George Rebane

It has now been several years since an early few of us identified and spoke out against the fiscal travesty of the public service unions (please search RR with ‘public service union’ and ‘public sector union’).  We were immediately castigated by the progressive left whose comments, on these pages and under the online editions of my Union columns, are a record of their perfidy and ignorance, a record now worthy of review.  The same factions are still on the attack – it is their best defense against what has become a worldwide blight on civilized nations.

The blight is finally being recognized by a few in the mainstream media who years ago might have been our first line of defense.  This week the prestigious Economist finally weighed in with its cover story – ‘(Government) workers of the world unite’ – that seeks to be a harbinger of “The battle ahead – Confronting the public-sector unions”.  It repeats all the arguments made here and in other conservative/libertarian news outlets and commentaries.  The article also confirms and updates the latest data about these large cohorts of overpaid wallet suckers or “tax eaters”, as they were aptly labeled by William Cobbett, himself a British liberal at that.  (figure from article)

Large liberal blogs like truthout.com continue to bleat to the sheeple their own version of the real reason for the states’ fiscal crises.  Their constant stream of far left cum communist offerings makes them a worthy successor to Pravda as far as wringing truth out of what they publish.

Here in California, as in many other states, the public pension ponzi has brought the state to its knees.  Along with Illinois, California shares the bottom of Moody’s bond rating totem pole.  It will have to pay premium rates to borrow, which it must since Bernanke has promised not to send us any bailout bucks.  We are $28B in the budget hole, will stay there for years, and have half a trillion dollars in unfunded pensions looking us in the face.  Our progressive politicians are in terminal denial that ‘it’s the public-sector unions stupid!’

In response, our renewed Governor Jerry Brown today released his much anticipated ‘pain and suffering’ budget.  (Reuters, budget summary)  And yep, all the $12.5B pain and suffering in budget cuts are going to fall on the non-union state employees.  The never-ending feast of the overfed unions still sees no end.  When you are a bought and paid-for politician, you have to deliver on the votes and campaign contributions.  Who says there is no honor among thieves?

The War of the Tax Eaters has been joined.