That is absolutely absurd...USE THEM or LOSE THEM.........

The last sentence is one of the key points in the article - "That's because the salaries have increased" - Each year these liabilities to the local governments increase, even if the number of banked days is unchanged. That's because the sick day the employee earned when he was making $30,000 10 years ago, is now worth double that if he's currently making $60,000. Until these banked days are phased out this is a liability that will keep on growing, even if no additional days can be added to the bank.

This is what happens when Unions take over the government. All they want are things for themselves, instead of working to help things run right. Unions have more say and power than the government. In the real world, no one accumulates all of their unused days. Those days are not due to anyone since they are put in place in thr event that you are sick, or want to take a vacation, NOT SO YOU CAN KEEP THEM FOREVER! These morons want to get paid for doing nothing, and blame the towns for increased taxes

This is totally crazy, If you're not sick then don't take sick days. Period. You should be investigated if you take sick days and you just want to lounge around the house or go shopping. SICK DAYS are for SICK DAYS. Get it!

NO KIDDING...THAT IS HOW LARGE AMOUNTS OF SICK HOURS ARE ACCUMULATED....SO IF I DO N'T CALL OUT SICK...YOU WAN'T TO TAKE THE SICK TIME AWAY???....USE THEM OR LOSE THEM????...MAKE UP YOUR MIND!!!!!!!!

What's with the caps, dude? Obviously you are an entrenched, government union stooge who has no idea how the real world works. I get 5 suck days a year. I am paid out 50 percent for each day I do not use at the beginning of each calendar year. It works. Time the government catches up with corporate America by shedding unnecessary employees like you who think they are entitled to jobs and by reducing their liabilities with simple measures like annual sick time payouts.

But that's only my 2 cents.

oh and by the way GNOBIEO1, since you brought it up, what exactly do you do??? WE ALL WANT TO KNOW.

Before you jump all over me, I apologize for the typos. Sometimes its tough to type with 4 kids climbing all over me :)

Gee dude...whish I had you payout.....we are not allowed to do that....

What kind of a numbskull would negotiate a contract that permits an employee to accumulate "sick days", year after year after year,until death or "retirement" - perhaps a politician, 'er public servant, with a debt to pay?

same politicians that won't pay us to use them or lose them

GNOBIEO1, do you remember what Gov. Chrisite said to a teacher that was complaining that she only gets paid $80,000 a year for 160 days less sick days and personal days, "if its so bad go look for another job" I suggest you do the same thing.

Unions negotiate the best terms possible for their members. Let's place the blame where it belongs, on the shoulders of our representatives, who sold us down the river with government employees receiving pensions and benefits that are bankrupting our state economy.
There are hardworking gov't employees and slackers, just like in any workplace. However, their base salaries are now competitive with the private sector and they can no longer use excess benefits as an offset. It is time for our representatives to take a more dedicated position to reversing these ludicrous contracts for gov't employees, to enable firing of incompetent employees with less obstacles, and to investigate this tragic anomaly in Bergen County.

Unfortunately most people have no idea what it is to be a public employee. Just look at your average public servant. Do they look and dress like they are making $200K? In fact, most of them are making $20-40K living paycheck to paycheck. They are unable to put money away for a rainy day. Accumulating sick time is a life saver. I was a public employee. I was injured and was out of work for 8 weeks. If I was unable to use the sick time I accumulated I would have lost my home and car.

For 8 years my weekends were Tues and Weds. Only after that was I allowed ONE weekend day off. Unless a holiday fell on your normal day off you would never have it off, or compete with the 64 other ppl in the dept for one of the 2 extra slots for a big holiday. When a holiday fell on a weekend, management declares the holiday to be a Monday, so all the managers could get an extra day off. What that meant was the not only did people have to work the holiday, they were paid str8 time for doing so.

No public employee says you should not have weekends off, get a holiday bonus, get as much salary as you do or have holidays off for the sole reason they don't get it. But that is what the private sector's attitude is now. Luckily for Nancy most public servants like their job regardless of its pitfalls and will save her butt when she needs their help anyway.

