U.S. Threatens to rescind stimulus money over wage cuts.

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rokhas1yummybumbum	U.S. Threatens to rescind stimulus money over wage cuts.	Lead	[-]
Posts: 13819 (05/08/2009 7:03 PM) Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Friend Block Invite Ignore	U.S. threatens to rescind stimulus money over wage cuts The Obama administration threatens to rescind billions in stimulus money if Gov. Schwarzenegger and lawmakers do not restore wage cuts to unionized home healthcare workers. By Evan Halper May 8, 2009 Reporting from Sacramento -- The Obama administration is threatening to rescind billions of dollars in federal stimulus money if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers do not restore wage cuts to unionized home healthcare workers approved in February as part of the budget. Schwarzenegger's office was advised this week by federal health officials that the wage reduction, which will save California $74 million, violates provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Failure to revoke the scheduled wage cut before it takes effect July 1 could cost California $6.8 billion in stimulus money, according to state officials. The news comes as state lawmakers are already facing a severe cash crisis, with the state at risk of running out of money in July. The wages at issue involve workers who care for some 440,000 low-income disabled and elderly Californians. The workers, who collectively contribute millions of dollars in dues each month to the influential Service Employees International Union and the United Domestic Workers, will see the state's contribution to their wages cut from a maximum of $12.10 per hour to a maximum of $10.10. The SEIU said in a statement that it had asked the Obama administration for the ruling. The cut was highly contentious during last winter's budget talks. Republican lawmakers insisted that the rapidly growing, multibillion-dollar state program, In Home Supportive Services, be scaled back significantly. Democrats fought major reductions in the program, which they say is a cost-effective alternative to nursing-home care, but ultimately compromised. Reversing the wage cut would require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature, meaning Republican support would be needed. Schwarzenegger on Wednesday sent U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius a letter urging the federal government to reconsider. "Neither the Legislature nor I make decisions to reduce wages or benefits lightly, but only as a last resort in response to an unprecedented fiscal crisis," Schwarzenegger wrote. Source
Blazermaniac		#1	[-]
Posts: 7336 (05/08/2009 7:06 PM) Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Friend Block Invite Ignore	Oh, the irony. The federal government threatening to cutoff funding to a state government because the state government exercised fiscal responsibility. Change indeed.
dawn9476		#2	[-]
Posts: 21918 (05/08/2009 7:14 PM) Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Friend Block Invite Ignore	It's fiscal responsibility to cut a person's wages to just over $10 dollars? You can barely live on that wage here in Michigan let alone California. Lower wages for home health care workers will just lead to more people quitting and looking for work elsewhere which will lead sick people in worse shape and more dependent on the government. Cutting the wages of health care workers IS NOT fiscal responsibility. It is just going to lead to more problems. Edited By: dawn9476 05/08/2009 7:20 PM. Edited 2 times.
Blazermaniac		#3	[-]
Posts: 7338 (05/08/2009 7:57 PM) Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Friend Block Invite Ignore	It is not the federal government's job to determine state government spending This is pandering to the people who financed his campaign.
dawn9476		#4	[-]
Posts: 21920 (05/08/2009 8:05 PM) Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Friend Block Invite Ignore	Blazermaniac wrote: It is not the federal government's job to determine state government spending This is pandering to the people who financed his campaign. If it leads to more problems for California down the line and leads them to turn to the federal government for help and more money, it is the federal government's job.
lilpeepers		#5	[-]
Posts: 651 (05/08/2009 10:03 PM) Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Friend Block Invite Ignore	dawn9476 wrote: It's fiscal responsibility to cut a person's wages to just over $10 dollars? You can barely live on that wage here in Michigan let alone California. Lower wages for home health care workers will just lead to more people quitting and looking for work elsewhere which will lead sick people in worse shape and more dependent on the government. Cutting the wages of health care workers IS NOT fiscal responsibility. It is just going to lead to more problems. Just over $10 dollars per hour is the State's contribution. It's not the total salary. What we have here is Mr. Obama protecting his union backers. Again.
rokhas1yummybumbum		#6	[-]
Posts: 13821 (05/08/2009 10:56 PM) Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Friend Block Invite Ignore	dawn9476 wrote: It's fiscal responsibility to cut a person's wages to just over $10 dollars? You can barely live on that wage here in Michigan let alone California. Lower wages for home health care workers will just lead to more people quitting and looking for work elsewhere which will lead sick people in worse shape and more dependent on the government. Cutting the wages of health care workers IS NOT fiscal responsibility. It is just going to lead to more problems. We're in a recession....and yet people get upset at wage cuts? Does sacrificing only apply to certain people now?
