiscal year budget, $790 million in fiscal 2012, and an average of $2 billion in each of the following two years.

That helps create a $1.7 billion surplus this fiscal year and shrinks the city's projected budget deficit for 2012 to $1.1 billion -- a nominal figure at this date in a projected $67.5 billion budget. It also reduces the city's projected deficits for 2013 and 2014

After several years of annual 4 percent increases, the mayor drew a line in the sand and said the unions will self-fund any raises, through productivity savings and/or benefit concessions.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thousand Points of Right

The TIME is NOW for Former Active Firefighters to ORGANIZE and tell the CITY, The UNIONS and ALL NY STATE REPRESENTATIVES to LOOK ELSEWHERE, if they are even considering cutting ANY of OUR Benefits !

Former Active Firefighters MUST START to realize that they are NOT 'On the Job' anymore ! Retiree Newsletters are filled to the brim with reports of firehouse closings, manpower cuts, runs and workers, multi-alarm fires, etc. etc. When the HELL are FAF's going to realize that they are not supposed to be Re-active but PRO-ACTIVE, when it comes to protecting our hard won benefits and pensions ? It's time to really organize ALL 14,000 Former Active Firefighters and 30,000 Police Retirees BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE and FAFs have to see complaints in Retiree newsletters about how WE got screwed AGAIN. WTF ! jg

PS,

It was the $2.5 B that Bloomberg tucked away in a 'Lock Box' for RETIREE FUTURE HEALTH CARE COSTS, that he robbed in order to balance the 2010 and 2011 CITY BUDGET. Do you ever hear any complaints from the UNIONS OR RETIREE ORGANIZATIONS about that ? WTF ! jg

UNNECESSARY ALARM

2011-01-28T08:24:00.005-05:00

Center for Budget and Policy Priorities
(Click Here for Extensive Report)

Misunderstandings Regarding State Debt, Pensions, and Retiree Health Costs Create Unnecessary Alarm

PENSIONS:

States and localities devote an average of 3.8 percent of their operating budgets to pension funding. In most states, a modest increase in funding and/or sensible changes to pension eligibility and benefits should be sufficient to remedy underfunding.

States and localities have the next 30 years in which to remedy any pension shortfalls. As Alicia Munnell, an expert on these matters who directs the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, has explained, “even after the worst market crash in decades, state and local plans do not face an immediate liquidity crisis; most plans will be able to cover benefit payments for the next 15-20 years.” States and localities do not need to increase contributions immediately, and generally should not do so while the economy is still weak and they are struggling to provide basic services.

Some who argue that states and localities are in a crisis claim that they have large amounts of “hidden” debt in the form of underfunded pension funds. A figure of $3 trillion in pension underfunding is sometimes cited; other estimates place the underfunding at levels as low as about $700 billion, or less than a quarter of the $3 trillion figure. While some pension funds are indeed underfunded, there are a number of misconceptions about the extent and depth of the problem — and about states’ ability to resolve pension funding issues over time without disrupting their ability to continue public services.

RETIREE HEALTH BENEFITS:

While pension promises are legally binding, backed by explicit state constitutional guarantees in some states and protected by case law in others, retiree health benefits generally are not. States and localities generally are free to change any provisions of the plans or terminate them entirely. Estimates suggest that aggregate state and local unfunded liabilities for retiree health insurance are approximately $500 billion.

With health care costs projected to continue to grow faster than GDP and faster than state and local revenues, it is highly likely that current provisions for retiree health insurance will be scaled back. Many states are likely to decide that their plans are unaffordable.

This would be a good time for states and localities offering the more generous plans to decide whether they want to maintain and fund these liabilities, or whether they want to substantially reduce their liabilities by changing the provisions of their plans.