New levels of stupidity. "Employees of Bergen County government each get 12 sick days per year. Whatever they don’t use, they accumulate, year after year, over the course of their careers." What a joke.
Um, here's the obvious answer (and welcome to the private/public business world circa 2000) PAID TIME OFF. No questions asked on vacation/sick/personal, a "use-it-or-lose-it policy," and serious limitations on annual carryover or payouts.
EASY - DONE
Typical public employee stupidity.
For people in the business world (aka the real world) it's like listening to the ultra rich complain about both of their Ferrari's being in the shop.
Grow up.

Haa, the Jealousy is seething here. I put my life on the line, my contract provides me with sick time, and I deserve it! Keep crying you losers!

HOORAH! 1RICH! I. Too made the right decision and scoff at the 9 to 5 losers...thats right s big lotto awaits at the end of the line....Oh yea, i forgot to mention that end will be before I'm 50

Who is going to pay what can't be paid ?

Jealousy, losers? That's just stupid. That being said, putting your life on the line is very honorable. That goes with the territory of that line of work. And yet the fact still remains that BC is staggeringly worse than any other area in this matter. It's not about jealousy - it's about commons sense and gauging. As usual the blame sits squarely on the government for not regulating any of this - to some degree.
Earn some days. Get some payout. But to the tune of 470 years worth of unused time? And you're going to tell me you earned it? Sure, you "earned" it under a joke set of rules.
And now the government has to figure out some kind of payout for their stupidity using the taxpayers wallets as their own.
People need to wake up and realizes that this garbage is all connected.

how did cops and teachers become the enemy?

I agree with Andy. And I have nothing against unions. Both my parents were union members, because unons were the only thing that back then protected working-class peope with low wages who did back-breaking labour in factories. But today's public servants don't fit in that category. They are not working class--the salaries of most of them put them squarely in the middle class and some in the upper middle class with all the extra compensation. Most private sector employees don't earn these salaries and certainly don't have the extra benefits like guaranteed pensions, accumulated sick and vacation time to add to their pot of gold, and sterling medical plans. And for all the cops out there: plenty of private sector workers also have to work on Christmas, New Year's Eve and other holidays, so don't cry about that. And plenty of people have dangerous jobs and don't get near the compensation and perks that Bergen Country police get (like New York City cops, for example!!) Benefits and compensation in the public sector should be much more comparable to what we get working out butts off for private companies.

In todays economy things will change,like use your time or lose it and when you retire
the county will buy back all your sick time say 500 hours but only pay you for 250
hours at todays rates and you wonder why our property taxes are climbing.

@ GNOBIE01
Obviously you feel that you are over worked, and stressed, but you do have the right to take vacation days if you feel like you need a rest. Your complaints about due sick time, really has no merit what so ever. Sure they give you sick time, but they crucify you for using it, but you shouldn't be allowed to accrue that many sick days. Your getting paid to do your job, and are expected to stay healthy. If your out sick, while you are getting paid for the sick day, another person is also getting paid to work the day(s), that you are sick, same goes for when you take a vacation day. Granted, there are time when you need to call out sick, but you might want to chalk it up to the people you work with that abuse their sick days/ vacation days.

What do people not get? Use them or lose them like the rest of the world!

Every State and County employee should use their time, stick it right to their employers and to the taxpayer and have the taxpayer pay for overtime and use sick time. What the article does not show is that most contracts cut sick time in HALF at time of retirement saving the taxpayer money. So use your time, stick it to the taxpayer and get FULL pay instead of HALF pay!

Anna I think you should pay a Police officer enough money so they can afford live in the town they are protecting. Cadillac health care...absolutely. You get what you pay for.

Has anyone clearly defined why Bergen and Passaic need the county-layer of government, while the bulk of Jersey does not?

I apologize if I have offended anyone in this forum, but I've often wondered how the other counties get by.

To Petethedogwalker: Exactly what salary is enough that a police officer or a fireman will do a good job? Civil servants perform well if they are dedicated and the salary is fair compensation. A few $ more does not necessarily guarantee a better employee; any executive can verify that.

