From: The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer
Organizations
Contact: Susan Kniep,
President
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032
TAX TALK
JANUARY 27, 2010
Connecticut State Employee
Pensions
The Federation extends our
sincere appreciation to State Comptroller Nancy Wyman for her prompt response
to our request for the Pensions of State Employees. From the information provided on January 26,
2010, the Federation has determined that $1.26 billion dollars is being paid annually to
42,414 State Retirees, with 7,289 retirees receiving between $50,000 and
$259,800 and 35,125 retirees receiving up to $49,999.
The following is a list of those
employees who are earning $150,000 and above.
To view pensions from $80,000 to
$259,800 please click on the following http://www.cthallofshame.com/ and travel to the middle of the page. There you will find pensions sorted by Agency
and by Dollar Amount. If you wish to
view all pensions, email fctopresident@aol.com
for a complete list.
STATE
RETIREE NAME
|
LAST AGENCY NAME
|
TOTAL
MONTHLY BENEFIT $
|
TOTAL
ANNUAL BENEFIT $
|
VEIGA JOHN F
|
UCONN
PROFESSOR 1
|
21,650
|
259,800
|
BLECHNER JACK
N
|
UCONN HEALTH
CENTER
|
20,913
|
250,958
|
HENKEN
ELEANOR C
|
UCONN HEALTH
CENTER
|
18,551
|
222,609
|
HARTLEY HARRY
J
|
UCONN
PROFESSOR 1
|
16,581
|
198,967
|
JUDD RICHARD
L
|
CENTRAL CONN S U
|
16,321
|
195,848
|
SIGMAN EUGENE
|
UCONN HEALTH
CENTER
|
15,815
|
189,775
|
DIBENEDETTO
ANTHONY T
|
UCONN
PROFESSOR 1
|
15,756
|
189,071
|
RAYE JOHN R
|
UCONN HEALTH
CENTER
|
15,715
|
188,574
|
CUTLER LESLIE
S
|
UCONN HEALTH
CENTER
|
15,536
|
186,432
|
ANDERSON GREGORY J
|
UCONN
PROFESSOR 1
|
14,700
|
176,400
|
MENICHETTI
LYNNE
|
NEWINGTON CHILDRENS HOSP
|
14,519
|
174,228
|
SURAPANENI
BUJJI B
|
CT VALLEY HOSPITAL
|
14,450
|
173,400
|
RENZULLI
JOSEPH S
|
UCONN
PROFESSOR 1
|
14,250
|
170,997
|
KOCHANEK
RICHARD F
|
UCONN
PROFESSOR 1
|
13,377
|
160,524
|
RAISZ LAWRENCE G
|
UCONN HEALTH
CENTER
|
13,216
|
158,596
|
PANOOR LEELA
A
|
MENTAL HEALTH
COMMISSION
|
12,862
|
154,343
|
GOYAL RAMA
|
MENTAL HEALTH
COMMISSION
|
12,800
|
153,600
|
STABENAU
JAMES R
|
UCONN HEALTH
CENTER
|
12,778
|
153,337
|
BROWN RICHARD
D
|
UCONN
PROFESSOR 1
|
12,540
|
150,480
|
MACGILL HUGH
C
|
UCONN
PROFESSOR 1
|
12,518
|
150,215
|
**********************
Also contained in Tax Tallk:
Ø Most U.S. Union
Members Are Working for the Government, New Data Shows
Ø How public servants
became our masters
Ø Pension Tsunami
Website
Ø Tilting at pension reform
Ø When
Public-Employee Unions Attack By Dowd Muska
Ø Public Employee
Unions Are Sinking California - Months after
closing its last budget gap, the Golden
State is $20 billion in
the red.
Ø Could Americans see
another $2 trillion added to the Federal Budget Deficit?
The Lingering Bush
Legacy: What to do About Those Tax Cuts
Ø What’s the Unemployment
Rate in Your Town?
Ø Visit the website
of Open Secrets and learn who is really controlling your government.
Ø English-only at Conn. bookstore sparks
controversy
Ø News from the
National Taxpayers Union
Ø Lessig on Political Corruption in America
Ø Today's debate: The
federal budget
Most U.S.
Union Members Are Working
for the Government, New Data Shows
For the first time in American history, a majority of union
members are government workers rather than private-sector employees, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced on Friday.
