Scranton cuts public employee salary to minimum wage including police and fire

[garbon]

Well that's useful...

[CountDeMoney]

Well that's useful...

No shit.  Really can't tell what the fuck is going on up there anymore without a mining helmet and field compass.

[DGuller]

I think it's a reasonable course of action.  Bankruptcies are ruinous, it makes sense to make laws to prohibit them.

[garbon]

I think it's a reasonable course of action.  Bankruptcies are ruinous, it makes sense to make laws to prohibit them.

What is a city supposed to do if it has no money, can't borrow any but has enormous debts? Pay its workers minimum wage?

[Ideologue]

I think it's a reasonable course of action.  Bankruptcies are ruinous, it makes sense to make laws to prohibit them.

It's worked for me!

[Zanza]

The Chinese will help expedite GM or any company that wants to open up a factory. They don't have much paperwork, beuracracy and enviromental issues to deal with. Often just the local government officials can ok a project, get things moving real fast. That's what I've heard of how it often works there.

Acquiring a business license can take you years in China. The company I work for wanted to open a joint-venture for years but never got the appropriate licenses for it despite political support at the highest level.

[DGuller]

The Chinese will help expedite GM or any company that wants to open up a factory. They don't have much paperwork, beuracracy and enviromental issues to deal with. Often just the local government officials can ok a project, get things moving real fast. That's what I've heard of how it often works there.

Acquiring a business license can take you years in China. The company I work for wanted to open a joint-venture for years but never got the appropriate licenses for it despite political support at the highest level.

One of the dangers of over-regulation is that anti-corruption law really limit your flexibility to give bribes to officials, even in foreign countries.  The irony is that heavy regulations make companies want to leave for China, but they also make it hard to set up shop in China.

[MadImmortalMan]

The Chinese will help expedite GM or any company that wants to open up a factory. They don't have much paperwork, beuracracy and enviromental issues to deal with. Often just the local government officials can ok a project, get things moving real fast. That's what I've heard of how it often works there.

Acquiring a business license can take you years in China. The company I work for wanted to open a joint-venture for years but never got the appropriate licenses for it despite political support at the highest level.

That's why you just outsource production to an existing company there. They've got everything already set up. The relationships, the supply chains, the subcontract partners, everything.

[Ed Anger]

I'm still trying to wrap around the the fact that Dayton didn't implode during the recession. With their shitty city council and the previous mayor being a Milk Dud that was elected, they have managed to run a 5 million surplus under their new mayor.

[CountDeMoney]

I think it's a reasonable course of action.  Bankruptcies are ruinous, it makes sense to make laws to prohibit them.

What is a city supposed to do if it has no money, can't borrow any but has enormous debts? Pay its workers minimum wage?

Doesn't need them anyway.

"Obama wants to hire more government workers. He says we need more fireman, more policeman, more teachers. Did he not get the message of Wisconsin? The American people did. It's time for us to cut back on government and help the American people."
--Your boy Mittens

[OttoVonBismarck]

It's worth noting previous SCOTUS rulings have actually said local governments can (with tons of assumptions about relevant State law and etc) simply unilaterally break a contract in times of emergency. Not that Scranton would qualify under the previous rulings, but generally in certain circumstances governments can actually refuse to honor a contract.

[dps]

It's worth noting previous SCOTUS rulings have actually said local governments can (with tons of assumptions about relevant State law and etc) simply unilaterally break a contract in times of emergency. Not that Scranton would qualify under the previous rulings, but generally in certain circumstances governments can actually refuse to honor a contract.

In addition, there's the whole issue of the mayor doing this unilaterally, though that's more a question of what powers Pennsylvania law and the city's charter give to the mayor.

[KRonn]

I think it's a reasonable course of action.  Bankruptcies are ruinous, it makes sense to make laws to prohibit them.

What is a city supposed to do if it has no money, can't borrow any but has enormous debts? Pay its workers minimum wage?

Doesn't need them anyway.

"Obama wants to hire more government workers. He says we need more fireman, more policeman, more teachers. Did he not get the message of Wisconsin? The American people did. It's time for us to cut back on government and help the American people."
--Your boy Mittens

It's not the number of public sector workers, it's how the public sector system works, seems to me.  At least in some areas, for some unions, not all of them. System is broken, needs big reform.  Too many areas are messed up, too expensive to afford now. Fix some of that and things like gutting the number of workers in tough times shouldn't have to be as drastic.