THE CITY'S FISCAL CONDITION

2011-01-28T00:40:00.000-05:00

Bloomberg Takes Out a New Budget Playbook
(Click Here For Entire Article)

The focus on cuts in education and human services next year looks premature in terms of the city's actual fiscal condition. According to the Independent Budget Office's December Fiscal Outlook, New York City is in surprisingly good shape. It has lost fewer jobs than projected, and increased city revenues, not acknowledged in the city's November plan, will add $525 million to the current fiscal year budget, $790 million in fiscal 2012, and an average of $2 billion in each of the following two years.

That helps create a $1.7 billion surplus this fiscal year and shrinks the city's projected budget deficit for 2012 to $1.1 billion -- a nominal figure at this date in a projected $67.5 billion budget. It also reduces the city's projected deficits for 2013 and 2014

After several years of annual 4 percent increases, the mayor drew a line in the sand and said the unions will self-fund any raises, through productivity savings and/or benefit concessions

CENTER FOR BUDGET & POLICY PRIORITIES

2011-01-28T00:39:00.002-05:00

Misunderstandings Regarding State Debt, Pensions, and Retiree Health Costs Create Unnecessary Alarm
(Click Here for Extensive Report)

PENSIONS:

States and localities devote an average of 3.8 percent of their operating budgets to pension funding. In most states, a modest increase in funding and/or sensible changes to pension eligibility and benefits should be sufficient to remedy underfunding.

States and localities have the next 30 years in which to remedy any pension shortfalls. As Alicia Munnell, an expert on these matters who directs the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, has explained, “even after the worst market crash in decades, state and local plans do not face an immediate liquidity crisis; most plans will be able to cover benefit payments for the next 15-20 years.” States and localities do not need to increase contributions immediately, and generally should not do so while the economy is still weak and they are struggling to provide basic services.

Some who argue that states and localities are in a crisis claim that they have large amounts of “hidden” debt in the form of underfunded pension funds. A figure of $3 trillion in pension underfunding is sometimes cited; other estimates place the underfunding at levels as low as about $700 billion, or less than a quarter of the $3 trillion figure. While some pension funds are indeed underfunded, there are a number of misconceptions about the extent and depth of the problem — and about states’ ability to resolve pension funding issues over time without disrupting their ability to continue public services.

RETIREE HEALTH BENEFITS:

While pension promises are legally binding, backed by explicit state constitutional guarantees in some states and protected by case law in others, retiree health benefits generally are not. States and localities generally are free to change any provisions of the plans or terminate them entirely. Estimates suggest that aggregate state and local unfunded liabilities for retiree health insurance are approximately $500 billion.

With health care costs projected to continue to grow faster than GDP and faster than state and local revenues, it is highly likely that current provisions for retiree health insurance will be scaled back. Many states are likely to decide that their plans are unaffordable.

This would be a good time for states and localities offering the more generous plans to decide whether they want to maintain and fund these liabilities, or whether they want to substantially reduce their liabilities by changing the provisions of their plans.

--------------------------------------------------------

PS,

HOPEFULLY 'FORMER ACTIVE' NYC FIREFIGHTERS' HEALTH BENEFITS ARE SAFE ! jg

GARAUFIS, KING, BLACK PANTHERS, ROBERTS

2011-01-24T21:25:00.003-05:00

IT JUST MIGHT BE
(Click Here for Entire Article)

It just might be they don't believe in color-blind civil rights enforcement. In a New York firefighter case: "Judge Garaufis is trying to impose quotas, and the Justice Department backs him. The lead Justice Department attorney in the FDNY case is Loretta King, who ordered the dismissal of most voter-intimidation charges against Black Panthers in Philadelphia and who is hip-deep in other race-based legal controversies."

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It just might be that the State of the Union address isn't all that important. But now we've turned this into this panorama in which -- in an interminable speech, every president, regardless of party, tries to stroke every erogenous zone in the electorate. . . . And it becomes a political pep rally, to use the phrase of Chief Justice Roberts last year. If it's going to be a pep rally, with the president's supporters or whatever party standing up and braying approval, and histrionic pouting on the part of the other, then it's no place for the judiciary, it's no place for the uniformed military, and it's no place for non-adolescent legislators."

THE UNION ENEMY ????... OUCH !!

2011-01-24T21:02:00.003-05:00

The Union Enemy
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The New York Post has a charming story today about the return of ACORN, everyone’s favorite “community organization” / vote fraud factory. “Backed by hundreds of thousands of dollars in union donations,” reports the Post, “New York Communities for Change - a rebranded version of the controversial organization that closed up shop amid several scandals - is acting again as labor's attack dog on controversial issues.”

The early days of labor unions battling exploitative employers are long behind us. A massive regulatory apparatus exists to prevent such abuses, in no small part thanks to the early victories of the union movement.

'ACORN' BACKED BY UNION MONEY

2011-01-24T20:48:00.003-05:00

'ACORN' is Reborn in B'klyn
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Backed by hundreds of thousands of dollars in union donations, New York Communities for Change {NYCC}-- a rebranded version of the controversial organization that closed up shop amid several scandals -- is acting again as labor's attack dog on controversial issues.

According to NYCC documents, unions pumped about $300,000 into its coffers last year, and the group expects them to contribute $473,915 this year and $651,633 next year, a significant portion of its budget

A BRIDGE TOO FAR... TRIBOROUGH

2011-01-21T11:05:00.003-05:00

One-Two Punch at Pensions
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The mayor made it clear he's in touch with Mr. Cuomo. "Gov. Cuomo campaigned on pension reform and I've talked to him about that," he said. "We are going to be there helping him—and New York City is such a big part of the state. It all really goes together."

Cuomo officials have signaled that they want to give local governments and school districts relief by scaling back a labor statute known as the Triborough amendment. The 40-year-old provision gives unions bargaining power by preventing employers from freezing annual pay "steps" and changing other employment terms after a contract has expired.

Mr. Bloomberg balked at criticism from labor leaders and elected officials who have complained that his adversarial stance with the unions will hinder his administration's ability to negotiate a solution to the pension-cost problem.

"You don't really think that just a smile is going to make a difference in negotiations," the mayor said sarcastically.

REFORMS IN BENEFIT PACKAGES ??

2011-01-20T10:48:00.004-05:00

Bloomberg Gets Tough on Unions
(Click Here for Entire Article)

In a bold move, the mayor plans to take a very aggressive approach to reforming the pension system, his administration’s number one priority in Albany. To do so, he sent a clear warning to the city’s labor force.

“And so today, I will make this commitment: I will not sign a contract with salary increases unless they are accompanied by reforms in benefit packages that produce the savings we need to continue making investments in our future and protecting vital services."

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THOUSAND POINTS OF RIGHT

Former Active Firefighter Organizations: (Retiree Groups)

Beware of Wolves in 'Cheap' Clothing.

As the "Godfather" cautioned... Whoever comes to you and calls for a meeting of the "Families" (BMA), he/they are the traitors (The Suits).

Eliminate Future Retirees $12,000 Holiday Bonus ? (VSF)

2011-01-19T18:36:00.004-05:00

Bloomberg Targeting Cost of Union Pensions
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The city this year will spend $7 billion on pension costs, up from $1.5 billion in 2001, the mayor said—totaling $2,400 more per city tax filer since Mr. Bloomberg was first elected.

Mr. Bloomberg offered a few details for reducing the cost of city workers and retirees. He wants to consolidate various pension systems to save $8 million a year on administration; establish a separate pension tier for new employees and raise the retirement age to 65 for non-uniformed employees; and eliminate for future retirees a $12,000 holiday bonus (VSF) currently received by some uniformed union workers.

“City taxpayers just cannot be expected to give substantial holiday bonuses when so many of them are out of work or having their own wages frozen or cut,” Mr. Bloomberg said.

PROSPECTIVE RETIREES - WATCH OUT !

2011-01-19T08:16:00.007-05:00

Let 'em go bankrupt
by Thomas Sowell (Click Here)

One of the political games that is played during a budget crisis is to cut back on essential services like police departments and fire departments to blackmail the public into accepting higher tax rates. Often, a lot more money could be saved by getting rid of runaway pension contracts with public-sector unions.

