Let's play "Spot the Children"

I came across a link to this video in the comments at Don Surber's.  This video, posted at Hot Air, shows the rock bottom depths the public sector unions have crawled to in Wisconsin. 



Well, what can you expect from people who would interrupt a Special Olympics ceremony?

Money Grab

Every paycheck for years I have contributed to my pension plan.  It wasn't always easy.  In fact, when my kids were young it was hard.  Now, Uncle Obama via legislation introduced by Senator Bob Casey, (D-Pa.), wants me to chip in for Big Labor's pensions as well.  Doug Ross:

It appears that bankrupting the United States Treasury was only the first step in the Democrat plan to destroy the American economy. Layering in a new entitlement program -- socialized medicine -- when the country can't afford its existing programs was thought to be the icing on the cake. It wasn't.

The final nail in the coffin may come in the form of stealing $165 billion additional dollars from taxpayers to fund union pensions that were mismanaged and misappropriated by the bosses who support Democrats in good times and bad.
 

A Democratic senator is introducing legislation for a bailout of troubled union pension funds. If passed, the bill could put another $165 billion in liabilities on the shoulders of American taxpayers.

The bill, which would put the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation behind struggling pensions for union workers, is being introduced by Senator Bob Casey, (D-Pa.), who says it will save jobs and help people.

As FOX Business Network’s Gerri Willis reported Monday, these pensions are in bad shape; as of 2006, well before the market dropped and recession began, only 6% of these funds were doing well.

Although right now taxpayers could possibly be on the hook for $165 billion, the liability could essentially be unlimited because these pensions have to be paid out until the workers die. (emphasis added)

 I think this can be summed up pretty easily:
 
1.  You and I go to work
2.  Uncle Obama confiscates a portion of our paychecks
3.  Uncle Obama uses the money we earned to bailout the unions
4.  The unions contribute and vote for Uncle Obama
5.  Repeat as necessary
 
But it gets even better!  Nine Republicans have signed on as co-sponsors of the House version of this travesty and Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-Ohio) is pissed at Fox News for pointing out these weasels:

In a floor speech, the Republican ripped the conservative-leaning network for calling a "bailout" legislation that deals with union pension plans that he supports.

"Mr. Speaker, I am going to veer off-message," he began. "I think as a Republican, I’m supposed to love Fox News and hate [liberal-leaning] MSNBC. Now, I’m going to tell you, I do hate MSNBC, but something just happened on Fox News that compelled me to come to the floor."

He continued, saying, "Well, that’s nonsense and I don’t know who the pinhead and weenie is at Fox News that decided to put that story together." LaTourette concluded by saying "I don’t know what they’re doing at Fox News, but they should stop smoking it and get back to reporting the facts."

Critics say the bill wrongly gives taxpayer dollars to companies that have troubled union pension plans. Supporters say it will keep the funds solvent over the long term, thus avoiding a massive emergency bailout. (emphasis added)

Emergency bailout?  Why should there be any bailout, emergency or otherwise?  It is not the taxpayer's responsibility to bailout every failed institution.  Margaret Thatcher said, "The trouble with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." Right now I'm feeling mighty tapped out.

Cross posted at Potluck

Heh

I thought about updating my earlier post but this really deserves a story all of its own.

Doug Ross:

Poetic Justice: DemCare Starts Destroying Health Care Benefits for Two Million Union Members Starting in Just Nine Months

Remember how the President endlessly bragged that health care reform would never -- never! -- impact your existing health plans? You know, the "if you like your plan, you can keep it" shtick? Well, I know this comes as a shock, but he lied.

What no one appears to be pointing out is that DemCare specifically targets private sector union members first. Because of the dizzying new regulations imposed by the new law, "industrial concerns [and/or] those with unionized employees, say the end of the deduction could force them to ... curtail or even cancel them [health benefits]," according to The Los Angeles Times. That's right: most union retirees will have their cushy plans slammed by DemCare through changes in the tax code.

 Wow, that sucks.  Those darned unintended consequences appear when you least expect them, don't they?  Well, I'm sure the union members won't mind taking it in the backside.  After all, we're all in this together.
 
Favorite quote from the post:

Union members, it's time you started kicking the crap out of your union bigwigs -- politically speaking -- because:

They. Sold. You. Out.

 Read the rest.

