“Politics makes strange bedfellows”… an adage confirmed by an apparent quid pro quo between the jail guards unions and Republicans on the King County Council… an episode of beneath the covers shenanigans that could end up costing taxpayers millions of dollars.
The deal involves an effort being led by soon to be unemployed council member and county executive wannabe David Irons to designate juvenile detention officers as “essential employees”, thus securing favorable “interest arbitration” for future contracts. In return Jared Karstetter, who represents both the adult and juvenile detention officers guilds, has apparently promised to run an initiative to make the county auditor an elected office… an initiative with dubious (if debatable) benefits, but an obvious political appeal to Republicans who want to continue to remind voters of past election controversies through the 2006 season.
Karstetter is no stranger to running Republican backed county initiatives; he and the King County Corrections Guild sponsored Initiative 18, which reduced the number of seats on the county council from thirteen to nine… and for which they eventually gave Tim Eyman a $20,000 “gift” as a thank you for his “free” help. It was the GOP hope that the subsequent redistricting might give them a shot at wresting control of the council from the Democrats… and no council member was more supportive of I-18 than Irons. (Which explains why his colleagues deservingly redistricted him out of a seat.)
Indeed, the council coalition fronting Karstetter’s drive for interest arbitration looks awfully damn familiar: Irons, Jane Hague, Steve Hammond and Bob Ferguson… all of whom were vocal proponents of I-18. Hague was such a strong supporter of the initiative that she was the only council member to vote against an ordinance intended to supersede it… an ordinance that Karstetter vehemently opposed. Now Karstetter is reportedly bragging that he actually authored the motion that Hague introduced at the Aug. 23 meeting of the Labor, Operations and Technology Committee.
As for Irons, the Corrections Guild has contributed $2,600 to his campaigns since 2003, the most they’ve given to any candidate.
So… what is interest arbitration, and why should we care? Well it’s kind of complicated, but essentially, state law requires that those employees deemed “essential” are too essential to strike, so rather than negotiate, contracts are determined by an arbitrator. Wages are supposed to be based on a market survey of similar positions in surrounding jurisdictions, but in practice, the arbitrators almost always award higher wages than would have otherwise been achieved through negotiation. For example, a study conducted by the Association of Washington Cities of police and firefighter salaries between 1992 and 2002 found that wages rose 39% while the Implicit Price Deflator rose only 21%.
Of course, all you really need to know is that the Juvenile Detention Guild wants interest arbitration, because it will ensure them better contracts than they could achieve through collective bargaining. And it’s not just King County that would pay more; many cities contract with the county to house their adult prisoners and juvenile detainees, and the cost of higher salaries would have to be passed on. That’s why a majority of elected officials in both parties, from Rob McKenna to Ron Sims, have consistently opposed extending essential status to additional employment classifications.
That Irons and his cohorts would suddenly lead the charge on such a fiscally irresponsible motion would be baffling if not for a promise from Karstetter to do the Republicans’ bidding in return. And the fact that the Corrections Guild is the only union to contribute to Irons over the past two elections, is telling in itself.
So why are Republicans like Irons pushing a budget buster like interest arbitration? You’ll have to ask their union bosses.
UPDATE:
I just want to reiterate that interest arbitration is a complicated subject, and I’m not making a judgment on whether it is good or bad. Clearly, truly “essential” employees, who are forbidden to strike, require independent arbitration in order obtain a fair contract. And I don’t even want to address the question of whether juvenile detention officers are essential.
The issue here is that Republicans accustomed to attacking Democrats for being in cahoots with Labor are more than willing to trade off favors, at taxpayer expense, when it suits their purpose. It’s the irony thing.
Quick, someone tell EFF…oh er… you just did. Hi Marsha, Stefan.
hey Wabbit check out this web site the lady needs your support.
http://www.democraticundergrou.....15;4582698
…..klake the flake…..
Seems like politics as usual. Ds…Rs…makes no difference really, does it?
1. Irons strongest support comes in the form that he is not Ron Simms. Clearly simms has done everything in his power to identify himself as an asshole. We should have been aware of this when he dictated his “Don’t say merry Christmas” memo.
Irons has my support, not because of what he stands for but because of who he is running against.
