More than four of every 10 air-traffic workers the FAA tried to fire over almost two years kept their jobs or were allowed to retire: that included two-thirds of those targeted for firing over drug or alcohol violations.
‘You’re Fired’ Doesn’t Mean Fired to Four of 10 Air Controllers
Moments before a single-engine aircraft and a helicopter collided over the Hudson River near Manhattan in 2009, an air-traffic controller who should have been advising the plane’s pilot was on the phone, joking with an airport worker about a dead cat.
Nine people, including three teenage boys, died. The Teterboro, New Jersey, controller, whom safety investigators said was distracted and partly to blame for the accident, still works for the Federal Aviation Administration. Although the agency tried to fire him, his punishment was reduced to a suspension, a transfer and a demotion.
What happened to the controller isn’t surprising, according to data obtained by Bloomberg News under the Freedom of Information Act. More than four of every 10 air-traffic workers the FAA tried to fire over almost two years kept their jobs or were allowed to retire, the data show. That included two-thirds of those targeted for firing over drug or alcohol violations.
“Americans should be outraged,” said Marc Scribner, transportation analyst for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a nonprofit Washington group that advocates limited government. “Most government employees are good people and are not screwing up, not doing drugs, but there are bad apples in all levels of government and they should be fired.”
The findings spotlight Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s challenge in carrying out his pledge to fire three controllers caught sleeping on the job in Seattle, Miami, and Knoxville, Tennessee. The Miami worker still works for the FAA after the proposed termination was reduced to a lesser penalty, the Seattle case is pending and the Knoxville worker retired, according to an agency official who isn’t authorized to speak on personnel matters and asked not to be named.
Disciplinary Data
Workers in 58 of 140 proposed firings who kept jobs had penalties rescinded, reduced or deferred, the data show. The disciplinary information was culled from a pool of 20,486 FAA workers, including about 15,600 controllers, and excludes employees with less than one year of service who lack disciplinary protections in the union contract.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the union for the 15,600 employees, declined three requests to respond to the findings of the Bloomberg analysis and offered an e-mailed comment.
Controllers “work to ensure the safety of 70,000 flights every day and make our system the world’s safest,” Doug Church, the group’s spokesman, wrote. “This is the story that the public needs to hear.”
The Senate aviation subcommittee will “ensure that safety standards are a top priority” as the panel evaluates FAA personnel practices, said Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the panel’s leading Republican, in a statement.
“While many factors need to be considered when making air traffic control personnel decisions, safety must be the FAA’s guiding principle,” Thune said.
more
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-25/-you-re-fired-doesn-t-mean...
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
GOP lawmaker admits he’s extorting Congress to rewrite Constitution
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews Monday that he is giving Congress ten days to pass a constitutional amendment that would make raising taxes nearly impossible. And if he doesn’t get what he wants, he will do everything in his power to force the U.S. to default on its debts.
“Okay, in ten days you want to change the United States Constitution by two-thirds vote in both houses?” Matthews asked. “That’s what you’re demanding.”
“Yes,” Lee admitted. “If possible we can’t change the Constitution just in Congress but we can submit it to the states. Let the states fight it out.”
“You want the Democratic Senate, by a two-thirds vote, to pass a constitutional amendment or you want the house to come down?” Matthews pressed.
“Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying and I’ve been saying this for six months,” Lee said.
Lee’s amendment would require a two-thirds majority to raise taxes, making future tax hikes nearly impossible. He would also require spending to return to 1996 levels.
Watch this video from MSNBC’s Hardball, broadcast July 25, 2011.
(H/T: Think Progress)
“Okay, in ten days you want to change the United States Constitution by two-thirds vote in both houses?” Matthews asked. “That’s what you’re demanding.”
“Yes,” Lee admitted. “If possible we can’t change the Constitution just in Congress but we can submit it to the states. Let the states fight it out.”
“You want the Democratic Senate, by a two-thirds vote, to pass a constitutional amendment or you want the house to come down?” Matthews pressed.
“Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying and I’ve been saying this for six months,” Lee said.
