12 Comments

12 Comments

• OC Dem says:

  January 12, 2009 at 12:00 pm

  Still waiting for your story on the salaries and benefits of executives whose companies are either government enforced monopolies (ie. SCE, Sempra Energy) or whose primary source of revenue are governement contracts (ie. Boeing Corp).

  Be great to see a comparison with the execs in those operations how our execs fair.

  Hate to sound like a broken record.

  Long on rhetoric.
  Short on detail.
• Steven Greenhut says:

  January 12, 2009 at 12:57 pm

  OC Dem –
  I agree with you about private companies that rely on government contracts … but there is a difference between government (and government-protected monopolies such as SCE), which uses tax dollars taken by force, and private companies, which are free to squander their privately received dollars however they choose. Of course, all the corporate whores who now receive bailout money deserve to have their spending analyzed. Maybe you missed my piece on the car companies and on the financial firms. If you take government dollars, then you need to follow the rules set by your masters.
• OC Dem says:

  January 12, 2009 at 1:44 pm

  I did see the piece on the auto companies.

  SCE or Sempra aren’t going broke, nor are they asking for a bailout. Their market share is protected by statutes. Your counterpoint is a deflection.

  Have to add an additional comment.

  Long on rhetoric.
  Short on details.
  Zero on follow-up.
• rlh says:

  January 12, 2009 at 2:09 pm

  The cited article is a fun hit piece, but it’s in a vacuum. Are people in analogous positions - in the private as well as the public sector - making more, less, roughly the same as, these folks? Discussons about the individual incumbents to these positions (”So-and-so’s a jerk, he’s overpaid”) isn’t really relevant - the issue is whether the position itself is oversalaried.

  I tend to suspect that public execs like these are underpaid compared to their private sector counterparts, rather than the other way around. I freely admit I lack empirical data to support this notion, but the cited article sure doesn’t help on that point. Without that essential background data, the piece isn’t very informative, and hardly evidences “greed” or county salaries out of control.
• OC Dem says:

  January 12, 2009 at 2:15 pm

  RLH,

  Don’t expect a response.

  Steve throws out figures as though we’re supposed to be shocked that anyone in government makes six digits. That isn’t a lot of money in OC, unless your JohnnyVegas.
• JohnnyVegas says:

  January 12, 2009 at 10:17 pm

  OC COmmie with more of his “they did it, so we can too” logic.
• OC Dem says:

  January 12, 2009 at 10:42 pm

  Not at all JV. Such is the mindset of the narrow minded.

  We are constantly being told by folks like Greenhut and yourself that public employees are overpaid.

  The companies I listed are the direct recipients of tax dollars or govt. enforced monopolies. You don’t really believe that a company like SCE competes in the “free” market for a customer base? Do you? Why shouldn’t the taxpayers know how well or poorly their employees are paid?

  I don’t expect you to understand. As I don’t expect Greenhut to take up that mantle anytime soon. It’s hard. And the writers of this blog have shown repeatedly they don’t like difficult.
• JohnnyVegas says:

  January 12, 2009 at 11:12 pm

  What you are saying is because a few select companies that have legal monopolies, and are heavily regulated, then public employees should have free run to rip off everyone, like you think these regulated monopolies do.

  Like I said, your logic fails.

  And public employees are overpaid-that is a proven fact.
• OC Dem says:

  January 13, 2009 at 1:18 am

  It would fail if that were my logic. It isn’t.

  You’ve yet to post a fact that substantiates your claim.

  Thank you for playing.

  I just want to know why one group gets extraordinary scrutiny and the other gets a pass.

  I realize that was too difficult for you to comprehend.

  Given that you believe public employees make a lot of money is only indicative of a person who set low expectations for themself and failed to achieve them.
• JohnnyVegas says:

  January 13, 2009 at 7:35 am

  I just want to know why one group gets extraordinary scrutiny and the other gets a pass.
  ==============

  Commie you just don’t get it. CEO’s and private companies that have no bid contracts are under intense media and public interest watchdogging-and the abuses are widely reported on…….

  I know NO ONE that agrees with moron CEO’s pulling down millions, and even billions.

  I also no KNOW ONE that thinks companies like Haliburton or Blackwater are patriotic companies, in fact most think they are scumbag companies-yet you try to make out the bogus, welfare queen claim that because they do this nonsense public employees have a right to also.

  That is your basiic argument-it is not “what we are doing is wrong”, your argument is “hey look at them…. they are doing it so we can too”.

  Yes, they do get scrutiny and public pressure-just like the welfare queen public unions are getting today.

  Get a clue and then come back with a more solid arument.
• OC Dem says:

  January 13, 2009 at 9:15 am

  Commie you just don’t get it. CEO’s and private companies that have no bid contracts are under intense media and public interest watchdogging-and the abuses are widely reported on…….

  Where is that scrutiny? Could you post links? I rarerly if ever read anything critical of those groups on the pages of this publication. I have never seen any criticism from Greenhut or his colleagues.

  I know NO ONE that agrees with moron CEO’s pulling down millions, and even billions.

  See above post.

  You go on to make a claim stating a basic argument.

  It’s obvious you didn’t teach psychology.
• JohnnyVegas says:

  January 13, 2009 at 11:43 am

  OC Commie with his nothing response-why am I not surprised???

  OH, because that is business as usual for him. Spank him and he comes back with nothing.