What the public needs are current policemen and current firemen, not retired policemen and retired firemen...

THOUSAND POINTS of RIGHT

ARCE - BOYLE 10th ANNUAL BENEFIT

BRAINS & BRAWN !

PRIVATE - KEEP OUT

CANCER & GROUND ZERO

Report: No Proven Link Between Cancers, Ground Zero(Click Here)

PTSD

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED

ECHOES OF 1975 NEW YORK

3 Truck - Paddy Brown

CATCH AS CATCH CAN

FEAL GOOD FOUNDATION

OVERSIGHT BY FDNY & BLDGS DEPT EGREGIOUS

FDNY ENTRANCE EXSCAM

BANKRUPTCY COMING TO A STATE NEAR YOU ?

THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS ??

CUTS IN PENSION COLA OK

MUSLIM, AGE 18-35, OR NOT ?? WTF ??

FDNY COMPANY PATCHES

MORE ELIGIBLE FOR 9-11 FUND

RULES FOR 9-11 FUND

FDNY PIPES AND DRUMS

9/11 - TEN YEARS LATER

DEMS ABANDON UNIONS

9/11 DISABILITY RETIREMENTS

MLC SLAMS DOOR ON UFA & UFT

FISCAL REMEDY FOR NYC

HEALTH INSURANCE STABILIZATION FUND

WOMEN RECRUITS SOUGHT BY FDNY

OBAMA/HOLDER DOJ RACIAL QUOTAS

DEFER PENSION DISCLOSURE VOTE

NYC FIRE MUSEUM

PETER KING: "INVITATION TO AN ATTACK"

SCRUTINY ON NYPD SETTLEMENTS

NEW YORK PENSION FUNDS

VSF APPEARS TO BE SAFE

INJUNCTIVE RELIEF FOR VICTIMS

DIVERSITY REFEREE ??

W T F ??

DIVERSITY AT WHAT PRICE ?

POLICE & FIRE PENSION COSTS TO DECREASE

VSF ON 'HIT LIST' ??

FCC - 2 SPEEDS - SLOW & STOP

PROPOSED FIREHOUSE CLOSURES

6,000 POINTS OF LEFT

WHY NOT CALL A SPADE - 'A SPADE'

THERE SHE BLOW$

HI HO SILVER, AWAY !

TWO OF A SPECIAL KIND

ALL IAFF POLITICS IS LOCO

THOUSAND POINTS of RIGHT

FDNY DISABILITY CLAIMS

REAL TIME

CONSTITUTION PROTECTS BENEFITS

RADIOS: 10 YEARS LATER

NYPD RADIOS

LIU HAS DIFFERENT VIEW

OBAMA AND SHARPTON - WHO'S NEXT??

THE ZADROGA ACT

SILVER COULD BE VERY COSTLY

STEP INCREASES

STATE READY TO PAY 'STEP HIKES

WAGE FREEZE & 'LONGEVITY STEPS' [???]

NEW YORK'S WHITEST

STATE BUDGET MEANS MORE NYC CUTS

DEEPER CUTS TO NYC SERVICES

NEW YORK CITY vs. NEW YORK STATE

AND THEN THERE WERE 344

SLICING THE FDNY

"RETIREE LOSSES W/O REPRESENTATION IS TYRANNY"

"FIREHOUSE FLUNKIES"

TENS OF MILLIONS OF INFIDELS SUPPORT KING

Judge (Liver Lips) Playing Haberdasher

PENSION REFORM ??

COPS & FIREMEN vs TEACHERS ?

NYPD PENSION FUND OKs HEDGE STAKE

CONTRACTS & FRINGE BENEFITS

FDNY GETS POOR MARKS

RIGHT TO WORK LEGISLATION

WISCONSIN PUBLIC SCHOOL 8th GRADERS

Report: No Proven Link Between Cancers, Ground Zero
(Click Here)

How to Save 10,000 NYC teachers
By Azi Paybarah - WNYC - The Empire