SIX FIGURES … AND THEN SOME …
|| By FITSNEWS || Last week our friends at The Nerve published a story highlighting the extent to which leaders in the S.C. General Assembly refuse to rein in their legislative budgets.
You know … in addition to voting themselves pay raises.
Since January 2014, “the total payroll of House staff employees making at least $50,000 annually has increased by 11.3 percent to $4.53 million, while the total salaries of Senate staffers earning $50,000 or more jumped by about 8.3 percent to $4.86 million,” the report found.
Ah yes, “Republican-controlled” government … always growing. And always producing jack squat.
Anyway, buried within The Nerve story was a list of the highest-paid legislative staffers in each chamber. Included on that list? Senate medical affairs “research director” Martha Casto – who gets paid $102,000 a year (not counting benefits).
According to our sources, Casto does precious little research in her role – which like all legislative posts is basically a part-time position given that the General Assembly is out of session between July and December.
Casto’s job? Reporting to Senate “majority” leader Harvey Peeler – who hired the former Democratic staffer after her lengthy bureaucratic career.
How lengthy?
Well, Casto is one of countless state bureaucrats who took advantage of the colossally short-sighted Teacher and Employee Retention (TERI) program – which enables state employees to briefly “retire” and then return to work, drawing both their pension and their new salary.
It’s called “double dipping,” and it’s a sweet scam – one which has contributed mightily to the state’s ballooning budgets.
Faced with soaring liabilities, lawmakers amended the program a few years back so that new employees were ineligible … but Casto (like so many politically connected bureaucrats) got in while the getting was good.
Must be nice …
South Carolinians are dirt poor, people. And one of the reasons they are dirt poor is their government simply refuses to stop growing. And one of the reasons it refuses to stop growing is scams like this.
Even if Casto were in the office full-time, twelve months a year – and doing amazing “research” – $102,000-a-year would be a stretch. The fact she’s receiving that AND the equivalent of a second salary?
It’s ridiculous … and it needs to stop. Now.
34 comments
This is the European model of government continuing it’s manifestation here.
Rule by Technocrat.
Government workers are now the upper middle class, supported by the working poor.
AMEN! Especially in this broke ass banana republic!
“Government workers are now the upper middle class, supported by the working poor.” So true in my neck of the woods. The government sector retiree is living high on the hog compared to their private sector counterparts who manage a more circumspect retirement. Nice to have a fat pension check, benefits, and whatever else the politicians promised them at taxpayer expense.
look up the Peeler’s in the dictionary and you will find terms like slime, cretin, feckless, amoral, adulterer, skirt chaser, unethical, immoral, cow manure.
These people have been around much too long and need to go, sooner the better.
This is our one Party dominated State, Republican’s my ass!
“Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely!!”
The Peelers were cared toting Democrats, until it was in “Vogue” to be a Republican and the only way to get elected in our gerrymandered districts!!!
They all need to go and the Peelers are the worse of the lot!
Gosh, one would think she’d work the for Columbia Fire Department as Fire Chief for that kind of money.
Ah, but that would entail…. work.
Hell from firefighters I’ve talked to all it entails is driving around in a red car and getting in the way.
Someone needs to put this democrat COW out to pasture. Why is a democrat working in the republican caucus anyway. Get this PIG out of the trough. What could she have on Peeler????Love child?
I disagree. Tasked with the job of making Harvey Peeler look and sound more intelligent than your average fourth grade repeater should be worth a couple hundred grand easily.
Raucous Applause!!!!!
Now that McGill is gone and Bob peeler is no longer the “idiot” in the purple robe.
Harvey is the slimiest dumb ass in the Senate, even with Leatherman’s Dementia!
Play it again Sam! The state can’t pay her enough.