In its annual report
on union membership, the bureau undercut the longstanding notion
that union members are overwhelmingly blue-collar factory workers. It found
that membership fell so fast in the private sector in 2009 that the 7.9 million
unionized public-sector workers easily outnumbered those in the private sector,
where labor’s ranks shrank to 7.4 million, from 8.2 million in 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/23/business/23labor.html
**********************
How public servants became our masters
Steven
Greenhut from the February
2010 issue http://reason.com/archives/2010/01/12/class-war
**********************
Pension
Tsunami Website
http://www.pensiontsunami.com/
**********************
Tilting at pension reform
http://www.calwatchdog.com/2010/01/22/new-tilting-at-pension-reform/
**********************
When Public-Employee Unions Attack!
By Dowd Muska a writer, commentator and lecturer.
His website is www.dowdmuska.com.
Can a book about public-employee unions’ excess and thuggery
be complete if it doesn’t contain copious anecdotes from the Nutmeg State?
Steven Greenhut thinks so, and it’s the reason Plunder!
How Public Employee Unions Are Raiding Treasuries, Controlling Our Lives and
Bankrupting the Nation disappoints.
In 241 pages and 330 endnotes, the former Orange County Register
editor and columnist fails to include a single tale of the rapaciousness of Connecticut’s unionized bureaucrats. Connecticut
isn’t the only state overlooked by Greenhut. Plunder!
suffers from near-fatal California solipsism. Examples from the
entire Northeast are scant, although the region -- New England, plus New York, New Jersey, and
Pennsylvania -- comprises 18 percent of the U.S.
population. (The Golden
State’s share is 12
percent.) Continued at …. www.dowdmuska.com.
**********************
Public Employee Unions Are
Sinking California - Months after closing its
last budget gap, the Golden
State is $20 billion in
the red. By
STEVEN GREENHUT Mr. Greenhut is
director of the Pacific Research Institute's journalism center and author of
the new book "Plunder! How Public Employee Unions Are Raiding Treasuries,
Controlling Our Lives and Bankrupting the Nation" (The Forum Press). The state is in a precarious position, with a 12.3% unemployment
rate (more than two points higher than the
national average) and a budget $20 billion in the red (only months after the
last budget fix closed a large deficit). ….To do that California needs to take
on its public employee unions. Approximately 85% of the state's 235,000
employees (not including higher education employees) are unionized. As the
governor noted during his $83 billion budget roll-out, over the past decade
pension costs for public employees increased 2,000%. State revenues increased
only 24% over the same period. A Schwarzenegger adviser wrote in the San Jose Mercury News in
the past few days that, "This year alone, $3 billion was diverted to
pension costs from other programs." There are now more than 15,000
government retirees statewide who receive pensions that exceed $100,000 a year,
according to the California
Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility. Many of these retirees are former police
officers, firefighters, and prison guards who can retire at age 50 with a
pension that equals 90% of their final year's pay. The pensions for these (and
all other retirees) increase each year with inflation and are guaranteed by
taxpayers forever—regardless of what happens in the economy or whether the
state's pensions funds have been fully funded (which they haven't been). A 2008
state commission pegged California's
unfunded pension liability at $63.5 billion, which will be amortized over
several decades. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703699204575017182296077118.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read
*************************
Could
Americans see another $2 trillion
added to the Federal Budget
Deficit?
The Lingering Bush Legacy:
What to do About Those Tax Cuts The 2001
and 2003 tax reductions are the big gorilla in the room that everyone's
ignoring. By the end of 2010, a year of midterm congressional elections,
Congress must address this key economic issue
Kevin G. Hall, McClatchy Newspapers:
…..If the Democrats who control Congress do nothing and let the tax rates on
the highest income brackets return to their pre-2001 levels, their Republican
rivals and many Americans will slam them as tax hikers. If they prevent the
legislation from expiring, however, they and any Republicans who support this
approach will add $2 trillion to the already-growing federal budget deficit
over the next decade. The news media and influential watchdog organizations
will slam them for that. Continued at ….
