Thanks to Instapundit. for reminding me that it was just two years ago that Rick Santelli fired off the Rant Heard ‘Round The World:
It gets better with time, and applies equally to the public sector unions which expect taxpayers to subsidize pensions and benefits which the taxpayers themselves do not have.
Santelli asked, “President Obama, are you listening?”
No, he wasn’t and he still isn’t.
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Comments
Professor, from my own observations, the tide in this nation is turning. My friends, who are union members and have been traditionally staunch yellow dog Democrats, are saying that the government is too involved in our day to day lives and it needs to end.
The teacher's unions are not doing themselves any favors, no matter what left wing/left leaning polls say. Americans who are out of jobs will have little sympathy for those who are "guaranteed" jobs, no matter how badly they do those jobs. Yeah, it was fine to protest for a day or two, but now the Wisconsin schools have been shut down for a week, posing hardships on those parents who have to make arrangements for their children or miss work themselves.
What we are seeing happening is the last ditch attempt of the unions to remain relevant. Union membership all across the nation has been declining, and states with right-to-work laws on the books are the ones that are going to see growth while "closed shop" states will continue to bleed jobs. The once might Communication Workers of America has seen its membership of over 700,000 fall to just barely over 400,000, including those members in Canada.
What is at stake here is power; the power of the public unions to require taxpayers to pick up the tab for their over indulgent salaries and benefits (including retirement packages), negotiated via Democratic politicians who will not have to personally pay the tab but simply pass the cost on to the unsuspecting taxpayer via taxation.
Each state should pass right-to-work laws. Let people decide for themselves if they want to be part of a union, or not. If you feel you can represent yourself with your employer, you have no need for a union, and the unions know that.
I have pointed out the obscene salaries of union big wigs: NEA head, Reg Weaver – $417,858/yr; IAFF (Firefighters) head, Harold Schaitberger – $318,574/yr; AFSCME head, Gerald McEtee – $479,328/yr. All paid for by union dues from rank and file members. But it gets worse: many of those unions, designed to provide members with strike benefits when they are not drawing a paycheck have $0.00 in their strike funds as they have donated MILLIONS OF $$ to the campaigns of Democrat candidates.
The unions understand what is at stake here. And they are going to fight back against the rolling tide of removing 70 years of out of control power they have held. There is much at stake here.
"Santelli asked, "President Obama, are you listening?"
No, he wasn't and he still isn't."
And for the looks of it, he never will.
Santelli deserves a lot more credit than he seems to get.
Anybody notice that oil was at $35 a barrel? Maybe Rick was dumping oil into Lake Michigan?
I second retire05, it's all about the money. 300,000 union government employees in Wisconsin with mandatory dues ranging from $500 to $1000, say $750 average. That's $225,000,000 annually, deducted from paychecks by the state of Wisconsin and forwarded to the union bosses who in turn go shopping for influence, votes and Presidents with the money.
If we have started to recovery, that is whee we started to recover.