Just as I was in the depths of despair, Charles Krauthammer came to the rescue. His column this morning resurrected my fatigued resolve. I wish there were more voices like his, because if sane people don't get loud and denounce shenanigans like the boondoggle in Wisconsin, Obama and his ilk will have succeeded in staging nothing less than a coup. The union socialist thugs own the White House, and we cannot let them own our statehouses as well. From the pen of Mr. Krauthammer in today's Washington Post:
Recognizing this threat to union power, the Democratic Party is pouring money and fury into the fight. Fewer than 7 percent of private-sector workers are unionized. The Democrats' strength lies in government workers, who now constitute a majority of union members and provide massive support to the party. For them, Wisconsin represents a dangerous contagion.
Hence the import of the current moment - its blinding clarity. Here stand the Democrats, avatars of reactionary liberalism, desperately trying to hang on to the gains of their glory years - from unsustainable federal entitlements for the elderly enacted when life expectancy was 62 to the massive promissory notes issued to government unions when state coffers were full and no one was looking.
Obama's Democrats have become the party of no. Real cuts to the federal budget? No. Entitlement reform? No. Tax reform? No. Breaking the corrupt and fiscally unsustainable symbiosis between public-sector unions and state governments? Hell, no.
We have heard everyone - from Obama's own debt commission to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - call the looming debt a mortal threat to the nation. We have watched Greece self-immolate. We can see the future. The only question has been: When will the country finally rouse itself?
Amazingly, the answer is: now. Led by famously progressive Wisconsin - Scott Walker at the state level and Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan at the congressional level - a new generation of Republicans has looked at the debt and is crossing the Rubicon. Recklessly principled, they are putting the question to the nation: Are we a serious people?
You can read all of his column here.
Sorry for the light posting, my darlings. School is kicking my broad backside. I get up in the morning, grab a cuppa with one hand and a textbook with the other, then fall asleep at night with textbooks scattered all over the bed. Thanks so much for hanging with me!
ReplyDeleteThese union demonstrations have greatly upset Noah and I. It's pretty bad when you turn on the news and see screaming crowds waving signs around, and you don't know if it's Wisconsin or Libya. :(
Gawd, I love Charles Krauthammer. He writes with such clarity and common sense. I just saw the bit (that will be played endlessly by the media) of the union prople shouting "shame" at the Wisconsin legislators after they passed a bill cutting down bargaining rights. I noticed they all have the de rigour matching tees.
ReplyDeleteWhere the hell are the good people of Wisconsin? Majorities in many many many states are applauding these efforts, these people need to get out and make their presence known.
The union socialist thugs own the White House, and we cannot let them own our statehouses as well.
Amen, lady red, amen. The unions are going DOWN! Good.
January 2013 can't come fast enough.
The main difference is that, in Libya it is the government committing the violence, in Wisconsin it is the protestors.
ReplyDeleteOh, also in Libya, it is downtrodden masses, who do not share in any largesse from the oil wealth of the country, desperately trying to improve their lives, while in Wisconsin it is the taxpayer-supported class, desperately trying to continue their over-paid lifestyle at the expense of those who actually work and pay taxes.
Lady Red, I wake up at about 5:30 and get home about 6:00 PM, eat dinner, do cleanup, maybe watch a little TV, and go to bed. I know how you feel. I wish I could add more constructive comments to the fascinating discussions here but I just don't have the time nor the energy.
ReplyDeleteI moved to Canada in 2007. I did it because I was fortunate to marry the loveliest, most interesting lady I have ever had the pleasure to know. There was nothing political about it. However I cannot help but think from time to time that I am lucky not to be in the U.S. while that absolute disaster is in the White House.
My optimism lies, as I alluded to the other day, in my belief that the left has seriously underestimated the resolve of the American people. The mask is off and everyone of good will knows the truth.
Folks, IMO ... not very humble either ...the "Wisconsin" fandango is all about the money, followed by political power acquired but undeserved. It is a LOCAL issue run amok. It IS a national issue because of the money and political power it brings.
