vt.Buzz ~ a political blog

Political notes from Free Press staff writers Terri Hallenbeck, Sam Hemingway and Nancy Remsen

12.18.2008

Fearful times, indeed

"It's a fearful time to work at UVM," said Lluvia Mulvaney-Stanak, a University of Vermont staff member at a rally Wednesday to protest budget cuts.

I'm wondering where it's not a fearful time to be working? Are there businesses out there that are booming, employees sitting there feeling secure about their futures? What are those businesses?

- Terri Hallenbeck

posted by vt.Buzz | 9:55 AM |

Comments:

seizures and impoundments?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 10:30 AM, December 18, 2008

People making or selling guns.

Seriously.

Sales are through the roof.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:05 PM, December 18, 2008

It'll be interesting to see what happens to state revenue from the liquor tax.

I'll bet that booze is a good business to be in these days.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:45 PM, December 18, 2008

Wood stoves.

The stores can't keep them in stock.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:46 PM, December 18, 2008

How about this idea. If all of the number one and number two slots at all of the non profits would stand up and offer to take a let's see 10% cut in pay so that they could save an employee or two, would that show their staff that they really do care. But, it will never happen. They are all sitting very pretty at the top. Just come to Montpelier and bitch and moan about the cuts and how hard its going to be for everyone, besides themselves of course. I wonder how much at top guy at Howard Mental Health makes. He could probably cut his pay by 30% and save a few, Especially in light of the fact that his agency forced the teacher in Rutland to be fired for testifying about sexual preditors. Shameful.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 1:17 PM, December 18, 2008

What's even more sick is when I watched Channel 3 last night, Kate Duffy reported that when meeting with UVM students a few days ago, UVM President Dan Fogel said that he would leave UVM before taking a pay cut.

An across the board pay cut of 5% by the President and the senior members of the Fogel Administration would, in all certainty, solve this problem.

The President, I should note, get's paid more then the Governor of Vermont. Over $300,000 and the Governor only gets paid about $115,000.

Get rid of Fogel.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 1:42 PM, December 18, 2008

It's unconscionable that Fogel would say such a thing.

My initial reaction to his comment is don't let the door hit ya in your sorry butt on the way out the door, but if conditions are such that somebody in Fogel's position can just pick and choose wherever he wants to go by virtue of the fact that he's been putting the screws to the UVM rank and file to keep costs down, cranking up tuition rates and leaning towards out-of-state students because they pay higher tuition rates, the problem isn't Fogel. It's systemic and Fogel is just a symptom.

If that's the case as I suspect it is, then getting rid of Fogel for somebody just like him with a different name and a different face isn't gonna solve anything in the long run.

This is a rigged game and the deck has been stacked in favor of the Fogels and against the UVM rank and file and Vermont kids and their families wanting to put them through UVM and the Vermont State College system.

It's always been a bad situation but it's getting worse and worse all the time, and as much as offensive as I find Fogel's comments, it runs a lot deeper than him.

Don't hate the player. Hate the game.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 2:43 PM, December 18, 2008

Fogel makes more than he should. That's true.

And a 5% cut for "senior members of the Fogel Administration" isn't a bad idea.

But it won't "solve this problem".

If there are 20 people in his administration, and they make an average of $250,000 --- you'll only save $250,000 per year. That's a far cry from what is needed to balance the UVM budget.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 2:45 PM, December 18, 2008

coop...thanks for getting your point across without the nasty business. This is one Vermont who really appreciates it

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 2:51 PM, December 18, 2008

whoa there, wait a minute. I just reread the initial blog*****rally do adult really rally anymore? Get our your Thi (sp??) sticks everybody. Christ. Get rid of the unions and everyone will save money

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 2:54 PM, December 18, 2008

Anonymous said...

"coop...thanks for getting your point across without the nasty business. This is one Vermont who really appreciates it"

Thanks. I appreciate that.

Unfortunately, the nameless-nitwit following you spewing the semi-functionally illiterate, utterly- psychotic "get rid of the unions, it's all their fault" slop is gonna have to be confused with the facts.

While I appreciate your gesture of thanks, if you don't want to risk catching some fact fragments addressed to dear occupant, I suggest you get yourself a screen name.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 3:19 PM, December 18, 2008

Here, here - get rid of the union in state government.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 3:55 PM, December 18, 2008

Bring back endentured servitude!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 4:18 PM, December 18, 2008

Anonymous ....

"Here, here - get rid of the union in state government."

Well, little factose-intolerant/nameless-nitwit fella, apart from the fact that you'll tryin', Why?

Do tell?

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 4:19 PM, December 18, 2008

It's "indentured" and Jimmy and his team are working on it.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 4:19 PM, December 18, 2008

This comment has been removed by the author.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 4:26 PM, December 18, 2008

Want to find the really big salaries and perks, check VSAC. When compared to the rest of Vermont VSAC executives are off the charts.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 5:48 PM, December 18, 2008

Anonymous said...