I don't think 80,90, 100,000 is out of the question including overtime. I've owned tractor trailers for many years. Some guys are pushing 75-80k driving a truck. So 90k for a guy in uniform is about right. No a few more dollars does not make a better employee. I'm not for banking sick days...just take your sick days or lose them ..no problem. But I also listen to the scanner during emergencies etc. When you actually hear the Police and dispatchers solving problem after problem you realize how good we have it. They deserve to make a good buck.

Er, THOUNGDUC, I think the financial plumbing would be a little different if it were to be called socialism.
The agreements were made by the employees with the government (who get all their money from the taxpayers - which inevitably fluctuates).
In socialism, you'd have already agreed *up front* that you wouldn't have those kinds of vacation/sick conditions and would all have the same amount.
I don't think anyone is condoning socialism here (God, I hope not). And some would even argue that our form of democracy is just a cleverly disguised version of special interest socialism.
What I think people are trying to express is SOME kind of regulation so that people are free to capitalize on SOME overtime/sick/vacation time accrual - JUST NOT TO THE TUNE OF 470 YEARS WORTH. Where's the line? I don't know. But I know that Bergen County is unique in it's non-consolidative mess that it's built. And it simply can't be argued as not being excessive, redundant, and wasteful.
If it were to be decimated, consider yourself lucky in at least getting an explanation. In the business world, you're not even given that courtesy if you're laid off/fired/terminated.

Public workers have their pension plans. We have our 401K plans. They disappear too--no guarantees of any fixed retirement benefits in the private sector.
To the person who said say private sector workers are privilged because they sit behind desks all day: you know that's not true. Many work in factories, kitchens, butcher shops, supermarkets, as cleaning people, janitors, security guards, mailroom clerks, all sort of physical work. These are not cushy jobs, and some are also dangerous. Everyone should be paid decent wages, and be entitled to reasonable health and retirements benefits. If that's socialism, then so be it.

Anna: Just one minor amendment to your opinion. "Everyone who performs well at the job should be entitled to decent wages and benefits. I have worked with government employees for years. Some are excellent; some would never survive in the private sector for five minutes. One last point, for all intensive purposes, they cannot be fired. That perk is certainly not true in the private sector under most circumstances.

It seems like Christie is moving towards a more realistic use of sick time accumulation, it resembles more of what the private sector had to do decades ago. We could have avoided a lot of this by NOT allowing benefit time to be accrued due to overtime hours worked. No hours of benefit time should be accrued above and beyond the employment status (full or part time). That way the benefit allocation is controlled and allotted for, no need to give extra time off for any employee that is working overtime and receiving premium wages.

THOUNGDUC, I gotta say, you raise some good points. Especially the fact that there are some public sectors that aren't wasteful and/or redundant. But when something like this happens, it shows that there's been a gross lack of oversight somewhere. However, it is all connected, and so the State raiding those funds is certainly a travesty. At the core it's really about establishing some kind of checks and balances. If we're going to hold people accountable, it should be done fairly and made widespread. Wishful thinking I know, but what's the alternative? How do you choose who gets to horde/amass and who does not? The only way is to bring things to light and provide some regulation in order to ensure some kind of sanity check.

Anna, I couldn't agree more. Plus, the comment "they sit behind desks all day" really got my dander up as well. Even when it is true! I know people who bust their tails "sitting behind a desk all day" - in fact, I'M ONE OF THEM! I write manuals for a company in NY. Picture writing technical documentation four hours and hours on end. It's like writing term papers over and over - day in and day out. Only make sure you add a generous portion dependencies and product release deadlines.
I happen to like it. However, saying that because I "sit behind a desk all day" I don't work hard? You'd have to be out of your mind.

Seems to me that there is a lot of sour grapes on this post..YOU want the benifits of police and fire and ambulance but don't want to pay for them...cry about the costs...with over 2500 employees...a large amount of accrued sick time means that few are useing the sick time and working like you want us to........ all I can say about that is ...we are entitled to the benifits that we are getting ...too bad if you don't like it...shoulda joined the department and do the job before you criticise...compareing a private sector job to what county employees in emergency services do is like compareing jumping off a chair with skydiving...enjoy your safety and security knowing that your tax money is well spent protecting your family...providing needed services that you use everyday whether or not you want to acknowledge that...CHEAP BASTARDS!!!

