DO ANY OF THESE PEOPLE GET IT?

I am just plain ticked this morning. I watched with awe as the Senate told the Detroit what it thought about the proposed bailout. Put immediate standards in, or forget it, the Senate said. The words of the economist who testified in front of Congress rang in my head. It will take hundreds of billions of dollars to fix the problem, so get ready. Any bailout, no matter you slice and dice it, would be simply passed through to the United Auto Workers Union and GM’s bond holders. Why should we bail them out? Meanwhile, those of us who are trudging through the drudgery of trying to make ends meet as either self employed individuals or working someplace for $10.00/hour with no benefits or anything else, are left holding the bag at the altar of Big Business, Big Labor, and Big Government. Who is there for us? Enough is enough. It’s over guys. The current situation is unsustainable and can only be resolved in the structure of a bankruptcy court. But never fear, the Treasury Dept. will take the money from the TARP, and we can have the same debate again in 4 months.

I watched the news in the context of two other stories on the news yesterday. Governor Strickland announced that unless the Feds come up with some money for Ohio, massive cuts would be coming. One of his aids told a reporter that the first thing to be hit would be the State University System, and students could anticipate hikes in tuition in excess of $2,000.00/year. But consider these statistics. Hillary Clinton, as Secretary of State of United States, will make $186,600.00/year. United States senators will make $174,000.00/year.

On the other hand, Gordon Gee, the President of Ohio State University, (and he is a public employee) will make $775,000.00/year plus a deferred compensation package worth $225,000.00/year plus various allowances for housing, transport… you get the picture. The total package is approximately $1.1 million. Why? What does he do that is more difficult than the Secretary of State of the United States? Indeed, the President of Youngstown State University makes in excess of $350,000.00/year, plus allowances and benefits. Why?? At Akron University, where the average tenured professor’s salary floats right around $100,000.00/year plus, because the enrollment of the university has gone up, these guys get a raise? Why? Who is there for us?

Finally, once again Mahoning County is laying the groundwork for increased taxes. Last year, after county officials released prisoners from the county jail and laid off sheriff deputies, the citizens passed a sales tax increase after numerous defeats based on representations to us that the money would be used to support the county jail. Just in case you haven’t been watching the news…Mahoning County is again making rumblings about insufficient funds to run the jail due to screwed up contracts with contracted inmates from the Federal government and Youngstown City. Here we go again. Do you remember George Tablack? He left his elected County Auditor’s position for greener pastures of a government job in Palm Beach, Florida. It apparently didn’t work out, because he came back less than 6 months later. So, our County fathers created a County Manager’s position for him, at pretty much the same money. I read in the paper last week that he is getting a retroactive raise back to January, 2007, I believe. Why?? Who is there for us?

Folks, do any of these people get it? You are paying for it. When does it stop?