The Bailout of Public-Sector Unions Has Begun

President Obama is asking for $50 Billion to distribute to state and local governments to avoid public-sector employee layoffs. (And for "public-sector employees", you can read "SEIU and Teacher's Unions".) The GOP is sure to oppose it, but may not be able to stop a concerted Democratic push.

Bailing out the states (especially California) is going to take a lot more than a piddling $50 billion, of course. The first tranche is simply to establish precedent. The doors would then be thrown open to (potentially) a trillion dollars or more of taxpayer money -- TARP II would be a slush-fund for the various states who find themselves embarrassed for funds. At that point any pretense of federalism would be well and truly gone.

California's travails are well-known (I certainly harp on them enough on this site). But New York is almost as bad a shape; state officials are threatening to issue IOUs in place of cash for tax refunds. Many states in the so-called "Rust Belt" -- particularly Michigan and Pennsylvania -- are mired in financial misery as well. But the important thing to remember is that these dire financial situations are mainly of the states' own making: they overspent in good times, and made overgenerous promises to their employees without thinking of the impact those promises would have when the economy turned south.

And there is the fact that, at all levels, government is just too damned big. The supply of government workers far exceeds the demand, but we are discovering the Iron Law of the public-sector worker: Thou Shalt Not Lose Thy Job. Let the taxpaying proles break off a few more dollars per month in some tax or other; better that than a second assistant to the inspector for drainage culverts have to find a job in the private sector or fund his own pension.

We supposedly have a government of by people, by the people, and for the people. If Obama has his way, the average citizen will be bound into indentured servitude to support legions of overpaid government workers whose main utility to the State is a reliable Democratic vote come election day.

The overgenerous promises made to public-sector employees (especially unionized public-sector employees) is an outrage that still lies somewhat outside the periphery of American consciousness (except in California, where it is on stage, front and center). But now these unsustainable payoffs are going to be added to the citizens of other states in the form of taxes and additional debt to be added to the crushing mountain we already labor under. It is a grossly unjust situation, but I've come to expect no less from such a tool of the Unions as President Barack Obama.

I've often said that the opening conflict of the second American Civil War is going to be between the public sector and the private sector. The battles will remain primarily rhetorical and political, I think, but emotions are running higher now than I've ever seen them. This metastasizing of the Federal government cannot be allowed to continue unchecked, or it will be the ruin of us all.

I'm not really joking when I say we're doomed, people. Unless we wake up; unless we slap down the lying, thieving, incompetent political class; unless we shrink the governmental Leviathan; unless we get our financial houses in order -- we could lose it all.

posted by Monty at 08:46 AM

| Access Comments