[wplug] The evilness of it all (Verizon OT post)

[Doug Green]

Yeah, it's pathetic. Even more pathetic is that Pittsburghers have done
NOTHING about the backyard monster for decades. The "don't hurt my boss"
mentality runs deep there- wake up, UPMC has had the city by the nads for
years. 

UPMC makes a majority of their money on real estate deals. Healthcare is,
indeed, a profitable venture- but the corporate giant has it's fingers in
deeper pockets as well.

I'm afraid that the joke is on Pittsburgh. UPMC is the majority employer in
the region. UPMC is the largest landholder in the metropolitan city area.
UPMC is tax-exempt. To make up for the property taxes that are not paid by
UPMC, the city looks to you.

I've lived a lot of places in my life- including places where "the taxes are
really high"- and I've NEVER paid so much for so little.

I wasted 8 long years in the Burgh, hoping I'd see signs of change. I could
rail on and on about how pathetic that area is, but instead I chose to
LEAVE. I sold my house and got the hell out of there - and I took my two
doctorate degrees with me!

If you've read this far, you might be thinking "good- leave if you don't
like it here". And that mentality is the exact reason that Pittsburgh is
losing, and will continue to lose, the highly trained young professionals.
Pittsburgh has done NOTHING to attract or retain them!!

Food for thought: I now live 3 blocks from the beach in Southern California,
and my rent is LOWER than what I paid in Shadyside (8 years ago). Unlike
Shadyside, my utility bills are included. I get a personal retirement
savings plan instead of mandatory social security contributions. I get a
renter's tax deduction for my housing expenses. There is no "tax penalty"
for being employed within city limits. There's no city income tax. There's
no payroll tax. 

Yes, you are correct, there is something terribly wrong with Pittsburgh.
UPMC is a good start.

Cheers from greener pastures,
Doug




On 8/22/06 7:46 PM, "Zach" <netrek at gmail.com> wrote:

> On 8/22/06, Brent M. Rust <rust at lucasware.com> wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> Maybe they figure that if the oil companies can make record profits then
>> they too can reap the benefits of a complacent public and little or no
>> competition.
> 
> Read in P-G today that UPMC posted a 77% increase in profits for the
> past fiscal year ending July! That is insanity. They are now up to
> over $ 1/2 billion in PROFITS. Hmm let's see we have most expensive
> health care and universities in the world which an increasing number
> of people can't access (and no not just the poor or working poor, this
> is starting to hit the middle class), and then there is the equally
> trend where wages have remained largely stagnant for past 5 years,
> utility costs (electricity and natural gas) are soaring like e^x,
> gasoline prices are insane, etc. ad infinitum. Seems more and more
> people are working longer and harder to achieve a sub-standard quality
> of living compared to their parents or grandparents' generation.
> Wonder how far away we are from another big social inflection point.
> :-) At least Linux is still free!
> 
> Zach
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