Mitch Daniels Says Public Unions Should Be Abolished

[JoeB131]

gov't unions have transformed public service into self-service, we can't keep raising taxes in the 21st century to pay for benefit plans from the 20th century

It bears repeating.

I am always amused how conservatives vilify unions.

Let's be honest what happened here. Once upon a time, the private sector had good wages because of unionization or the threat of unionization. The Wealthy paid a healthy share of the taxes, as they should. There were tariffs in place that protected our industries (vital to our national defense and economy) from unfair foreign competition. You had a vibrant middle class, Mom could stay home with the kids while Dad worked, people could enjoy vacations. It was common for a guy to work his whole life at a company and retire. Life was good.

Then these idiots went along with the Plutocrat's oky-dokes.

"Give up your unions, and your right to collectively bargain. We’ll recognize you for your hard work and merit. We’ll use nice sounding terms like ‘right to work’ and ‘At Will employment’ to describe this."

"Dooooooy, Oky-doke!" said the middle class.

So they find themselves working harder for less money, and eventually get put out on the street at 50 because the company can always find someone younger who'll work cheaper.

“Give up your Union Medical Plans, and go with these company Medical Plans instead!”

“Dooooy, Oky-doke”

They find themselves paying more every year for plans that cover less and less. HMO stands for Horrible Medical Options. And if they got too sick, they found they were usually the first to be let go during a downsizing.

"Give up your pensions, we'll let you get in on the Wall Street fun with something called a 401K. Then you can borrow against the value of a home you already paid off! Trust us!"

"Dooooy, Oky-Doke"

Now they find themselves with a busted 401K, an underwater mortgage in foreclosure AND no hope of ever actually retiring. Meanwhile the fat cats on Wall Street and the banks got a government bailout they paid for, and paid themselves bonuses out of it.

"Hey, hey, you know, we can get more business opportunities if we sign this free trade bill with third world rat-holes that don't have the safety, environmental and work rules we have."

"Doooooy, Oky-Doke"

And they act all surprise when the manufacturing jobs go to China, and the Customer Service jobs go to India, and when their POS Chinese made computer breaks down, they can call to Pradip… er, “Bobby” about how to fix it, but he doesn't understand English.

"Hey, let's give tax cuts to rich people!"

"Doooy, Oky-Doke!"

Oh, that means we increase taxes on working people. SUCKERS!!!

And of course, if someone might actually figure out that they’ve been had, we can distract them by talking about gay marriage, abortion, guns or some other issue that gets their blood boiling for no good reason.

The ironic thing is that the GOP has engaged in this obscene transfer of wealth, but instead of being angry at the people who perpetrated it, we are angry at the people in the unions who DIDN'T FALL FOR IT.

In short, someone burns down your house, and instead of wanting to punish the arsonist, you want them to burn down your neighbor's house instead.

"DOOOOOY, Oky-doke"

 

[mudwhistle]

They unionized federal employees, but strangely we don't have collective-bargaining rights, so they can collect dues but we have no say in anything. We can bitch a lot, and cause trouble, but that's it.

 

[JoeB131]

They unionized federal employees, but strangely we don't have collective-bargaining rights, so they can collect dues but we have no say in anything. We can bitch a lot, and cause trouble, but that's it.

So what's your point?

Are you saying that after all your whining about the government, you are drawing a federal paycheck still?

 

[Wiseacre]

They unionized federal employees, but strangely we don't have collective-bargaining rights, so they can collect dues but we have no say in anything. We can bitch a lot, and cause trouble, but that's it.

Job security ain't bad, it's a bitch to fire a fed emp. 40 hours a week, no overtime unless authorized, but you get comp time. Plus, your pension and bennies aren't bad either. I know guys who are triple dippin', one pension from the military, another one from civil service, and a SSA check too. Who needs collective bargaining rights?