Page 334 - Scranton News Today

To pay for people to get these guaranteed pengs long term. i understand thats what the unions negotiated. i dont think they negotiated in bad faith. but they negotiated under terms where they thought they would have a lot of more people living there. with the economy the way its been and the changes we have not been -- realized that were promised, you end up with municipalities having to cut workers. they dont have enough people making enough money in order to feed the budget that they have. the...

The big panel takes on that story next. >> florida governor rick scott is answering charges that his administration covered up a tuberculosis outple break so they could shut down a government hospital. details ahead. and short changing the bravest. tonight, my exclusive interview with the scranton firefighter forced to take a pay cut all the way down to the minimum wage.

How serious is this? >> very serious. cascading across the country because all communities face the same thing. they see tax revenues go down dramatically. property taxes dry up. people go in foreclosure. they are leaving town. same time, pension obligation arent changing. they have the same number of firefighters and retired teachers. so the cost are staying the same or going up. but the revenue going down. so the gap just gets wider and wider. >> bret: short of a bail-out from the federal gove...

Employees who do an outstanding job and we have to take care of the whole city and well get through this. >> the state judge has issued an injunction against the mayor to prevent him from paying firefighters and police less than their salary, but he did it anyway. now theyre trying to appeal to a federal court. im joined by john judge, a firefighter in scranton and president of the scranton firefighters international association of firefighters local 60. appreciate your time. tell us, what does ...

More money to fill a 16 or so million dollar budget gap. and its a structural problem thats going to happen again and again and again. one way politics comes into this is some of the solutions involved raising taxes. the mayor, for example, said he wants to raise property taxes by as much as 78% over the next three years. thats 78%. they are talking about sales taxes, commuter taxes, something that republicans outside of pennsylvania and in pennsylvania will perhaps seize on as not the way to do...

But these days theyre feeling betrayed by a city thats cut their pay by as much as 75%. down to minimum wage. $7.25 an hour. >> i can go down the street and scoop ice cream that a high school kid for the summer is making $8.50 an hour doing and i have firefighters running into burning buildings at $725 and theres police officers fighting with criminals, wrestling in the street? its ludicrous. >> scrantons 400 or so municipal employees agree. all had their pay slashed last friday. roger, a public...

>> and how in the world can a city in america get away with paying a firefighter less than a fry cook at mcdonalds? scranton, pennsylvania, is short changing its bravest and well talk to one of them tonight. share you thoughts with us on facebook and twitter using the hash tag ed show. were coming right back. rick! wow, you look terrific! [ female announcer ] crest 3d white glamorous white toothpaste removes up to 90% of surface stains in just 5 days. crest glamorous white toothpaste. for a smil...

>> the state of pennsylvania gets busted for paying a mitt romney fund-raiser to run their voter id campaign. the big panel takes on that story next. >> florida governor rick scott is answering charges that his administration covered up a tuberculosis outbreak so they could shut down a government hospital. details ahead. and short changing the bravest. tonight, my exclusive interview with the scranton firefighter forced to take a pay cut all the way down to the minimum wage. [ male announcer ]...

Joining us a little bit later on in the show, she believes if it were any -- a tupperware party, for example, or anything else, they would not be facing this kind of scrutiny. >> i think they shot a video, too, showing other neighbors holding similar events. meanwhile, he lives on like 4 1/2 acres. its not like its in a row home in philadelphia right up against somebody elses row home, hes got four acres. heres the video he shot. somebody is watching or playing poker in their house next door hav...

But my members are suffering here, every day that goes by is another question mark for them on how they are going to meet their financial obligations and pay their mortgage. martha: joined now by the mayor of scranton, merr christopher doherty, good morning. good to have you here. >> good morning, martha. martha: what do you say to the fireman? >> weve known the troubles of this year, our council passed a budget based on borrowing. they have been unwilling to funneled the borrowing. we have a sh...