On the stuff in Wisconsin

A reader has asked for me to explain my thoughts on the goings-on in Wisconsin.To be fair, I've touched on the matter, but not in detail.

For those who have been living under a rock, there have been protests in Wisconsin. At the heart of the matter, Governor Scott Walker has proposed that state union employees be forced to pay about 5% toward their pensions, and about 14% toward their health care.

For the average state union worker, this would not be devastating. It would be normal. 5% towards retirement is analogous to 401k's at many private employers. And the 14% toward healthcare coverage works out to be about $120 per pay period for a family of four. I pay $140. Hardly getting their legs cut out from under them.

Then comes the damning evidence.

1. President Obama stuck his nose in. 
You know this guy can't get it right. Remember when he said the police "acted stupidly" (for arresting a man who had jimmied into a house!?!?). Obama has sent his cronies, the SEIU, into the mix in WI. Bad idea.

2. Many protesters are getting paid to protest.
This is a damning blow against the legitimacy of the "concerns" the unions in WI have voiced. If their own people won't show up, and they have to bus in and pay outsiders, it's pretty evident that the majority of the folks affected won't mind the minimal changes proposed.

3. Unions aren't a good fit for government
Unions came to be in an era when big business was colluding to keep wages and benefits low. Working conditions were terrible. The free market was not free for employers. Unions came, and broke through, and allowed legitimate and needed change in the workplace. Spawning from this was governmental anti-trust laws - to prevent big businesses from colluding to the detriment of the free market.

The government has no competition, and is, therefore a monopoly - just like what the unions originally worked to break down. Only now, with collective bargaining, the union becomes the monopoly on labor for the government... becoming the very thing they once vowed to destroy...

It is a travesty for unions to have collective bargaining power for government jobs. It is also against the spirit of anti-trust laws. It does not allow free trade to happen. Scott Walker is suggesting that a law be put in place that forces the government unions to obey anti-trust laws and be unable to collectively bargain. It's very much like the illegal immigration laws in AZ that are carbon-copies of Federal immigration laws. Redundant, but unfortunately, necessary.


Now, why all the fuss again?

Oh, yeah, the unions in WI have power, and are afraid to lose that power. That's Rule #1 of politics.