$frackskat004 is online$ frackskat004		#7	[-]
$frackskat004's Avatar$ Posts: 483 (05/09/2009 1:58 AM) Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Friend Block Invite Ignore	rokhas1yummybumbum wrote: dawn9476 wrote: It's fiscal responsibility to cut a person's wages to just over $10 dollars? You can barely live on that wage here in Michigan let alone California. Lower wages for home health care workers will just lead to more people quitting and looking for work elsewhere which will lead sick people in worse shape and more dependent on the government. Cutting the wages of health care workers IS NOT fiscal responsibility. It is just going to lead to more problems. We're in a recession....and yet people get upset at wage cuts? Does sacrificing only apply to certain people now? Have you ever had your wages cut? People have the right to be upset. Home health workers are incredibly under paid for the job they do. This is not good. If you cut wages then those workers are going to quit. The elderly and disabled will go to a nursing home which will end up costing California more. Too bad prop 8 passed. We could of generated money from all those weddings. Edited By: frackskat004 05/09/2009 2:01 AM. Edited 2 times.
LauritaK		#8	[-]
Posts: 55853 (05/09/2009 10:26 AM) Best Current Events Scoop '06 & '08 Most Intelligent '09 Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Friend Block Invite Ignore	Can he do this to NV too please?
rokhas1yummybumbum		#9	[-]
Posts: 13825 (05/09/2009 11:41 AM) Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Friend Block Invite Ignore	frackskat004 wrote: rokhas1yummybumbum wrote: dawn9476 wrote: It's fiscal responsibility to cut a person's wages to just over $10 dollars? You can barely live on that wage here in Michigan let alone California. Lower wages for home health care workers will just lead to more people quitting and looking for work elsewhere which will lead sick people in worse shape and more dependent on the government. Cutting the wages of health care workers IS NOT fiscal responsibility. It is just going to lead to more problems. We're in a recession....and yet people get upset at wage cuts? Does sacrificing only apply to certain people now? Have you ever had your wages cut? People have the right to be upset. Home health workers are incredibly under paid for the job they do. This is not good. If you cut wages then those workers are going to quit. The elderly and disabled will go to a nursing home which will end up costing California more. Too bad prop 8 passed. We could of generated money from all those weddings. Wow. People are going to quit their jobs in a recession? Okay, I'm sure if they want to quit, there are people who realize a job is better than no job at all. When it comes down to getting a wage cut or losing your job, it doesn't seem like a hard decision. I'd rather take a pay cut then lose my job all together.
Divine81		#10	[-]
Posts: 2200 (05/09/2009 12:32 PM) Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Friend Block Invite Ignore	Well, are the wage cuts REALLY against the provisions of the Reinvestment Act? I don't know the details well enough to say.
cjcsbennett		#11	[-]
Posts: 69 (05/13/2009 9:58 PM) Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Friend Block Invite Ignore	frackskat004 wrote: Have you ever had your wages cut? People have the right to be upset. Home health workers are incredibly under paid for the job they do. This is not good. If you cut wages then those workers are going to quit. The elderly and disabled will go to a nursing home which will end up costing California more. My company just cut everyone's wages. From management on down. Not a single person quit. Were we upset? Hell yes, but what were we gonna do? It's a manufacturing plant, so the chances of any one of us going out and finding employment elsewhere are slim to none here in Northeast Ohio. Heck, today there was not a single classified ad in the paper for factory workers. Not one. A few years ago, you'd have a good 2 pages of factory ads. I'll take my pay cut over completely losing my job any day.
TiggerlovesCM		#12	[-]
Posts: 40195 (05/15/2009 10:36 AM) Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Friend Block Invite Ignore	So the 10 dollars is just what the state contributes to each worker and then the rest of their wages is made up from someone else paying them? How is that the Fed's business?
rokhas1yummybumbum		#13	[-]
Posts: 13920 (05/15/2009 3:13 PM) Reply Quote More Recent Posts Message Friend Block Invite Ignore	TiggerlovesCM wrote: So the 10 dollars is just what the state contributes to each worker and then the rest of their wages is made up from someone else paying them? How is that the Fed's business? It isn't. But I guess they could say because the feds gave them money, there are strings attached to the money. I'm just not sure what planet they are living on. Most people can't even get jobs, wage and price cuts should be expected in this economy.