All of the city employees were invited to attend a meeting with the Mayor to discuss the City’s continuing budget shortfall and how the Mayor plans to close the gap. For non-unionized employees like me, we have to take a 5.2% pay cut. In addition to the 3.1% pay cut we took last July, that is now a 8.3% cut in pay since this time last year. Ouch!
After the Mayor finished giving the bad news, he opened it up to questions and comments from the floor. I was very disappointed at the amount of envy I heard. Two groups were specifically targeted – the police department, and those who earn over $50000 a year.
Several years ago, when the City had its last budget crisis, the police union got a raise while the non-unionized employees took about a 10 percent pay cut. Six years later, the non-unionized employees still haven’t forgiven the police union, and strongly expressed their very negative opinion of the police department and their incessant whining. Heightening the emotions is the fact that the police union publicly denounced the Mayor as a “crook” and an “extortionist” for giving them the choice of 135 layoffs or pay cuts and fewer layoffs. In other words, he refuses to maintain the status quo, and wants the police to share in the budgetary pains.
I could understand the vitriol aimed at the police department. I was blown away at the vitriol aimed at those of us who earn more than $50000. There were several speakers who demanded that those of us who earn more than $50000 a year take a bigger pay cut than those who earn less than $50000, because it is obvious that those of us who earn more than $50000 live extravagant lifestyles and can afford to lose more income. This class envy crap really pisses me off. Until this latest pay cut, I earned $61000 a year, which seems like a lot of money. To most people, it is. Except that I am supporting 11 people on that $61000! If I were single and earned $20000 a year I would have more disposable income than I do making $61000. It pisses me off that just because I earn $61000 a year people assume that I have money to burn. I blame the Democrats for this class envy crap, as they have convinced lower income people that those of us who earn more are greedy S.O.B.s who want to hoard money and keep them down. I challenge any of those who think I should be penalized more because I earn more than $50000 a year to support 11 people on $61000. Go ahead, I dare you! And since I am so damned rich, I don’t qualify for government assistance for anything, so I pay full price for health care, college tuition for my daughter, and school lunches. Crap, just the school lunches are $64 a week!
No, I am not cheap when I don’t contribute $5 and $5 there for this, that, and the other. I am on a tight budget. I think I am doing a pretty bang-up job providing for my family on one income, so that my children can have a mother at home and don’t have to fend for themselves. Like my father, I have chosen to provide a loving, stable home for my children, a home in which they have a mother who is there to tend to there needs throughout the day. To do that, requires a decent salary. Don’t begrudge me that!
I have figured out that after this latest pay cut, I will be making less money than I did ten years ago. Yes, we did get change on Election Day in 2008, only it wasn’t change for the better. I just hope I can hang on until 2012!
