The entitlement mentality at AOL

Nothing much surprises me these days but I must say I was taken aback at the response to comments recently made by AOL CEO Tim Armstrong. Taken aback is, perhaps, too mild. I was actually infuriated. Tim Armstrong was conducting a town hall meeting with employees and tried to explain why they were restructuring their 401(k) contributions. Instead of the company contributing each paycheck, they were going to make a lump-sum contribution at the end of the year.

He didn’t elaborate but I assume it was an effort to hold on to the cash throughout the year and monetize it before giving it to the employees. He explained that measures needed to be

taken because their healthcare costs had taken a big hit. He noted an additional $7.1 million per year because of Obamacare and added that the company paid out $1 million each to two AOL families for “distressed babies” during childbirth.

Oh, my Lord, the press went nuts over the “distressed babies” comment. Forget that that’s exactly what doctors call it: fetal distress.

Not only did the press go nuts but one of the mothers, who would’ve otherwise remained anonymous, wrote a piece for Slate.com raking Mr. Armstrong over the coals. The backlash over the 401(k) deal sent AOL into damage control and they backed off their plan. Then Armstrong apologized for the “distressed babies” comment. People screamed that he’d somehow violated HIPAA rules for disclosing that a couple of employees had experienced difficult pregnancies. With 5,600 employees it’s doubtful anyone would have any idea who those people were had it not been for one of the mothers lashing out on Slate.com.

But all that is really secondary to the real problem. The thing that’s so amazing is the sense of entitlement. Had my company just spent $1 million saving my child I would’ve already been to the CEO’s office thanking him profusely for helping us out in a time of need. It’s bad enough to go through a difficult delivery but can you imagine being saddled with over a million dollars in medical bills? Where’s the gratitude?

There was none. It was merely an expectation that such gargantuan bills be paid by someone else. That “someone else” is the company by way of higher insurance costs. All Armstrong was trying to do was find a way to make up the difference as painless as possible. Ironically, all the folks at AOL who were so outraged by his mentioning the “distressed babies” were not even willing to be inconvenienced by having their 401(k) match deferred until the end of the year. They’re ALL ingrates. 

We had an employer match when I first started with my current company. When the Great Recession hit they made the decision to suspend the match until the company was back on more solid ground. People raised holy you-know-what over it. Me? I was grateful there had been a match in the first place. I didn’t look at it as a right. I saw it for what it was; a benefit. Eventually they resumed the match and I was delighted when they did but I never expected it nor demanded it.

I guess it’s just human nature. You start getting something for free and you come to rely on it. That’s true whether it’s the government or your employer. All I expect in return for my work is the salary that was agreed upon when I took the job. Everything else, in my mind is gravy.

Apparently, gravy is now considered a God-given right.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

Greedy public employees are bleeding us dry

In San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) workers went on strike after negotiations between the unions and state mediators broke down.  Commuters were left scrambling for alternative modes of transportation but the unions didn’t care.  Was the dispute over pay?  Not really.  BART had offered an average 2 percent wage increase per year for four years.  The fight was over what most union fights have been about the last few years: pensions and health insurance.

The average train operator and station agent make a base salary of $71,000 and average another $11,000 in overtime.  That’s an average of $82,000 per year.  Before the strike BART employees were contributing a measly $92 per month for their health insurance, a ridiculously low amount given the skyrocketing cost of health insurance.  As for their pensions, they were contributing absolutely nothing, not one dime.  The taxpayers were picking up the entire tab for the pension contributions.

These are the types of deals that are bankrupting cities and states and our federal government.  We simply cannot afford to pay for what should be the responsibilities of individual workers.  Whether or not some BART employee retires with a pension should be the responsibility of that particular BART employee.  It’s certainly been my responsibility.  I have a 401(k).  Some years my employer matches part of it some years they don’t.  I certainly don’t expect them to and when they do I appreciate it.

But that’s the problem with a lot of people in this country, isn’t it?  They’ve come to expect someone else to take care of them.  I try to watch my 401(k) like a hawk.  I contribute as much as I possibly can and I plan for the future.  I’m hoping Social Security will supplement my retirement years but I have my doubts.  If it’s even there when I retire Social Security will, in all likelihood, be subjected to means testing.  Even people like Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky have supported means testing.

Means testing, simply put, means if I do the right thing and have ample money put away for my retirement I won’t be able to draw Social Security even though the government forced me to contribute to it my whole working life.  They told me it was a forced retirement fund and I would be able to draw from it when I retired.  With means testing only those who don’t prepare for retirement will be able to draw from Social Security.  It will only be for those whose retirement funds fall below a certain level.  It turns the entire program into another welfare entitlement.

So much of what the government is doing is discouraging personal responsibility.  The harder you work and the more you earn the bigger chunk of your paycheck they take.  If you haven’t been responsible and provided health insurance for you and your family then the government will step in and take care of your health insurance.  If you don’t plan for your retirement the government will take away part of the retirement from those of us who have and give it to you.

Why on earth should anyone behave responsibly anymore?

The BART strike has been just another reminder of what happens when government officials volunteer the generosity of the taxpayers.  Those on the receiving end of that generosity spit in the face of their benefactors.  They should’ve fired everyone who went on strike and given those jobs to people who might actually appreciate them.  Unions in the private sector are vanishing quickly.  Public sector unions should do the same, while we still have some money left.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.