Shoe on Other Foot?

Newly elected New York Democrat Governor Elliot Spitzer is engaged in a heated battle with his former supporters — the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Spitzer, who supports slowing the growth in the state’s Medicaid budget, is under attack from the union that has unleashed a barrage of television commercials against the Governor and his proposal. According to the Albany Times Union, Spitzer is not taking the attacks lying down.

Spitzer lashed out at GNYHA [the Greater New York Hospital Association] and SEIU/1199 Tuesday in a letter to hospital trustees in the New York City region.

“You have a powerful voice in this debate,” Spitzer wrote. “Yet, thus far, that voice has been drowned out by millions of dollars worth of television ads that attack our health care plan with cheap sound bites and misleading facts.”

Most significantly,

Spitzer questioned how the union and GNYHA can “claim poverty” yet spend millions on lobbying, ad campaigns and political contributions, and how hospitals can say they’re nearly insolvent while paying executives multimillion-dollar salaries.

Governor, the answer is forced unionism! In fact, Governor, the forced payment of union dues and fees as a condition of working in the public sector in New York is even nonnegotiable — it’s automatic!!

Governor, you might consider taking away this union privilege. Or consider eliminating their privilege to have union dues and fees automatically taken out of workers’ paychecks and forwarded to the union by the state.

That would get their attention!

Good luck — and watch your back!