Oh, and before any of you nutbags react to this, you can atrtribute most of the Kerry Support to this factor in this Past Presedential election
C’mon Goldy:
‘Wages are supposed to be based on a market survey of similar positions in surrounding jurisdictions, but in practice, the arbitrators almost always award higher wages than would have otherwise been achieved through negotiation.’
This is pretty much the situation for so-called ‘prevailing wage”. Maybe I missed it, but did you speak out against the cooperation and mutual support of the WEA and the dems regarding pro-union legislation AND the various initiatives?
NoWonder: Goldy doesn’t view life like most people. He wears special colored glasses that makes him see red tout le temps!
I think the story is the irony… You guys are supposed to be against things like htat.
hah Irony! Surprised nobody’sused that pun yet!
(yeah, yeah, I’m a sad little person)
windie @ 8
‘You guys are supposed to be against things like htat.’
Count me in on this one. Welcome to my side.
Goldy: “So why are Republicans like Irons pushing a budget buster like interest arbitration? You’ll have to ask their union bosses.”
I can honestly say I’d thought I’d never read those words together. What’s next? “Democrats” and “Fundamentalist Christians”???
I love scanning Goldy’s threads for his “wiggle-jiggle” words in phrases. In this one, a quick scan immediately picks up:
1) COULD cost taxpayers millions. Operative word is COULD.
2) has APPARENTLY promised. Operative word is APPARENT.
If you go back thru threads the recent past, you will see that Goldy cleverly wiggles in these types of phrases to couch rumors and speculation. Goldy is clever with words….after all Goldy is a wordsmith by trade and practices his craft of deception and sleight of mouth quite admirably.
I was doing a bit of touch-up painting yesterday on one of my rentals. I turned my back for a few seconds and a fly landed on the freshly painted area. I decided to watch the fly try to escape. Rather than simply fly out, the fly attempted to free himself using his right wing. It soon got stuck. Then the fly used his left wing with the same result. The fly began to panic and pretty soon was literally rolling around in the wet paint until he was completely covered. Within 5 minutes, the fly expired.
The fly reminded me of Ron Sims and Dean Logan!!
Goldy updates to clarify –
‘It’s the irony thing.’
As opposed to being wrong? Is it only bad because of the “irony”? Slow news day?
>>I cross ocean, poor and broke, Take bus, see employment folk.
>>
>>Nice man treat me good in there, Say I need to see welfare.
>>
>>Welfare say, “You come no more, We send cash right to your door.”
>>
>>Welfare checks, they make you wealthy, Medicaid it keep you healthy!
>>
>>By and by, I got plenty money, Thanks to you, American dummy.
>>
>>Write to friends in motherland, Tell them ‘come fast as you can.’
>>
>>They come in turbans and Ford trucks, I buy big house with welfare bucks
>>
>>They come here, we live together, More welfare checks, it gets better!
>>
>>Fourteen families, they moving in, But neighbor’s patience wearing thin.
>>
>>Finally, white guy moves away. Now I buy his house, and then I say,
>>
>>”Find more aliens for house to rent.” And in the yard I put a tent.
>>
>>Send for family they just trash, But they, too, draw the welfare cash!
>>
>>Everything is very good, And soon we own the neighborhood.
>>
>>We have hobby it’s called breeding, Welfare pay for baby feeding.
>>
>>Kids need dentist? Wife need pills? We get free! We got no bills!
>>
>>American crazy! He pay all year, To keep welfare running here.
>>
>>We think America darn good place! Too darn good for the white man race.
>>
>>If they no like us, they can scram, Got lots of room in Pakistan.
NoWonder: His FEMA lies have been exposed. The Democrats put FEMA under DHS. But he forgot to research before posting. He doesn’t have much else to rant about.
Speaking of Big Labor (aka, union thugs)…
“The Boeing Co. continued to add jobs in the Puget Sound region in August, the latest round of a 15-month hiring spree that may end now with the strike of its largest union.
To quote the ever-so-clever (snicker) Goldstein: “It’s the irony thing.”
Speaking of Big Labor (aka, union thugs)…
Strike likely to slow Boeing’s local hiring spree
“The Boeing Co. continued to add jobs in the Puget Sound region in August, the latest round of a 15-month hiring spree that may end now with the strike of its largest union.”
To quote the ever-so-clever Goldstein: “It’s the irony thing.”
