Like It's A Bad Thing

The NY Times goes on about Scott Walker having the backing of anti-union conservative groups. 

I'm not sure how the Slimes is about excerpting so I'll just offer the link.

Of course, what Walker as governor went after was not the UAW or United Mineworkers or the Teamsters -- private sector unions. 

Let me reveal my bias right up front.  I have no use for unions of any kind.  Maybe I would feel differently if I had ever worked in a coal mine, but my perspective is that unions collectivize productivity.  Instead of each person being recognized and compensated for his or her own work and accomplishments, the union, as a whole, benefits from the efforts of the hardest working, most diligent and productive members.  Slackers are protected, to a degree, from the consequences of laziness and incompetence.

That's one thing in the private sector where it is labor versus management.  Companies that operate for profit seek to maximize the difference between revenue and costs.  Sometimes they do this at the expense of the health and safety of workers.  I am personally acquainted with someone who is currently suffering because of an on-the-job injury.  He is a member of the union, but the union, which happily accepted his dues for twenty years, has done nothing to help support him.  You can make a case for unions in the private sector.  I don't necessarily buy it, but I understand it.

I do not see the case for public employees.  Police, firefighters, and teachers are usually the ones who get discussed.  What about all the lazy, incompetent slackers at the DMV or the gestapo-wannabes at Child Protective Services or the corrupt bozos that administer Medicaid or work at the lottery commission or the Highway Department?  They are the majority of government workers, and they can be unionized. 

These folks are not fighting Ford or GM.  They are not being oppressed by DuPont, U.S. Steel, Exxon, Walmart, or some other big, rich corporation.  To a public sector employee, "the man" is the taxpayer.  Their wages, pensions, and benefits come out of our pockets, and, unlike the case when we buy a new truck, what we usually get for our money is grief, aggravation, and the opportunity to give up more money. 

But the real problem is that public-sector unions can only grow if government grows. 

If you ever wonder why the unions and all the progressives went after Walker with pitchforks and torches, that is your answer.  Walker's approach, which is quite sane and reasonable, is the only way we are ever going to rein in the expansion of government at all levels.  Unions are the head of the snake.  If we could bust public-sector unions, we would have a much better chance of making government smaller and less of a drain on our resources, more streamlined and more effective and efficient.

Scott Walker is not my first choice for president in 2016, but he would not be a bad choice, and he is in my top three right now.