"The President, I should note, get's paid more then the Governor of Vermont. Over $300,000 and the Governor only gets paid about $115,000.

Get rid of Fogel."

Fogel had a better year than doogie and he's had a far more successful tenure.

Fogel should take a 25 percent cut. That'd still leave him at 240K/yr. If ya can't make it on 240K/yr when good people doing good work are taking 100 percent cuts that leave their families without health care, ya get no sympathy from me.

The only thing doogie should be makin' is license plates.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 7:43 PM, December 18, 2008

Mulvaney-Stanek and others that suck off the public dole ought to be worried...as should her daughter

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 9:08 PM, December 18, 2008

In response to your original question Terri, I heard the software business in Chittenden County is hiring. I just checked the Dealer.com website and they've got 14 positions they're trying to fill, if you're in IT/software.

# Posted by:

Independent Vermonter | 10:23 PM, December 18, 2008

Maybe UVM could learn a lesson from the University of Tennessee where the entire administration is taking a voluntary 5% pay cut. But then what do a bunch of anti-union red necks know, right?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 6:44 AM, December 19, 2008

People in the administration are not in the union.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 9:07 AM, December 19, 2008

Mulvaney-Stanek is just another typical union slug that has never had it so good compared to ordinary working Vermonters. Sounds like the overpaid UAW "workers" that want all kinds of handouts to maintain their spoiled, rotten life style while the rest of us struggle to get by. Too bad we can't return to the days when pay was based on individual performance and the lay-abouts could actually be FIRED!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 9:43 AM, December 19, 2008

When Douglas came into office in 2003, he paid some of his top staffers as much as 25 percent more than their predecessors under Gov. Howard Dean. And more than a dozen appointees make six-figure salaries in the Douglas administration, compared with two when Dean left office. Even after the paycut, Douglas is still one of the top 10 highest-paid guvs in the U.S.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 10:40 AM, December 19, 2008

While most states,are having major financial problems and people being asked to take pay cuts- our illustrious Congress will get a $4700 pay raise in January. Their 12% approval rating should be dipping lower if this goes through.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 10:51 AM, December 19, 2008

Of course, socialist Bernie Sanders will spread his $4,700 among "the people". And I'm sure millionaires Leahy and Welch will decline their raises.

When pigs fly.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 11:01 AM, December 19, 2008

Actually - Governor Douglas has increased his own pay over the last 6 years.

Gov Dean made about $95K his last year - Douglas immediately increased his own pay to about $125K and now makes $150K (top 10 in the country for Governors).

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:22 PM, December 19, 2008

Plus he gets about $14K per year for meals - which he does not need since he eats for free wherever he goes on daily schedule.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:23 PM, December 19, 2008

And he has a state opolice chauffer and several vehicles at his disposal at no cost to himself.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:24 PM, December 19, 2008

Douglas's pay has increased 55% since he took office! How many Vermonters have seen their pay rise at that rate?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:35 PM, December 19, 2008

Of course it won't solve the entire problem, but it's clear that folks like Douglas and Fogel should take fairly substantial pay cuts.

Second point: I wonder how many people who have attacked Lluvia Mulvaney-Stanak know what she does for the University.

# Posted by:

Captain America | 1:11 PM, December 19, 2008

As if the factose-intolerant/lunatic-fringe likes of bubbakis and nekkie boy give a fig what Mulvaney-Stanak does for UVM.

They've never been ones to let the facts get in their way.

Doogie should take a 50 percent cut or he should be makin' license plates.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 10:32 PM, December 19, 2008

"Actually - Governor Douglas has increased his own pay over the last 6 years.
Gov Dean made about $95K his last year - Douglas immediately increased his own pay to about $125K and now makes $150K (top 10 in the country for Governors)."

Um . . . nope. He didn't increase his pay. The Legislature did. And it's been overwhelmingly Democratic since 2004.

# Posted by:

medtronic | 10:18 PM, December 20, 2008

Ah, so the Dems in the Legislature made doogie take the dough, eh?

Um, that's funny. He's never had any troubles vetoing the Dem Legislature's wishes before and withstanding any attempts to override his vetoes with the help of the obstructionist gop-slime House minority.

Um, you'd think he coulda done that if he really didn't want the Dems forcing him to take the dough, little fella.

Um, evidently, you're still dumb, you're still scum and ya still got bupkis.

Um, ya always do.

Um, go cheney yourself, chump.

If the schmuck's got so much as a shred of integrity, he takes a 50 percent cut, makes 75K/yr or he makes license plates.

Always a pleasure.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 10:13 AM, December 21, 2008

"Um, go cheney yourself, chump."

Charming.