Caught in filter hell – could it be because I took Goldy’s name in vain?… look for it @ 16 and just before this.
The Democrats put FEMA under DHS? How could that possibly be?
DHS (by which I presume you mean “Department of Homeland Security”) was created under the Bush administration after September 11. FEMA is an administrative agency of the executive branch, so if anyone put it under DHS it would have to have been the current administration — in other words, Republicans.
Word out today that The Smartest Woman In The World voted to put FEMA under DHS. And now she wants a commission to investigate how that happened. You’d think after all the investigations she’s been subject to that the last thing she’d want is another. Makes ya wonder if she really is TSWITW.
Ludicrus: You know your facts are wrong.
Who originally suggested the Department of Homeland Security? – Joseph Lieberman:
hsgac.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&Affiliation=C&PressRelease_id=430&Month=7&Year=2002
Who originally suggested that FEMA be at the core of the Department of Homeland Security? – Joseph Lieberman
Excerpt: “Fifth, Emergency Preparedness and Response. After September 11, we have an obligation to think about—and prepare for—the unthinkable, including and especially attacks with chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons. This directorate, with the Federal Emergency Management Agency at its core, will combine the strengths of half a dozen other agencies and offices responsible for dispensing critical vaccines and medicines, training local and state officials in emergency response, and performing other critical functions.”
Good try. Democrats wanted the department and basically forced Bush to have it. He didn’t want the extra bureaucracy. Democrats – “we love bureaucracy”.
Gee, Glody, I am so disappointed. Noon already and you haven’t found another reason why President Bush didn’t let Ray Nagin use all those semi-submerged school buses to get the poor, elderly and infirm out of New Orleans BEFORE the hurricane.
You’re slipping there, boy.
No posts made it throught the filter. Maybe this will! [Hillary and Maxine in 2008!!!] [Bush is evil!] [Democrats don’t cheat!] [Maureen Dowd is a babe!] [“Guvment” is good!] [Taxpayers are greedy and evil!]…….OK……Let’s ee if this gets posted!! [hehe]
Puddybud —
Your characterization of the link you provided is misleading at best. It merely shows that Lieberman supported the creation of DHS, not that he suggested it in the first place.
Here’s another link that pre-dates your link in which Bush claims that he not only suggested creating DHS, but also its structure.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news.....618-5.html
QUOTE: I propose to create a new Department of Homeland Security by substantially transforming the current confusing patchwork of government activities into a single department whose primary mission is to secure our homeland. My proposal builds on the strong bipartisan work on the issue of homeland security that has been conducted by Members of Congress. In designing the new Department, my Administration considered a number of homeland security organizational proposals that have emerged from outside studies, commissions, and Members of Congress.
And here’s another link where Bush takes credit for creating DHS:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/homeland/
QUOTE: With strong bipartisan support President Bush created the Department of Homeland Security – the most comprehensive reorganization of the Federal government in a half-century. The Department of Homeland Security consolidates 22 agencies and 180,000 employees, unifying once-fragmented Federal functions in a single agency dedicated to protecting America from terrorism.
Note that is says the president created DHS. Not only that, but with “strong bipartisan support.”
Your effort to portray DHS as something rammed down the president’s throat by Democrats is, well, bullshit.
damn, you righties are spooked.
Still trembling over the katrina-botch eh?
On the topic at hand, such blatant influence peddling is awful, whichever side is doing it. If Sims has any such quid-pro-quo deals with anyone, thats just as bad…
But with all the rhetoric of how bad the Dems are and how in the pocket of those union interests they are, there’d better be some backlash… Or we’re left with such an image of hypocricy as has never been seen~
Goldy–
You UPDATE seems to render this thread, like most threads, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING!!!
Thanks for the opportunity to comment on NOTHING Goldy!@!
Ms. Chickenhawk:
Your POST seems to be, like most of your posts, STUPID!!!
Thanks for the opportunity to make fun of YOUR stupidty!!!
“Count every vote, and keep counting until a liberal, socialist, or democrat wins.” )See the picture of the protester’s sign on SoundPolitics.com.)
So, that’s why the 2004 election was a mess.
Windie @ 21
There is no-one out there saying that the federal govt had a prompt response under Hurricane Katrina, but this Bush Blame game is a joke.