Lee’s amendment would require a two-thirds majority to raise taxes, making future tax hikes nearly impossible. He would also require spending to return to 1996 levels.
Watch this video from MSNBC’s Hardball, broadcast July 25, 2011.
(H/T: Think Progress)
Drivers can disregard red-light camera tickets in L.A.
Source: LA Times
Motorists who get tickets under the city's controversial red-light camera program can shrug them off, Los Angeles officials agreed Monday.
That was one of the few points of consensus to emerge from a three-hour City Council committee hearing on the future of the much-debated photo enforcement system. The session ended with a recommendation to stop issuing citations at the end of the month and "phase out" the program.
Richard M. Tefank, executive director of the city's Board of Police Commissioners, told the Budget and Finance Committee that the tickets are part of a "voluntary payment program" without sanctions for those who fail to submit fines.
"The consequence is somebody calling you from one of these collection agencies and saying 'pay up.' And that's it," said committee member and Councilman Bill Rosendahl. "There's no real penalty in terms of your driver's license or any other consequences if you don't pay."
Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-red-light-camer...
Motorists who get tickets under the city's controversial red-light camera program can shrug them off, Los Angeles officials agreed Monday.
That was one of the few points of consensus to emerge from a three-hour City Council committee hearing on the future of the much-debated photo enforcement system. The session ended with a recommendation to stop issuing citations at the end of the month and "phase out" the program.
Richard M. Tefank, executive director of the city's Board of Police Commissioners, told the Budget and Finance Committee that the tickets are part of a "voluntary payment program" without sanctions for those who fail to submit fines.
"The consequence is somebody calling you from one of these collection agencies and saying 'pay up.' And that's it," said committee member and Councilman Bill Rosendahl. "There's no real penalty in terms of your driver's license or any other consequences if you don't pay."
Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-red-light-camer...
Coffee Wars: Is Dunkin’ Donuts More Valuable Than Starbucks?
Dunkin' Donuts may soon really be able to live up to its slogan -- "American runs on Dunkin'".
After Tuesday's close, Dunkin' Brands Group is slated to go public in a highly anticipated IPO. The company expects to raise roughly $400 million to help expand the Dunkin' Donuts store and brand across the Midwest and to the West Coast. Right now the chain operates only 100 of its 6,800 stores outside the Northeast. The company also owns Baskin-Robbins ice cream stores.
Dunkin', which ranked #1 ahead Starbucks in terms of customer loyalty over the last five years, plans to double U.S. storefronts over the next two decades. That means a new store and fresh cup of joe could be coming very soon to a location near you!
But the expansion of the blue-collar, no-frills brand could have negative implications for small local coffee shops and it could even stir up a brewing rivalry with high-end retailer Starbucks. (Check out this video spot released after Dunkin' conducted a consumer taste test: Dunkin' Beat Starbucks.)
The Dunkin' IPO is set to price Tuesday night after markets close. The company hopes to sell 22.25 shares at $16 to $18 a piece. If the sale price is $17 or more, Dunkin' Brands Group would have a market value of roughly $2.5 billion. "Based on those figures, the company's shares would trade at 3.7 times 2010 sales, a richer valuation than Starbucks, which at the close of trade on Monday traded at 2.8 times calendar 2010 sales," reports Reuters.
If those aren't fightin' words, then what are?
In the latest installment of The Daily Dish, Aaron Task and Daniel Gross discuss the Dunkin' Donuts vs Starbucks rivalry, what the Dunkin' IPO means for consumers and whether investors should bet on Dunkin'.
Stay tuned for additional coverage..and tell us what you think! Are you a Dunkin' Donuts or Starbucks fan, and do you think Dunkin' is worth more than Starbucks?
For more coverage like this, see:
How Domino's Delivered a Tasty Turnaround
American Fast Food: From Supersize to Downsized
Onward: CEO Howard Schultz on How Starbucks Got Its Groove Back
Does Going Upscale Make Sense for McDonald's?
