clevergirl
Gold Member
- Oct 22, 2009
- 2,721
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This relatively short op-ed nails the real signal that WI recall election should send- well worth the read.
<snip>Putting aside Edwards' despicable personal conduct, he is emblematic of the corrupt patronage system that Walker ended in Wisconsin the one that allows government unions to cement relationships with self-serving politicians, leaving taxpayers unrepresented and rendering many states insolvent. By voting decisively to retain Walker (the only U.S. governor to survive a recall), Cheeseheads declared the jig is finally up for this brand of special-interest cronyism and the politicians who perpetuate it at least in Wisconsin.
The truth is that public-sector unions don't serve a compelling social need, because governments don't exploit labor for profits. Furthermore, as Franklin Roosevelt cautioned, The process of collective bargaining cannot be transplanted into the public service ... (without risking) paralysis of government by those who have sworn to support it. Realizing this, President Carter reduced collective-bargaining rights for federal employees by signing the Civil Service Reform Act.
It's ironic that public-sector unions met their match in Wisconsin, the birthplace of American progressivism and public-sector unionism, where roughly two-thirds of voters either are or are related to union members. Now, progressive Wisconsin is proof that the crisis of the modern entitlement state being played out worldwide from the eurozone to California doesn't have to be a Greek tragedy.<snip>
read more
<snip>Putting aside Edwards' despicable personal conduct, he is emblematic of the corrupt patronage system that Walker ended in Wisconsin the one that allows government unions to cement relationships with self-serving politicians, leaving taxpayers unrepresented and rendering many states insolvent. By voting decisively to retain Walker (the only U.S. governor to survive a recall), Cheeseheads declared the jig is finally up for this brand of special-interest cronyism and the politicians who perpetuate it at least in Wisconsin.
The truth is that public-sector unions don't serve a compelling social need, because governments don't exploit labor for profits. Furthermore, as Franklin Roosevelt cautioned, The process of collective bargaining cannot be transplanted into the public service ... (without risking) paralysis of government by those who have sworn to support it. Realizing this, President Carter reduced collective-bargaining rights for federal employees by signing the Civil Service Reform Act.
It's ironic that public-sector unions met their match in Wisconsin, the birthplace of American progressivism and public-sector unionism, where roughly two-thirds of voters either are or are related to union members. Now, progressive Wisconsin is proof that the crisis of the modern entitlement state being played out worldwide from the eurozone to California doesn't have to be a Greek tragedy.<snip>
read more
