Illinois Raises Taxes to Subsidize Corporations and Overpay Government Workers
Illinois Raises Taxes to Subsidize Corporations and Overpay Government Workers
As proof of the misguided, counterproductive policies of Illinois, Governor Quinn hiked corporate incomes taxes to bail out a state deep in fiscal trouble, (it did not and will not work), now grants corporations hefty incentives to not move to Texas. The Chicago Tribune reports $100 million keeps Motorola Mobility in Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn...
By Mike Shedlock
Public Servants Lack Accountability
Public Servants Lack Accountability
Union arguments in favor of their members’ lush pensions are falling by the wayside as the public examines the facts. For instance, union officials argue that the average public-sector pension benefit in California is “only” $30,000 a year, while neglecting to mention that the number, according to the state’s watchdog Little Hoover Commission, rises to...
By Steven Greenhut
California Pension Restructuring Proposal
California Pension Restructuring Proposal
According to the CalPERS website, in their California Investments section, “as of January 31, 2011, approximately 10.3 percent of CalPERS total assets are invested in California.” This means that out of the $233.5 billion in assets under management by CalPERS (ref. Current Investment Fund Values), $24 billion is invested in California. Apparently CalPERS would have us...
By Editor
Brown Begins Campaign for Tax Hikes
Brown Begins Campaign for Tax Hikes
California Governor Jerry Brown is annoyed at Republicans who have blocked his plan for massive tax hikes to balance the budget. In response, the governor plans to take his case straight to the voters. Please consider Brown Plans California Drive to Keep Taxes as New Cuts Loom California Governor Jerry Brown said he’ll propose a...
By Mike Shedlock
Union Power Destroys Working Families
Union Power Destroys Working Families
A great irony of American politics is that the agenda of the left, especially big labor, causes more economic harm than good to the average American worker. Explaining this irony is not easy, but a contributor to the Washington Times, Doug Ross, did a pretty good job yesterday in his guest column entitled “Union members...
By Editor
Unions Ignore Pension Realities
Unions Ignore Pension Realities
There’s no getting away from the pension issue these days or from the fact that the state’s pension system is on the brink of disaster unless pensions for state and local workers are pared back dramatically. The only people in denial these days are the Brown administration and the state’s legislative leaders, as their response...
By Steven Greenhut
How Much Do Government Pensions Really Cost?
How Much Do Government Pensions Really Cost?
Earlier this week the Sacramento Bee hosted a chat on the topic “Should States Rethink Collective Bargaining.” In addition to journalists from the Bee, participants included Steve Greenhut, editor of CalWatchdog.org, and Art Pulaski, the chief officer of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO. During the hour-long discussion, the topic of public sector pensions came up...
By Editor
Richard Trumka’s False Choice
Richard Trumka’s False Choice
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But when the imitator inverts the meaning of the phrase they’re imitating, clarification is called for. Such is the case with the esteemed Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, who has penned an essay in today’s Wall Street Journal entitled “Scott Walker’s False Choice.” According to Trumka, Wisconsin’s...
By Editor
Union Worker Calls for Reforming Unions
Union Worker Calls for Reforming Unions
According to a Chicago Tribune story, the International Association of Machinists (IAM), has filed suit in federal district court in Charleston, South Carolina, seeking an injunction requiring Republican governor Nikki Haley and her State Director of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation, Catherine Templeton, to remain neutral on labor-management affairs, particularly with regard to the unionization of...
By Paul Hollrah
When Will Voters Connect the Dots?
When Will Voters Connect the Dots?
Dick Morris, who was President Clinton’s pollster for 20 years, and has done polling for 30 Senators and Governors and 14 presidents or prime ministers in foreign countries, has just released polling data examining Wisconsin voter attitudes towards public sector unions and public sector employee compensation in that state. His findings underscore what appears to...
By Editor
The Left’s Belated Defense of Public Sector Unions
The Left’s Belated Defense of Public Sector Unions
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed limits on public employee collective bargaining—and Republican election victories in November more generally—have uncorked a backlog of opposition from the left to criticisms against public sector unions. More complete responses to that opposition will follow this post (though Ezra Klein has already kicked out the legs from under his own...
By Tim Kowal
The War for the Soul of the Democratic Party
The War for the Soul of the Democratic Party
While attention focuses on the battle in Wisconsin between a Republican Governor and public employee unions who overwhelmingly support Democrats, it is in California where the future role of public sector unions in politics is being most severely tested. Because in California, Democrats exercise nearly absolute control over the state’s political agenda, and as a...
By Editor
Californians Need to Suffer More!
Californians Need to Suffer More!
People increasingly want answers for how California can solve its fiscal problems, but I rarely have good news to offer. Last week, I wrote about three Assembly Republicans who attended a “no more cuts” rally sponsored by the Service Employees International Union – those always-agitated, purple-shirted, bullhorn-toting activists who are ubiquitous around Sacramento. The three...
By Steven Greenhut
What Percent of California’s State AND Local Budgets are Employee Compensation?
What Percent of California’s State AND Local Budgets are Employee Compensation?
Earlier this week UnionWatch posted an analysis that estimated about two-thirds of California’s state budget covers state employee compensation expenses. This was in response to a widely quoted estimate that the number was only about 12%. Due to the huge disparity in these claims, and the implications having the correct number may have on the...
By Editor