I don't begrudge anyone their due. But 98%, including conductors and managers, becomming disabled right after they retire, and all having that disability certified by the same few doctors? One of those doctors might get one of those indictments you speak of, but then again you don't see many executives going to jail either.

My guess is that the next generation of workers will not get disability pensions even if they are disabled. Perhaps it will be added to Tier V or Tier VI.

Sorry Prince. What has happened to the public employee pension systems over the last decade is the equivalent of the executives who sit on each other's corporate boards voting each other a soaring share of national wealth. And the result will be as destructive.

You can go over to Room 8 and find all kinds of spreadsheets and other boring things no one pays attention to. For example, why is spending on the NYC public schools going up $1 billion but the per child funding for each individual school is being cut 5% and administation is being cut more? Not for a reason anyone (else will talk about).

The full cost of 25/55 is due to be paid beginning in FY 2010. That is when the federal stimulus money is due to expire. Game over.

I really don't care if you believe it or not. The article that reignited this fire was on work rules, a legitimate target, though why the MTA negotiated them is a more important question to answer. The disability "scams" are entirely unproven though, like anyone in the media cares about due process and burden of proof when it comes to MTA workers. Fortunately the courts and the arbitrators have different standards and for the most part laws are still laws and agreements are still honored. Write whatever you want and read into whatever fits into your worldview, its OK with me. I apologize for stepping into your reality.

See here for more information on the LIRR disability issue. It is quite clear that these disability claims are not all legitimate:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/nyregion/24lirr.html

Cheers,

--Ian

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/08/revolt-could-imperil-democratic-control-of-senate/?hp

Revolt in the NY State Senate - Republicans back in control. Monserrate & Espada Jr joined Senate Republicans against the Democrats. Both under investigation for illegal activities

in fact, quite the contrary

If there really are so many disabilities, then what is management doing to prevent them in the next generation of workers? Why are there more disability claims filed at LIRR than Metro-North? Why are railroad pensions so generous? The reason Larry and I and others are interested in the answers to these questions is not because we're trying to run down transit but because we're paying for it, and we deserve to know what we're paying for, whether it's transit, water, parks or police.

The Long Island Expressway idea is really good, but I'd build a bus only corridor (that's camera-enforced or fenced off) that goes through the Queens–Midtown Tunnel. Like the Lincoln Tunnel it should be a "congestion buster" for all the current Express Buses that use the LIE and tunnel.

Of course, part of accepting the military pension is accepting the possibility of recall to active duty in future conflicts, something which I would like to see on the railroads and buses: “Sorry, we're not going to hire any new bus drivers this year, instead we're going to recall all these retirees for 12 months of service.”

One more thing, the military doesn't pay overtime, so there's no way to jack up your pensionable pay in the last couple years by doing meaningless overtime as the state and city workers can and do.

So how is it that our society awards better pensions to train conductors, token-booth clerks and bus drivers who can perform their duties sitting down than to soldiers who risk their lives on today's modern battlefield?

Do you remember this article about everyone scamming disability benefits on the LIRR?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/nyregion/21lirr.html

What is amazing is many of the comments. Some people were as saddened as I was:

"One sure likes to think that all Americans are basically honest and that they work hard, also that they feel some connection to their fellow countrymen and want to be fair. Between Wall Street, government, and now Main Street, we're finding out this is just not true."

and

"This goes to show that corruption has crept into every institution in America. The past few years has seen corruption in almost every sphere of this country. It's looking more and more like the third world here (even as the 'third world' continues to improve)."

But many said:

"Oh please...are we really surprised? Is this sort of thing really new? No. I've known about this sort of thing all my life...Should we really expect sainthood in ndividuals? I wonder how many of the people who wrote condemning the specific individuals cited in the article would not avail themselves of the same benefits if they were available."

or

"Gripe, gripe, gripe. Sure, it's immoral and unjustifiable, but what really bothers most of you is that you haven't been able to do what these guys have done: figure out how to game the system at retail. It's minor compared to what the Wall Street criminals have done wholesale. 95 percent of you gripers would do the same thing if you could find an angle."

The voice of Albany, of the cloud of flies buzzing around the steaming pile that it is. There are people who really believe that everyone on the planet hopes to go to the grave having profited from making other people's lives a little worse than they would have been had they never existed.

Unfortunately, it's not a zero-sum game between the two parties. When times are good, both parties can get what they want. When times are bad, the political class is insulated by having won all those perpetual benefits, and the executive class simply packs up and moves somewhere else (or negotiates their fixed costs downward by threatening to pack up and move).

If it was a zero-sum game, there would be some consensus-building process and opportunities for each side to build more support by appealing via Bloomberg Beach–type projects to those less committed to either side. As it is now, the executives come up with the project, and the political class jumps out to hate it. Same thing for the High Line park (or, in the same neighborhood, the kerfuffle over the West 12th St sanitation depot).