BLOOMY, UNION BUSTER

Bloomberg Budget Plan Calls for Benefits Cuts
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Ever since he stormed to re-election in 2005 with surprising union support, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has enjoyed unusually warm relations with organized labor, negotiating contracts that critics have called overly generous.

On Friday, though, Mr. Bloomberg began to push in the other direction, if gently, declaring in his budget address that if the city’s pension and health benefits systems were not reformed, “we’ll fundamentally bankrupt big municipalities like us.” Mr. Bloomberg proposed that city employees begin paying 10 percent of their health care premiums.

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The mayor's budget counts on city workers paying 10% toward the cost of their health benefits, raising $350 million, as well as $200 million more from reining in health costs. (NY Daily News 1-30-09)

MAYOR'S FDNY BUDGET CUTS

M E M O R A N D U M

Today the Mayor unveiled his preliminary budget for FY2010 designed to deal with the fall out from the fiscal crisis that now grips the country in a recession.

The news for the Fire Department is not good:

• 4 fire company night closings will become full time closings effective 7-1-09.

• 7 additional fire companies will be disbanded effective 7-1-09.

• 5 additional fire companies will be disbanded effective 1-1-10.

• 30 BLS ambulance tours and 9 supervisory lines in conditions cars will be eliminated effective 7-1-09.

• 27 Fire Marshal lines and 5 Supervising Fire Marshal lines will be eliminated based on attrition.

• 32 EMS administrative lines in units through out the Department will be eliminated, which will require those members on full duty in the designated units to return to ambulance duty and those members with Reasonable Accommodations to seek other accommodations if available, otherwise they will need to retire.

• All civilian vacancies that have not been approved by OMB have now been eliminated.

• There is a complete freeze on all new civilian attrition that occurs until June 30, 2010. This does not include Fire Prevention, Dispatchers, Grant funded positions, Deutsche Bank Task Force positions or ECTP related lines. The Bureau of Personnel Resources will be issuing new civilian guidelines to address critical vacancies.

• Security Services for Randall’s Island, Fort Totten and Maspeth will be discontinued by March 1, 2009.

BARACK BASHES BONUSES

Be Careful What You Wish For
(Click Here for Entire Article)

While President Barack Hussein Obama (D) huffed and puffed about unseemly Wall Street bonuses given to financial executives of institutions receiving federal bailout funds as "shameful" and "the height of irresponsibility," New York City and New York State government officials had a different point of view. Lack of Wall Street bonuses will hit both the city and the state very hard in lost income tax revenues, increasing by gallons their flow of red ink.

New York state will lose a whopping $1 billion in tax revenues this year because cash bonuses to Wall Street employees plummeted 44 percent in 2008, according to a bombshell new report. In an analysis released this morning by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, he estimates that the securities industry paid its New York City employees $18.4 billion in bonuses last year compared to $33 billion in 2007 -- a drop in bonuses that will also cost the city $275 million.

FROM HERE TO FRATERNITY

From Here to Retirement
(Click Here for Entire Article)

If you have a 401(k) retirement plan at work, you don’t need us to tell you that you’ve taken a hit in the past year. The really bad news is that the damage to your retirement security is likely worse than what the numbers say on your statement.

People close to retirement don’t have time for a do-over. Even for those still far from retirement, there’s no telling how stocks will perform in the future.

The last 25 years was a time of low inflation rates and low interest rates, which boosted stock prices. Going forward, inflation and interest rates have nowhere to go but up, which would be bad for stocks.

So far, the cumulative wipe-out of household retirement savings totals about $2 trillion, and no one believes that the downturn is anywhere near over. As a result, participants in 401(k)’s are in greater danger than ever of coming up short in retirement.

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Thousand Points of Right

Since when, do Former Active Firefighters (FAF) have to protect Active Firefighters’ futures? It's called "Brotherhood"... It's Fraternal ! Maybe it's time for Active Firefighters to see through the ‘smoke screen’ provided, during the past 8 years of Union "Fiduciary Irresponsibility"!