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/81296.html
**********************
What’s the Unemployment Rate in Your Town?
http://www1.ctdol.state.ct.us/lmi/LAUS/lmi123.asp
*********************
Visit the website of Open Secrets and learn who is really
controlling your government. This page
will allow you to factor in a Congressman’s name and learn where his support is
coming from. But don’t stop there as
this website contains valuable information for the concerned taxpayer. http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/pacs.php?cid=N00000575&cycle=2010
***********************
English-only at Conn.
bookstore sparks controversy By JOHN
CHRISTOFFERSEN The Associated Press
January 22, 2010; NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- A popular bookstore and cafe near
Yale University wants its many Hispanic employees to speak only English around
customers, sparking controversy in immigrant-friendly New Haven, where students
fight for immigrant rights. Atticus Bookstore and
Cafe recently issued a policy stating that English should be the only language
spoken on the floor and behind the counter. "Spanish is allowed in the
prep area, the dishwasher area and the lower level. Let's make our customers
feel welcome and comfortable," the policy states, according to New Haven Workers
Association, a group of activists who said employees gave them a copy.
"I'm really appalled," said Tim Stewart-Winter, a Yale lecturer.
"As a New Haven
resident and member of the Yale community, I think diversity is a strength of
this country." Stewart-Winter said he likes to take out-of-town guests to Atticus, but may not now because of the policy.Bridget
Pierpont, a 40-year-old New Haven
resident, said she was texting a friend as she passed
Atticus on Thursday suggesting they no longer go to
the bookstore because of the language policy. "Frankly, I think that's
part of the charm of this place," Pierpont said. "I think they should
absolutely be able to speak Spanish here." Continued at …. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/22/AR2010012202827.html
*********************
News from the National Taxpayers Union
GovernmentBytes.com
**************************
Lessig on Political Corruption in America Public confidence in the U.S. House and Senate is at an
all-time low, and, after last week’s Supreme Court decision, it’s bound to
sink even lower. On January 19th (the day before the decision), Harvard law
professor Lawrence
Lessig returned to Stanford and highlighted the degree to which
“institutional corruption” — in the form of lobbyists and corporate influence —
pervades Congress, dictates legislation, and brings large sums of money to
campaigns and, yes, even representatives’ personal bank accounts. (Roughly 50%
of U.S.
Senators become lobbyists, working for industries they once assisted
politically, and earn substantial incomes.) The talk, accompanied by a rapid
fire PowerPoint presentation, runs a solid hour and details various instances
in which lobbyists have shaped unfathomably bad legislation. Happily, the talk
also ends with Lessig outlining possible solutions.
Policy changes can offer some answers. But, a lot of it comes down to this:
getting the passive privileged to rein in a corrupted
elite. Note: To see Lessig’s immediate response to
the SCOTUS decision, look here. Continued at …. http://www.openculture.com/2010/01/lessig_on_political_corruption_in_america.html
About Lawrence Lessig: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/people/llessig
************************************************
Today's debate: The federal
budget, Jan 24, 2010, USA Today ….
In reality, the nation is in a serious bind not so much
because of the actions of presidents and Congresses, but because of their lack
of action. More than 60% of federal
spending is on autopilot. Most of this comes from benefit programs, also known
as entitlements, such as Medicare and Social Security. In just four years, as the result of growing entitlements
and rising interest costs on the national debt, some two-thirds of Washington's dollars
will be so-called mandatory spending…. When the amount borrowed by the federal
government in a year sprouts an extra digit, passing $1 trillion, it's an
attention-grabber. And when the government spends nearly $2 for every dollar it
is taking in, it's unsustainable…..To be sure, there's bloat in the federal
bureaucracy and defense spending. But the real
drivers of looming deficits are Medicare, projected to grow from $516 billion
this year to $932 billion in 2018, and Social Security, forecast to grow from
$581 billion this year to $966 in 2018 as Baby Boomers retire. These numbers tell us two things. One is that attention
needs to shift, from bashing the unpopular programs to making necessary cuts in
the popular ones. The second is that — whatever
happens to the health care overhaul plans — Congress will have to come back to
the problem of spiraling medical costs again and again. With so many benefit programs tied to health care, the
government won't be able to stay afloat if expenses keep rising faster than
inflation. Continued at …. http://www.usatoday.com/NEWS/usaedition/2010-01-25-editorial25_ST_U.htm?csp=34
*********************************