Government With No Horses – Employs Horseshoer
August 20, 2012 at 2:42 pm in News by Tea Party Patriots 26 Comments
Believe it or not, in one of the most egregious misuses of tax dollars, the City of Detroit Water and Sewage Department employs a horseshoer – even though the department does not have any horses.
According to reports the Detroit Water and Sewage Department ‘has a large debt, rising water prices and inefficient services — using almost twice the number of employees per gallon as other cities like Chicago.’
And the worst part –the City cannot even get rid of the job if it wanted to:
Union rules have turned the department into a government jobs program, some critics say.
ummmmm oooook?!?!?!?!?! Is there meaning behind that? So they person is a horse Shoer doesn’t mean they can’t do another job
Can’t do other jobs if union regulations forbid it. Don’t know in this case but would be typical.
Think your missing the point. Union control is keeping a needless position at taxpayer expense. How can they enforce such rules over the taxpayers services.
I will tell U how this happens: Union bosses give hundreds of thousands of my dollars (DUES) from my paycheck to council members, Mayors etc who will vote YES on raises etc in exchange for said thousands and millions of dollars. It is called greed. Not my greed but Councilman Rosendahl’s greed. I ran against Rosendahl in LA in 2009. I got 26% of the vote without my Union’s help (IBEW Local 18). Why would my union not endorse me, a union member? I am fully capable of voting YES as Rosendahl is and did do. The joke answer is mine: I believe my union has photos of Rosendahl in bed with Council member Jan Perry and Janice Hahn or in bed with a live boy or a dead girl. Why else does Union boss Brian D’Arcy have such power over the council? The same people who have the power to vote Yes or NO are the same people who negotiate our raises with the Union. Who is in bed with whom? I am just the messenger. I was never invited to the back room deals or even the million dollar parties I am never invited to. no trips to Hawaii etc. Also Rosendahl takes it in the A@@ he is gay. Another reason 6000 voters voted for me
How about the fact that the Police Department has a mounted patrol …that has real horses… perhaps they should just transfer the guy to the police department…and pay him police wages..as opposed to sewer worker wages…
You people are idiots…think…read…investigate before you swallow this bs.
When the city bankrupts, they’ll be able to get rid if him and thousands more.
A farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of horses’ hooves and the placing of shoes on their hooves, if necessary. A farrier combines some blacksmith’s skills (fabricating, adapting, and adjusting metal shoes) with some veterinarian’s skills (knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the lower limb) to care for horses’ feet.
Not called a horseshoer.
@ Richard…. What difference does it make what you call it? I’m from Texas and I know the term is farrier. How you describe the job is not the point, what you call the job doesn’t matter, we aren’t writing a dictionary here. The article is about tax payers money going down the toilet thanks to unions. Call it what you want.
I agree w you, Erwin. I am 60, ret from DWP Los Angeles at 59, but I have seen corruption in LA City and DWP LA. My 1st job w LA City was Parking Meter (coin) Collector. in 1979 age 27. Job was contracted out in ’84. They wisely found they could get an outside contractor to collect the coins for $5.75 per hr per worker instead of the $10 /hr I was getting. We were not fired. We went to various other city jobs like meter reader (DWP) etc. But for 2 mo I was “on paper” a Parking Meter Coll. still getting paid. I did work tho”. They sent me to file Police reports at a huge Archive Records bldg. Soon I got a Laborer job I had tested for and scored high. I am now retired from DWP w. 78% of my $76,000 per yr salary. That is appx $58,000 per yr til I die, then my wife continues to get the same $$$ til she dies. Plus medical and dental $5 co pay to see a Dr. Should I give all this up?? It is $4400 per mo not huge in LA Calif our house pmts are $1700/mo til I die. I like your Texas, no nonsense talk. My dad was from Mineral Wells Tx very solid humor in Tex. I voted for Both Bushes, and McCain. I will not vote for Curious George Hussein Obama, not ever not for dogcatcher
I worked at a sewage treatment plant for several years,never had any need for anyone to care for horses,”WE DID’NT HAVE ANY and NEVER HAD A NEED FOR ONE.Futhermore,I don’t know of any sewage treatment plant that is not unionized.