ReplyDeleteIt is a fookin' political disaster because apparently in media minds (almost 99.9%) and many people's minds mob intimidation is the "new democracy" and has replaced legislative deliberations, in cases where basic civil rights are NOT on point.
Lewy 14 said it best about bargaining against a sovereign entity founded by taxpayers.
Worst is that virtually no one in any media distinguishes between Federal employee's union and these cake eating money grubbing state and local organizations ... who have acquired rights inconsistent with public service ... e.g., "bargaining" (extorting) for tax payer dollars. These obscene privileges were GIVEN to them by STATE politicians. The federal employees have no such rights, thus no such power.
Major differences:
Federal employees cannot be forced to join the AFGE.
AFGE dues cannot be taken from net pay without written request by the employee.
AFGE does NOT bargain regarding wages, reimbursable expenses, and salary. (They are set by Congress, OPM and GSA ... individual "issues" are settle by the Comptroller General)
AFGE does NOT bargain for benefits such as health care. (That is done by OPM Contracting Officers negotiating with providers via bids, etc.)
The AFGE serves the main purpose of ensuring work rules are fair and are followed and employees are treated equally.
AFGE is required to represent ALL federal employees in a bargaining unit, not just those paying "dues" or holding membership (it is voluntary ...a right to work environment if you will).
***THIS one issue (above) is the THE one in "contention" now, I assure you ...those state and local unions do NOT want to be put in the same position where membership is voluntary and dues are not mandatory. Nothing else is really important to them. They KNOW that they should never have had this power in the first place. That's where the "Gadahfi mind set" comes from.
Now as to the media driven bullsh*t on federal wages and salaries, in no small part augmented by ignorant politicians grubbing for votes, versus private sector, go to a factual source and wade through the reality. Note, if you will, that there is an almost perfect correlation between federal pay and college educations required.
I was a "fed" for 15 years of my 50 odd year career. I can assure you, even in management, my income was considerably less on average than my private sector experience. I took the job initially when unemployment in Michigan was 13.4% and had been for a year and one half. I found I like the public service aspect and money didn't play a part in job satisfaction ... but impeding senior management when they sought to either break the law or aggrandize themselves was intensely satisfying to the very last day.
Whew!! I think that #5 a record for wordiness even for me ...
ReplyDeleteimgw:"http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y128/aridog/193-corgi.jpg"
Aridog, thanks for differentiating between the federal unions and the locals. You make some good points.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I am of the conviction that public employees (federal, state, county, city) should NOT be allowed to unionize. Sorry to lump them all together, but here's my point: public unions hold the taxpaying public hostage to a strike, and the threat of no services. Locally, it also sets up the scenario seen so vividly in Wisconsin, where the union dues of public workers (paid for by their boss, the taxpayer) buys an entire political party for the benefit of a select few. That is NOT how a republic should operate (or a union, for that matter).
I also am of the conviction that public salaries and benefits should be commensurate with private sector salaries, not with education. Just because a person has a doctorate from Yale doesn't mean their education has any worth in the real world. Another example: why should the union guy who works the counter at the post office be paid so much more (with a wheelbarrow full of benefits and job security) than the guy in the corporate mailroom who does the same job with little or no benefits and zero job security?
I know that we are blessed with some awesome government workers, and that these folks are worth every dime we pay them in salary and benefits, but too many others aren't worth the ink it takes to print their paychecks.
The hardest part of this union debate is separating out the excellent, experienced, hard-working union members from the riffraff and the thugs. I'd love to see union members who are sickened by the heavy-handed antics of their union bosses band together and be the sane voice that rises above all the screeching and sign waving. I'm not holding my breath.
Matt, ^5. I know how busy you and Fay both are, and many of the other TCKTers too. :)] :X
ReplyDeleteLiving in Canada gives you such a unique perspective on events happening here, and I always enjoy your take on things.
Today, I'm going to get my taxes done by a professional. I haven't kept up on all the changes, so for the first time ever I'll hand my financial life to a total stranger and let her work her magic. The best part? Obama will have to redistribute someone else's tax dollars this year, because he's not getting much from me. Hah! :D
Seems to me in one way that the public union debate is similar to the health care debate. A few changes would make a world of difference instead of wholesale changes to everything. I'll steal Ari's points to make the case in no particular order.
