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In recent years, Illinois lawmakers have required themselves to take 12 unpaid days off every year -- which they can then tout as a pay cut. But that didn't happen this year. As IPR's Brian Mackey reports, some politicians are already trying to make hay out of that.
Twelve days doesn't add up to much -- less than five percent of a lawmaker's $68,000 salary. But after legislative leaders won a lawsuit last year saying the Constitution prohibited the governor from cutting their pay, they decided it probably wasn't a good idea to do it to themselves. Of course, individual lawmakers can still make a stink. Democratic Sen. Mike Frerichs, from Champaign, who's also running for state treasurer, says he'll donate his so-called "extra" pay to charity.
This is a well worn path for politicians. Chris Mooney, who heads the University of Illinois' Institute of Government and Public Affairs, says they want to be seen as "just helping out."
"I'm not doing it for the money. I'm doing it just to help the people. Won't somebody think please think of the people and the children and all that. And that's sort of the message that they're trying to send."
Which means, if you live in a place with a competitive election this fall, you'll no doubt be hearing more about politicians' pay.
Support Your Public Radio Station


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Imagine, for a moment, an America in which federal workers' generous compensation and job security were closer to that of their private sector counterparts. Or, alternatively: imagine an America in which there was less redundancy in the federal workforce, saving taxpayer dollars. Or imagine an America in which there was less bureaucratic red tape to be enforced against struggling entrepreneurs or business owners, thus necessitating a less robust federal workforce. Or imagine, as John Lennon might if he were around today, there's no TSA.
All that probably sounds delightful. Which is why unions representing federal employees don't want you to imagine any of that. Instead, they invite you to imagine, as their new ad campaign hopes you will, "Life without federal employees." But they mean, of course, any federal employees. That's the basis for a renewed effort by federal unions to burnish their image in the minds of the Americans that they believe don't fully appreciate them. As the Washington Post reports, the National Treasury Employees Union is releasing their own version of public service announcements on behalf of federal employees:
For example, one 15-second PSA says:
Without us, you should be afraid of your salad.
Without us, our borders would go unprotected.
Without us, we would live in fear of a nuclear meltdown.
Federal employees. They work for U.S.
Without overpaid bureaucrats, you'd be mired in lachanophobia if you knew what was good for you. Of course, you probably wouldn't know what was good for you without federal employees to tell you. The Post continues:
The announcements are being sent to 300 television stations and 1,000 radio stations in top markets.
This is NTEU's third campaign "and each time it keeps getting bigger," Kelley told reporters Wednesday. Between June 2011 and June 2012, radio, television and cable outlets ran NTEU PSAs 25,048 times, worth $7.4 million in media time, according to the labor organization, which said 292 million people saw or heard those PSAs.
The current PSAs are available on TheyWorkforUs.org. On the Web site, NTEU asks the public to imagine what life would be like without feds. NTEU also supplies the answer:
"You wouldn't want it."
It's worth pointing out here just how much the union has to stack the deck to get some appreciation. Jews make a blessing on their food to thank God for it before eating; the NTEU wants you to thank a union before fearlessly diving into your leafy greens.
In reality, the choice is surely not between anarchy dominated by nightmarish salad monsters and a bureaucratic superstate that chases off your kid's lemonade stand. What Americans don't like about the federal workforce has more to do with the fact that government employees make more than their private-sector counterparts, generally get far better benefits, and in many cases those employees are tasked with putting up obstacles to private-sector jobs. And they tend to think private-sector employees are working harder for less money than public-sector workers.
Americans—even those who support unions—are often uneasy with certain public-sector union rights, like the right to strike. Chris Christie had success in New Jersey by asking teachers unions to pay their fair share—less than their fair share actually: anything at all—by contributing a bit to their benefits, as private-sector employees did. They realize that, as Daniel DiSalvo has written, "In today's public sector, good pay, generous benefits, and job security make possible a stable middle-class existence for nearly everyone from janitors to jailors. In the private economy, meanwhile, cutthroat competition, increased income inequality, and layoffs squeeze the middle class."
And Americans are sensible enough to understand the moral hazard in such a state of affairs, where powerful government employees can negotiate from their government employers more and more of the private sector's money. But even more than the chutzpah it takes for unions to put out ads attempting to shame the public into thanking the unions for taking their money, this campaign is an indication that public-sector unions are well aware of their continued image problem. That they think equating disapproval of their work with anarchy is the way to fix it shows that it's likely to persist.