…and in similar fashion, we have employed a person whose record shows he’s a Socialist who undermines our US Constitution at every turn, although his current title is ‘President of the United States’.
I’ll have a serving of smaller federal gov’t, please
The City of Detroit has a mounted Police unit that takes Full advantage of the City Farrier.
There is plenty of other waste in the City and ALL cities with Democrat leadership but this is not one of them.
For City police with mounted units this is very appropriate. Not sure a Water Department. I sure the police have their own Farriers
I don’t know how many horses they have, or how often they need the services of a farrier- but I bet they could contract the work out to a private individual (who wouldn’t have to be a full time City employee) and save a lot of money.
For the city of Detriot to justify a full time farrier they would nedd to have at least 200 horses. A horse needs to be shod about every 6 to 8 weeks if ridden often. A farrier can shod at least 10 horses a day with trimming, filing and shoeing while allowing for the occasional treatment of a lame hoof or two. There is no way that the Detriot Police Dept could justify a full time farrier, let alone the water dept.
If you do your research on this, you will find that it’s just a “job title” that stuck years ago that has nothing to do with horses! The title to the job is difficult to change because it requires changes to be made to the city contract with the Detroit Water Dept.-a most difficult process. The person in this job does a lot of hard work for the department, but, certainly, it has nothing to do with horses. Check it out further for your own ‘education’.
Donna,
You are missing the point of the article. This person was hired as a horse shoer because the union will not allow the position to be deleated. So even though it is a useless and worthless position, it still exists. It doesn’t exist to fit the needs of the department, or the city, or frankly even the union. The position exists because of the fear that if you allow the city to remove even one worthless position, you could be forced to allow the city to remove any number of other worthless positions. This is an example of union arrogance and jack booted control that is crippling several sectors in this country. I’m sure the Detroit has all the money it can handle and is perfectly capable of throwing money down the crapper to suit the needs of their union overlords, but in the real world this is called fraud waste and abuse. Detroit is on a fast train to hell and the unions are driving. I hope they enjoy the trip. Of course, I’m sure this is also all Bush’s fault.
have to agree in all you said pretty much in the nut shell, but holding on to the ferrier might come in handy when they take that trip on horse back.. Haahaa. meaning thats what is happening to all of us by the govt. oh yea, At least Bush knows what a ferrier job is…..
The proper title is farrier: a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of horses’ hooves and the placing of shoes on their hooves.
OK – I work on Civil Service and have seen my share of the Unions keeping people on the city payroll who should have been fired for things they did on the job – but why should this gentleman be fired??? Just because the City of Detroit doesn’t use horses anymore??
I am sure that the missing part of this story is as follows: the gentlman in question is – in fact – employed and doing something else – but his Civil Service title has not changed for some reason – so even though he may be doing a clerical job or hauling trach or any number of other tax payer supported jobs – he is still a Farrior on their books.
The union itself is not allowed to get rid of any Civil Service title – taht is up to the local Civil Service Commission – which is appointed by the City government. Now of the gentleman in question is sitting around waiting for horses that will never come – she should be given the choice of hitting the road or doing something else.
I somehow think that like most every other BS story this election Season – we are only getting part of the story – just the part that fuels the originators (self) righteous point of view.
Having horses does require a farrier if you don’t do it yourself. It may be a needless position that can’t be removed. However, it doesn’t say if he/she shoes the mounted divisions horses. We all know who have horses that farriers are booked in advance and you cannot get one at a moments notice. If that mounted horse (who is probably owned by the policeman/woman themselves like many in the US) needs a shoe before going to work, it is awful handy to get him fixed up before his shift. So if he is privately owned, it would be true that the City of Detroit doesn’t have horses. I wish y’all would print the whole story.
Why are some of you asking them to tell the whole story? Why would anyone care about the full facts when you have such carefully chosen half facts with full fat innuendo? Who needs Walter Cronkite’s boring old ‘that’s the way it is’ news when we now can run our country on gossip and conspiracy theories? Does it matter if it’s true or not as long as we have a chance to slag off the Dems? Jeesh, it’s not like our economy, our childrens future and education, our families healthcare or anything else important was riding on thus election crap.