The State of New Jersey RAIDED, STOLE, BORROWED, NEVER REPAID, Billions of dollars to public employee pensions for the past 10 to 15 years. In the last few years, public employees made concessions, AND local and State politicians passed along laws INCREASING public employee pension payments and health benefit payments. So, as you can see, public employee pay has, and in the future with salary CAPS will continue to be diminished! Why? all because CRIMINAL politicians raided pensions and benefits. Instead of beating up a public employee, put the blame where it belongs.. The blame is upon the politician and the voting public who voted the politcian in!

like I said ANNA...WALK A MILE IN MY SHOES AND STILL SAY THAT THE COMPENSATION IS UNDESERVED...working uncompensated is a problem that you should not put up with....if you do....that is not the fault of the public sector

I think you all need to be a bit more respectful toward one another, I work for myself and would never trade it for a job in the public sector, I respect everyone righ to earn a living, but I will say this, I dont blame public employees for their contracts, I blame the elected officials which awarded them...the system at one time, long ago, made sense...it no longer makes sense, the reason is as the number of public workers increased over the years so did the taxes to support the payrolls, as taxes moved higher, people within the state like myself, will look to take our wealth out of the state and re locate to a states where the taxes and the system is more efficient...for instance Florida has more citizens than NJ and they do not have the overlap of services which exist here...municipal, county and state government, is ridiculous...when I served on the BOE , we had district superintendents and a county superintendent, I once asked what was the purpose of the county superintendent, the response was to oversee the district superintendents...waste total waste, with the money we spend in NJ on administration in education we should be graduating Einsteins, it is not the case...waste

Everyone on this post is coming from very extreme special interest group vantage points.Including you Mario. While you work for yourself, you're biased as a member of the BOE - which is very intertwined with the political/public sector. No one should expect anything else - everyone has some kind of vantage and stake in how the community is run.
There's nothing sour grape about wanting some regulation. When things don't make sense anymore - they simply don't make sense and should be remedied. The claim of "gentle folk who espouse the private sector jobs as being equal would react to their bosses stealing the company 401 to pay for other expenses" is so far fetched I don't know where to begin. Bosses/officers of companies not doing anything corrupt or taking money to pay for other expenses is almost cliche, so I really don't think you mean that it doesn't take place. As far as 401Ks, I'm not all that sure you understand how they work.
But that's beside the point. None of this implies taking away ALL of your unused money/time - it means doing something. Whining about other problems is just a distraction to hang onto your cheese.
No one is a "cheap bastard." No one should be making claims from the standpoint where one group or vantage is better than the other. The situation just needs some examination. It could even mean grandfathering existing money owed. Who knows.
It's slinging stupidity and extremes that get the entire community positively nowhere.

@Tony...I dont understand your comment, am I biased about being an enterprenuer, yes I am...I love it, I love the ability to create my own wealth, I love setting goals for myself and achieving them, I am passionate about my profession, with that said you equated by position on the BOE as biased...well I owuldnt call it bias...I would call it an experience to say the least...my point in my blog was, as you stated this is an emotionally charged debate, we can respectfully disagree iwth one another without becoming disrespectful in our comments, my point of the system is simple...it is outdated and needs reform...there is way too much overlap and at some point disticnt reforms must be made, if they are not made the system can not sustain itself. We are heading down a road which will result in a Greece like scenario, the problem, there are no more gimmicks to suspend the inevitable...the currency is already devalued, interest rates are as low as they can go, and growth rate in our economy is an anemic 2.4%...a robust 3.5% is needed to create job growth...so as long as we continue to mount this out of control debt on our local, state and federal budgets, our taxes will continue to rise, or we kick te can down the road and implode.