After Tuesday's close, Dunkin' Brands Group is slated to go public in a highly anticipated IPO. The company expects to raise roughly $400 million to help expand the Dunkin' Donuts store and brand across the Midwest and to the West Coast. Right now the chain operates only 100 of its 6,800 stores outside the Northeast. The company also owns Baskin-Robbins ice cream stores.
Dunkin', which ranked #1 ahead Starbucks in terms of customer loyalty over the last five years, plans to double U.S. storefronts over the next two decades. That means a new store and fresh cup of joe could be coming very soon to a location near you!
But the expansion of the blue-collar, no-frills brand could have negative implications for small local coffee shops and it could even stir up a brewing rivalry with high-end retailer Starbucks. (Check out this video spot released after Dunkin' conducted a consumer taste test: Dunkin' Beat Starbucks.)
The Dunkin' IPO is set to price Tuesday night after markets close. The company hopes to sell 22.25 shares at $16 to $18 a piece. If the sale price is $17 or more, Dunkin' Brands Group would have a market value of roughly $2.5 billion. "Based on those figures, the company's shares would trade at 3.7 times 2010 sales, a richer valuation than Starbucks, which at the close of trade on Monday traded at 2.8 times calendar 2010 sales," reports Reuters.
If those aren't fightin' words, then what are?
In the latest installment of The Daily Dish, Aaron Task and Daniel Gross discuss the Dunkin' Donuts vs Starbucks rivalry, what the Dunkin' IPO means for consumers and whether investors should bet on Dunkin'.
Stay tuned for additional coverage..and tell us what you think! Are you a Dunkin' Donuts or Starbucks fan, and do you think Dunkin' is worth more than Starbucks?
For more coverage like this, see:
How Domino's Delivered a Tasty Turnaround
American Fast Food: From Supersize to Downsized
Onward: CEO Howard Schultz on How Starbucks Got Its Groove Back
Does Going Upscale Make Sense for McDonald's?
"Official CPI Is Running 3.6%, But If It Were Still Calculated The Way It Was Before The Greenspan Commission Went To Work, It Would Be 11.1%"
Addison Wiggin notes:
Whatever agreement emerges from the backroom dealing [on the debt], it is now almost sure to include what we’ve labeled a “stealth default” on Social Security. The White House quietly put out the word two weeks ago that it’s on board. Congressional Republicans think it’s a super idea, too. “There hasn’t been any economist anywhere that says we shouldn’t do that,” says Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.).See this and this, and this for background.
Of course, they don’t call it a stealth default. They call it “chained CPI.”
This stealth default has occurred before. When Social Security was in trouble in 1983, one of the Greenspan Commission’s fixes included an adjustment to the consumer price index known as “substitution.”http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
It works like this: If steak gets too expensive and you start buying hamburger instead… well, your price of beef hasn’t really gone up and your cost of living is unchanged. This is one of the reasons official CPI is running 3.6%, but if it were still calculated the way it was before the Greenspan Commission went to work, it would be 11.1%.
Because Social Security benefits are keyed to CPI, this has resulted in a substantial savings for Uncle Sam. But fast-forward 28 years and Uncle Sam has burned through all the trust fund money just to pay his bills, and “substitution” alone isn’t good enough. Hence, “chained CPI.”
Under “chained CPI,” if your hamburger gets too expensive and you start buying beans instead… well, your price of protein hasn’t really gone up and your cost of living is unchanged.
Gold Demand Outstrips Inventory For the First Time Since 2008
Pelosi: ‘It Is Clear We Must Enter An Era Of Austerity’
In a statement that is shocking many pundits, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) warned the country, “It is clear we must enter an era of austerity; to reduce the deficit through shared sacrifice.” However, Pelosi denounced the plan put forward by Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) as “a short-term plan that burdens the middle class and seniors and continues debate about whether we will default in a few months from now.” Democrats have given up on their demands for a balanced plan with new revenue, but the two sides remain divided over their respective plans for deficit reduction. And both sides seem to be expecting the worst and preparing the country for the same. “We’re about to go over a cliff here,” Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) said Monday afternoon.
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