The Big Payoff and the Big Comedown

This portion from Mortimer Zuckerman's article in the WSJ
needs some attention:

It is not an accident that in framing the national stimulus program in 2009 Congress directed a stunning $275 billion of the $787 billion as grants to the states to support public-service employees in health care, education, etc.

So now that stimulus funds have dried up, I guess states are going to have to do what they were able to push off with stimulus funds--make some deep cuts to state spending. The public sector workers and their unions got a sweet deal from Obama. Now it's time to sober up.

Links for today

1) My weekly guest post over at The Bobo Files is now posted. Subject: Obama and his Big Labor friends are getting snuggly by the day.

2) The Independent Bloghorn has excellent economic analysis from STRATFOR, an international affairs organization, on China that is worth your time.

3) Just Politics has very interesting comments on unemployment benefits.

Public Pension Crisis

Why the heck did I go to college? I could have joined a public union early on as a roadside sign inspector or something and been better paid than most people in the private sector. Additionally, the pension benefits are SWEEEET!

Ah, Unions...

The transportation union in San Francisco is doing what unions do best--drive the city into bankruptcy.

Coming to California some time soon?

From Associated Press:

Greek drivers lined up for gas at the few stations still open Friday as a customs strike against government austerity measures left many pumps running dry.

The fuel shortage was the first serious consequence of growing labor protests against the Socialist government's emergency spending cuts program, aimed at easing the debt crisis in Greece and shoring up market confidence.

Customs workers have extended their strike against salary freezes and bonus cuts through next Wednesday, when unions across Greece will hold a general strike that is set to bring the country to a standstill.

European finance ministers have told Athens it must demonstrate signs of fiscal improvement by March 16 or it will be ordered to impose even tougher budget cuts. Greece has promised to slash its deficit from an estimated 12.7 percent of gross domestic product to 8.7 percent this year.

Finance Ministry officials say they are under EU pressure to ax the public servants' so-called "14th salary." Greek workers get their annual salary divided into 14 payments, with two of them given as holiday bonuses, in a measure originally designed to alleviate those with low incomes.

"We would consider cutting the 14th (salary) to be an act of war," said Yiannis Papagopoulos, leader of Greece's trade union umbrella group, the GSEE.

VH: Aren't unions great? They would rather destroy their own country than to agree to austerity programs. This isn't the first time (or the last) that unions have held the public hostage and I'm not just talking about Greece either. The recent $60 billion giveaway to Big Labor for ObamaCare is still a fresh wound. In California, Big Labor rules. And they will crush anyone that gets in their way. Heck, they made mince meat and a lame duck of Arnold Schwchenneger when he tried to curb their power back in 2005. With a $20 billion fiscal hole that California needs to deal with, just wait until there has to be some real cutting of public services and jobs around here. All hell is going to break loose with public unions being at the head of the screaming mob.

UAW meeting goes wrong

"Teamsters, so surly and lazy."---Homer Simpson

Union Members vs. The Union

You won't see this on CNN or Keith "fathead" Olberman's show. Oh, the irony when union members picket their own union for unfair practices.

Drunk at work? No problem if you're a union guy!

I hope American unions don't get any funny ideas about what is going on in Peru. Certainly wouldn't want the union bus driver to show up drunk for work.

Unions are set for more power

The union bosses are ready to be paid back for their support during the recent election. The secret ballot is about to go "bye-bye."

Employee Free Choice Act - Politicians and Principle

Now that Democrats have cornered every branch of government, watch as Unions aggrandize as much power as possible--even if that means standing privacy in voting on it's head.

HT: Liberty Pen

True Progressivism

From Don Boudreaux over at Café Hayek

According to today's Wall Street Journal, Barack Obama alleges that "Globalization and technology and automation all weaken the position of workers." If this presidential wannabe is correct, then some of the world's most prosperous workers must be the people in that newly discovered tribe in Brazil -- persons with absolutely no contact with the global economy or with modern technology.

Less extreme cases, of course, include persons not so cut off from the world as these Brazilian tribes. Sub-Saharan Africans should be more prosperous than eastern Europeans, who, in turn, should be more prosperous than Americans and western Europeans.

Of course, if the facts don't follow this pattern, then I guess that Sen. Obama will soon publicly apologize for either misspeaking or admit that his thesis is flawed.

Comment: The Democrats have been bashing free-trade at every turn as if it were the worst thing since the plague: Attempting to re-negotiate free-trade treaties will not bolster our image either. And “fair-trade” is just a code word for protecting union interests over the interests of everybody else. Maybe if we all went back to running around in loin cloths and put an end to globalization and technology would we get the worker equality that Barack speaks of.

Senate votes to privatize it’s failing restaurants

From the Washington Post: Year after year, decade upon decade, the U.S. Senate's network of restaurants has lost staggering amounts of money -- more than $18 million since 1993, according to one report, and an estimated $2 million this year alone, according to another.

The financial condition of the world's most exclusive dining hall and its affiliated Capitol Hill restaurants, cafeterias and coffee shops has become so dire that, without a $250,000 subsidy from taxpayers, the Senate won't make payroll next month.

The embarrassment of the Senate food service struggling like some neighborhood pizza joint has quietly sparked change previously unthinkable for Democrats. Last week, in a late-night voice vote, the Senate agreed to privatize the operation of its food service, a decision that would, for the first time, put it under the control of a contractor and all but guarantee lower wages and benefits for the outfit's new hires.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chairman of the Rules and Administrations Committee, which oversees the operation of the Senate, said she had no choice.

"It's cratering," she said of the restaurant system. "Candidly, I don't think the taxpayers should be subsidizing something that doesn't need to be. There are parts of government that can be run like a business and should be run like businesses."

Comment: The free-market trumps the welfare statists yet again. Finally, taxpayers won’t be footing the bill to feed these blowhards.

HT: Mark J. Perry

Unions bankrupt a city!

The city of Vallejo in California has had to beg and plead with the police and firefighters unions to give up or delay some of their pay raises. The city has been facing red ink and the specter of bankruptcy because most of the city's outlay is to public safety personnel: Vallejo's base pay for firefighters is more than $80,000 a year. Last year, 21 of them topped $200,000 in salary and overtime, according to city payroll records. Vallejo city tax revenue has fallen off a cliff since the housing market took a dive. The firefighters union have agreed to take some cuts. The police union votes on the issue this weekend. See the full story at SFGate

No right to Home Schooling in CA

It seems as if the first amendment has very little weight and meaning in the state of California. An appeals court has ruled against home schooling and will effectively force parents that practice this type of free choice into having to hold state credentials to teach their own kids. Strangely, this case started out as a child welfare case and not as a test of the legality of home schooling. After reading the ruling, I came away with the impression that the judges in this case were largely biased against the parents because they were teaching their children Christian values: These judges clearly did not like the Christian education being taught to these children. While I am not a religious person, I do believe that parents have a right to teach their kids at home (if they wish and in any faith) and that state power should be constrained in order to avoid an abrogation of individual choice and rights.

Incidentally, there is one group that was overjoyed with the decision: The teachers union.

Read the ruling and the article inSFGate