The progressive left is out of touch with reality- the “war” on public employees

2013

Not infrequently the extreme right says some pretty extraordinary things and sadly is not above spreading untrue nonsense, but that is not limited to the right as the liberal media would have us believe.

Progressives too can and do say some outrageous things couched as populist causes that resonate with limited thinking people.

First we had the war on women because of birth control and now it’s the war on public employees when someone (usually labeled right wing) questions the affordability of our bureaucracy and the total compensation of public employees. Apparently if you invoke the words teachers, firefighters and police officers only “more” comes to mind without regard to the burden on taxpayers footing the bill. But hey, according to the left there is always plenty of money; just tax the wealthy. What they don’t say, of course, is that the wealthy don’t have enough income to pay for all their promises and it’s the middle class that ultimately bears the burden.

No reasonable person says that public employees should not be fairly compensated or that many of their jobs are not both valuable and essential. One could say that about many physicians too and yet we have no problem claiming health care is unaffordable (come to think of it, that banner has been waived by the progressives more than any other group).

There is no war on public employees. In fact, they are the innocent victims of their union leaders and politicians … mostly on the left I dare say. It is outrageous that a workers promised, even in pay status pension, should be in jeopardy. It’s also outrageous that their total compensation in many cases is multiples of the taxpayers paying the bill. The amount many state workers contribute to their own pensions should be adequate to fund a good pension, but it is not. The question of why not is what the left should be asking. Where did their money and the government entities money go if not where intended? The answer in some cases is to fund other progressive pet projects equally populist sounding.

Taking a serious look at costs, both short and long-term, addressing tough fiscal issues before they become a crisis and asking tough questions is not war on public employees, it’s acting responsibly.