Courtesy of Mish.
Public union sap is once again oozing from the mouths of economic illiterates and union supporters who just don’t understand reality.
Today’s sap is brought to you courtesy of the Bloomberg article Pension Threats in Illinois, Detroit Rattle Government Workers. Here are a few sappy comments.
- Bev Johns, a retired 67-year-old retired special-education teacher, sat before Illinois lawmakers and asked why they hated teachers. “You are punishing people who devoted their lives to educating children,” Johns told a committee in Springfield on Dec. 3. “You are harming individuals who have educated children, worked long hours, paid for materials out of their pocket and often fed and clothed children.”
- Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, which represents 1.5 million workers, told reporters in Washington yesterday. “The unraveling of that social contract is an unraveling of democracy.”
- Charles Craver, a labor law professor at George Washington University in Washington in a telephone interview, whines “I can’t remember any period when I think workers are so threatened.”
- William Jones, a labor historian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison offers the sappiest sap of them all. “How will municipalities recruit teachers, firefighters and trash collectors if the pensions aren’t secure?”
Spare me the Sap
I am sick of watching taxes go up year in and year out so that overpaid, underworked, pubic union workers can get taxpayer sponsored pensions and pay well beyond what private industry gets.
That sounds harsh. And it is. But it’s also reality.
Reality
- Cities are broke
- Taxpayers are broke
- Public union workers don’t care to understand the above two points
As I said before, I sympathize. I do. And I also offered a simple solution.
Before unions drive cities into bankruptcy and states into default on pension obligations, The unions ought to get together with city and state officials and work out a plan. And the plan I have in mind would protect the benefits of the majority of union workers.
From my April 23, 2012 post Public Unions Bankrupt Illinois: Unpaid Bills Top $9 Billion as Comptroller Reports “State Treading Water”; Mish’s Eight-Point “Bold” Plan to Save Illinois
Mish’s Eight-Point “Bold” Plan to Save Illinois
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