The Governor of Louisianna and the mayor of New Orleans seem to have forgotten what there jobs were and thousands of people lost their lives because of it.
However, what is pathetic is that they’ve actually tried blaming the federal government for their own ignorance.
Was the Federal Government slow to respond.
Did the State and City of New Orleans cause this problem?
Absolutely.
Have you noticed the lack of fatalities in other areas along the Gulf coast?
puddy brains
Who originally suggested the Department of Homeland Security? – Joseph Lieberman:
Who originally suggested that FEMA be at the core of the Department of Homeland Security? – Joseph Lieberman
So what’s your point? Did Joseph Lieberman also appoint the ineffectual hacks that are now in charge?
Looks like the Bush administration took a potentially good idea and did with it what they’ve done with everything else: FUCK IT UP!!
The Democrats put FEMA under DHS? How could that possibly be?
DHS (by which I presume you mean “Department of Homeland Security”) was created under the Bush administration after September 11. FEMA is an administrative agency of the executive branch, so if anyone put it under DHS it would have to have been the current administration – in other words, Republicans.
Comment by Ludicrus Maximus— 9/7/05 @ 11:54 am
Maximus you are almost right, the VP of the united States had that department right under his arm. They still had a someone running the department. I was call out to fix some of their equipment at the request of the Vice President Walter Mondale. Those who didn’t want to flow the game plan was chastise without mercy.
Wrongboy @ 19:
Who is in charge of the administration? George W. Bush.
Who is in charge of appointing the people who run DHS and FEMA? George W. Bush.
Who is in charge making sure FEMA and DHS run well? George W. Bush.
Who signed the legislation into law? George W. Bush.
Who was tanned and rested when the Hurricane hit? George W. Bush.
Who went the opposite direction to get a guitar when the Hurricane hit? George W. Bush.
Who, in the end, is responsible? Say it with me Wrongboy, George W. Bush.
JDB—
So Goldy writes a senseless post with an update that renders it meaningless and I’m Stupid??? And here you are, virtually the only person seriously trying to post about a stupid thread. Goldy is dumb….JDB is dumber!
I like that….Dumb & Dumber.
Maybe you ought to make a movie with that title JDB….you plagarize most of your posts from elsewhere anyway. Not an original thought. No sense of humor.
JDB is oh so serious and oh so self-righteous!!!
The Doc must have taken way too much foreskin when you were circumcized JDB….he cut away some much need brain matter.
@4
Republicans think unions cozying up to politicians is a problem only when those politicians happen to be Democrats.
@11
“I can honestly say I’d thought I’d never read those words together. What’s next? ‘Democrats’ and ‘Fundamentalist Christians’???”
Yes, as a matter of fact — there’s quite a bit of discussion in Democratic circles just now about how many fundies are in our ranks and how we can give them a larger role and higher profile.
@13
I was taking a shit on Stefan’s lawn last night when I noticed a moth got stuck in some dog shit. His wings were stuck and he couldn’t get loose. The moth reminded me of Mr. Cynical, so I hopped over there and drowned that moth in rabbit piss.
“Standdown.” That’s a word we’re going to hear more about in the days ahead as evidence mounts that FEMA ordered emergency workers to stand down, not move, do nothing.
My question is: Why does the Bush administration hate America, and why do they want to kill Americans?
Roger Rabbit–@37–
Now you are plagarizing my Fly Story????
Time for a week off Rog….so you can build up a little more hate!
And some new material!
Ms. Chickenhawk:
Wow, you somehow managed to not hit the caplock key and not sound like a WAREZ kid in your last two posts. Who knows, you come up with something interesting to say on topic, you might be able to move up to the adult table.
Ron Sims..
The guy who wants you to believe that the AW viaduct is ready to fall down any day now but, also wants to build a sewage plant on a double fault line ………holy shit water….
enough @ 43:
I would think you wingnuts would learn from New Orleans and your failures there, it is better to spend the money now then to wait for it to fall down.
JDB@42—
Adult table???
There’s are Adult Table here???
Why kind of Adult Table??
Probably just for “FANCY BOY” LEFTIST PINHEADS (aka LENIN’S USEFUL IDIOTS) like you!
I knew you couldn’t stop being a WAREZ kid for long. So sad. So sad.