State Budget Battle Showdowns
Wisconsin. Ohio. Michigan. New Jersey. New York. Budget-battle showdowns are coming soon to a statehouse near you.
Thousands of angry school teachers, union members, and their sympathizers have descended on capitals to fight against reducing pay and benefits for public employees. The protesters are up against a new crop of governors who are hell-bent on spending cuts to deal with deficits that may rise to combined $125 billion in the next fiscal year.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) is looking for public employees to pay $500 million towards benefits they’re currently receiving for free.
New Jersey’s Chris Christie is proposing public employees pick up 30 percent of their health care premiums. Wisconsin’s Scott Walker wants public employees to pay at least 13 percent of their health care premiums. And he wants state workers to start contributing to their retirements for the first time.
This newfound fiscal discipline comes after a virtually unchecked binge over the past 10 years during which state expenditures exploded by more than 80 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars, including big bumps in overall worker compensation.
The most controversial aspect of the budget battles deals with public-sector unions and collective bargaining. Wisconsin’sWalker and others argue that the current process is inherently stacked against taxpayers because the government isn’t spending its own money like companies in the private sector do. What’s more, taxpayers have no way of opting out of any agreement that’s reached. In the private sector, consumers can always take their business elsewhere. That’s the basic reason why progressives such as Franklin Roosevelt and labor legend George Meany were against unions for government workers.
In a world of super-tight budgets, it’s a foregone conclusion that public-sector workers are going to have to give back compensation. Public school teachers make up the bulk of government employees in every state in the country and they already make 35 percent more in straight salary than their private-school counterparts. There’s also a growing gap between what they get toward retirement and what private-sector professionals receive.
Teacher union leaders in Wisconsin and elsewhere now say that educators are willing to accept less compensation – just as long as nobody cuts the union out of the deal-making. Whatever the fate of public employee unions in this, the winter of our discontent, there’s no question that teachers and other state workers are going to have to get used to making less.
That’s not a total fix, much less a revolution, but it counts as real progress in a country where every state government has spent itself to the brink of bankruptcy.
“Budget Battle Showdowns” is a joint production of Heritage Foundation and Reason.tv. Written and produced by Jim Epstein and Nick Gillespie, who also narrates. Footage and other assistance from Dan Hayes and Clay Broga of FreeThink Media.
source
@lockdown260 Yeah I agree! Their socio-economic plans are basically: lower taxes on "the workers", but tax the rich more, increase funding to all welfare systems, increase salaries to all workers, unionize every industry to its maximum capacity, and demand far better working conditions for all. Somehow I sense their little plan doesnt work out very well in the end…
@Pondo1221: The indoctrination that has a powerful grip on most Americans is the Capitalist Indoctrination Process. Our entire society is run on economics. Whoever has the money has the power. Do you deny that? The Capitalists have the power. We are told throughout our lives by all media all day long that money & possessions are good – and that whatever it takes to get as much as possible is acceptable. Fuck everybody else – take care of #1 is one of Capitalism's commandments. That's the problem
@tutorturtle; Do you honestly believe that unions getting raises for working Americans is more destructive to our economy than billionaires from the U.S. & other countries getting taxpayer money for fucking up?
@kansasdem1
So you are saying that thinking is a bad thing then?
That would explain why you don't discuss ANY of the facts or offer a logical thought, just attack the messenger
If the only thing that the Heritage Foundation did was to get a couple fruitcake liberals to open their eyes and see some facts, or to show indoctrinated liberal kids that there is a place for logic and reason, then that would be worth a lot to the citizens of this country.
The employees don't mind contributing to the health care premiums!!! The collective bargaining is a right of union members and you crooked governors want to take that away. How much do the governors make and how much do they contribute to their benefits???? The Koch bros are running this show including the Heritage Foundation. What the hell do you guys at the Heritage Foundatin do to help the citizens of this country? You only sit on your fat asses and "think?"
@successfulbuild Corporations not people huh just stock holders maybe ? Well who makes up these stockholders lets see .Unions for your healthcare your retirement ,your parents ,your grandparents .Chrysler stock holders were retiree from their own ranks and ended losing their retirements .Think before you start popping off do your home work .Let me ask you this if we go to one payer health will Unions lower their dues FAT CHANCE they are just as business as Wal Mart dont kid yer self
@successfulbuild Because the dems a cutting it that is why you moron .To pay for that crackheaded health care plan that has already cut my throat .Your DAMNABLE unions want ot go on like nothing is wrong and tell the rest of us to tighten our belts well guess what we pay your damn wage we lose our jobs you got no wage !!!
@successfulbuild You don't vote on whether or not people have rights, thus "80% of the country thinks we should shut down free speech" is an irrelevant appeal to majority opinion. "Well, lots of people agree with ME!" is the last bastion of someone who has no more reasonable arguments to make. Next he'll be threatening to take his ball and go home.
