Here He Comes

I got to hear Mitt Romney's speech on The Rachel Maddow Show (the podcast) this morning. Here he comes. And he's coming after you. (Video here if you want to watch.)

From The Guardian

"...we will stop the unfairness of requiring union workers to contribute to politicians not of their choosing; we will stop the unfairness of government workers getting better pay and benefits than the taxpayers they serve;..." 

I believe that statement refers to my core audience -- air traffic controllers. If you don't understand the political significance of unions to the Democratic Party, you should . It's money. (It's manpower too, but it's always about the money.) Trust me, the Republican Party understands this significance. That's the reason they want to take away your union. And if they can't do that, they'll try to take away your union's money.

  "...the unfairness of requiring union workers to contribute to politicians..."

 And if they can't do that, they'll take away your money.


"...we will stop the unfairness of government workers getting better pay..."

 Gettin' the Flick?

 I've told you this before . The Republican Party (and its corporate overlords) are coming after the last bastion of union workers -- government workers. Well-paid government union members are at the top of the heap now. It isn't that government workers have done so well. It's that private workers (and I emphasis "workers") have done so poorly. Corporations have broken most of their unions. They have driven down the wages of their workers. They have cut their workers benefits. The corporations have stopped paying pensions and made their workers do their own investing for retirement. (And then let Wall Street steal those funds I might add.) Now it's time to take on government employees to do the same to them.

 For a slightly different perspective, you might want to check out this episode of Marketplace. Then you had better wake up.

  "Many state-run retirement systems have been underfunded, but Adler says New York's is not one of them. It's actually in pretty good shape. But many politicians, including New York's Democratic governor, ran on a platform of pension reform, on "fiscal responsibility."

 If a Democrat running for governor is willing to use this as an issue -- even when it wasn't an issue -- unions have some serious political problems. Of course, you can sit home and ignore those problems. And watch the politicians take your pay. And your benefits. And your retirement. That's an option too.

Don Brown
April 25, 2012