Thank you Joseph!
Isn’t is fun to get partial stories from both “sides”, while neither the Republicans or the Democrats take any actions that show they are on the side of the American people?
I have seen my share of union maintained bogus jobs. The real issue goes beyond the apparent. I broadcast everyday for over 2 years globally. I have said from the first broadcast that THIS President, the first in history, has NO jobs plan or desire for recovery. Why? His dead Kenyan Daddy (which fact alone renders him ineligible for President) hated the U.S. and wanted to see us reduced to third world status, our dollar destroyed, our influence destroyed, and prosperity. He’s been pretty effective. I could do a book on this (and I am) but briefly here consider this: His focus on commercials is Mitt Romney closing (a few plants that were losing money…you know, that’s WHAT YOU DO in the private sector[in which Obama has ZERO experience and for which he has ZERO respect]. We have countless Federal agencies that SHOULD BE CLOSED, but aren’t… which is one reason we’re broke. A number of the plants Bain Financial closed Romney wasn’t even with them at the time…no matter, accuse him anyway. Here’s my point: even IF every allegation about Romney were true…they constitute the veritable pimple on the elephant’s butt compared to what our esteemed President has done. Let’s consider:
1) He refuses to enforce the border;
2) He orders the most corrupt Attorney Gen of the INjustice department to go into courts and HALT deportation hearings unless they see the defendant raping and pillaging while in the court room..(slight exaggeration, but only slight)
3) He just slid in backdoor NON-voted amnesty for millions of those “innocent” kids of illegals you’ve been paying for for decades. You paid to have them born, fed, medical care, housed and educated to the tune of HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS. And NOW… we let them stay IF THEY GET A GREEN CARD AND TAKE AN AMERICAN JOB. Presently, our “kids”….young adult AMERICANS under 30 with NO high school diploma have the highest unemployment rate in history, several points higher than during the Great Depression, a full 30%….why? What jobs does this group of people…young, limited education, unskilled labor….typically get? Ans: The very jobs the Mexicans scarf up and work for less, off the books paying NO TAXES, while still often claiming, and getting away with (since off the books) welfare, housing subsidies, food stamps, etc.
4) Oh, but remember the public Town Hall meeting in which Obama promised all of those high paying SKILLED jobs to rebuild America’s infrastructure…bridges, roads, so forth? So, are we getting those? No. We could…BUT at OBAMA’s order, we are “importing” 125,000 mostly skilled laborers PER MONTH mostly from COMMUNIST CHINA and working for primarily Chinese companies, licensed by the communist government. And, he’s requested an INCREASE in the number allowed in each month….but Mitt Romney “killed that guy’s wife” by closing his company and her losing her health care benefits.
5) Well, let’s look at that story. Bain closed his plant and he lost his job. When that happens (as happened to me) you get the opportunity to continue your coverage under COBRA for a considerable period. IF you are REALLY all that concerned about it, before COBRA runs out, you can switch to a private plan…IF YOU ARE SO UNEMPLOYABLE that you can’t get anyone to hire you in 5 years. hmmm. Doesn’t anyone wonder about THAT? Maybe the only reason this guy HAD a job as long as he did, and maybe the reason they had to close his plant is because he and others were overpaid union guys doing poor jobs keeping chairs warm while bankrupting the company and, when it finally caught up with them, they discovered they had no marketable job skills because during the period he discussed, America’s economy was NOT in the tank. Now, staying with this story, HIS WIFE was only on HIS plan from HIS employer as a “secondary” or “back up” insurance plan. SHE WAS WORKING AND HAD HER OWN PRIMARY INSURANCE. 2-3 years AFTER his company closed, she was still insured on her company’s plan until she lost her job. (Oh, but we haven’t found a way to blame her firing, layoff, or company closing on Romney SOOOOOO we don’t mention THAT. Now, once again, SHE had the option of continuing coverage under COBRA….but didn’t. I used to sell health insurance. She could’ve applied elsewhere, maybe not the best most expensive plan but she could’ve gotten a cheap MAJOR MEDICAL that wouldn’t have paid her $ 20 co-pay but would’ve covered 80% or more of her major care expenses related to her cancer. But then, you have to CARE, and TALK TO A PROFESSIONAL INSURANCE AGENT who has a variety of products….not just the leftists at AARP whose insurance products I routinely BEAT price-wise. The point is, she very likely COULD HAVE continued coverage to some degree. But, I have personally had conversations