Comments on: The Secret Taxpayer Bailout of the Des Moines Register

By: Martin McKnight

Martin McKnight — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 13:19:38 +0000

Craig, I think you are missing a fundemental point here about the effects of a furlough. If the Register (or Gannett) makes all of its employees take a weeklong furlough, there are ways to schedule the time off without adversely affecting the overall company or enterprise. It’d be like near the end of a fiscal year at most companies when everyone is trying to fit their use-it-or-lose-it vacation time in because they haven’t taken it yet, or were waiting until summer for time off. (It’s like that at my office every year)
If the courts were closed for a week or if employees (say a clerk of court in Buchanan or Wright counties) were required to be off a week, that could cause a lot of problems for the court system as a whole. I know a person who works in the Fayette County clerk’s office and each furlough day creates a mess for their scheduling. Many hearings for traffic tickets or small offenses have been pushed back a way, because judges are only in town a few days a week. Plus, there are three employees in that office, and they can barely keep up. Even if they staggered the furloughs, it’d cause havoc. There are a lot more logistical problems for having employees in the courts off for a week compared to those of a newspaper.

By: A reader

A reader — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 03:15:05 +0000

Funny… no response from the author about such misstatements as this…

“After a call to the Iowa Workforce Development office, we learned that companies like Gannett that require week-long furloughs make it possible for their workers to draw unemployment benefits.”

As I pointed out above, only salaried employees are required to take week-long furloughs in a single week – because that’s how they’re paid! Hourly employees such as reporters, copy editors, photographers, press workers, graphic artists, ad designers and mailroom workers are all hourly, generally speaking. None of those people are “required” by Gannett to take their furloughs in week-long blocks.

By: Maury Povich

Maury Povich — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:29:17 +0000

So Mr. Idiot…after reading that do you feel more like an idiot or a moron?

By: Maury Povich

Maury Povich — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:28:53 +0000

Hey Mr. Idiot…me thinks you are what we like to call a Class A Moron. Read below that is directly from Iowa Workfoce Development: Employers do not make any deductions from the worker’s paycheck to fund unemployment insurance
benefits.
Benefits are paid from a fund exclusively supported by a payroll tax levied on Iowa employers. The tax varies for employers and is primarily dependent on two factors: 1) how the employer’s experience compares to that of all other employers who are participating in the Iowa Unemployment Insurance Program; and 2) the overall fiscal condition of the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.

By: You're an idiot

You're an idiot — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:50:43 +0000

You’re either an idiot or a liar. The employees who have to take those week furloughs have paid into the unemployment INSURANCE system, so they are entitled to whatever benefits this INSURANCE system provides. They will still pay taxes on the unemployment INSURANCE payments they receive during this week. (It’s INSURANCE, get it?) This is not a drain on state taxpayers, and your attempt to demonize these folks, who have to take these measures through no fault of their own, is disgusting and symptomatic of why Americans tossed Republicans out on their asses in November.

On second thought, even if you are a liar, you’re still an idiot.

By: Santelli fan

Santelli fan — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:13:45 +0000

815 reader — if you have a week off work and know you are going back to a job you are not unemployed. you are taking MY unemployment tax I PAY as a job creator and giving it to people that HAVE jobs. That is not an unemployed person.

By: A reader

A reader — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:15:14 +0000

Iowa Republican wrote: “The Judicial Branch is using periodic, individual days to limit the down time for the court system, which cause the court system to be shut down for one or two days per month. The newspaper industry is using week long furloughs and staggering their employees so that they are not shut down over a week-long period.”

Unfortunately, you fundamentally misunderstand how the Gannett furloughs are being implemented. They are week-long furloughs, yes, in that most employees have to take five days off without pay. But hourly employees – by far the majority – are allowed to split up their furlough days, and thus ARE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR UNEMPLOYMENT, much like the judicial workers you describe. Only salaried/”exempt” workers are required to take their furloughs in one continuous five-day period, because that’s how they’re paid.

I work for a Gannett newspaper (not Des Moines), and in the most recent round of furloughs, about 90 percent of the hourly workers split up their days off, including myself. I believe the only hourly workers who took their furloughs in week-long stretches were forced to because they had previously-scheduled vacation weeks, and under Gannett rules, had to take the furlough days before they could use any vacation days.

To your broader political points: If you are not going to work and not getting paid, you are unemployed. That means you can use unemployment benefits. That’s what they’re there for. It’s not like the DMR is getting the unemployment cash – it’s the workers who are trying to stay afloat.

By: Newspaper Bailouts | corridor commentator

Newspaper Bailouts | corridor commentator — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:14:25 +0000

[...] other side of the political street, The Iowa Republican, news for Republicans by Republicans, says the secret media bailout has already begun. Shhh. Don’t tell [...]

By: steve right

steve right — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:48:41 +0000

Peggy,
You’re funny and stuff.

By: Peggy

Peggy — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:33:14 +0000

Honestly, I think you’re jealous of the massive amount of daily hits this new REPUBLICAN blog is getting. It really puts the likes of Iowa Independent to shame. And I don’t even think Robinson is being bankrolled by a gay activist from Colorado – how cool is that?!