LAUGH MY @$$ off…(FITS talkin’ ’bout Anything but the Democrat Party Debacle)…
Hillary is buying Twitter LIKES…and imploding just out the gate. She ain’t no Obama…no cheaters gonna give her 110%…and there’s voter ID this time…Hahahaha…
And regardless of how Haley Whipped FITS @$$ for the last five years…he ALWAYS had Obama in the White House…
But Obama has systematically cost the Democrats the House, and now the Senate…and the DNC is in a MESS…still FITS ALWAYS had Paris – and he had Obama…
But now Hillary is F*#king it all up…and FITS is S#!tt!*ng all over himself…Hahahaha… I LOVE this…
The GOP does not have the WH YET to go along w/ the House and Senate…but FITS is ALREADY in MORTAL fear….Scared to death…
Way to go FITS…Hahahaha…LMAO…
If you hate FITS so much, why don’t you start your *own* blog?
This IS my OWN Blog…Dumb@$$….LMAO…
You respond to me, more than you do the Bull-$#!t FITS feeds you…
Didn’t you mean to say, “I’m Rick James, bitch”? Wait a minute,. Somebody did have the I’mrickjamesbitch handle on FITS a while back. Damn. Another FITS nom de plume for GT, or Sic, or whoever is getting paid your write this stupid shit
Why do you hate your OWN blog?
Ask any of the lobbyist or her own office-mates and the word around the Senate has been she spends a lot of time under peelers desk after hours. Show us the blue dress you nasty sow. You keep the cigar.
But does she swallow?
No, but she does inhale!
bazinga!
We sure could use a Chappaquiddick with this Martha Ho. Only this time maybe Peeler can stay in the car. Hey Martha, we know you can hold your breath you nasty stank biotch. We will be watching you very close now to see who else you do. I think we may just make an example out of you.
Love the ads. “Lizards of Liberty” (wasn’t that it?) Yup. The liberty for Ted and his fascist followers to tell me what’s what’s and what will send me to hell. A Cruz presidency would surely send us all to hell, that’s for sure.
I’m good at research. How can I apply for one of those jobs? Are they advertised on the state jobs website?
Can you give a blow job, or do you spread em wide?
Or, are you a shameless ass kisser?
If the answer is no to any, you are unqualified!
If you can’t answer your own two questions then …..
Force a voter recall bill to be passed. Survey all of the cronies in the legislature and see if they support one. I bet many of them will never answer yes or no. And those who don’t, if you see them in public — toss water in their faces.
Whaddya know! Her husband is also on the state’s tit as well.
Want to see real State Salary rip offs?
Then take a look at the outrageous salaries paid to the Lottery employees.
I can’t find their salaries online, but according to the Executive Committee minutes from 1/7/2015 (which are online), ” Over [the Executive Director’s] five and a half year tenure, all efforts to reward her performance have been declined and [the Executive Director’s] current salary is the same as the salary of the prior Executive Director in 2009. Consequently, the salary for this position is substantially below that of the chief executives or even some of the senior managers for the other enterprise entities in South Carolina.” So, there’s that…
Want to know who’s really making money as a state employee? Well, according to the State Budget and Control Board, Jonathan Hoke (400k, USC Athletics Coach), Lorenzo Ward (400k, USC athletics Coach), Martin Morad (392k+, USC Professor)…etc. It looks to me like if you really want to see state salary rip offs, you should be looking at the outrageous salaries paid to athletics coaches, professors, and other personnel associated with higher education in SC
I don’t disagree on the other coaches salaries. Plus, the players that create all that money get mostly nothing.
Several lottery employees get close to $200,000 per person at the top.
It’s all a big rip off. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to run a lottery.
The boys on the streets of New York and New Jersey have been doing it for decades.
It’s called: “Running the Numbers Rackets.”
As I have said before no difference in the parties in SC. Most in the Republican Party are really Democrats who ran as Republicans to get elected.
The Peeler’s are the biggest crooks in SC!!
Ummmm…Kemosabe…what?…another Raghead move by the payday-grubbing
legislature that’s the best that money can buy?
Well, well Tonto—it’s sadly true don’tcha know—and this
explains to even the slow just precisely how and of course why…
Casto’s job?
Reporting to Senate “majority” leader Harvey Peeler – who hired the former DEMOCRAT staffer after her
lengthy bureaucratic career.