with,….pardon me…cheap A – - spoiled employees who were young in good health and who DECLINED their company’s coverage BECAUSE they were expected to pay the outrageous amount of $ 25-50 a WEEK to cover them, their wife, and kids. how outrageous. As a self-employed Certified Financial Planner and stock broker, before I was hired as an employee, and later got on Medicare, the last increase in our health insurance coverage for a SELF EMPLOYED for JUST my wife and I (me just turned 60, her 50) was over $ 1750/month. So, you will excuse me if I don’t cry for someone declining health insurance for $ 100/month family plan who cares so little for their family. I had WAY too many months in my career where I didn’t GROSS $ 1750/month before paying BOTH sides of my Social Security (Self Employed). So, I’m sorry, but I’m not buying Mitt Romney killing this guy’s poor wife. I’m sorry she got cancer and for her suffering and death and his loss, but before you point your finger at everyone else in a REAL STRETCH there, Sir, look at your hand…you have 3 fingers pointing back at the party REALLY mostly to blame….YOU.
6) Then finishing my point on Obamination: He then appoints Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of GE as his “Jobs Czar” his typical “un-vetted” position….never approved or submitted for approval by Congress….as literally all Obama appointees…another “first”. His qualifications to put America back to work? You’ll love this: First, he closed the 100 year old plus GE incandescent bulb plant, I think in PA or NY and put over 700 people…AMERICANS out of work. Now, he COULD HAVE converted the lines and production to the mini-flourescents and had the same people make those….BUT he could get those slightly more “labor-intensive” products made for a few pennies less in…you guess it, COMMUNIST CHINA. So, whoooosh…there those American jobs went. He wasn’t done. NEXT: Immelt closes the LARGEST EMPLOYER IN WAKESHA, WI, the GE X-RAY Division…been making X-ray equipment for roughly 100 years.
He could’ve retooled, modernized, whatever, because GE is NOT going out of the profitable X-ray business. But/////no. He sent all of those jobs to….(take a guess) communist China AND $ 2 BILLION of the roughly $ 5 BILLION GE made in either 2010 or 2011 and for which GE PAID NO, NOTTA, ZERO, ZILCH in Corporate Taxes…..leaving Immelt a LOT to gift to his favorite godlike (small g) President who Oprah calls “The One” and the $ 2 BILLION taken directly OUT of the U.S. economy was to train new CHINESE employees to operate and manage the plant and build the plant.
Now, I’m an Economist too. Money, when generated AND KEPT IN the United States, turns an average 7 times. How? Well, you buy land from someone, in the case of the new GE plant (had it been built HERE). That benefits the seller who puts it to work doing something. then you hire all of these civil engineers, architects (we lost tens of thousands of architect jobs in the aftermath of 9/11) and then all of the construction workers. they all take home paychecks. They take their honeys out to dinner and that helps restaurants, waiters and so forth, all of whom can pay bills and shop at more stores employing more people, etc etc. They buy cars so we don’t as taxpayers have to overpay to get your piece of crap off the road and buy another with such loose rules that if it got a lousy 2 more mpg, it qualified and with NO stipulation that it be AMERICAN MADE. So, the Cash for Clunkers program benefitted mostly Japanese auto makers and our eyes and blood pressure by getting thousands of Obama bumper stickers off the road. Almost NO US jobs though. And now it looks as though the bailout of what has become GM (GOVERNMENT MOTORS) the first ever enactment of Socialist policy in America which also trashed the long-standing legal procedures for the order of liquidation in Federal Bankruptcies as the FIRST IN LINE behind taxes and payroll…the SECURED BOND HOLDERS of GM bonds…who opted to invest in bonds rather than stock FOR THIS LONG ESTABLISHED PROTECTION…were stepped on and trashed like they were our Constitution by this communist President. (He is…so don’t even try to argue that one, as were his parents, maternal grandparents, and those they brought in to mentor young Barry). And the bond holders money was given to those who elected the communist, the unions. (Again no surprise. For decades, the AFL had in its rules that NO communist could hold office in the union. The current President of the AFL was elected and one of his first acts was to eliminate that provision and then openly RECRUIT COMMUNISTS for high positions in that union. You know, the way Lenin did it in Russia). Now, it was just revealed that the government, i.e. you and me TAXPAYERS will lose OVER $ 25 Billion on the GM bailout….that’s over 15% MORE than the highest prior estimate. AND, GM may be headed for a SECOND bankruptcy. Great job there, your Majesty, Kommisar Obama!
