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January 25, 2010
Public Sector Unions: The Enemies of Small Government
Posted by The MaryHunter at January 25, 2010 8:59 AM
In pointing out some moral deficiencies among the government employee work force of late, there was some grumbling from site readers who also belong to the ranks of reputable public servants. My intent was not to malign the 95%+ of hard-working, honest public sector employees, but to shine light on the slimy grubs who diminish those around them by taking advantage of the system. At its highest levels, the recent growth in government corruption -- especially with Obama's Circus of the Czars -- has been second to no other modern administration.
But don't miss the growing forest for it's tallest and most offensive trees. The fact remains, as so well stated by Gregory of Yardale: "There are now more Government parasites consuming resources than there are private sector workers producing tangible output." And the main reason for this comes down to public sector unions.
Listen: over 50 percent of all union members now work for federal, state and local governments. Any effort by conservatives to fight the size of government will require a serious face-off with these powerful unions.
There once was a day when working for the government meant a sacrifice for public service. Government employees didn't face the vagaries of employment in the corporate sector, where jobs come and go, but in return government jobs didn't come with the salaries and perks of the private sector, either.
Not anymore. The government unions want it all - high pay, stability and a growing work force. And they're willing to use their growing political clout to get it. Public-sector unions ferociously lobby each level of government for increased spending and oppose tax reductions.
My Father-in-law belonged to that generation of noble public servants. He felt he owed everything to his opportunity to work for the government, and didn't complain about lower pay or having to move his family many times given all of the other benefits.
But now, that sense of opportunity and duty appears to have warped into a demanded entitlement -- by the SEIU, teachers unions, and other organizations. The political activism of government-sector unions has paid off in keeping union jobs safe and expanding government -- and in the process, making the rest of the workforce miserable through economy- and job-killing tax increases nationwide.
In Oregon, public employees unions spent almost $4 million supporting ballot initiatives to raise personal income and business taxes by $733 million. The Service Employee International Union (SEIU) spent millions in California campaigning for higher oil, gas and liquor taxes. In Arizona, the Arizona Education Association lobbied successfully against repealing a $250 million-a-year statewide property tax. Even in the conservative state of Alabama, the Alabama Education Association's annual convention endorsed tax increases on businesses, cigarettes and soft drinks - while voting down measures supporting spending restrictions to combat the state's budget shortfall.
With top SEIU thug Andy Stern wielding so much influence in the Obama White House at so many levels, including that multi-billion dollar ObamaCare payoff, it seems highly unlikely that a rising tide of conservative voter backlash will be able to thwart union power and truly reduce the size of government anytime soon. It seems that all we will be able to do is watch and fume as public-sector unions, with cover from the Obama White House, redouble their unrelenting campaign of growth at the expense of the private-sector economy.
