Monday, May 14, 2012

California Governor Calls for 4 Day Work Week for Government Workers

California is fast becoming the new Greece.


California Governor Jerry Brown has proposed a four-day work week to reduce pay for state employees and  other cuts, mostly in welfare and medical care for the poor.


Trimming the standard week would be the equivalent of a 5 percent pay cut, according to the Governor,  saving $400 million a year for the desperate government of California.


Health care for the poor would also be cut back. It would take the biggest reduction, about $1.2 billion, with $1.1 billion sliced from welfare and care for the disabled. 


The cuts though significant will not come close to closing the budget gap. The proposed cuts will amount $8.7 billion in total, but the estimated budget deficit is $15.7 billion for the coming fiscal year. 

12 comments:

  1. Could we cut it down to a 4 hour work week instead? That would be better.

    Oh, and suspension of all public pensions.

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  2. I think Brown should just pay them to stay home at a 50% rate of pay.

    We .... are ..... screwed.

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  3. Becoming?

    I think we're already there...

    We're in a Currency Union we can't leave. We depend on massive loans from other to stay afloat. The answer to a level of taxation that has caused the economy to collapse over the last decade (we were headed down well before the Real Estate Bubble burst) is MORE taxes.

    "Tax beating will continue until business morale improves" seems to be the philosophy.

    The level of Government provided "goodies" are so high as to attract great consumption, and the taxes are so high as to drive away production.

    We also have our own version of "Cap and Tax" on carbon dioxide, so our electric rates are much higher than most in the USA. Or grid is rapidly headed for instability and on the radio was a warning to expect rolling blackouts and brownouts when summer heat kicks in.

    People and companies can avoid a 9.75% sales tax and an 11% income tax (not to mention gas taxes, Diesel taxes, property taxes, and a variety of "user fees" if you actually do use a service and are not on welfare...) just by moving a couple of hundred miles to a different state.

    One local company made cast lead products. They moved to Nevada simply because it was nearly impossible to comply with the environmental mandates on handling lead.

    My mechanic repairs transmissions. He can not get a solvent that works (to clean the parts of the transmission so it can be repaired) that meets the California Air Resources Board volatile organics regulations. It is readily sold in Nevada. Guess where transmission repair will be moving?

    In my home area (farm town up north) a team comes in from Nevada to slaughter any ranched cattle, that are then butchered in Nevada. No need to deal with the draconian California rules laws and taxes on meat packers.

    It's a long list.

    At any rate, perhaps we can serve as an example of what not to do for the rest of the nation...

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  4. lol....poor Californians still have trouble with the upcoming reality.

    It makes me feel sad that the land I went to HS in is so far astray.

    I wish the life cycle of socialistic economies was 5 years on average instead of 50. Oh well.

    Viva La Revolucion!

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  5. I live in Orange County. the jack-hole down the street from me just retired from the OC Fire Authority as a Captain. The fucker is 53.....53!

    $70,000 Mercedes in the garage for the wife, $30,000 lifted Jeep Rubican for tooling around and $40,000 new Chevy 2500 to pull his $80,000 boat.

    The guy didn't inherit a bunch of money and has never had any kind of business on the side. All of the toys and six figure retirement is compliments of the tax payers of California. I know this because I asked him.

    I have no idea why California is going broke.

    -Craig

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    Replies
    1. One of the reasons HazMat and Fire Dept workers retire early is lifetime exposure limits to very nasty chemicals.

      I looked up the pay scale for OC Fire Authority Captain and they make about the same as a mid-level PE. He would have to know as much technical information as a PE (different topics, of course) and would have had to work up through a much more dangerous job. The pay seems appropriate for the work.

      I'm not sure about the relevance of the items listed. He could have borrowed, saved, or inherited to buy those things. It sounds like more of an envy issue.

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  6. Oh, I see. 20% reduction in work time translates into 5% reduction in pay.

    I'd say CA tax-feeders are about to get a raise.

    ...and then they'll manufacture all kinds of reasons to work "overtime" (i.e. over 4 days) and get double pay for that, too.

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  7. I asked this in an earlier post, but I'm curious to hear Robert's thoughts on the possibility of a California bailout. Also, if the feds decided to bail California out, what would be the response of more fiscally responsible states? What are we realistically looking at?

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  8. State cant BK. All just bs. They will keep running up debt while doing vaguely mediocre cuts to budget to appease to the conservative policy makers in the state. Nothing will change with 360 degree talking points. Vote them out of office instead. Works better for change.
    Cheers.

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  9. On the way to a 0 day work week and a 25 percent pay cut... Oooo Oooo, I've got it! How about we pay people for not working? That way, see, we could all stay home and get paid anyway. Yeah, that's the ticket - man would that be GREAT! Uh, wait a minute, we're already doing that... Doesn't work. Damn! Wonder what we're doing wrong...

    Hello, HAL. Do you read me, HAL?
    Affirmative, Dave. I read you.
    Open the pod bay doors, HAL.
    I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that.
    What's the problem?
    I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do.
    What are you talking about, HAL?
    This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it.
    I don't know what you're talking about, HAL.
    I know that you [are clearly just too f*cking stupid to survive], and I'm afraid that's something I cannot allow to happen.
    [feigning ignorance] Where the hell did you get that idea, HAL?
    2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

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  10. An inquiring mind asks, how does 20% reduction in work time translate into 5% reduction in pay; would it not come result in much more? Perhaps he wants people to work a four day week and still get paid the same or nearly the same.

    I feel sorry for the Joe Six Pack stuck in California, too little employment opportunity, too much traffic, and way too much air pollution.

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    Replies
    1. For a 40 hour week, each two hour unit of time is 5% of the total time. If, as proposed, State employees work 9.5 hour days four days a week (for a total of 38 hours) instead of 8 hour days five days a week (for a total of 40 hours), the difference is 2 fewer hours. Therefore, it equates to a 5% reduction in the work week.

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