subset: commoncrawl


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As we continue to look at issues that are likely to come before the 2013 Kentucky General Assembly in a couple weeks, I want to express my sadness and concern in the wake of the Dec. 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut. The loss of children and innocent adults to such brutality in these United States is inexcusable and, I'm sure, we will be reviewing the causes and looking for solutions as a nation in the months to come.
My deepest sympathy is extended to all those affected by the shooting, especially those who lost loved ones.
Of all the issues facing our nation and this Commonwealth, protection of our children takes center stage. We know we cannot be with them all the time but when we can't, we want to know they are safe. That goes for our own children and grandchildren and for those children who, like the small children killed in Newtown, Conn., we don't know personally yet want to protect just the same.
Last regular session, Kentucky state lawmakers considered changing rules governing disclosure of information about child abuse and neglect, which is usually inflicted by someone a child knows. The legislation in question would have established a process for review of fatalities and near fatalities caused by abuse or neglect of children who had prior involvement with the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services and those with no prior involvement. The legislation, which was similar to bills introduced in 2010 and 2011, was not passed into law. A few months later on July 16, Governor Beshear issued an Executive Order establishing an external review panel in the state Justice Cabinet to review cases independent of the CHFS pertaining to fatalities caused by child abuse or neglect.
The problem is the governor's order is not permanent, like a law would be. It also does not require full public disclosure (as many media and others would like) of action taken — or not taken — to protect a child from abuse or neglect, nor does it require the review of deaths caused by abuse or neglect of a child who had no prior involvement with CHFS. This next session, we expect there to be a push for legislation that does all the executive order cannot — specifically, a law that establishes a legal requirement for external review of child fatality and near fatalities cases resulting from abuse or neglect.
You should also expect lawmakers to consider changes to the state's unified juvenile cost which governs treatment of youth who have committed criminal and noncriminal acts. Since the code was enacted in 1986, the inconsistencies found in it have become difficult for those in the justice system to navigate. A task force that met throughout the summer and fall looked at the ambiguous code and possible changes, such as alternatives to incarceration for troubled youth, better community care and community-based treatment, the need (or not) to establish an age of criminal responsibility, how violence impacts youth and sharing of information. Educational issues like compulsory attendance, truancy and access to school records were also discussed.
Suggested changes were made by the task force's working groups in November — chief among them a call to stop incarcerating any child age 12 or under for criminal, or noncriminal ("status"), offenses in Kentucky. Current state law prohibits putting a child age 10 or under in detention unless they are charged with a serious felony, but the law has no minimum age for charging someone with a crime.
Final recommendations of the task force were expected middle of last week, and I am sure we will touch on the recommendations in our session coverage in this column. Until then, I encourage you to study the issue through news stories in the state or local papers, or get a copy of the task force report yourself (which should be accessible soon via the www.lrc.ky.gov web site). Rest assured that it won't be long until we delve deeper into the issue in my column.
A final issue that state lawmakers are likely to consider in the 2013 Regular Session is a reform to the tax code, as we discussed in some depth last week. Among the reform ideas is subjecting new services to the state sales tax of 6 percent. Currently, the tax applies to most goods, but only a few services. There are pros and cons to both sides of this issue, as there are to most any issue that comes before the General Assembly, but it is something we should at least look into, and will likely do so in the upcoming session.
This will be my last column before the new year arrives, so let me take this moment to wish each and every one of you the best in 2013. I'll talk to you next year.


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Caveau Wine Bar
Top Bars For Business Drinks In Denver
Shake on it or raise your glass as these venues set the stage (and your table) for brighter business horizons.
Top Bars For Black Wednesday In Denver
Stressing about cooking the perfect Thanksgiving dinner? Or have you spent the last week trying to get everything prepared for your holiday guests? Black Wednesday is party night before Thanksgiving day and it should be spent with some great friends and cold drinks.
Top Anti-Football Bars in Denver
Not everyone loves football. There are plenty of places in Denver where ladies or guys can go on on Sunday or Monday night to get away from the loud sports fans and TVs blaring the game.
Top Ladies' Night Out Bars In Denver
It's important to recharge your estrogen levels once in a while in fun-filled, story-telling, hug-giving, champagne-drinking time with your girls.


