Membership Has Its Benefits
By Mitch Berg
The DFL controlled Department of Employment and Economic Development is granting “Dislocated Worker” benefits – designed for large groups of private-sector workers who’ve been laid off – to DFL legislative staffers whose jobs disappeared with their majority and, in many cases, their representatives:
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2016/12/14/dflers-job-loss-benefits/
As Kelly Fenton notes, this is a first; political work (and work for a legislator or a caucus is political work, and much of it disappears when a party loses a majority) is unstable. Lose an election? Lose your staff. Lose the majority? Lose more staff.
And word has it some of the workers getting benefits were, in fact, campaign workers.
I say the DFL should defend this action loudly, proudly and stridently. Preferably by calling their critics “deplorable”.
December 16th, 2016 at 11:24 am
In the immortal words of Cy Thao, When you guys win, you keep your stuff; when we win, we take your stuff.
December 16th, 2016 at 11:24 am
…And when we lose, we take you stuff if we can get away with it
December 16th, 2016 at 12:52 pm
Heh.
December 16th, 2016 at 1:13 pm
I remember participating in this program several years ago when my employer, a defense contractor in the Cities, laid a whole slew of us off. You were expected to show an ongoing effort to find another job in your field. Taking this warped interpretation of the program to its logical conclusion, won’t these DFL staffers basically be getting money from the State until they get another job? But I suspect the GOP won’t be hiring, so will they be able to just collect benefits until the DFL is back in power?
December 17th, 2016 at 4:29 pm
Wait a sec . . . these guys & gals were working full time, then the Republicans got in, and now they’ll be paid for while doing nothing?
That’s a fine kettle of fish.