Incidentally, to those who argue that you have to go to Japanese cars for fuel economy, NO, if you pay attention to your driving I routinely get around 38 mpg in combination city and highway in my 2007 Chevy Malibu. Straight up. And new Toyotas and such are bragging about low to mid 30s on highway and hi 20s to very low 30s city. hmmmm.
But the other thing Immelt did to solidify his title as Job Czar was to promise to buy 1/2 of total production of the nearly worthless Chevy Volt for the next 2 years. This car they can’t give away. In early 2011 they were producing more of them each week by far than were being sold all month! I’ve done stand-up comedy at 912 Toastmasters Meetings and won speech awards talking about the bogus Global Warming and the Chevy Volt. Don’t get me started. Anyway, on my program I have repeatedly called for a REVOLT by GE Shareholders to vote in a new slate of the Board of Directors and instruct them to fire Jeffrey Immelt and bring jobs back to US and stop the throwing away of tens of millions of shareholder money (A CEO and other officers have an OBLIGATION to PRESERVE shareholder VALUE)…which is also the most likely WHY Bain financial closed a number of losing plants. Immelt is throwing away shareholder money on a loser of a CAR and everyone produced, in order to sell it, receives considerable TAXPAYER SUBSIDY with huge tax credits.
So, that’s enough. I conclude my case that there is absolutely NO comparison between the few companies and hundreds of jobs cut by Bain Financial with or without Romney’s participation, compared to the DELIBERATE HATCHET JOB by President Obama to DESTROY AMERICA, our dollar, our economy, our middle class. And, that’s the truth. I didn’t say you had to LIKE it, but it IS….the truth. I am an Economist, Political Analyst, 20th Century Historian, and licensed Certified Financial Planner. And I research that of which I speak. Thanks for your indulgence. One final note: there is, in my estimation, a 1/3 probability that the election will not be held in November, if ever again. The last 3 1/2 years have been devoted to setting us up for Martial Law. he’s been following a very new to us but very worn “play book”. It was largely written in 1852 by Karl Marx and has been used by Vladimir Lenin, Josef Stalin, Mao tse Tung, Adolf Hitler, and Fidel Castro. Be prepared. Trust me, you don’t want to be down the street having a banana split when THIS happens.
Detroit Mounted Police: Here is their facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Detroit-Mounted-Police/207807279233165
Happy now? On a much more important note: Please help me to understand why all the members of the different Tea Parties are not livid over the Republican voter suppression laws. At last count, there were 11 states and 4 pending. Isn’t the Tea Party all about protecting the US constitution? Come on, show some backbone. Live up to your ideals. This is about as anti-US constitution as you can get!!!
The Speaker of the House, John Boehner refers to you as “Knuckle Draggers” and most of the mainstream Pubs feel the same way. They are calling you Troglodytes (Cave Dwellers). They only pander to you to add to their base, but they think you are stupid.
So what are your plans to attack the voter suppression laws? Texas, Ohio and part of Florida’s have been shot down by the Federal courts as unconstitutional. There are still 8 more out there. When are you going to join in? I have been speaking out from the beginning. Stand up for the US Constitution! Platitudes don’t make changes.