(Pay no attention to those ‘Retirees’, hiding behind their graying hair. They're only dreaming of the past, when Unions protected retiree benefits and retirees' futures.) hmmm?

Well, thank goodness for those graying FAF who were part of the movement in 2000, which engineered the ONLY protection and GUARANTEE against the ravages of inflation and stock market collapses. A COLA… “C…O…L…A”… COLA.

Sadly, FAF have been pounding on the “Union’s Doors” for 7-8 years, informing the “Brain Trust” that they must support a COLA enhancement but, alas, retirees were always met by the same old “Elected Faces”. It’s “High Noon” and the time has passed for any possibile COLA enhancement. Support from the Unions, now, is USELESS, and they know it ! The Active Firefighter should “Rethink” what’s best for their financial future and run those, who have stubbornly opposed COLA enhancements,… “out of town”. jg

GITMO' THAN YA WISH FO'

9-11 Families Upset Over Obama Gitmo Decision

(Click Here for Entire Article)

Three families of firefighters killed at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, want to meet with President Barack Obama to urge him to reverse his decision to suspend the trial of five detainees in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who admit roles in the terror attacks.

In a meeting with reporters at their attorney's office on Sunday, the families deplored what they called "delays and confusion'' in the former Bush administration's effort to prosecute suspects in the 2001 attacks, which killed about 3,000 people, saying they want "a firm commitment'' that the same process won't continue under Obama.

NYC IN LINE FOR $3.4 B BOOST

New York in Line for $3.4B Boost Under Obama Stimulus Package
(Click Here for Entire Article)

According to Sen. Chuck Schumer, the funds - part of the $10 billion to $15 billion in federal stimulus money the state is expected to receive - should help the city offset its budget deficit and aid shortfalls in education funding. The package includes about $1.8 billion in budget aid for New York and $1.6 billion for education.

JOE HINES & THE CSU

Blind Firefighter Elected to LaGrange Board of Fire Commissioners
(Click Here for a Wonderful Story)

He's lived in the Dutchess County area for his whole life, and has worked as a New York City fireman for much of his career. Joe Hines has been blind since 1967.

It wasn't until the tragedy of September 11 that Hines returned to the city as a fireman. "Like every other ex-fireman, I went down to the city that night," he said. It was about 11 p.m. by the time he got to ground zero. "I met a chief. I told him who I was and I asked him if I could be of any assistance." He went with a triage doing emotional assistance work and was swept into the intensity for days.

"You had an unprecedented situation," said Hines, 343 firemen were killed on 9/11, and "thousands were scarred emotionally. The ripple effect upon their families was unbelievable."

Hines is now a field supervisor for New York's Counseling Services Unit (CSU), which was formalized in the 1960s. On 9/11, the CSU had fewer than ten employees. CSU services are available to New York City firemen, their families, and extended families. They've seen over 20,000 firefighters and family members since 9/11.

"The impact of 9/11 is still there. It will always be there," said Hines. "These guys are going to carry that until their lives are ended."

A "NEW" UNION LEGACY ?

Robert Reich: Keep Stimulus Money Away from Skilled Workers and “White Male Construction Workers”
(By Michelle Malkin - January 22, 2009 - Click Here)

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President Obama, Joe Biden(ouch) & his economic advisor(?) Robert Reich have been foisted upon Patriotic Americans(that's "Right") by the so called DEMOCRAT UNIONS, who suppoted this entire Obamanation. The saddest part has yet to come, as President Obama will soon nominate 2-3 jurists for the U.S. Supreme Court. The short-sighted UNIONS will then be able to take credit for removing any and all references to God in our country, murder all the unborn they want and leave a legacy for their children and grandchildren to endure. Unfortunately, the UNIONS will have left their legacy for your families, too ! Dear God, (I pray in silence, so as not to get caught) please tell me this was not what the UNIONS really wanted. AMEN(oops) jg

COMPUTER WORM

Worm Infects Millions of Computers Worldwide
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Worms like Conficker or Downadup not only ricochet around the Internet at lightning speed, they harness infected computers into unified systems called botnets, which can then accept programming instructions from their clandestine masters. “If you’re looking for a digital Pearl Harbor, we now have the Japanese ships steaming toward us on the horizon,” said Rick Wesson, chief executive of Support Intelligence.

