The Broken Clock Syndrome (III) - In our view Dec. 26: Ill-Timed Greed

I may have mentioned on occasion my disdain for unions generally and the state employee unions particularly.

That disdain does not and never has extended to the rank and file.

But unions buy and sell politicians like I do tee-shirts. They take money from their members and use it to pay union salaries... and to support primarily democrats... particularly those democrats that widen, lengthen and deepen the public trough.

PAC 48's involvement in our county's recent election was purely an effort to buy a commissioner who they believed would do two things extremely important to local unions: build an unwanted, unneeded and massively expensive I-5 Bridge replacement loot rail portal; and to build an equally unwanted, unneeded and massively expensive megacasino where the developer guaranteed union support with his labor agreement. For me, these two particular landmarks of "screw-the-community" have helped cement the union concept of one of greed, political corruption and disdain for the communities that pay the bills.

An even more recent example is the unbridled greed of the United Auto Workers, who would rather see the Big Three go under then to even consider wage and benefit cuts to help this struggling industry survive to some level of profitability. True, the executives of the Big 3 took political tone-deafness to a level not seen since the first single digit popularity polls of our democrat-controlled Congress with their private jet arrivals to beg for billions. But that does not now excuse the UAW from acting responsibly while every effort is made to keep the American economy from going under.

And now, that economy and hundreds of thousands of people in this state are suffering pain. Genuine, every-waking-moment pain. We have a government that exists to serve US. And part of that painful reality is that this state's Legislative budgets have skyrocketed since the advent of the collective-bargaining pay-back for the state-employee unions infesting us. Now is the tyime for a reality-check.

WE now face a budget deficit, warned of by Republicans in past legislatures, of $6 Billion.

Stunningly enough, Gov. Gregoire's budget, on the surface at least; addresses this humongous fiscal hole primarily with cuts to various programs, pretty much across the board. I have some nigglies with her transportation projects locally (No, Governor, we do not need to waste $53 million on the St. John's intersection, just like we didn't need to waste $93 million on a bogus study with a pre-ordained outcome for the I-5 Bridge (Everyone alive knew 2 things: the entire purpose of this bizarre project is nothing more nor less than to get loot rail into the county and that the ONLY reason to replace the I-5 Bridge instead of building a 3rd Bridge is to accomplish that purpose... thus, negating the need, and the wasted expenditures... to take us to a place we all knew, ultimately we would achieve: The Downtown Mafia wants loot rail; they will waste absolutely any amount of OPM (Other People's Money) to get it, and we will wind up with a new bridge, loot rail, and absolutely no improvement in congestion or freight mobility.)) but I am emboldened by her decision to provide no further waste for the bridge project.

That said, Gov. Gregoire seems to have shown at least a basic understanding of that most obvious of fiscal tenets: No society has ever taxed itself into prosperity. Most people get this.

State unions, showing a tone-deafness not out of place with Helen Keller, do not. They are actually suing the Governor to FORCE her to get them their pay raises.

This would be a PERFECT time to run a campaign to make Washington's government union free. We could stand as a shining light to every OTHER state who will not allow their unions, who, after all, are there to serve the people; to engage in political extortion at the expense of the millions forced to finance their greed and avarice.

Sue and be damned, I say. The question is this: will the Governor cave to these people like she did the Tribes, since she owes them at least as much of a political debt? Is the budget eyewash? Or does she mean it? Time will tell.

The Columbian deserves some credit for stating the obvious in this editorial, even if a few days late.. The leftists that commented under the editorial show a basic inability to understand either the role of state employee unions or our role as taxpayers in funding their efforts. Some write as if we face no fiscal difficulty of any kind, and therefore the unions shouldn't "suffer."

Of course they should. At a time when all are in pain, government employees deserve no special cache' in pain avoidance. When the people suffer... they must suffer as well.

To believe otherwise is to show a level of ignorance and cluelessness that would astound even the most casual observer, and the unions and the idjits commenting on the Columbian editorial addressing this matter manage to pull it off brilliantly.

But cluelessness is an essential element of becoming a leftist... or one would avoid that particular malady.

Editorials
In our view Dec. 26: Ill-Timed Greed
Message from state workers’ union: ‘Give us our money; never mind your problems
Friday, December 26 1:00 a.m.

Labor unions have improved the American way of life in many ways for more than 130 years. Working conditions, wages and benefits all are better because of unions.

But in a modern America, sooner or later unions must decide to become part of the solution or continue to be part of the problem. To date, the latter seems to be the case, as evidenced in this state by the Washington Federation of State Employees suing Gov. Chris Gregoire on Tuesday. In the budget that Gregoire released last week, she proposed dropping raises of about 2 percent for the union’s 40,000 workers in state agencies and colleges.

In so doing, Gregoire essentially declared that times are tough for everyone, including union workers. That’s not persuasive enough for union officials. Their lawsuit accuses Gregoire of unfair labor practices. How can that be, when Gregoire wants union workers to be treated like everyone else? Everyone else, that is, lucky enough to have a job.

She’s also accused of breach of contract, an argument that loses steam when union spokesman Tim Welch says his group simply wants the issue taken to the Legislature. “If they vote it down, then we go back to negotiations. We don’t understand why the governor couldn’t do that,” he said.

The union is looking for kinder treatment from legislators than they’re receiving from Gregoire. She promised not to raise taxes, and she kept that promise, by proposing tough cuts in programs, salaries and virtually all other aspects of state government.

When union officials squawk about pay during the worst economic crisis in memory, it only fuels the suspicion that all they care about is the union. They can attach euphemistic words to their title (the teachers union is the Washington Education Association) but repeatedly union leaders and members embrace their selfish sole priority. That’s their job, of course, but it does nothing to solve the economic problem.

State workers are being laid off left and right. A hiring freeze has been imposed, to the detriment of many citizens who rely on vital state agencies and services. Overall, Gregoire has proposed more than $3 billion in spending cuts over the next 2 years. More than 2,000 state workers could be laid off. Classrooms likely will become more crowded. Highway projects will be postponed. Yet what do we hear from the state employees’ union? “Give us our money. Never mind your problems.”

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