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Fast Ethernet VoIP and IP Telephony Datasheets
from Data Connect Enterprise, Inc.
The NetVanta 1238 with PoE is a managed, Layer 2, 48-port Ethernet switch designed for fast, secure, cost-effective LAN switching. This scalable, full-featured business-class switch is perfect for VoIP applications by using robust Quality of Service (QoS) features and 802.3af Power over Ethernet... [See More]
- Protocols: Ethernet; Fast Ethernet
- Form Factor: Module
- Network Equipment: Switch
- Number of Ports: 48
from Hirschmann™, A BELDEN BRAND
M1-8MM-SC. Mach100 Family Media Modules. 8 x 100BaseFX Multimode DSC port media module for modular, managed, Industrial Workgroup Switch MACH102 [See More]
- Protocols: Ethernet; Fast Ethernet
- Form Factor: Module
- Network Equipment: Switch
- Ports / Interfaces: 100BaseFX Multimode DSC
from Howard Computers
The NetVanta 1335 multiservice access router is a performance-enhanced platform that addresses the need of multiple networking devices in a single compact platform. In addition, the NetVanta 1335, injected with RapidRoute technology, delivers enhanced performance necessary for IP telephony,... [See More]
- Protocols: ATM; Ethernet; Fast Ethernet; Frame Relay
- Features: Integrated Firewall
- Network Equipment: Router
- Dimensions: 17.2 in x 9.5 in x 1.7 in
from Quintum Technologies, Inc.
User programmable dial plan support [See More]
- Protocols: Ethernet; 10Base-T Ethernet; 10/100 Ethernet; Fast Ethernet; SNMP v2 Agent
- Number of Simultaneous Calls: ? to 60
- Network Equipment: Gateway; Other; Call Routing Server
- Form Factor: Module


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This page, the "Resources" is actually the list of services and products I use for Blogging, Internet Marketing and WordPress Development. Thought it would be beneficial for my readers to know what tools I am using to make things easier and more accurate. The resources list contains only the tools and services I personally use, and tested for extreme satisfaction. I'll update the list as I go, and will reference it from my blog posts whenever I get a chance.
Disclaimer: Please note that some of the links in this resources list are my affiliate links. I'll earn a commission, at no additional cost to you, if you decide to make a purchase through clicking my links. Please understand that I am using the tools and services listed here myself and have experience with them. I am recommending them because they are useful and helpful, not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to buy anything. Please do not spend any money on these products unless you feel you need them or that they will help you achieve your goals.
These are the tools and services I use in all my projects, including client projects. They not only essential tools, but also makes life a lot easier.
- WordPress: WordPress is the CMS I use for all of my sites and blogs. Since I first used WordPress (version 2.0.2) back in 2006, I fall in love with it. Now it powers 100% of my own sites and sites I have created for my clients.
- HostGator: I host all my websites and blogs in HostGator. Why? Because of the 99.9% uptime, excellent customer support via Phone, email and live chat. It is also incredibly easy to use the 1 Click automatic installation of WordPress, even a newbie can successfully install WordPress within seconds. Also, they support unlimited domains on single account, meaning you can host all your website for the price of a single account. Use Coupon ItsAbhik25 to get a 25% OFF on regular pricing.
- Genesis: Genesis is a Theme Framework for WordPress. You will need Genesis and a Child Theme to rock with your secure and fully search engine optimized site. It's 100% responsive and HTML5 ready. Genesis is licensed under GPLv2, which means, once purchased, you can use it on unlimited websites and blogs including your clients.
- Optin Monster: Optin Monster is a WordPress plugin that lets you easily embed email optin forms in your WordPress sites. After using so many similar plugins, including Subscriber Magnet, and comparing them side by side for the effectiveness I found Optin Monster to be the best among them. You many already noticed the lightbox popup form that appeared when you first visited this blog, and that is Optin Monster.
- Aweber: Aweber is the most powerful and feature rich auto-responder service for lead capturing and email marketing/broadcasting. This is what I use to build my email subscriber lists and Newsletter. What makes Aweber the best is its simple yet powerful user interface. You will be ready to capture leads within 15 minutes of signing up with them. Click here for One Month Trial for just $1.