This past Tuesday, Virginia Congressman Jim Moran (D) voted for the bill providing $26.1 billion to cash-strapped state governments, and preventing roughly 161,000 teachers and 158,000 public works employees from being laid off.
Many of the jobs protected under this bill belong to teacher unions or the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, both key parts of the Democrats' political base. It is these very unions that are handcuffing the states and municipalities with contracts that lock in spending that is leading to the very state and municipal budget deficits that are at the heart of state and local woes.
States like Virginia and Maryland are under budget pressure in an unprecedented way. Hopefully states like California and New York do not go bankrupt. If any of them do, this will send a very direct message to our representatives and senators. We cannot afford all the perks for the mountain of locked in pensions and other perks negotiated by public service and teacher’s unions. We cannot continue to spend money we do not have. This ultimately leads to a very bad place. We either increase taxes over and over because our politicians cannot live on a budget or we pay for it with inflation which is a cruel tax that hits the elderly hardest.
As a matter of fact since the beginning of this recession the politicians have given up NOTHING. Wake up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What Jim Moran has supported with this vote is known as an "indirect bribe." Instead of the Democrats paying voters directly for their vote, they arrange for taxpayers to pay the bribe. This is taken right out of the Murtha playbook. As long as we have voters in this community who are willing to take this “bribe” and keep voting for Democrats, like Jim Moran, this problem will continue. Worse, those who ignore the repercussions of this out of control spending perpetuate a mentality where we protect certain groups with money that comes from you and me, not to protect and serve children and the needy, but to retain voter loyalty and power. If this continues, we are doomed!
Budgets are serious business, but it's been a long time since anyone has been serious about the budget. For example, in New Jersy this year, gross mismanagement and accumulated fictions have left state taxpayers a $10.7 billion gap on a total state budget of $29.3 billion.
Consider the rationale of the Liberal intelligentsia:
The children will be the ones to suffer from your education cuts. "The real question is, who's for the kids, and who's for their raises? This isn't about the kids. Let's dispense with that portion of the argument. Don't let them tell you that ever again while they are reaching into your pockets."
Why not let the Bush tax cuts die for the wealthy in order to pay for this? "This group of citizens and small businesses already pay over 40% of the income tax. In addition, we've got a situation where that tax applies to small businesses. Why put the boot of government on the back of the neck of small business while we should want them to try to grow jobs by simplifying how they do business and allow them more revenue with which to offer jobs." Is demanding that businesses who pay a vendor over $600 a year file a 1099 making it easier for them to business? How can acts like these lead to innovation and prosperity?
Budget cuts are unfair. This is best summed up with a quote from New Jersey Governor Christie, "The special interests have already begun to scream their favorite word—which, coincidentally, is my 9-year-old son's favorite word when we are making him do something he knows is right but does not want to do—'unfair.' . . . One New Jersey state retiree, 49 years old, paid, over the course of his entire career, a total of $124,000 towards his retirement pension and health benefits. What will we pay him? $3.3 million in pension payments over his life, and nearly $500,000 for health care benefits—a total of $3.8 million on a $120,000 investment. Is that fair?"
Simply sending federal dollars to the states does not always lead to saving teachers jobs. For example, if NJ didn't have over 600 school districts to educate 1.3 million children while Florida, for example, educates twice as many in under 70 districts, we might have a chance. So much of this package that was just voted on will likely go to perpetuate inefficient systems simply to maintain dependency on the Federal government and voter loyalty.
Can anyone name a profitable business in which the unions are heavily involved? Hmmm... education, health care, airlines, auto's... maybe construction? Any others?
The UNIONS have RUINED countless public school student's lives in America. Inner city schools are dangerous places that produce "graduates" that are pushed out into the world as functional illiterates. Parroting the UNION talking points from the bloated schools teacher costs that have produced some of the indisputably WORST public schools in the world, now that takes either cribbing Soros talking points or an "A" in stupidity.
Since 1960, the per-pupil cost of US public schooling has risen by 3½ times in real-dollar terms. Yet the percentage of students graduating from high school has slipped since 1970, and the performance of 17-year-olds in math, science and reading has remained unchanged.
It is time we rethink this entire automatic re-election process. We need new blood in Congress. People who are willing to consider the long term consequences of our government actions. One who is not himself beholden to a small group of businesses who profit from government largesse or beholden to out of control public service unions.
It is time to Retire Jim Moran!
Let Freedom Ring
No comments:
Post a Comment