ReplyDelete1. No strikes.
2. No wage, health-care, retirement negotiations.
3. No mandatory dues.
4. Equitable wages determined by trade-off between job security, retirement, health insurance.
Essentially that post office clerk might make less in salary than the private company mail room clerk, that's the trade-off as it used to be in civil service.
So, basically, as Ari says above.
"The AFGE serves the main purpose of ensuring work rules are fair and are followed and employees are treated equally."
would be the main purpose of all civil service unions. All else would flow from policy determined by 'elected' leaders. When, that is, the elected leaders are allowed to do their job without the intimidation such as is taking place in Wisconsin right now.
Luther, I wish our politicians were as sensible as you and aridog. We wouldn't be in this mess.
ReplyDeleteWorst is that virtually no one in any media distinguishes between Federal employee's union and these cake eating money grubbing state and local organizations ... who have acquired rights inconsistent with public service ... e.g., "bargaining" (extorting) for tax payer dollars. These obscene privileges were GIVEN to them by STATE politicians. The federal employees have no such rights, thus no such power.
ReplyDelete++++
Great discussion here.
"... public unions hold the taxpaying public hostage to a strike, and the threat of no services."
ReplyDeleteNo public union should have the right to strike, and IIRC, most do not by contract stipulation. THAT is why they call in sick or feign other reasons to effect a work stoppage.
Gutless leadership executives failure to enforce the contract has enabled behavior such as you see in Wisconsin. Reagan had it right when he canned all of PATCO for striking. He enforced the law, under Title 5 USC.
O(f course, this requires respect for the law.
"Just because a person has a doctorate from Yale doesn't mean their education has any worth in the real world."
ReplyDeleteI'd suggest to you that v-e-r-y few, if any, *Yale grads* take civil service jobs GS-01 thru GS-15. Now Senior Executive Service (SES) and above (all the various assistants to assistants deputy assistant sub-secretary deputy dude, etc) are another matter ... but they are appointed positions (means political suck-A positions) and the vast majority know less than your mail room dude, postal or private.
Many of the government jobs, such as engineering, among others, require degrees. I don't recommend you hire the local high school drop out for engineering. The median civil service grade for engineers is GS-12 after a few years ... roughly an $80K salary position. The majority of government civil service positions are NOT GS-12 or higher. That assertion is political bullsh*t. ***
***It is done intentionally by politicians to distort the reality. They are, of course, counting all costs and expenses, benefits, et al, to get their wage/salary figure ...KNOWING FULL WELL that 90% of the public understand pay as either net (take home) or gross ... NOT as gross plus all related costs. They do it to make ordinary people think they are the same. ***
In summary, sad as it is, "The first liar doesn't stand a chance" phenomena is now reality in our politics. So many lies and no one can tell anymore.
ReplyDelete"Of course, this requires respect for the law."
ReplyDeleteNo bites? Awww :-L
I was thinking of Obama and Holder's recent declaration that the "Defense of Marriage Act" is not "Constitutional" and therefore they'll not defend it, let alone enforce it.
Don't need no dang Congress, nor Supreme Judiciary, nor electorate for that matter. Just rule** by edict!
**I used the word "rule" because I was thinking of Obama's recent pronouncement that Qaddafi has lost his "legitimacy to rule" ... as if any bloody dictatorship has legitimacy? As if "leadership" of a nation entails "ruling?" As if democratic leaders are "rulers?"
Is it just me (could be!), or WTF?!
Another puzzlement in the news:
Why are Qaddifi's enemies calling him "that Jew?" Why is the Star of David featured on the protesters' signs demeaning Qaddifi along side swastikas?
imgw:"http://totallycoolpix.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/24022011_libya_protests/libya_protests_09.JPG"
I guess "Jew" is the worst pejorative they can think of? Lovely folks ... may they successfully kill each other off to the point of extirpation.
The **Legitimate Ruler** of us? [What a lovely 'Freudian' slip that was, eh. ] :-o
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