It isn't as hard to believe as you might think

Stacy McCain is on the ground in Massachusetts reporting on the Brown campaign and at a rally today he found himself amid Brown supporters from the SEIU.  I'm not the least bit surprised. 

I work for a labor union affiliated credit union.  At countless events I have seen and spoken with union members.  They aren't there as "plants", they are there as concerned citizens who are worried about the direction the country is taking.  Don't get me wrong, I have seen union members acting badly but they are not representative (typically) of the rank and file.

Don't forget that like the rest of us union members were sold a bill of goods about the Stimulus and jobs.  Now they are sitting on the bench and many of them are none too pleased.  I am anxious to see how the Locals handle the 2010 elections.  You know the old saying, fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.  It is going to be a lot harder to fool the union members next time around. 

Are they at least going to buy us dinner first?

I feel a screw coming:

In their latest effort to pass a health care bill by any means necessary, Democrats have struck a "tentative deal" with their big labor allies to exempt union benefits from a tax on high value health care plans, CongressDaily reports.

The idea itself is nothing new. Back in June, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus floated the idea of shielding union benefits from the new tax, but it was set aside. In September, President Obama declined to take a clear position on this so-called "carve out." But now that the excise tax has become a sticking point in negotiations between the House and Senate -- and one that threatens to cost Democrats union support for the bill -- the exemption idea is evidently back in play.

If this policy is adopted, it would mean that there could be two Americans receiving the exact same benefits, but one American may be taxed and one wouldn't, and the only difference would be one of them being a member of a union. This is unseemly and unfair, even by the standards of Obamacare. It has nothing to do with policy-making. It's simply an outright bribe to a constituency that has contributed handily to Democratic campaigns.

Let's look at the first sentence of the first paragraph on page 54 of the Democratic Party Platform (as adopted in 2008):

We all have to do our part to lift up this country, and that means changing hearts and changing minds, and making sure that every American is treated equally under the law.

Well, I guess we can scratch that, right?   How about page 55:

 Americans of every political stripe are hungry for a new kind of government. We want a government that favors common sense over ideology, honesty over spin, that worries less about losing the next election and more about winning the battles we owe to the next generation.

Except that unions fork over big dollars to get Dems re-elected so screw the next generation and repeat after me-SHOW ME THE MONEY!

In Barack Obama’s Administration, we will open up the doors of democracy. We will use technology to make government more transparent, accountable, and inclusive.
 
I just threw that part in for shits and giggles.  What a bunch of hypocritical tools.

What Am I Missing, Besides The Obvious?

From Stacy McCain:

Four unions representing the nation's postal workers are pleading for a meeting with the White House to address possible funding shortfalls for workers' payroll and retiree health benefits, according to a letter obtained by CongressDaily.The presidents of the American Postal Workers Union, National Rural Letter Carriers' Association, National Association of Letter Carriers and National Postal Mailhandlers Union co-signed the Tuesday letter to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina, warning that the U.S. Postal Service is at risk of defaulting on a $5.4 billion payment to prefund retiree health benefits at the end of September.The letter alleges that USPS "may not be able to make payroll in October and will be forced to issue IOUs instead." . . .

Can anyone explain to me why a single entity, the post office, needs FOUR unions to represent its workers? Is this, perhaps, the reason why the post office is so God awful inefficient? And more importantly, why would anybody trust the government with anything as important as our health care?

Poitical Spoils

Peruse the Top All-Time Donors 1989-2008 Summary and ask yourself if there is any correlation between campaign donations and this fro Bloomberg:

Unions’ Health Benefits May Avoid Tax Under Proposal

The U.S. Senate proposal to impose taxes for the first time on “gold-plated” health plans may bypass generous employee benefits negotiated by unions.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, the chief congressional advocate of taxing some employer-provided benefits to help pay for an overhaul of the U.S. health system, says any change should exempt perks secured in existing collective- bargaining agreements, which can be in place for as long as five years.

The exception, which could make the proposal more politically palatable to Democrats from heavily unionized states such as Michigan, is adding controversy to an already contentious debate. It would shield the 12.4 percent of American workers who belong to unions from being taxed while exposing some other middle-income workers to the levy.

As the Top Donors chart shows, the Democratic Party owes the unions a mighty debt. If Sen. Baucus gets his way the union’s payback will come out of our pockets. I don’t mean to imply that Nationalized Health Care is at its base a cheap political ploy, but if it walks like a duck…