Let us say you are a truck driver or an accountant and you work for a state government. Chances are good you are a member of a public employee union and you pay union dues.
Guess who?
Your dues go to your union and your union negotiates your benefits with the state along with wages, working conditions, etc. The union uses your dues during political campaigns to help elect politicians friendly to unions and their members. On the off-chance you do not support the candidates your union supports, tough luck.
The state is run by politicians and politically appointed department heads.
The chances are near 100% that you also have a pay and benefits package (total compensation) that far outstrips fellow workers in the private sector of your state.
Coincidence? Ah, not so much.
I happen to think that health care costs are an unsolvable problem (which I suppose makes it not a problem at all). I also think that the interdependency and influence in the relationship between government workers, their unions and politicians is an unsolvable problem unless Americans begin to vote for the collective best interest, which is highly unlikely.
The public employee union AFSCME spent over $87 million during the 2010 campaign with the specific purpose of electing Democrats. I will not speculate on why unions and especially public employee unions find friends among Democrats. Actually, I do not have to speculate it is obvious to anyone as the examples are all around us from GM to the various states. Politicians learned long ago that to garner votes all they need do is promise voters something; they have learned that lesson well. Shame on all of us for being so gullible.
From the worker’s dues to the politician’s actions, nothing is left to chance. Pensions and other benefits are great because the state provide great benefits, the state provides great benefits because the politicians running the state allow that to happen or more often create those benefits. Politicians allow that to happen because they receive the support of public employee unions and need them to be reelected and public employee unions support the politicians so they can promise a great benefits package for their members, round and round we go.
Got it!
It is the taxpayers, low-income, middle-income and high income (ok, I will say it, the “wealthy”) who pick up the bill for this unholy alliance. Don’t get me wrong, public employees deserve a fair, competitive and affordable total compensation package. However, in way too many cases they receive far more than that. Those packages contribute significantly to the financial woes of state and local governments…and that is the truth. One thing is for sure, if you are a government employee, you have little cause to complain about local income or property taxes.
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