Furloughs hit TVCC
Employees face unpaid time off as result of funding cuts
Treasure Valley Community College students who visit campus on Friday will find the doors locked and the lights turned off. That’s because cuts in Oregon’s funding to higher education have forced the college’s employees to take unpaid furlough days and shut down its buildings on Fridays this summer. The shutdowns affect both the main campus in Ontario and the satellite center in Caldwell. The furlough days apply to all non-faculty employees and will continue for eight Fridays, according to TVCC representative Abby Lee. During that period employees will work nine hours a day, Monday through Thursday. The total reduction amounts to 32 hours per employee and results in an overall salary cut of 1.54 percent, Lee said. Although hours have been cut, employees are doing their best to keep up with their workload this summer, she said. “I think our people are working faster and harder. We have to get more done in fewer hours, which we are accomplishing, but it’s not easy,” Lee said. In a letter to students and staff, TVCC President Dana Young explained that the furloughs are necessary because Oregon’s Legislature has cut funding to the Community Colleges Support Fund. The state’s community colleges requested $425 million in funding in 2011, and received $395.5 million. The Legislature withheld $14.5 million from the fund, which could be released in 2012, depending on the state’s economy, Young noted. “This funding level means that we are bracing for additional reductions in the upcoming year,” Young said. The furlough days will mean about $66,000 in savings for the college. Reductions in electricity use will save about $4,000 more. Other measures aimed at meeting budget shortfalls include raising per-credit fees by two dollars, reducing administrative spending, withholding cost-of-living increases, and cutting three staff positions. Although the TVCC Caldwell Center is funded by student tuition and fees — not State of Oregon tax revenue — the furloughs and other cost measures will still affect employees and students in Caldwell. The reductions were implemented in Caldwell for “consistency in college practices and operations,” according to Lee. The Caldwell Center employs 29 staff and 31 faculty, while serving as many as 500 students over the course of an academic quarter, Lee said. The center will be open from 8-6 p.m., Monday through Thursday, this summer.This problem is so obvious, I'm tempted not to say anything at all. But, you know me, I can't just shut my liberal mouth when it comes to people losing their jobs or schools shutting down to a 4-day week due to lack of funds. Come on people, let's not let this happen.
The Dems want to tax -- dare I say it -- the well-to-do. If you make over $250,000 per year, we want you to pay 'your fair share' of taxes.
Let's take an example: General Electric made a gazillion dollars last year and they paid 10% in taxes. Oh, I could go on and on regarding huge corporations and their tax cuts, but why do it? Everybody knows huge corporations or rich individuals pay less in taxes than you or me.
Yet, the Tea Party and all the other misinformed conservatives believe that if you give the rich tax breaks they will put money back into businesses that will in turn create more jobs.
Let's take a look at the GE example: GE paid 10% in taxes, but they dropped 17% in employment. Shouldn't they have gone up 17% in employment? They should if you believe in the 'Trickle Down' theory of economics ,i.e., VooDoo Reaganomics or fuzzy math.
A very smart psychologist came up with a model of how we think:
- Attitudes create
- Behaviors which have
- Consequences.
We try to make the 'Trickle Down' work over and over again and it doesn't. Does that mean our country is insane? I hate to say that, but sometimes it seems that way. And, every time we do 'Trickle Up', i.e., give the money to the poor, the country thrives.
In the early thirties, Roosevelt knew he had to do something radical to get the country up and running again after the Great Depression. What did he do? He gave money to the poor. What happened, the country rebounded...quickly, in fact. Why? The poor spent money quickly and the rich got their money by creating goods for the newly money totin' poor folks. And, we've found this technique works EVERY TIME. Unfortunately, we don't do it all-the-way. Obama gave us a tax rebate, a few dollars unfortunately. He should have given us po' foke much more money to spend. But he did the best he could with the Reps filibustering their little hearts out.
I'm Extremely disgusted with the Reps in Congress if you haven't guessed.
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