PEABODY DANCES AROUND 9/11

Peabody, MA Council OKs Cops' 9/11 Pay
(Click Here)

Officers will be paid time-and-a-quarter on the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City.

The police & fire union raises will be partly offset by unions agreeing to pay 15 percent of their health insurance premiums, up from 10 percent, and contributing more for doctor's office visits, emergency room visits and prescription drugs. The police union will also have to submit to random, hair follicle drug testing.

WTC TOLL - 2,752 (FDNY-343??)

NYC Adds Man's Cancer Death to 9/11 Victims' Toll
(Click Here for Entire Article)

A man who died of lymphoma and lung disease more than seven years after he was exposed to toxic dust from the World Trade Center collapse was added to the Sept. 11 death toll. Chief medical examiner Charles Hirsch listed the death as a homicide. Hirsch cited research that showed a link between sarcoidosis and ground zero dust exposure.

In 2007, however, Hirsch reversed a New Jersey medical examiner's decision that a retired city police detective's death was caused by exposure to toxic dust. Hirsch ruled that James Zadroga's improper use of prescription drugs exacerbated his lung disease. The 34-year-old Zadroga's name was later added to the New York Police Department's memorial wall as an official Sept. 11 victim.

The death toll from the trade center attacks now stands at 2,752.

SMART CUTS ??

NYC Fire Fighters Save Lives in Hudson River Crash

The crash comes on the heels of a proposal by some New York fire chiefs to cut their water rescue teams as a way to save money. The chiefs claim that the cuts would be smart because the teams do not get a lot of calls.

Meanwhile, members of Local 854 and 94 are at New York City Hall today trying to keep five FDNY units in lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island from shutting down between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m., beginning January 17.

The closures are an effort by New York’s fire commissioner to save $8.9 million per year. Hearings were being held in front of the City Council’s Fire and Criminal Justice Services Committee January 16 to determine whether or not to implement the commissioner’s plan.

Povolny & McLaughlin

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When you're "in-bed" with the Mayor... It's the Fire Commissioner's Fault. jg

NAT'L BONE MARROW REGISTRY

Retired NYC Firefighter Loses 2nd Stem-Cell Donor

By Matt King - Times Herald Record
January 16, 2009

WARWICK — Roy Chelsen, a retired New York City firefighter with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer, lost a donor for the second time earlier this month, days before he was scheduled to undergo a life-saving bone marrow stem-cell transplant.

The identity of a donor is kept secret from patients for a year, so the family does not know why the woman had to pull out at the last moment. Chelsen, 49, was diagnosed in 2005.

To learn about signing up for the national blood marrow registry, visit
www.marrow.org

LADDER 53 REPRIEVE

City Island Gets Reprieve for Fire Unit Facing Cuts
(Click Here for Entire Article)

When darkness falls on City Island on Saturday, residents may see something unexpected on the big, red fire truck that is Ladder Company 53: firefighters.

The ladder company was one of four companies citywide scheduled to be closed at night from 6 p.m. to 9 a.m., a cost-cutting measure expected to save about $8.9 million a year.

For the last few years, the Fire Department has been operating with more than the minimum number of firefighters and officers required for the night tour, and as long as that remains the case, Ladder 53 will be staffed at night

BUDGET OUTLOOK - BAD TO WORSE

The Budget Outlook Goes from Bad to Worse
(Click Here for Entire Article)

In recent years, the big surpluses, for the most part, have been carried over to cover expenses for subsequent years, making each year's budget balancing that much easier. In addition, the mayor placed $2.5 billion of the 2006 and 2007 surpluses in a new reserve fund, the Retiree Health Benefits Trust Fund, to be used to meet future liabilities for retirees' health expenses.

The $1.8 billion surplus in 2009 that the mayor hoped to use to fill gaps in the 2010 budget has shrunk to $568 million, according to the IBO.

Furthermore, Bloomberg proposes to use more than $1.1 billion of the retiree health fund to make up for the anticipated growth in pension expenses caused by losses in pension fund investments. The IBO says the new use of the retiree trust fund "undermines the city's goal of beginning to fund its enormous liability for future retiree healthcare expenses."

THOUSAND POINTS OF RIGHT

Thousand Points of Right

Well, if you read VP "Slippery Slevin's" report in the 4th isuue (2008) "Fire Lines", you will learn that he does not mention his steadfast opposition, for 8 long years, to any form of COLA enhancement. His "FAILURE" to support or help produce COLA legislation for 8 years might be considered criminal in a 'forward-looking','fiduciary-responsible' union.

Any union legislative representative knows that you must ALWAYS support future COLA enhancements, ESPECIALLY during good economic times. 401k's, etc are not pension protections and are always subject to market fluctuations. The only SURE way to protect our pensions is through COLA enhancements and the unions failed ALL their members by OPPOSING it ! Period !

Former Active Firefighters and Prospective Retirees (Active Firefighters) have literally lost thousands upon thousands of dollars because of this failure and will continue to do so, ad infinitum! Oh, and standing right along side "Slippery" is "Hopalong Cassidy" who also "OPPOSED" COLA legislation for 8 years. WHAT, or rather WHO, were they thinking about, or rather, NOT thinking about ??? Maybe they will support it now, as the UFOA finally did... but we all know, any support for COLA legislation, is simply fruitless now and for years to come. Former Active Firefighters are not fooled by this type of support. Duh!

Slippery's report goes on to state that the union will fight the New Tier legislation and states that the elimination of the VSF for new hires is unacceptable because it was a hard won 'pension benefit'. I strongly believe there will be a New Tier and I strongly disagree with his assessment that the VSF is a pension benefit. If it were, it would be NY State and City... TAX FREE and ergo a 2nd Pension. A 2nd Pension would be constitutionally illegal. On the other hand, if the VSF IS a Pension Benefit, there is NO WAY that it could be taken-away. Hmmm? We'll soon find out. jg

PARKING AT HYDRANT

Conflict of Interest Board Fines Bravest $1,000 for Parking at Hydrant
(Click Here if Necessary)

The Bronx fireman who parked his Cadillac SUV in front of a hydrant - and then scrawled a note begging traffic agents not to ticket him - was fined $1,000 by the city's Conflict of Interest Board Monday. The 4 year firefighter, whose license plate is BRAVEST1, admitted he tried to use his position as a fireman to avoid the ticket when exposed by the Daily News.

THE NEXT CATASTROPHE

Think Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were a politicized financial disaster? Just wait until pension funds implode.

(Click Here for Entire Opinion)

Many union funds and larger state pension plans screen stocks and investment opportunities based on what are known as “socially responsible investing,” or SRI, principles. Instead of focusing solely on maximizing value, fund managers have used the economic clout of concentrated stock holdings to make a statement by divesting from companies that don’t make it through certain “sin screens.”

Socially responsible investing now claims a market of more than $2 trillion. Activist treasurers and pension fund managers in numerous states and municipalities, most notably in California, New York, and Connecticut, have incorporated social screens into their investment strategies.

If the goals of pension managers and retirees are not the same—as is often the case—then pension plans should not engage in social investing. In many instances, SRI amounts to union leaders or politicians gambling with other people’s money in support of ideological vanity.

FDNY - IBM DATABASE

NYC Fire Dept., IBM Partner on Safety Database
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The New York City Fire Department has partnered with IBM to create a central databank for all building inspection and safety information in the wake of a fatal blaze at a ground zero skyscraper.

The project, which will cost the department around $22.8 million, will be ready in October. The aim is to collect and share data in real time so firefighters can better inspect buildings and know exactly what to expect when they go into burning buildings. Eventually, the data will be linked with information from the Buildings Department and other agencies that also inspect buildings.

NY STATE MAY DROP RADIO PROJECT

State Close to Dropping Police Radio Project
(Click Here for Entire Article)

State officials are close to canceling a $2 billion contract to build a statewide wireless network for emergency agencies after critical tests on the network failed late last year.

The original plan, conceived after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, was designed to link emergency agencies from the tip of Long Island to Niagara Falls via a series of radio towers.

The Office for Technology is looking at other methods, including Internet-based communications and cellphone technology, that are said to be more cost-effective and could provide more reliable and cheaper service than the radio technology called for in the original contract.

REVERSE DISCRIMINATION ?

Court Will Hear Reverse Discrimination Case
(Click Here for Entire Article)

The Supreme Court on Friday stepped into a reverse discrimination lawsuit over a city's decision to scrap a promotion exam for firefighters because too few minorities scored high enough to move up in rank.

Nineteen white firefighters and one Hispanic firefighter sued New Haven, Conn., in 2004. They said they would have been promoted if the city hadn't thrown out the results of two tests for lieutenant and captain because minorities generally did poorly on the exams.

EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE(?) ACT

Preparing for Change at Top of Labor Dept

(Click Here for Entire Article)

Many Republicans oppose the bill, which would enable unions to add millions of workers and would largely eliminate use of the secret ballot to determine whether workers want a union.

Senator Isakson, Republican of Georgia, asked Ms. Solis why she supported a bill that would bypass secret ballots when she had, as a California legislator, backed a bill that called for using secret ballots to determine whether a company’s employees favored flextime arrangements.

Ms. Solis declined to discuss the apparent contradiction and her views of the free choice measure, which could face a filibuster in the Senate. She said her position as nominee “doesn’t, in my opinion, afford me the ability to provide you with an opinion at this time.”
WHAT ??? jg

HEALTHY COMP FOR NYC FIREFIGHTERS

Cost of City Workers’ Pensions Has Soared
(Click Here for Entire Article)

From fiscal years 2000 to 2008, health insurance costs doubled and other non-pension fringe benefit costs grew by almost 50 percent; however, the growth in the cost of pension contributions dwarfed these increases. In that period, the city’s average contribution for pension benefits grew by 704 percent — from $2,530 per full-time employee to $20,333.

Total compensation costs nationally increased by 31 percent for private employers and by 34 percent for state and local governments — compared to 63 percent for New York City.

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Healthy Compensation for NYC Civil Servants

(Click Here for Entire Article)

NEW YORK, NY January 08, 2009 —A new study finds civil servants with six-figure compensation packages are the norm in New York City with firefighters making, on average, $186,000 a year, and police officers, $164,000. The study, by the Citizens Budget Commission, says the average city worker's salary and benefits has ballooned 63 percent since fiscal year 2000. CBC president Carol Kellermann.

The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association declined comment, while the firefighter's union did not return a call for comment.

OBAMA TO REIN-IN RETIREE SPENDING

Obama Promises Bid to Overhaul Retiree Spending

(Click Here for Entire Article)

President-elect Barack Obama said Wednesday that overhauling Social Security and Medicare would be “a central part” of his administration’s efforts to contain federal spending, signaling for the first time that he would wade into the thorny politics of entitlement programs.

Should he follow through with a serious effort to cut back the rates of growth of the two programs, he would be opening up a potentially risky battle that neither party has shown much stomach for. The programs have proved almost sacrosanct in political terms, even as they threaten to grow so large as to be unsustainable in the long run. President Bush failed in his effort to overhaul Social Security, and Medicare only grew larger during his administration with the addition of prescription drug coverage for retirees.

STOP THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE

I have just taken action to stop the attacks on our Free Speech Rights, and I'm asking that you join with me by clicking here:

Don't Allow The Fairness Doctrine Silence The Conservative Voice

Take a moment of your time and Be Counted.

GOTHAM'S PROBLEMS - CAMELOT PROOF

Gotham’s Problems Are Camelot-Proof
(Clich Here for Most Informative Article)

As the last fumes dissipate from Wall Street’s manic era, it’s become painfully clear that New York City’s budget has been in dangerous imbalance for years. But the real drop-dead time for New York comes 18 months from now. By then, New York could face a cash deficit of $8 billion, amounting to 13 percent of total spending and 18 percent of city revenues. This figure is particularly chilling because at the peak of New York’s 1970s fiscal crisis, the city’s deficit, as a percentage of the city’s own revenue, stood at 14 percent.

Worse, this projection already includes the extra cash influx from the recently enacted $1.3 billion property-tax increase, estimates of $1 billion–plus in projected budget cuts, and a cash extraction out of what was supposed to be a long-term “benefits trust” for future retiree health-care costs.

2005 BRONX HOMICIDE CASE

Homicide Case in Firefighters' Deaths Begins in Bronx (Click Here for Entire Article)

Bronx Assistant District Attorney placed the blame for the fire and the resulting fatalities on tenants, who he said illegally subdivided their apartments to squeeze in more people. Glucksman said they put a wall up in place of an entrance to a living room. They created what the DA called "a death trap."

Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta has said the firefighters jumped from the window without knowing there was a fire escape - because one of the added walls blocked their view of it.

NEW YORK POST
BLACK SUNDAY FDNY RADIO TRANSMISSIONS

(Click Here)

JAIL FOR DEUTSCHE BANK FIRE

Bovis Safety Manager Faces Jail for New York Fire
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Despite concluding that “everybody failed” to prevent the fire at New York’s Deutsche Bank building that killed two firefighters in August 2007, prosecutors have indicted only the site safety manager of construction manager Bovis Lend Lease, two men from the demolition subcontractor and the subcontractor itself, John Galt Corporation, for manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment.

However the District Attorney also levelled blame against the fire department. The FDNY’s own “15-Day Rule” requires that firefighters inspect buildings undergoing construction and demolition at least every 15 days and to focus on 18 conditions, including standpipe systems. The investigation also found that the FDNY failed to develop a special firefighting operations plan for the Deutsche Bank building, despite numerous recommendations that it do so. The District Attorney also blamed the city’s Department of Buildings (DOB), whose inspectors were charged with ensuring the contractor complied with regulations regarding the standpipe and access between floors.

TERM LIMITS IN COURT

Term Limits Get Reprise, This Time in Court
(Click Here for Entire Article)

A decisive round in the battle over who can run for re-election in New York City in November played out on Monday in a packed courtroom in Brooklyn, where lawyers for the city and for a group challenging an extension of term limits argued their cases before a federal district judge Charles P. Sifton.

Mayor Bloomberg signed the law allowing him and most other elected city officials to seek third terms, circumventing two plebiscites that set two consecutive four-year terms in public office as the limit for all of them. One primary issue in the lawsuit filed by the challengers is whether the law extending term limits violated the voters’ constitutional rights to free speech.

(More than two months after signing the controversial law allowing him to seek a third term, Mayor Bloomberg still has not sought the required federal approval for it.”)

PELOSI TO ERASE FAIRNESS RULES

Pelosi Erases Gingrich's Fairness Rules
(Click Here for Entire Article)

After decades of Democrat control of the House of Representatives, gross abuses to the legislative process and several high-profile scandals contributed to an overwhelming Republican House Congressional landslide victory in 1994. Reforms to the House Rules as part of the Contract with America were designed to open up to public scrutiny what had become under this decades-long Democrat majority a dangerously secretive House legislative process.