Mario, I think we're on the same page man. I couldn't agree with you more. All I meant by being biased are those experiences we all bring to the table. Your BOE experience, your livelihood as an entrepreneur, mine as an executive, all jade us to some degree.
This is why, as you said, everyone is so emotionally charged.
That doesn't negate the need to do something. The only commonality I've seen on this thread (ours included) centers around some kind of oversight to bandage any overspending while still keeping/compensating where merit is due.
There simply must be a way for rational solutions - or at least aligning more towards them. Otherwise, why even bother getting up in the morning? Like you said, we're on course to the results taking place in Greece/Europe.

@Tony, Unfortunately have you ever had a rational conversation with an emotional charged individual??? Most politicians are emotional toward their party and toward their agenda, so rational decisions escape common sense. I have witnessed it for the past three years at the Golf Commission, I witnessed it 1st hand on the BOE, and quite frankly to vote for folks who rant and rave about democrats or republicans is ridiculous...I vote for people with smarts and for people who have integrity, regardless with party affliations...this morning I read a letter to the town news from an emotionally charged republican guy who proudly wears his party affiliation on his sleeve, a good guy, the husband of a council woman, its content began supporting his wife, Admirable, but than he made a statement that the "marines had landed" referring to the election win of Alan Brundage and Mike Rohdeick...in as much as I respect Mr Brundage and Mr Rohdeick dedication to the community, what does their military service have to do with serving on the council? So council members who did not serve admirably in the marines, do not make good candidates? I stopped reading the letter when nonsnese became his format. The local agenda should focus on maintaining a lean budget. Most expenditures at the local level are salaries, insurance and benefits, I did not realize marines recieved this type of training.

Truly rare (rational conversations with emotionally-charged individuals). The anecdotes you mention here are nuts! HAHA! Strange indeed. Unfortunately all too common.
Yeah, party affiliation basically just shows how much of a sheep a person's behavior is. And how willing they are to forgo any rationale or logic. It's obsolescence is so apparent on the national level, I always wonder why the partisan, local-yokel, bumpkins don't see how obvious and silly it looks on the local level.

@Tony...very well said

@THoungduc.LMAO.you have a very funny way of putting it.I rather not attack people personally, I'd rather respectfully disagree. Every party does this nonsense every voting cycle, I think it divides us more and more as a community.To vote for someone simply because they are democrat or republican at the local level is just plain ridiculous, there are good candidates in both parties.Ironically look at Jon Corzine, personnally, never cared for the man, I predicted after his defeat he would move out of NJ, guess what? he did.Now he is being investigated for the same crimes the democratic party stood on a soap box and complained about. Do you see Chris, Rachel, Ed or Lawrence of MSNBC doing a story on Corzine? Absolutely not, heck if he was a republican the news media would be a circus. You would think local politics would rise above this petty nonsense, they dont... and guess what we as taxpayer and homeowners loose every year by voting incompetence, simply because someone labels themselves a democrat or republican...the only advice I can give...is read the resume of the candidate.There is a local senate race and one candidate is touted as a businessman, yet they don't tell what type of business he owned, if he ever owned a business, as far as I know he was a salesman, yet the mailers and the commercials claim he is a successful buinessman, how could I vote for that nonsense, he seems like a decent guy, but if they cant tell the truth about what or who is , what good is he?

I agree and would rather have a council with both parties and independents on it, but no we have to have all one party because they insist. Well, I'm hoping that the people have something more to say about that. What is insulting is the cops, firemen and public employees going out for the candidate and we're suppose to believe it's not because of the pressure put upon them. Yeah, right, I believe that.

I want a fresh perspective and that's why some new people on the ticket is the way to go this time. There is no downside to voting for new ideas and approach. I could use some savings on my real estate taxes and if those currently in power couldn't find ways to save before because they became lazy and arrogant, well, it is time for a change.

As a side note on the Corzine/MF Global debacle, I guess one could say he did for MFG what he did for NJ. I thought as a businessman from Goldman he would be able to see the business picture and such, but he was just another empty suit but the democrats still defend him..........holy crow!

Let's vote for a better chance and give the Republicans an opportunity to bring some sanity to Fort Lee.

