IT'S STUPID FOR BOTH LEADERS....IT'S A DIVERSION FROM THEIR ACTUAL LIVES OF LIES......
I guess there will be one less rubbing of elbows at the Thatcher Street pub......or will it be laughter all around while the media fills their empty space with crap like this????
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
McCarthy games the system to give himself a 50 percent raise BY ROGER HULL For The Sunday Gazette
Roger Hull lives in Schenectady. The Gazette encourages readers to submit material on local issues for the Sunday Opinion section.
I lost this fall’s election to Gary McCarthy. Despite irregularities with absentee ballots in a retirement home, and despite the bomb scare in the high school (where I had my best showing), the election is over, and I accept the public’s verdict. What I cannot accept is the stunningly quick return to politics as usual. I called Gary as soon as the judge (inexplicably, in my view) denied a recount; I congratulated him; and I told him I hoped he would prove me wrong when, after he denied my son the right to campaign for me, I said he was fit to be a political operative, but unfit to serve as mayor. Unfortunately, his actions this past week again bring into question his fitness to serve. By retiring from his county job at the end of the month and then starting his job as mayor, Gary is giving himself (even after the 5 percent pay cut he agreed to during our debate) more than a 50 percent pay raise. The last mayor to try to raise his salary while in offi ce, Brian Stratton, had to back down until after voters had a say. Of course, that should happen here — but it won’t. Interestingly, had McCarthy announced his plans to double-dip before the election, 45 (or more) people who voted for him might have switched their votes, thereby producing a different mayoral result. DYSFUNCTIONAL SYSTEM In the horribly dysfunctional political state in which we live, pensions under the New York State Constitution of 1938 can “neither be reduced nor impaired.” So police and firemen can, with impunity, “game” the system at the end of their service; convicted criminals like Steven Raucci can still draw a pension; and politicians like Gary McCarthy can milk the system. McCarthy says he is saving taxpayers money. Give me a break! As Abraham Lincoln famously said of Stephen Douglas, his reasoning makes as much sense as claiming a chestnut horse is the same as a horse chestnut. The incoming mayor also claims to be a Democrat. What is democratic in gaming a system to the detriment of taxpayers? What is democratic in giving yourself a 50 percent salary increase? Nothing, as far as I am concerned, and nothing as far as Schenectadians are concerned, based on comments I have heard and read. People throughout this city are hurting, and hurting badly. They need a mayor who understands the challenges they face and works on solving them, not one who understands how to work a broken system to his benefi t. As I tried to point out in the course of the campaign, a leader is constantly setting an example. During my 24 years of leading two institutions, I had a simple rule for everyone working with me: Do nothing that is wrong and do nothing that gives the appearance of being wrong. LEGAL BUT WRONG McCarthy’s double-dipping effort fails both tests. While it may be legal under our misguided system, it is clearly wrong. If Gary wants to lead this city effectively, he should back off his bad decision and not “retire.” He may cite other politicians who have done the wrong thing (in the case of Jerry Jennings, McCarthy is apparently wrong), but he should do the right thing. That is what leaders do! And he should learn — quickly — what parents have long taught their children: One doesn’t get a second chance to make a fi rst impression. McCarthy takes office on Jan. 1. Between now and then, he should revisit his bad decision so that Schenectadians’ first impression of their new mayor is one of a person fit to lead. After all, that is what a real leader would do.
For those who say McCarthy is not a newbie I disagree.
If you work in Dept A and then move to Dept B within a company you most likely will have to learn new things, figure out who to hang around with that is to your advantage, learn who to stay away from. You are the newbie to the department. McCarthy is a newbie in the department of being a Mayor and that is a fact that can't be disputed.
McCarthy is vicious and we all know it. He will plow down anyone who gets in his way even if it means breaking the law which I feel he did with the issue with the petitions. He interfered with the voters rights to a fair campaign. He has a lot of local people in his pocket. I would like to offer a suggestion of how he is doing that but don't want to be sued. Yeah some of them are in high decision making places outside this city.
He is still a stupid newbie. He does not have all the networking tools in place, the insider info that goes along with being in the new department of being a Mayor. He is just plain stupid to believe he can go outside of this city and be a bully there too.
He may have a inside track and have influence at public TV here in Schenectady. Now he oversees all law enforcement in the city. He is in control of this city in every aspect but he is dumb enough to believe he can bully people around outside this city. He is a pompous fool who when it all comes down around him I will be in total joy. It will. Give him enough rope and he will hang himself.
Hey look at what happened in Chicago years ago, look at what happened to Al Capone. They screwed up and got caught. In McCarthy's case he is screwing up political relationships he could have gained from, learned from. He is not a team player and is going to suffer for it. Unfortunately so will all of us.
He is still a newbie and a very stupid one at that.
U.S. Congress salaries and benefits have been the source of taxpayer unhappiness and myths over the years. Here are some facts for your consideration.
Also See: The 10 Wealthiest Members of Congress
Rank-and-File Members: The current salary (2011) for rank-and-file members of the House and Senate is $174,000 per year. •Members are free to turn down pay increase and some choose to do so.
•In a complex system of calculations, administered by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, congressional pay rates also affect the salaries for federal judges and other senior government executives.
•During the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin considered proposing that elected government officials not be paid for their service. Other Founding Fathers, however, decided otherwise.
•From 1789 to 1855, members of Congress received only a per diem (daily payment) of $6.00 while in session, except for a period from December 1815 to March 1817, when they received $1,500 a year. Members began receiving an annual salary in 1855, when they were paid $3,000 per year.
Congress: Leadership Members' Salary (2011) Leaders of the House and Senate are paid a higher salary than rank-and-file members.
SAME PATH FOR BOTH JENNINGS AND MCCARTHY........THEY RUB ELBOWS AND SLEEP IN THE SAME BEDS........
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS