Posted by
Bill Crawford on Thursday, February 24, 2011 9:58:35 PM
Same phenomenon, different venue. The great culture war has just dug a new trench. This has been a long time coming. And within two years, we will either be paying taxes like Swedes or a lot of public union members are going to be retiring more modestly than they expected.
They realize they have a public relations problem, and many of my contacts from that side are throwing talking points my way, many of the convoluted and statistical. If you factor out x and y, the gap isn't that bad. It's apples and oranges.
Well, welcome to the trenches. The talking points aren't going to work. The private sector has taken a hell of a hit in the last three years. Through employment, through home prices, through credit shrinkages- in measures that the public sector hasn't seen. You can argue that all you want, but it is still a perception that is near universal in the private sector.
In the public sector, you have had decades of employees using their organizing privileges to build a symbiotic relationship with government. With urban governments that have been largely Democrat since the New Deal, giving union contributions (funded by dues) that even more largely go to Democrats. Management gives more money to Labor, and gets a steady vote from them in the deal.
Part of the counter argument is that business is a Republican bastion. Well, not any more, folks. The bigger the business, the more likely it looks to Democrats now. Just for starters, the auto companies would just LOVE to have the government take over health care and free them from paying health benefits to their retirees.
The anarchy in the Mid East will affect us much more in the long run, but this pension and collective bargaining thing is a survival issue for a very loud, very opinionated group of people, aided by a sympathetic media. I hope they all packed some extra lunches in Madison- this is going to be a long, long battle.
Being a core issue on both sides ("my money"), it's also going to engender a bit of blood. I've already started to avoid some friends and family a bit more than usual. But it will be a cleansing fight, after all is said and done. Even if it makes one wonder where all the talk of civility went after the Jeffords shooting. If you don't believe me, go to the "One Wisconsin" website (
http://www.facebook.com/#!/onewisconsinnow ) and take a gander at the good wishes for Governor Walker.
Yeah, good luck with that one. How the hell are you supposed to have a public idea discussion, with people talking like that?