The Jig is Up

The unholy alliance between the teacher's unions and the Democrat Party has finally been exposed in broad daylight for all the world to see. This fetid swamp has been simmering and stewing for years. Now that the majority of state governments have reached the budgetary breaking point, the moment of truth has arrived and the stench is too great to ignore...

In many states, you cannot be hired as a public school teacher unless you join the union. As a member of the union, you are then forced to pay union dues about which you have no say in the expenditure or purposes for the money. The union negotiates your contract for you as a group of teachers, rather than a contract that would meet your individual needs or skills. This may have some benefits but also has some obvious drawbacks. One of the big drawbacks is that if you're conservative, you can be sure that you will have no say about the uses of your union dues. You see, the leadership of the teacher's unions and the Democrats have been playing a game of footsie, with their unions dues. The teacher's unions funnel millions of dollars a year to the Democrats and in return the Democrats do everything in their power to legislate in favor of unions and steer fat contracts their way. Even when these politicians realize that their promises to the unions are unsustainable, their thirst for power overrides judgment. Fear of losing this dependable and plentiful source of campaign dollars throws integrity to the wind in this reciprocally parasitic relationship. The victims in this scenario are the teachers and the students.

The current situation in Wisconsin is a classic example of the reality that has now come home to most of America. For years, politicians have been making promises they could not keep to public worker's unions, including teachers, knowing the money wasn't going to be there. Union leaders and politicians have knowingly kicked the can down the road in order to maintain current power structures, praying they would be out of power before reality hit. The reality is that Wisconsin is running a $3.6 billion deficit. Part of that deficit is due to the black hole created by union benefits and pensions. Obviously, the budget woes include many other factors as well. But, in the face of bankrupting the state, drastic measures have to be taken to correct the budgetary problems before it's too late. Wisconsin is no conservative bastion, but in this last election they overwhelmingly elected a Republican Senate and Governor. The governor ran on the idea that this budgetary mess had to be fixed. The steps he is taking are not a surprise to those who were paying attention during the election.

From the Governor's website, he has proposed the following: "First, it will require state employees to pay about 5.8% toward their pension (about the private sector national average) and about 12% of their healthcare benefits (about half the private sector national average). These changes will help the state save $30 million in the last three months of the current fiscal year." They are currently contributing $0 to their own pensions. "Additionally, the budget repair bill gives state and local governments the tools to manage spending reductions through changing some provisions of the state’s collective bargaining laws.

The state’s civil service system, among the strongest in the country, would remain in place. State and local employees could continue to bargain for base pay, they would not be able to bargain over other compensation measures... Other reforms will include state and local governments not collecting union dues, annual certification will be required in a secret ballot, and any employee can opt out of paying union dues." My understanding of the "collective bargaining" agreement is that since the union bargains for the entire state, it makes it impossible for each municipality to make any changes in order to fix their own ailing budgets. This new agreement would make it possible for the benefits to be treated on a local basis, rather than statewide. In addition, the unions would still collectively bargain for wages, but all other benefits, such as pensions and health insurance would have to be voter approved.

It stinks to be a teacher and to have been made promises that cannot be kept. I feel for those who have been counting on these pensions and benefits. Their leaders and elected representatives lied to them. But they are not without responsibility. They have also allowed the unions to behave exactly as they pleased. The unions could have been changed from within, but they were more than happy to buy the snake-oil that was being peddled. If none of them questioned or challenged it, then they share some responsibility. Furthermore, when you work for the "government" you work for the people and provide the "vital services" we have agreed to have the government provide. Neither Ronald Reagan nor the Liberal demigod FDR would countenance a strike in the public unions. Reagan fired the air traffic controllers who went on strike during his presidency. Roosevelt said, "Particularly, I want to emphasize my conviction that militant tactics have no place in the functions of any organization of Government employees. Upon employees in the Federal service rests the obligation to serve the whole people, whose interests and welfare require orderliness and continuity in the conduct of Government activities. This obligation is paramount. Since their own services have to do with the functioning of the Government, a strike of public employees manifests nothing less than an intent on their part to prevent or obstruct the operations of Government until their demands are satisfied. Such action, looking toward the paralysis of Government by those who have sworn to support it, is unthinkable and intolerable."

I hate to let the air out of their revolt balloon, but may I remind the union members that they do not work for the government? They work for the citizens of Wisconsin...the taxpayers. The government does not pay for their salary and benefits, the taxpayers do. When those who are protesting in Wisconsin call names, make false claims and waste time and money in the state capitol, the are in the end attacking the citizens of Wisconsin, not the governor. Very few employees outside of public unions get the kind of benefits, at so low a cost as those who are protesting. Those who are self-employed often have neither a pension nor health insurance. If they want to retire some day, they have to pay for their retirement by saving their own money. If they need to go to the doctor, they pay for it out of pocket. Even those who have jobs in this economy are accustomed to paying a much larger portion of their wages into pensions and health insurance and many have taken pay cuts just to keep their jobs.

Finally, some general thoughts about all the poor behavior shown by both Democrat politicians in the midwest and the Union behavior generally:

1) When there are people losing their jobs left, right and center, asking some concessions from the public unions is reasonable. Their response is entitled, spoiled and despicable.

2) The endless reaches of Democrat hypocrisy still manage to shock me. After calling for a gentler tone following the Giffords shooting, and after jumping to a baseless conclusions that conservatives were to blame, uncivil and provocative language by union protesters is either ignored or encouraged depending on which liberal media source you turn to.

3) It is illegal for teachers to strike in Wisconsin. But for the people who teach our children, it is morally acceptable to have a "sick-out" and feign illness to equally unscrupulous doctors who provide them with a doctor's excuse. What a fine example to their students.

4) If the unions refuse to budge, it will cost people their jobs. They would rather keep their unadulterated power and cost their colleagues their jobs, than behave like a grown-up and deal with reality.

5) Democrat politicians fleeing states such as Wisconsin and Indiana are showing the worst form of cowardice. As those of us dismayed by the election and policies of Barack Obama know, elections have consequences. The voters of Wisconsin spoke loudly in the last election. Their cowardly escape to neighboring states is an admission that they have lost the battle and they will stoop to anything to avoid the results of their behavior as elected representatives. Get back to your states and do your job! Am I the only one bothered by the fact that this is the only time Democrats take a principled stand? Are they always this principled when there isn't the direct threat of losing their favorite and most consistent source of campaign funds?

6) Comparing their situation with that of Egypt is beyond insulting. People in Egypt had been living under the corrupt and repressive Mubarak regime for decades. Egyptians live on an average of $3 a day. Do they really have the gumption to compare their posh union contracts being changed, for the benefit of the entire state, to living under a dictatorship? I don't know if that's just foolish rhetorical hatred or sheer stupidity. If teachers aren't smart enough to see the difference between the two situations, then should they really be teaching children anyway?

Our nation has reached the economic precipice. We have been collectively spending like drunken sailors and most of us realize that it must stop now. This is the moment. It cannot be kicked down the road any more. With as much discomfort as most Americans have been experiencing for the last few years, these union temper-tantrums are not garnering much sympathy or support. (Wait and see what will happen if those chumps in the NBA and NFL strike.) We all have had to tighten our belts and make cuts to our budgets. It's about dang time government did the same thing and that includes all of the people who work for us in the public sector. Any thought that they should somehow be exempt is arrogant and entitled. We can no longer afford such behavior as a nation.