Pelosi’s proposed repeal of decades-long House accountability reforms exposes a tyrannical Democrat leadership poised to assemble legislation in secret, then goose-step it through Congress by the elimination of debate and amendment procedures as part of America’s governing legislative process.

STANDPIPE INSPECTION RULES

New Standpipe Inspection Rules Take Effect
(Click Here for Entire Article)

Site safety professionals are now required to conduct a weekly "tracing" examination of the standpipe on each floor to verify that no breach exists throughout the building, according to a release from the Department of Buildings. The new requirements also increase the frequency of standpipe inspections, including daily inspections of the water and Siamese connections and the valves at each story below the construction floor. Previously, such inspections were conducted on a periodic basis or as appropriate, according to DOB.

SEPT. 11 CONDOM-NATION

September 11, Condom-Nation
(Click Here for Entire Article)

A German entrepreneur has taken bad taste to new heights - applying for a federal trademark to use the Freedom Tower to market a line of condoms. The Munich-based marketer has an application to use the slogan "Freedom Tower Make Love Not War" on condom packaging.

"It boggles my mind as to how someone could use the name 'Freedom Tower' on a package of condoms," fumed Jack Lynch, whose firefighter son, Michael, died at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

STRESS AND THE CITY

Are we headed back to the bad old days of the 1970s?
(Click Here For Entire Article)

The state comptroller predicts that when the dust settles, Wall Street bonuses in 2008 will be about half of what they were in 2007, when they totaled $33.2 billion. The axing of jobs and bonuses will contribute to an estimated 4.3% drop in New York City tax revenues in fiscal 2009.

During the height of New York's financial crisis in 1976 and 1977, Stephen Berger supervised the city's budget and was instrumental in designing a financial plan that enabled New York to re-enter the credit markets. Now Mr. Berger thinks the city is actually worse off today than it was then.

Today, it's going to take more than better bookkeeping. Wall Street accounts for 5% of employment in the city, and 23% of revenues. But the city won't be able to lean as heavily on Wall Street for a long time. Already, the city has had to return $800 million to companies that overestimated prepaid taxes. Some of the largest financial institutions may not pay taxes for years because of massive losses.

9/11'S FIRED HEROES

DRUG TESTING AXES ANGUISHED BRAVEST
(Click Here for Entire Article)

John Schroeder lost everything on 9/11 - and now it's cost him his job as well. He was one of the first firefighters to respond to both the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, reaching the 23rd floor of the north tower during the latter catastrophe.

Now Schroeder, 49, is one of several scarred firefighters fighting to keep their pensions because of failed drug tests, caught between the sympathy of their colleagues and the zero-tolerance policy of the Fire Department.

JOBLESS OR RETIRED

Obama Considers Major Expansion in Jobless Aid
(Click Here for Entire Article)

While the fiscally conservative Democrats support deficit spending to jump-start the economy, “these are debts that will have to be paid,” said Rep.Jim Cooper, Democrat of Tennessee. “We have to combine short-term stimulus with a focus on the long term.”

Among their ideas are a bipartisan commission to propose limits on future benefits for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the entitlement programs whose projected future costs would squeeze out all other spending.

Other policy changes would subsidize employers’ expenses for temporarily continuing health insurance coverage to laid-off and retired workers and their dependents, as mandated under a 22-year-old federal law known as Cobra.

REMAINS OF THE DAY

Where Shall They Rest ?
(Click Here for Newsweek Article)

None of the families of the 9/11 hijackers, and no foreign governments, have come forward to request that their remains be handed over, and it is not clear what the official response would be if they did. The U.S. government has not said what, if anything, it plans to do with them. "No determination has yet been made. For now, they are being held as evidence in the still-open 9/11 investigation. Yet at some point, the investigation will be closed. The remains of the identified victims have been returned to their families; but what is to be done with the remnants of their killers?