Reply to ratack, Yeah, guess I should have mentioned all the fatcats (or is it greedy pigs?) and others that you mentioned. The ones on Wall Street who still managed to run with millions in bonuses are some of the ones who REALLY make me the maddest — far worse than the car company bailouts, because they never have to give back one nickel, and there’s something realllllly smelly about that! Nurselady243

Everyone is making concessions? Well, everyone with incomes less than $250.000, you mean. Or oil companies. Oh and banks. But you can’t burden them, if you just don’t tax them and deregulate, the economy is bound to take care of itself. That’s the power of the unfettered free market. The Bush administration taught us that. And in the unlikely event that these policies cause the economy to collapses around you, just make up for the lost revenue by getting it from those ne’er-do-well’s in the working class.

It was also exacerbated by the creation of the derivative market during the Clinton administration.

Since when did having any job make a person so entitled? No one is forcing you to be a teacher or anything else. You made a choice. We ALL make choices. If what you do for a living does not pay enough, or you don’t like it, then you have every right to do something else for a living.

Government employee’s should never have been allowed to negotiate for anything without the approval of the people that pay their salaries (the taxpayers).

The problem is that government employs far too many people. Most of these slacker positions should end and be done by the private sector.

Big, bad, evil corporations can’t do anything unless government allows them to do it. The problem, as usual, starts with government.

Whine, snivel, piss and moan. YOU made a choice to be a teacher, or whatever, and if your job is so bad then have the balls to change it.

The states are broke. This has nothing to do with demican or republicrat. Get a clue.

Being a teacher is one of the few jobs that requires passion and dedication. Being a teacher IS a choice just like anything in life. Teachers should be paid by merit and not just because they showed up.

Yes, John, we, as nurses, tried many different times as a group, to get a union going in SE Mich., however, every time the CEOs of the hospital heard union rumblings, they either came up with some money to quiet the noisiest of the rousers down OR they would find a way to fire a bunch of us, i.e.,”your position has been eliminated,” and the worse the economy got, the less fuss was made. They can be real bastards, and they mean business! And twice, this was in a Catholic hospital! (THEIR charity did NOT begin with their own employees.) I have had to give nursing up altogether, as a 5 year old child kicked me in the face in the ER, broke my jaw, and I ultimately ended up having my neck fused, grafted and plated. As I said before, I have always been in support of the teachers and millage requests, as my dad was a school supt., so I always knew all sides of the story, but I currently know more teachers who are biting the hand that feeds them, even though the GOOD teachers continue to do their best for the kids. Everyone is making concessions now, and I certainly don’t have the perfect answers— sometimes I just get irritated when there’s so much whining. Nurses need to be included in the bargaining. Teachers, luckily, have made more progress in that area than we have. I wish all the teachers out there well. Our future depends on you. Nurselady243

gvmtscrapdept, you don’t understand the theme of this thread do you?nnCan we cut spending a little bit and raise taxes a little bit? Is there a way to do so without breaking the backs of the middle class? If not, this entire country is in deep trouble. Can you admit that? Nah, you just want the gov’t to continue massive subsidies and leave all those wonderful tax loopholes open!

To deluded hkmama,nIf you think that everyone of us, teachers and the rest of us workers, all choose the paths we’re now on, you need a segment with Dr. Phil. So many people “choose” an occupation because they are qualified, there are openings, they have a reasonable sense that they can do the job, and there’s “decent” compensation. Do you think all teachers are in that profession because they had a “calling”? Come on, get real… People need to work to make a living, and most of us take whatever we can find. Only the very lucky few are in their chosen profession and happy as clams. The rest of us are suffering with greedy pigs and or gargoyles for bosses, and work for a lot less than they are worth or require or is fair or enough to make ends meet. It used to be that becoming a teacher was a safe bet, secure, respectable, etc. Not any more. Teachers should be paid a hell of a lot more, but besides that, given much more support from the system. As it stands teachers are only exploited to move students through the system with reasonable results, like cattle to the slaughter.