Morning Bell: Government Unions vs American Taxpayers

This past Wednesday, Feb.23, the Foundry at The Heritage Foundation published another good article on why government unions have led to the bankruptcy of many states, and why we are seeing crises arise as states fight to restore their budgets (witness the outcry from public union employees in Wisconsin). Here is a snapshot of this article; read the rest at the link below:

 

 

How did this happen? Why did so many state and local governments not only spend too much today but promise future spending far beyond the means of taxpayers to pay for it? Government unions. And across the country, legislators and governors are beginning to fight back.

The professional left (including the AFL-CIO, the SEIU, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, the NEA, AFSCME and President Barack Obama) is trying to portray these budget battles as an assault against all unions. But as Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R), who is pushing legislation to curtail government union bargaining power, explained last night, this is just plain false:

“The bill I put forward isn’t aimed at state workers, and it certainly isn’t a battle with unions. If it was, we would have eliminated collective bargaining entirely or we would have gone after the private-sector unions. But, we did not because they are our partners in economic development. We need them to help us put 250,000 people to work in the private sector over the next four years.”

 

Morning Bell: Government Unions vs American Taxpayers | The Foundry: Conservative Policy News..