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- #121
I think those times of universal deceit are here.Once again for the cheap seats:
Union pensions are DEFERRED PAYMENTS. The State only gets involved when they screw up the investments or siphon off funds for other fiscal situations.
Collective bargaining by unions has always supported the State through tough fiscal times. Case in point, the Wisconsin unions AGREED to the increased payments to their benefits and pensions. Historically, the unions bailed out New York during the Ford Administration.
Unions and collective bargaining DID NOT create the fiscal mess the country is currently in, which lessened federal funding to the States. They were NOT responsible for the S&L scandal, Enron, or the Wall St./mortgage banking debacle.
Since unions are a prime backer/campaigner for the Dem party, weakening if not dismantling them via punitive financial moves by GOP politicos points to upcoming elections.
In Wisconsin, the Koch brothers industries would benefit from non-union input regarding their 17 business there, and would also benefit from Walker selling of public utilities to private industries.
At first, Walker and the Wisconsin GOP stated that banning collective bargaining on pensions and benefits was crucial to the budget. Then, they remove this aspect from the fiscal bill in order to repeal a 50 year old Wisconsin law to this effect. So by their own convoluted logic, the Wisconsin GOP inadvertently admitted that eliminating collective bargaining had NOTHING to do with balancing the budget.
Even Orwell would be impressed by US corporations sitting on $2 trillion in cash and calling for an end of collective bargaining for public employees in the name of "austerity".
Austerity would start with taxing rich individual and corporations instead of borrowing from them. It would also help if Obama's Justice Department started filing charges for control fraud against some of Wall Street's biggest players.
But I'm not holding my breath.