The contrived left-wing narrative now making the rounds in regard to the Battle of Wisconsin is that even though the public employee unions lost, they’ve really won. That is, their angry, orchestrated, theatrical protest has re-energized the labor union movement, dispirited after the 2010 election, and that they’ve won the battle of public opinion, reflected in polls that claim a majority of Americans are siding with the unionists.
No doubt many of those polled live in blue states that resisted the tide and voted for Democrats in 2010. A majority of Wisconsinites voted for Republicans. And regardless of the polls, Gov. Scott Walker and GOP legislators in that state are doing what must be done to rein in government spending and balance the budget.
The emotional strategy of liberal pundits and unionists has been to cast overpaid, over-benefited and over-pensioned government workers as victims. Docu-propagandist Michael Moore has declared this a “war on the middle class.” Democrats hope this will turn the electoral tide in 2012. I doubt it. Republicans are not only on the right side of this issue; they’re also on the politically winning side. Ironically, it’s unionized government workers who are waging war against millions of middle-class taxpayers in the private sector who bear the burden of oversized public payrolls and benefits. This disparity has come about through the corruption of our political system whereby public sector unions spend heavily and turn out the vote to elect Democrats who then return the favor by lining the pockets of this special interest that put them in office.
Here’s a revealing sampling of data from the Center for Responsive Politics, documenting the partisan divide in public sector-union campaign contributions from 1990 to 2010. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees gave $40 million to Democrats and $500,000 to Republicans; the National Education Association, $28 million to Dems and $2 million to Republicans; Service Employees International Union, $26 million to Dems, $1 million to Repubs; American Federation of Teachers, $26 million to Dems, $200,000 to Repubs. You get the idea.
In the face of economic reality, defined-benefit pension plans, like the ones that helped drive the auto industry into bankruptcy, have been mostly phased out in the private sector, giving way to 401(k) defined-contribution plans. As those 401(k) plans have lost value from their pre-recession peak, private sector workers have adjusted to lower expectations of retirement benefits. There’s no one to bail them out.
By contrast, defined-benefit pension plans are still common among government workers. When you work for government and elect your bosses, you can be shielded from economic reality. But the investment portfolios of their plans have also been severely damaged by economic shocks in the last decade, creating trillions of dollars in unfunded liabilities. So the value of these investments simply won’t be sufficient to pay the promised benefits.
In utter disregard of this, public sector unionists still demand that their lavish retirement benefits, over-promised to them by politicians long gone from office, be delivered come hell or high water. And they expect to be bailed out by taxpayers forced to make ever higher payments to these government-worker pension plans. These are the same private-sector taxpayers who will have to get by with less in their own retirement while they suffer increased taxes and fees at the state level, and property tax increases at the school-district level to keep government workers whole. Do you suppose the questions pollsters asked them explained this?
As the public becomes better informed about these things, private sector workers — only 7 percent of whom belong to unions and who greatly outnumber government employees — will come to understand that they’re being played for suckers. This will ultimately translate into GOP votes in the only poll that matters on Election Day in 2012.
Freelance columnist Mike Rosen’s radio show airs weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon on 850-KOA.