Is this kind of behavior encouraged by the blog's TOS?

# Posted by:

LTG | 6:39 PM, December 21, 2008

LTG....

""Um, go cheney yourself, chump.""

"Charming.

Is this kind of behavior encouraged by the blog's TOS?"

Nice try.

Nameless-nitwit nonsense by any other name is still coalition of the clueless cretin crapolla no matter what ya call yourself, little fella.

Always a pleasure.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 7:17 PM, December 21, 2008

"Nameless-nitwit nonsense by any other name is still coalition of the clueless cretin crapolla no matter what ya call yourself, little fella."

What a class joint youse all got here.

Glad to see you got rid of Coop Terri.

JUST LIKE YOU SAID YOU WOULD.

# Posted by:

LTG | 11:40 PM, December 21, 2008

medtronic...

"Ah, yes, the ol' "state governor is responsible for the national recession" song and dance again."

Ah, the ol' "empty-headed bupkis boy stealin' my lines again" song and dance again, little fella.

Nice try. No sale.

As always, feel free to point out just where and when I said he was responsible for the national recession, little fella.

Think hard. I know it's hard and it hurts, but do it anyway. It'll be good for ya.

You're a good 13 months in arrears on the evidence production front, little factose-intolerant fella.

On the other hand, at least you've got yourself a screen name and your nameless-nitwit days are over, med-fly.

"And, ah, yes, the "there's only one branch of government in Vermont so everything bad is the governor's fault" song and dance again."

Again, nice try, med-fly. No sale.

As always, feel free to point out just when and where the Legislature has been able to override doogie's dimwitted vetoes while he's been runnin' the state into the ground for the past six years, med-fly.

Dress warm. Pack a tent and a sleeping bag. Bring some chow and a change of clothes, little factose-intolerant fella. You're gonna need all that and more.

As with the first one in '01, this latest bushleague recession is shrub's fault. He had a gop-slime Congress for his first six years and the gops in the Senate have been able to filibuster what he hasn't vetoed, so you're spewin' the same factually-challenged slop no matter what ya call yourself these days, little fella.

As with 9/11, the War in Iraq, the new Bush Deficit and both bush recessions, shrub's responsible for the national one and doogie's responsible for Vermont's.

Nice try, med-fly, but you're gonna have to do more than steal my lines to change those facts, little fella, no matter what ya call yourself.

Always a pleasure.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 12:17 AM, December 22, 2008

medtronic said...

"The Dems in the Legislature could have not given the raise to him in the first place, you complete idiot."

Hey, don't blame me, little fella. Tell it to that medtronic mope who
spewed this slop a mere 26 hours ago:

"Um . . . nope. He didn't increase his pay. The Legislature did. And it's been overwhelmingly Democratic since 2004."
10:18 PM, December 20, 2008

Or are ya gonna start with the ol' "that was the other medtronic" song and dance already, little fella.

C'mon. Make up your mind. Such as it is. Pick a lie and stick with it, med-fly. Get your story straight before ya run outta bread crumbs and can't find your way home.

I'd hate to see ya lose you way and end up lookin like Jack Nicholson at the end of "The Shining" come morning, meddie.

Always a pleasure.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 12:34 AM, December 22, 2008

Ah, the great revisionist jw has now changed the Clinton recession of 2000 to have occured solely under Bush! He must have got his info from the same source that told him JFK was about to end the Vietnam War when he was shot! Or that the great depression didn't end just after we entered WWII!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 2:46 PM, December 22, 2008

bubba ....

"Ah, the great revisionist jw has now changed the Clinton recession of 2000 to have occured solely under Bush!"

Clearly, it still hasn't occurred to ya yet how to spell the word "occurred" of sort out the mysteries of spellcheck, bubbakis.

I'm shocked.

Having dispensed with that matter, gee, I hate to keep confusin' ya with the facts, bubbakis, but the reason they call it the Bush Recession of 2001 is it began in March of 2001 when shrub had already been installed upon the throne.

Ya see how that works, little fella?

"He must have got his info from the same source that told him JFK was about to end the Vietnam War when he was shot! Or that the great depression didn't end just after we entered WWII!"

In other words, history, reality and the facts. Yeah, you're catchin' on, bubbakis. Keep strokin'. You'll get it eventually, little fella.

Always a pleasure.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 4:33 PM, December 22, 2008

JW, you are the most truly intellectually dishonest person on any blog. You even beat Freyne when he was at his most dishonest.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 11:03 PM, December 22, 2008

Anonymous...

"JW, you are the most truly intellectually dishonest person on any blog. You even beat Freyne when he was at his most dishonest."

Gee, thanks.

In other words, little factose-intolerant fella, ya got bupkis.

Thanks for clearin' that up.

Always a pleasure.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 10:39 AM, December 23, 2008