Public sector unions are basically the last man standing.
The right wing is trying to knock them out leaving no major organization left to fight against corporate America .
I knew a couple of California teachers in Texas who retired at 50. And there were, and are, serious systemic problems such as taking early pensions and then getting another public sector job while receiving that pension. Double dipping. And what you guys aren't seeing is that public sector job pay, and the taxes to pay for them, have consistently increased year over year while private sector jobs have remained stagnant. More and more pressure is applied to taxpayers who are having more and more trouble paying taxes. It's no longer the case that public workers consistently make less for similar work unless you are going to compare executive pay between the two sectors. Someone has to do the public sector work and they shouldn't work for poverty wages. But what is happening in many places is the increase in bureaucracy without the base to pay for all of it. So tell me, how long is that sustainable? I'm well aware of the unfairness of the system, how some benefit immensely at the expense of the many. But the world marketplace has changed, and all the wishing for the old days won't change that. And it was well documented by even liberal organizations like the Huffington Post that Stockton had serious mismanagement issues and was so generous with benefits that the very serious downturn in the economy broke the camel's back. What I see here consistently is the refusal to recognize the reality if it doesn't jibe with what you want. Everything is hyperbole and exaggeration which is why we as a nation are never going to move forward and solve ever growing problems. The right wing is working to avoid excess so that necessary government functions can operate smoothly and efficiently.