State bonuses for … showing up for work. Yup just showing up.

This is just too much. This is why the Dems need to raise your gas taxes, raise taxes on haircuts, eliminate exemption on clothing, yada, yada, etc., etc. The state begins paying out bonuses to some 30,000 workers, most of whom are union members, starting today.  Bucket up my little mobsters, you’re just doing your patriotic duty.

State Sen. John McKinney blew the whistle on this one saying in an e-mail most people might consider this an April fools joke but the joke is on the Connecticut taxpayer.

Longevity pay is a form of compensation which rewards an employee for remaining with an employer beyond a certain period of time. Connecticut state employees begin receiving twice-a-year payments upon reaching 10 years of state service.  They then receive increases in those payments after they reach 15, 20, and 25 years of service. The payments, which are provided in addition to cost of living adjustments, are issued in the April 1st and October 1st pay periods.

“It is important to note that these payments are based solely on a person’s years of service,” said Senator McKinney. “Job performance does not factor into the equation.  You get your bonus no matter what.  Given our unprecedented fiscal crisis, we can no longer afford these longevity payments.”

At a time when the Governor is calling for shared sacrifice to close a 3.5 billion dollar deficit and proposing a 2.8 trillion dollar tax increase, this is pretty outrageous. State employees get to share in the sacrifice of private sector work. Call your rep now.

 

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Jim Vicevich

Jim is a veteran broadcaster and conservative/libertarian blogger with more than 25 years experience in TV and radio. Jim's was the long-term host of The Jim Vicevich Show on WTIC 1080 in Hartford from 2004 through 2019. Prior to radio, Jim worked as a business and financial reporter for NBC30 - the NBC owned TV station in Hartford - and as business editor at WFSB-TV in Hartford for 14 years while earning six Emmy nominations and three Telly Awards.

20 Comments

  1. edwardinct on April 1, 2011 at 4:00 am

    people get food stamps (includes lobsters), free housing, medical/dental insurance, free cell phone, free utilities, free schooling just for showing up at the welfare office or maybe they can do it online already, of course this would be with their free i phones.



  2. edwardinct on April 1, 2011 at 4:12 am

    i hope these bonuses are included in pension calculations, I might not be able to sleep at night until I know for sure.



  3. Wayne SW on April 1, 2011 at 4:14 am

    Soon they will be able to 'tweet' their status, (add babies, dependents, invent diseases, etc)  and have their new 'entitlement benefit card' redeemable at package stores and casinos.  Ooopps, my bad.  These cards are already good at the casino.



  4. TomL on April 1, 2011 at 5:06 am

    Hey why not, these are the same guys who want to give kids trophies for showing up.



  5. Dimsdale on April 1, 2011 at 5:44 am

    It is the union equivalent of voting "present"….    😉



  6. southwest on April 1, 2011 at 6:04 am

    NO COLA FOR SOCIAL SECURITY

    COLA FOR STATE EMPLOYEES

    SOCIAL SECURITY UNION?  I'LL VOTE FOR IT



  7. sammy22 on April 1, 2011 at 6:10 am

    Definitely time to leave the state.



  8. Plainvillian on April 1, 2011 at 10:05 am

    Another union mindest expression of the excellence of the lowest common denominator.



    • Plainvillian on April 1, 2011 at 5:06 am

      Another union mindset of the excellence of the lowest common denominator.



  9. BEA on April 1, 2011 at 10:11 am

    Longevity pay (every 5 yrs, on top of cost of living adjustment)? How about just a "Congratulations, you've still got a flippin job."

    Disgusting…



    • AMP73 on April 2, 2011 at 4:39 pm

      Excellent idea!? I got a mug after 5 years on the job, that should be all they get as well. I am SO tired of people at my job talking about nothing but putting in resumes over and over again for a state job. All they think about is vacation, pension, benefits.? What happened to when working for the town/state/government was supposed to be a job of modest pay and a feeling of helping your community and nation?



  10. Eric on April 1, 2011 at 2:54 pm

    The democrat majority in Hartford is not capable of understanding the breadth of the damage they've done to our states economy. Frankly, I doubt that they even care what we think as taxpayers. Their only concern is finding more ways to take money from us so they can go on spending like drunkin' sailors. It's bad enough that they're determined to close our state down to new enterprise of any kind, but they've left many of us with no other option but to look elsewhere to live, outside of the state. Why would anyone want to stay here and continue to fund this charade we call our state government?



    • Dimsdale on April 4, 2011 at 5:47 am

      Fat, arrogant and stupid is no way to run a legislature, son.  (to paraphrase Dean Wormer)



    • NH-Jim on April 5, 2011 at 7:32 pm

      At least with drunken sailors, they run out of their OWN money and sleep it off and eventually sober up to face the commanding  officer's reprimand.

      The governor and the democrat-controlled legislature don't care about the taxpayer even though we keep trying to reprimand them.



  11. porschepete on April 2, 2011 at 4:59 am

    Hey Eric drunkin' sailors stop spending money when they run out of money.



    • AMP73 on April 2, 2011 at 4:40 pm

      Or pass out!? =D



  12. kipitwic on April 3, 2011 at 2:39 am

    This once again shows the ludicrous behavior of our government.  The days of showing up for work and giving the employer 8 hours of  honest work are over!  Now, we have folks who think that the very fact they show up for work, even if it is late, should be rewarded.  They have no moral compass that they are stealing from the taxpayers when they take cigarette breaks, play on the computer, or talk to friends on the phone.  They don't view all these "extras" as theft either.  They truly believe they are entitled to the "cost of living increases, twice a year incentive for longevity, or pensions, and free medical.  Yes, it is called "entitlement attitude".   Have you ever tried to deal with any state agency?  I have, and let me tell you, they give you no respect or humane treatment.  They have attitudes like we should be thankful they are there! 

    Until we change the political system of this state and country, these types of "entitlements" will continue to grow and break the backs of the taxpayers.  It is time to break the backs of the unions!



    • NH-Jim on April 5, 2011 at 7:53 pm

      Not to mention taking the nifty staplers.

      It's all about greed.  In the movie Wall Street, Gordon Gekko pontificates:

      The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind.

      I didn't realize he was referring to the public sector.



  13. PatRiot on April 4, 2011 at 3:53 pm

    I wonder how benevolent the state would be to me if I did not pay my taxes?

    In my defense, I cannot continue to expect different results by doing the same thing (pay taxes) and expecting different results – I will be certified as crazy.

    I do not want to be accused of being a supplier (of cash) to a dealer ( the legislators) and the addicts (legislators, state workers and the scammers of the system). 

    Being a good fellow citizen, I should help them break their addiction.  And the best way it is to cut off the supply.

    And really, can I be found guilty if I have no money left after paying for all of the necessities that others get for free?

    And will I have an recourse if I was being boycotted or bullied for not supporting the state union workers who pay $12 a paycheck for health care when I pay $350/mo plus deductibles.



  14. PatRiot on April 4, 2011 at 4:02 pm

    And another thing !!!    The state workers are being lulled by the bonuses.  The legislators are NOT funding the retirement fund.  What a nasty wake up call when they realize they have been duped.               Join the club.

    So,  let's see – the tax payer is getting robbed up front by the legislators.  the state workers will get robbed in the end and the legislators are well paid, will not suffer in the least, and have no sense of responsibility all the while.

    That doesn't work so well for me.



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