@ Rita...I think it is utter nonsense when your Union tells you who you should support. The election process is personal and unions should steer clear of politics. This just based on your statements regarding Jon Corzine who had every union in his back pocket, how do you think NJEA feels about their poster boy Jon now? Great article in the Record this weekend, about our former Governor, who I never really cared for. I know for a fact a zebra cant loose its stripes, so when Corzine entered into politics I knew it was ego driven, he never cared about NJ and is proving by living in Midtown. As far as giving republicans a chance in Fort Lee, as I have always stated in my blogs...read their RESUMES, political affliations at the local, county and state level means absolutley NADA. I am disappointed by the amount of money these local yokels are spedning and election commercial and mailers, when they cant even seem to maintain an emergency fund in the municpal budget to pick up branches after a storm. I will go out on a "limb" and say we will have branches on the curb for weeks to come.

THIS STORY IS A WEEK OLD AND PEOPLE STILL COMMENT.......WHY DON'T YOU ALL RUN FOR OFFICE IF YOU THINK YOU ARE SO IMPORTANT???

BY THE WAY...DON'T BOTHER RESPONDING TO THIS MESSAGE...i HAVE BLOCKED ALL EMAILS FROM THIS SITE...WHAT A WASTE

I find it very ironic that Sen. Loretta Weinberg Weinberg is commenting about abuses of sick and vacation payments: For high-ranking local officials, Weinberg said there’s very little oversight to confirm the legitimacy of their accumulated time. “They’re the ones who sign off on their own payroll,’’ she said. “There’s a lot of room for abuse.’’
Isn't she doing the same thing by collecting a government pension and getting a salary? That's called double dipping but I guess she doesn't count herself as part of the problem...

Tea-Party Freeholders pledge to "look into it" - classic!!!!!

Kathe Donovan put in for her pension as county clerk the day after she was elected county executive. Another tax feeding double dipper.

when the politicians practice what they preach, only then will they have a leg to stand on. Most people buy into the political smoke and mirrors tirade of our elected officials without questioning the source of their information or the legitimacy of the politician, all without realizing that the very politician who is vilifying the public employee is engaged in the very same so called practice they are standing on top of their soap boxes crying about. Reform is needed yes, but TRUE reform has to include ALL who are involved with the practice that everyone seems to think is patently unfair.

A few simple questions:
(1) When was the last time that a congressman walked into office with less money than he/she walked out with?
(2) How many ex-representatives become lobbyists after they retire (or lose an election) and make a fortune in their new occupation?
(3) How many presidents have made a fortune on a biography or other book they have published?
(4) How many presidents receive an obscene fee for speaking engagements after tenure as president?
(5) How many governors fail to hope for higher office?
(6) When was the last time you voted for a candidate rather than voting against a candidate that you could not tolerate?
(7) How many of our representatives at any level are representing the best interests of their constituents?
(8) Is it possible to run for major offices without the backing of one of the major parties when the cost to run is so prohibitive?
The system is broken. The final question is “Can it be fixed’?

I FINALLY AGREE WITH YOUR POINT OF VIEW RIDGEWOOD MOM, WE BOTH AGREE WITH, HOWEVER THE FINAL SOLUTION AFTER ALL THE REVIEWING IS THE BALLOT BOX.

There are some basic solutions, but they are very hard to implement. The public needs to stand up to both parties, Democrat and Republican, and indicate that we are dissatisfied with the candidates that they are offering. This can only be accomplished by people refusing to vote party line, a tough sell to die-hards. We need to put referendums on the ballots to simplify the process for a candidate to run, to allow third party candidates easier access, e.g. in NY State, arcane rules for of a candidate to be placed on a ballot border on the obscene.
Term limits have a way of impeding life-time incumbencies. Age limits may seem discriminatory, however our constitution states a minimum age (presidency, 35). Why shouldn’t there be a maximum? Locally, according to on-line biographical info, Loretta Weinberg is 76 years old, Frank Lautenberg is 86 years old, Joan Voss is 71 years old. We have 24 Senators that are 70 years of age or older, three that are 87 years old (both Hawaii Senators, interestingly enough) and only nine Senators under 50. Experience is a factor to be considered, but new ideas and energy should also be considered. Older representatives, serving multiple terms, have put America on the brink of financial disaster, accruing a national debt that is totally out of control. They have allowed our entrance into global wars that have literally bankrupted our country and lost innumerable American lives.
There are solutions, but we need to fight for them.