@successfulbuild Complete strawman. I never said they did. Even the court didn't say they did. They said people continue to have rights, even when they are in a group. Do you believe otherwise?
@jperryam "buying elections"
Politicians are voted on by the people. If you mean "sway too many people through their speech", then what you really oppose is exposing people to opinions you disagree with. That doesn't sound much like freedom to me.
"Then you'd be shouting it from the rooftops."
Nope. Can you point out anytime I have? I try to avoid the obvious logical blunders.
"majority view"
Rights are not up for a vote. Even you should know that.
The ad populum fallacy occurs when you say "most people agree with me, so i'm right." Pointing out a fact is never an ad-populum fallacy, and it was relevant because presumably the commenter meant we should have democratic rule.
@cjm608 The Heritage foundation is funded by a wide array of corporate interests. They have ties to the Scaife cult, the Unification Church, and so on. Their position on intervention is Hawkish.
_
Basically they lost a lot of credibility after the failure of Reaganomics (which approached fascism) and are no longer taken seriously by anyone. You have to be careful about citing them in an academic setting as their propaganda (such as the "economic freedom") chart is basically worthless.
Also, on Libertarian economics, we are not following prescriptions as prescribed by economics, neoclassical or Keynesian. Instead, we are following incoherent Reaganomics that should have died in the Reagan administration.
_
To top it all off, it is republicans that are blocking medicare/medicaid reform that would save billions of dollars in health care costs. This from a party who protested medicare in the first place. Why are they blocking this?
Also, all other (non-capitalist) civilizations had private property – and they divided up the property and it changed hands/owners according to political decisions all the time.
@SaroDarksbane Corporations are not people and thus should not have constitutional rights.
@SaroDarksbane Let me guess: You have never taken a class in social science, political science, or economics.
@SaroDarksbane It does make sense. It is very well documented that all capitalist countries have had enormous interference into private property.
_
Even Tyler Cowen, a Libertarian, on his blog today said that "state building" played a large role in the industrial revolution.
@successfulbuild "Private property itself has generally been a historical handout, giveaway, bailout."
That statement doesn't even make sense, but abolishing private property could be fun!. I'll be over to drink the beer in your fridge and take your car out for a test drive (fill it up for me beforehand, would you?).
@jperryam "The first Amendment was written for actual people, not corporations. "
A corporation is a group of people. Do you lose your right to free speech merely because you band together with others to pool your resources?
"but did indeed effectively allow corporations to buy our elections"
Your vote is bought? Mine isn't. More speech does not threaten freedom.
"80% of the country agrees that the decision is wrong."
Argumentum ad populum. Completely irrelevant.
@SaroDarksbane Private property itself has generally been a historical handout, giveaway, bailout.
_
Second of all, I meant that issues are defined in Libertarian terms: big govt vs. small govt, collectivist vs individualism, capitalism vs socialism, Command economy versus market economy, positive versus negative liberty, and other false dichotomies, some of which even many economics textbooks have abandoned.
@robertmike57 "Raise taxes on the super wealthy"
Why? If they received their money justly, why should they pay more?
"Make it costly to outsource jobs"
Our corporate tax rate makes it costly to NOT outsource jobs. You can't scream "FUCK THE CORPORATIONS" and then ask, "Where did all our jobs go?"
@successfulbuild "The problem isn't social security, but Libertarianism"
I find it funny how many people claim that libertarians are both too small a group to be relevant politically, and simultaneously blame us for anything that goes wrong (and by the by, libertarians oppose corporate handouts and bailouts.)
@jperryam " the Citizens United decision, which effectively allows corporations to buy our elections…"
False. The ruling said that the government can't ban speech merely because it was financed by money from a corporation. You realize that the case revolved around government was trying to ban a political documentary critical of Hillary Clinton during election season, right? Do you think that would be good? The ruling was a tremendous blow FOR free speech, not a gift to corporate overlords.
Elkhorn, WI Broard approvees Teacher's Contracts. OnMonday, the Board approved its 2011-12 teacher contracts for 208 full-time educators thoughout the district. The most recent contract settlement, which includes a comdined 3% (1.5 %each year) salary increase over the past two years, only continues through June 30. Theteachers also settled on 3.6 % increase in fringe benefits this year and last. One benefits teachers in Elkhorn have enjoyed for more than 25 years, are credit reimbursement
Democrats only care about Socialist Unions.
Democrats only are about Socialist Unions.
Republicans only care about rich people.
The government is supposed to work for the people, therefore public unions work for the people so why are they not part of any negotiations? The state is broke, the country is broke and the unions want to drive the nail into the coffin!
2:11. These dudes have no idea why they are marching.