Yup, how dare those state workers keep their middle class lifestyle when the private sector didn't.
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.
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 theyÂ’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"
Nice theory. We're middle class. The wife's 410k is fine and the moderately priced home we live in is right side up in the loan..
Wanna know why? We do not live beyond our means. We never needed the permission of a labor collective to branch out into other careers. We can shop and dine where we wish.
Tariffs? Trade wars are stupid. Nobody wins. Oh, remember, free trade was a bi-partisan idea. Look to your federal government to place the blame for that piece of shit.
The housing market? Look no further than your federal government to place blame for policies that created that piece of shit.
Look, the public worker unions were fine until the union leadership went political. They discovered they could enrich themselves under the guise of protecting government employees. The union bosses used their powerful influence to steer legislation that gave huge advatanges to union members. Soon after taxes began to rise at alarming rates.
Why? Because for every favor a politician did for a union, the union promised the politician unwavering support for their next campaign. In some states, property tax rates would rise as much as 20% in a single year. Check nj.com and other sources. It got so bad for example, New Jersey had to rescue taxpayers by enacting a 2% annual tax levy cap. DO you know who screamed the loudest in protest against the skullduggery? The ******* public employee unions. They screamed "what about our raises?!!!!" What about our pensions, they hollered...Raises? Pensions? WHAT?!!! People were being taxed out of their homes because the answer to the question from the politicians to the union bosses was, umm we will make sure you get your people their increases in the next contract, but we have to ask, where do we get the money from to pay for this?...The union bosses advised them to simply raise taxes.
When even the most pro union of politicians saw the mass exodus of wealth from these big union states, NJ for example, they panicked. Uh oh....The residents are pissed!!!!
Instead of tempering their demands, unions pushed for more. The situation came to a head. The greed of unions cooked their goose. And now reality has set it. The gravy train ride is OVER.
This is only the beginning and it is not going to stop. 22 states are right to work. Indiana made 23 this year. There are several states in which public workers may join unions but do not have the right to collectively bargain for wages or benefits. Wisconsin in part joined their ranks this year. Ironically those states have among the lowest property tax rates in the country. And people are flocking to those places.
In California, the voters went the opposite way. They voted themselves a huge tax increase. California has a $16B budget deficit and over $500B in unfunded pension obligations. The state is essentially broke. Four large cities including Bakersfield, Stockton and Fresno have declared bankruptcy.
Face it. It's done. And there is nothing you can do about it. Your(unions) time has passed.
Unions failed to modernize their thinking. Unions continue to operate as though it were 1950. That is their downfall.
