The SEIU, one of California’s largest public employee unions has sprung a million bucks towards a completely tone-deaf campaign to advocate for billions in higher taxes – so says Peter Hecht over on the SacBee Capitol Alert website.
Another union, the AFSCME (American Federation of State County Municipal Employees) has come up with over $40 billion in new potential “revenue increases” for state government. U.S. Senate candidate and State Assemblyman Chuck DeVore profiles them on a new website, www.31newtaxes.com.
That’s because unions exist for ONLY TWO REASONS. The first is to advocate for increases in wages and benefits for their members to whatever height is politically attainable. The second is to advocate for the hiring of more state employees into their unions. THAT’S IT. Repeat reasons one and two over and over again, and you have the entire mission down.
Given how deadly tax increases would be to the economy right now, and the need to downsize state government spending, the way the unions are acting reminds me of the story of the frog and the scorpion.
The scorpion asks a frog to take him over a river, and the frog says to the scorpion, “Why would I do that, you will sting me!”
The scorpion promises not to, and so the frog agrees to carry him over the river. Half way across, the scorpion stings the frog.
As the frog is dying, he says, “Scorpion, why did you sting me? I am dying, and when I do, you will drown in the river.”
The scorpion responded simply, by saying, “Because I am a scorpion, and that’s what I do…”
Earth to Democrat legislators – we are sympathetic to the fact that in most cases, these unions financed your campaign for office – and that in the era of term limits, you are anxious to have their support for your next run for higher office. But understand that in California government, you can’t print money – and there just isn’t enough of it. Every Republican in the Capitol (well, except Abel Maldonado) heard the loud and clear message from voters last month – did you? They don’t want to pay any more than they already are for state government.
The unions will do what they will do. Like the Scorpion, they will stick their tax increase stinger into you, knowing that it will kill you – because that is what unions do. They advocate for more taxes, more hiring, and better pay and benefits for those that are hired.
If you try to engage a public employee union leader in a discussion about why the state’s interests, and the interests of taxpayers, are actually served by having lower taxes, fewer state employees, and reducing the wages and benefits of state employees, you will have a short conversation. They don’t “get it” nor would you expect them to.
Someone needs to repeal the legislation that allows state employees to even have a union, in my opinion. From what I understand, legislation allowing them to do so came about under the Governorship of Jerry Brown. Go figure.
And Democrat legislators need to understand that they will be stung by union bosses, who will not sit their chairs and make the hard decisions, but will insist that Democrat legislators carry them over the proverbial river…