Unions Heal Thyself
Nicole Gelinas looks at how big labor monopoly power has bankrupted cities and the end result is their retirees are getting the shaft because of it. Imagine you’re a retiree with chronic health problems on a fixed income, but…
California Supreme Court Violates Basic Constitutional Rights
Sean Higgins looks at an outrageous decision by the California Supreme Court that found that employees must pay union dues even if they are not in the union and the union has the right to your personal, private information:…
Intimidation
Teamsters at a striking Anheuser-Busch facility in Riverside, California are using intimidation to prevent workers from going to work. …
Bankruptcy and Big Labor
Three California cities have declared bankruptcy and analysts believe more are coming. The cause is clear — the political alliance between government labor unions and politicians has squeezed city budgets and taxpayers…
As California Goes....
It’s a common refrain — As California goes, so goes the nation. Unfortunately, in the case of cities like Stockton, it may be true. …
Union Power on Display
The power of the union bosses in California was on full display for the world to see when the legislature killed a bill that would have made it easier to investigate and fire teachers accused of serious misconduct. “Legislation to…
Union Monopoly Rules
Thanks to union rules, California’s “Teacher of the Year” now has another title — “unemployed”: A California woman who was named her school district’s “Teacher of the Year” has a new title — “job seeker.” The district laid off…
Pensions are America's Ticking Time Bomb
You know the union bosses' spending and benefits orgy is coming to an end when liberals like Fareed Zakaria of Time Magazine recognize the dangers unfunded pensions that union activists and pro-big labor politicians have created: "A day after Governor Scott Walker won his recall election, the New York Times wrote, "The biggest political lesson from Wisconsin may be that the overwhelming dominance of money on the Republican side will continue to haunt Democrats." Democrats have drawn much the same conclusion. "You've got a handful of self-interested billionaires who are trying to leverage their money across the country," said David Axelrod, Barack Obama's senior campaign strategist. "Does that concern me? Of course that concerns me." Warren Buffett calls the costs of public-sector retirees a "time bomb." They are the single biggest threat to the U.S.'s fiscal health. If the U.S. is going to face a Greek-style crisis, it will not be at the federal level but rather with state and local governments. The numbers are staggering. In California, total pension liabilities--the money the state is legally required to pay its public-sector retirees--are 30 times its annual budget deficit. Annual pension costs rose by 2,000% from 1999 to 2009. In Illinois, they are already 15% of general revenue and growing. Ohio's pension liabilities are now 35% of the state's entire GDP.
Pensions are America's Ticking Time Bomb
You know the union bosses' spending and benefits orgy is coming to an end when liberals like Fareed Zakaria of Time Magazine recognize the dangers unfunded pensions that union activists and pro-big labor politicians have created: "A day after Governor Scott Walker won his recall election, the New York Times wrote, "The biggest political lesson from Wisconsin may be that the overwhelming dominance of money on the Republican side will continue to haunt Democrats." Democrats have drawn much the same conclusion. "You've got a handful of self-interested billionaires who are trying to leverage their money across the country," said David Axelrod, Barack Obama's senior campaign strategist. "Does that concern me? Of course that concerns me." Warren Buffett calls the costs of public-sector retirees a "time bomb." They are the single biggest threat to the U.S.'s fiscal health. If the U.S. is going to face a Greek-style crisis, it will not be at the federal level but rather with state and local governments. The numbers are staggering. In California, total pension liabilities--the money the state is legally required to pay its public-sector retirees--are 30 times its annual budget deficit. Annual pension costs rose by 2,000% from 1999 to 2009. In Illinois, they are already 15% of general revenue and growing. Ohio's pension liabilities are now 35% of the state's entire GDP.