Howard, get a haircut.

@Ridgewwod Mom, you truly believe there is no corruption in Govt? We over threw a soverign country, we implemented our military once again through the puppet UN resolution to arm Libyan Rebels...Did Iraq turn into a democartic state? can you name one country in the middle east that resembles a democraticstate? If you think they hated us 10 years ago,.TRILLIONS wasted and you want to end corporate greed??? The government can seem to regulate itself hown can it possibly regulate the private sector, as long as we have corruption, greed and life long politicans manipulate us, ceratin not all certain corporation will behave exactly the same way the government allows them to behave, unethical, becuause they influence the politicans with their money something a politican can not walk away from...we can never "fix it" I just hope it deosnt become to turn into Greece too soon, it is inevitable we will...JOHN F Kennedy types dont exist any longer

To MaximusLackofConfidence: A few people making an attempt to have an intelligent dialogue and another anonymous blogger chiming in with an inane comment.
To Mario: Corruption has been part of government in America throughout my lifetime. One way to limit it is to stop reelecting the same corrupt officials.

Ridgewood Mom...The Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 (CFMA) is United States federal legislation that officially ensured the deregulation of financial products known as over-the-counter derivatives. It was signed into law on December 21, 2000 by President Bill Clinton. It clarified the law so that most over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives transactions between “sophisticated parties” would not be regulated as “futures” under the Commodity Exchange Act of 1936 (CEA) or as “securities” under the federal securities laws. Instead, the major dealers of those products (banks and securities firms) would continue to have their dealings in OTC derivatives supervised by their federal regulators under general “safety and soundness” standards. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) desire to have “Functional regulation” of the market was also rejected. Instead, the CFTC would continue to do “entity-based supervision of OTC derivatives dealers.” [1] These derivatives, especially the credit default swap, would be at the heart of the financial crisis of 2008 and the subsequent Great Recession.

Ridgewood Mom...yea I guess we should still allow these brain childs to make decisions for us, they are doing a great job...we wont even discuss foreign policy...

The hyperbolic subtitle to this article is "County's total liability nears $54 million to its 2,754 employees." In plain math this means that an average of $19.6K per employee of saved earning (unused sick days) per employee that jealous anti-government types would like to steal from them. $19.6K is not a lot per person across an averaged career span, as the choice of numbers expressed in this article is meant to suggest.

Lets not state all state employees in this thread, many state organizations and public safety departments fire/police don't have a buy out, its use them or lose them, so to bundle all is mis-leading in the least and labeling those is wrong.

@Thoungduc...W Paterson was just reported a payout of 1.3 million to 7 retiring Officers... in Paramus it is a Pay Out, but lets understand something Thoungduc, I am not demoralizing PO for getting or taking the perk...I am calling Politcians who negotiated the perk stupid...I would never had negotiated or voted for that perk without a cap.

Ridgewood Mom...You seem to be more tolerant than I in the system...recently BOE members needed to get fingerprinted and a back ground check...many have complained about this practice...I for one support and encourage not only a back ground check bit a credit report check as well, now many may ask me why a credit report, because if an individual is not responsible with their own bills how can they vote for or adopt policy for the office they serve??? isnt that a part of being ethical? why is it we continue to support candidates who do not have the resumes to do the task they seek to be elected for??? I know some of our council members they are and have been clueless, when it comes to basic financial matters, taht doesnt make them "bad" people" just terrible council members, yet they negotiate contracts, they make policy and than you ask yourself why we find ourselves in the mess we are in...your re kidding??? Keep electing un qualifed individuals base on them knocking on your door and asking for your support, when they do knock, do you begin to ask them why they are running...they all respond with the same line...I live in town for x years, I support our town and I want to make sure we keep taxes down and we maintain our blues laws...sounds great...we vote them in, than they adopt the worse policies only to cause taxes to sky rocket because someone from their organization is pulling their strings...it is a terrible game, and I have witnessed it 1st hand