Please.

Philebrity and its comments section, despite whatever inference your ass-planted brain makes based on what little light is able to creep through your rectum, is not the end all be all of human discourse. I think it’s fair to say the economic collapse of last fall was a little bit out league for Philebrity’s economics team. That does not say Philebrity’s readers got pissed off and vented so elsewhere.

I know you wanted to be the clever scold to the mob, but people’s passions can vector multiple channels. At least those of us whose necks aren’t clenched within our sphincters.

Seriously, there are cognitive proctologists who can assist your worldview to a level akin to “accurate.”

Like, what if overpaid ceo’s and bankers somehow caused a dangerous world-wide recession by illegal gambling and then rubbed it in everyone’s faces by giving themselves bonuses with tax dollar bailouts? Why, I bet there’d be riots in the street! Wall Streeters would be afraid for their lives! Whole governments would fall! A new system that never allowed such nonsense would rise!

Or maybe not.

Maybe not because its just tons easier to hate on that lowly schmuck down the street. He causes you inconvenience while trying to better his lot (never mind the misery brought by those rich bastards.) Hate on the schmuck for earning two more dollars an hour than you do (while millions less than the wall street gambler). Hate on him for having union-given job security (while your corporation fires its anyone at will to make their investors richer).

Get a grip people – the resentment is severely misplaced.

Willie, you’re a jerkoff, along with all you 234 idiots who support him as your president. You walked away from a fucking deal that ANYONE in this city would gladly accept, in a horrendous recession. Fuck all of you, and you union supporters, who are holding your underwriters, we the taxpayers, hostage. Considering the average household income in this town is half what you idiots (who typically make up only half of a whole household) earn, the only logical determination one can come to is that you’re clearly retarded. Yes, retarded.

Raises (we’ve all been laid off, taking a a pay cut, or taking a furlough if we aren’t a union member), pension contributions (who fucking has a pension anymore if you’re not in a union?) AND cheap healthcare (who pays less than 20% if you’re not in a union?)? Really? Grow a set and get off your high horse.

Septa, please call me – I’ll GLADLY take 30K a year to sit in a booth and push a button for those benefits, but ONLY if you give me exactly two dollars. Unfortunately the big bad Septa management can’t trust me to run the booth without stealing all the money.

Great interview with Gov Rendell: http://www.kyw1060.com/topic/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=4136610

Quick summary:
Contract was a “sensational” deal given the economy, and much more generous than the contract that Pittsburgh transit workers got BEFORE the recession.

Wage increase was actually 11.5% over 5 years (NOT including the compounding effect of yearly salary increases) and included an immediate $1,250 SIGNING BONUS.

The union did not budge on terms at all. SEPTA budged when Rendell put $6 million on the table from the PennDOT economic development fund… that is state-wide money that could be used to do things like actually improve public transit.

The Gov indicated that a possible repercussion is that the $6 million of state money will be pulled and a new contract will actually be worse for the TWU.

All in all, the strike is pretty unbelievable. If they signed the contract I would have been pissed. Given that they walked away, I am outraged.

Things you should know about SEPTA: for the fiscal year of 2008, SEPTA made $422mil by operating. However, expenses for the year were $1.1 BILLION (excluding depreciation, where the number is actually 1.376bil). Where does the rest of the money come from? YOUR TAX DOLLARS. 600 Million came from various subsidies – 560million of which came from your state and city taxes.

Despite those subsidies, SEPTA still runs a perpetual deficit – with the deficit for 2009, alone, is already at $5mil. Meanwhile, bus/trolley drivers who make 50K (before benefits) after only 4 years are striking because they are not guaranteed annual 4% raises a 33% increase in pension funds and are being asked to contribute more than 1% of the health benefits!

These demands are being made when large swaths of SEPTA’s ridership are contributing, on average, 27% of their health care premiums (not including out of pocket expenses like copays and deductibles) and are NOT getting raises – but getting laid off. FUCK YOU, TWU. State Takeover time, Ed. SEPTA unions should be held to the same standards as police, firemen and other state-subsidized, necessary public service entities.

If you really support unions, you would be actively reforming unions to give them their good name back – not endorsing this horse-shit extortion.

Civil rights?!?!? You went on strike on an election day, you bastards.