Wisconsin Weasels And Indy Hosers
First we have Democrat legislators fleeing Wisconsin, holing up in out-of-state mystery locations to avoid voting on a fiscal bill designed to save help save the state from bankruptcy by limiting collective-bargaining rights for most state union member workers; now we have more of the same in Indiana. All because left-wing Democrat politicians, bastions of courage incarnate, are first and foremost concerned about saving their own collective skins by bowing to political and financial pressures from their union bosses.
In Wisconsin, they’re even handing out bogus doctor notes to enable union-empowered teachers to skip class while attending protest rallies, a scheme that could end up costing taxpayers nearly $9 million.
To understand the present, and how states across the country have become de facto hostages to union demands, you need to look at the past. Doug Ross does the heavy lifting here, with a breakdown of the savage evolution of public sector unions and the toll its taken on taxpayers. A full read of the piece is strongly encouraged.
Some of the highlights, or lowlights depending on your point of view: since1962, when President John F. Kennedy granted federal employees the right to collectively bargain, public union membership has skyrocketed, outnumbering private sector union membership for the first time last year. Along the way, the salaries and benefits of public employees have ballooned with government salaries last year increasing 2.4 percent, or about double the pace of private sector employees (the ones that still have a job, that is). The average salary of a federal worker is now $77,000, Ross notes, about $22,000 more than the average private sector employee.
Along with the sweet salaries have come even sweeter pension and benefit plans, negotiated – some would say extorted – by public sector unions, to the point where state retirement systems across the country are currently under water to the tune of about a trillion dollars.
So how have public sector unions achieved these amazing results, Ross asks.
The answer is the hundreds of millions of dollars that unions have donated to federal campaigns since 1990. Almost every single dollar went to Democrats or Democrat causes. In the 2008 election alone, some estimates put public sector union contributions to Democrats at $60 million.
And now liberals from the far left are clamoring to bring all the goodness of the collective-bargaining union label to North Carolina. And let’s not forget the implicit promise embedded in Charlotte’s host committee contract with the DNC, to use union work whenever, wherever and however possible.
Wonderful.
We need your help! If you like PunditHouse, please consider donating to us. Even $5 a month can make a difference!
Short URL: https://pundithouse.com/?p=5244
