"A wise and frugal government which shall restrain men
from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government."
(Thomas Jefferson)


Friday, February 18, 2011

The Madison Disgrace by Larry Kudlow

This is what the union thugs are objecting to from Governor Walker:

Governor Walker is facing a $3.6 billion budget deficit, and he wants state workers to pay one-half of their pension costs and 12.6 percent of their health benefits. Currently, most state employees pay nothing for their pensions and virtually nothing for their health insurance. That’s an outrage.
What employee should get free health benefits and a free pension in America? Wisconsin state employees. What other states do the same? Had no idea some states paid the whole amount for their state employees. Unions are more on the take than I thought.

As a former federal employee who paid 7.5% into the federal pension, I am appalled that any state employee gets a pension for nothing like in Wisconsin. Then there is the 'little' amount federal employees pay month for health benefits for plans like Blue Cross -- over $400 a month out of our pocket. Yet the union thugs in Wisconsin want to continue to get benefits while they pay nothing?

This is what Obama supports -- free benefits for union members? I don't think so! Vote out all Democrats who support public unions and their right to strike like teachers and who agree public service unions should pay nothing for health benefits or pension. Time to end this travesty.

The Madison Disgrace
By Larry Kudlow
The Democratic/government-union days of rage in Madison, Wis., are a disgrace. Paul Ryan calls it Cairo coming to Madison. But the protesters in Egypt were pro-Democracy. The government-union protesters in Madison are anti-democracy. In fact, Democratic legislators are fleeing the state so as not to vote on Gov. Scott Walker’s budget cuts.

The teachers union is going on strike in Milwaukee and elsewhere. They ought to be fired. Think Reagan PATCO in 1981. Think Calvin Coolidge police strike in 1919.

....

Nationwide, state and local government unions have a 45 percent total-compensation advantage over their private-sector counterpart. With high-pay compensation and virtually no benefits co-pay, the politically arrogant unions are bankrupting America — which by some estimates is suffering from $3 trillion in unfunded liabilities.

Exempting police, fire, and state troopers, Governor Walker would end collective bargaining for the rest. Unions could still represent workers, but could not get pay increases above the CPI. Nor could they force employees to pay dues. And in exchange for this, Walker promises no furloughs for layoffs.

So, having lost badly in the last election, the government-union Democrats have taken to the streets. This is a European-style revolt, like those seen in Greece, France, and elsewhere. So it becomes greater than just a fiscal issue. It is becoming a law-and-order issue.

President Obama, who keeps telling us he’s a budget cutter, has taken the side of the public unions. John Boehner correctly rapped Obama’s knuckles for this. If the state of Wisconsin voters elected a Chris Christie-type governor with a Republican legislature, then it is a local states’ rights issue.

Obama should stay out. And Governor Walker should stand tall and stick to his principles. Otherwise, a nationwide revolt of state-government unions will destroy the country as well as its finances.

Source: National Review.com
Will someone please explain to us why it is okay for teachers to strike. These men and women have the education for the future of America in their hands.  What is it teaching children if they strike to put themselves ahead of everything. Self centered and selfish is not a desirable trait in a teacher.

When you go to work for the Federal Government you sign a paper that you won't strike or if you do, you are subject to being fired. Why don't states have the same rules? Why should public service employees be allowed to strike? They know when they take the job that they have an obligation to the people they serve to stay on the job. If want a strike, become a UAW employee as they love to strike over small items as the GM workers in Midwest City, OK, proved and one reason that GM shut down the plant.

Obama is making the union members think they can do anything they want and is leading them down a path they cannot win. Just because he supports the SEIU doesn't mean most thinking Americans do. If this is going to turn into union members versus taxpayers and the people voters election on November 2nd, Obama and his union thugs are going to be on the short end of that stick. Just wait until voters realize that SEIU members and others in WI and other states pay nothing for their benefits. Is the media going to do unbiased reporting or are they going to side with Obama and the unions?

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