(From the diaries - promoted by Hazen Pingree)
The latest effort from Senate Obstructionist Leader Mike Bishop (R-Tanning Salon) to block action on moving Michigan forward involves his demanding that Governor Jennifer Granholm rescind a scheduled pay increase for state employees and exact an additional $300 million in "consessions" from state employees.
According to the Lansing State Journal, state employees are not happy:
State workers are feeling picked on and stressed out, said Ann Lantzy, a secretary in the Attorney General's Office.
"I'm sorry the state is in such terrible condition, but we are not the ones that did it," said Lantzy, a Lansing resident who has worked for the state for 32 years. "I don't see the Legislature giving up a whole lot."
Mike Cox's secretary is right. The Legislature isn't giving up a whole lot. In fact, they're not giving up anything (unlike Granholm).
Take Mike Bishop, for example. He became a member of the Michigan Legislature in 1999. His salary at the time, according to the State Officers Compensation Commission, was $55,054 per year. But now, just 8 years later, Bishop's salary as Senate Majority Leader is $105,650.
That's an increase in pay of $50,596, or 92%!!! -- more than 12% per year!!!
How many state employees have received a similar increase in the last 8 years?
Mike Bishop's hypocrisy. You're paying for it, Michigan taxpayers. Are you getting your money's worth from Mike Bishop? |
