Well fish guys all should begin to watch this process. What is going to happen is what is called " Widow and Orphanin " to budget things. The dance of the dying swan is about to begin as the Gov will cut things that make you want to scream about budgets, just to put pressure on us rather than deal with the employees union. ( did I mention other than the tribes, her greatest supporters? ) Now the R's who's hands are just as bloody will will proclaim no tax as things are bad, like there ever was a good time to raise taxes.

WDF&W will do the same just to get you revved up so keep and eye out on programs and staffing. Sorta like Sam Nunn once said of the navy. They will beach and aircraft carrier before cutting out waste such as $500 toilet seats.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012605452_budgetcuts13m.html

If yah really really really want to get pissed off, then go here ( http://lbloom.net/ ) and click on your favorite agency, download it to an Excel Spreadsheet (parsing to seperate columns appropriately), and start sorting out the HOARD of very UN-NECESSARY OVERHEAD PUKES. Just looky at WDFW, over half of it is overhead, and a fair chunk could/should be placed up for bid and contracted out. I'm retired, but my oldest son has had to take 2 pay cuts in the last two years, what about the State Employee Unions????????

Lets see. The state raised parking rates, raised retirement contribution, raised health care contribution, put in furloughs, and took back negotiated pay raises. Sounds like a cut in take-home to me.

But then, I'm bad at math.

I really don't get why people are eager to justify cutting pay at every turn just because someone else had their pay cut. It seems like a vicious downward cycle to me. Where will it end? When we are all working for Chinese wages? I thought America was all about increasing the standard of living for the middle class. We were sold out by short sighted greed when our manufacturing base was sent to countries with cheap labor. It worked well for a few to make fortunes but now the middle class is paying dearly for it. This is the root cause of state budget problems. Can you imagine what the federal budget situation would look like if it had to be balanced? Seems like people are myopic on the state budget and completely ignore the big picture.

I took a 25% cut in payroll each year over the last two years, but took on more work, and I met all of my goals. Nice to see other folks suck it up as well. Oh yeah, I built a house and had a huge medical expense with an extremely ill child in that last year.

To those State workers who would complain about cuts I'll say, "Welcome to the real world."

"Welcome to the real world." I suppose that's what Chinese workers are saying to Americans too. Just about everyone has had to suck it up. Every time someone gets pay cut or laid off the economy drips another drop of blood. What' going to turn this downward spiral around? Work twice as hard for half as much?

CM has a point but the problem is NOT the employees guys. Your missing the boat, in fact your not getting to the wharf.

It is the system and the structure it utilizes. Government has a work load that is driven by system requirements rather than productivity OR end results. It is management heavy front to back and full of non essential services at ALL levels. I have said it before WDF&W can take a 20% cut and maintain vital services. In many agencies it could be higher, but you want inefficient try the State Patrol or DSHS.

Individual employees can do little and if they do try they are labeled disruptive personalities................... and shipped to a corner or terminated.

ONE MORE TIME ...... IT IS THE SYSTEM NOT THE EMPLOYEES!

As an employee of the State- who has not seen a raise in 3 years - whos take home pay is down by 16% from what it was 3 years ago how about you guys do some checking of the numbers. There are plenty of us eating [censored].

How about get rid of some cops? Countless studies have shown more cops don't improve anything--in fact more cops can increase crime in many situations. Not only are there too many cops in your state, but look at what the average entry-level police officer makes even on the town level. At the very least, cut police wages and give it to public school teachers.

As far as WDFW goes, they are pretty wasteful and I can't figure out exactly what they do with their massive budget. They should take a gander at what IDFG does with their budget and follow suit. Better yet, they should become a completely self-sustaining agency (like IDFG) and not mooch off general tax revenue. That might get rid of some of the bullschit jobs WDFW has (and heavy outside policy influence).

+100,000

Hey CS. Unless you have worked med that is a slippery slope. Having been married to two nurses ( not at the same time ) I know the in and outs. The manner in which staffing is done and the pay scale has been pretty much bloated. My ex quite full time went to temp through agencies and worked all over, base wage $75 an hour at gravy runs and $100 for bitchy ones nobody wanted.

She loved holidays as she usually pulled down $150 or more and hour and she went for the hours. ( 12 or more ). She cleared about $1400 for 12 hours for a total nearly 3k on a three day weekend. It is a way that a experienced nurse can bail out and do part time and make as much or more. You don't want to ask about prisons by the way.

How typical for The Californian (He-Who-Has-Never-Caught-A-Steelhead) and his purple lapdog (Chuck) to misconstrue my post. Ever notice that as soon as The Californian makes a post, the purple lap dog makes one shortly afterward? It's weird...

Did I ever say anything about firefighters? No. But congratulations for riding the post-9/11 bandwagon placing firefighters on the same level as Jesus himself.

It's accepted and documented that increased law enforcement only increases crime in some cases. The most famous case: Your hero, Ronald Regan, and his War on Drugs.

Washington is a police state. In fact, Washington has one of the highest per capita of cops in the nation. Why? Ever notice the restrictions you have in your state? Ever notice that if you don't abide to unrealistic laws you get heavily fined?

For Christ's sake, it became law in WA that a cop can legally pull you over in the night to check to see if you're wearing a seat belt without actually seeing you and no one said anything about it.

Sheep.

Edit: I forgot to address the topic of prisons that was brought up by The Californian. Do some simple homework and see what percentage of those "criminals" are in jail for possession of drugs, let alone possession of pot. This brings full circle back to Regan's War on Drugs.

McMahon:

I don't know for sure, but I suspect that the reason there appeared to be an increase in crime after ramping up the war on drugs (which I think is a huge waste of money and police resources that needs to end, mostly because it can't be won) may have been that more officers on the streets led to more crimes being witnessed, and therefore recorded. In other words, the crimes were always there; there just weren't enough cops around to see them happening. I could certainly be wrong.

I agree with Keta on this one. I recognize the need for us all to share the burden of the Great Recession, but continually cutting everyone's pay and benefits is not the way to go about it, in my opinion. That sounds to me like exactly how the rich (owners, executives and legislators) would choose to handle the situation: squeeze every drop of blood that must be spilled from the peasants. Furthermore, every penny less that the working class gets paid is a penny less that is available for spending, which only exacerbates the effects of a recession.

I have taken my lumps so far, and I fully expect to take more in the near future. So far, I'm hanging in there alright, but at what point will we (the workers) run out of blood? At some point, "Be glad you still have a job" won't keep us at bay anymore.

I think those making the decisions to cut everyone's pay (in both the private and public sectors) should shoulder some of this burden next. It's their turn (although I doubt they will choose to take it).

Up the Revolution!!

UP THE REVOLUTION!

Taco Bell? No thanks. I work at Taco Time.

I don't have a beef with firefighters. In fact I fought fire while going to school in the summers. I never considered myself a hero, nor the 18 year old kids who have died trying to save some Californian's third summer home.

Looking to get ugly. No special session - they blew their credibility with the last one. Across the board cuts are coming. I don't see leaner and meaner agencies with improved efficiencies resulting (the business model really doesn't allow it). I think it could contribute to deepening the recession. Not good.

Sg