WhatFinger


America's recession of 2008 exposed just how corrupt and out of touch most politicians were with common Americans

Fighting to maintain the status quo



The current round of skirmishes between Democrats and Republicans at pretty well all levels of government is a clear illustration of who is in favor of change and who wants to maintain the status quo. Democrat legislators from places as diverse as Wisconsin, Indiana, New York and Ohio are eagerly defending public sector unions and advocating higher taxes, rather than cut government spending.

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Even the blind can see this for what it is; an effort by the Democrats to preserve the sweetheart deals that unions like the SEIU have managed to negotiate for their members in exchange for continued support at the polls. It’s a pretty sweet deal, when you analyze it: Democrat legislators are giving away the store in contract negotiations to public sector unions resulting in exorbitant salaries, benefits and retirement packages. The public sector unions in returning the favor are throwing their considerable support behind these same legislators to ensure that they stay in power. And taxpayers are left holding the bag. Probably the best thing that ever happened to America is the recession of 2008 because it exposed just how corrupt and out of touch most politicians were with common Americans. Sadly, this includes Republicans as well as Democrats, whose sense of entitlement causes them to confuse their hold on power as being synonymous with the public interest. While depriving Wisconsin’s public-sector unions of the right to collectively bargain salaries and benefits is admittedly strong medicine and a remedy I’m not sure I agree with, it nevertheless highlights the disastrous situation that successive municipal, state and federal government negotiators have gotten the country into. But, hey, it’s not their money they’re bargaining with, so who cares? What Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker managed to do, at least for the time being, is to rein in the cost of delivering services and avoid a further debt crisis. And for those of you who claim that the governor is using his bully pulpit to bash unions, I’d like to point out that the current financial situation, i.e. the status quo that so many politicians seem so intent on defending, means that every man woman and child in the United States owes somewhere on the order of $770,000 in government debt, taking into account all the unfunded liabilities at all levels of government. To use a phrase currently so popular among the Left, “This is unsustainable.”

So why are so many politicians, including Republicans, so loathe to cut government spending?

So why are so many politicians, including Republicans, so loathe to cut government spending? Do they believe that the taxpayer is a cow that can be milked ad infinitum? Today 40% of all the money the federal government spends is money that’s borrowed. And for the Obama administration to run a $1.63 trillion deficit is unconscionable, as it sets no example for any other level of government to rein in spending. Cutting government spending isn’t rocket science. All that’s needed is the political will to care more for the financial well being of the electorate than for special interests. There’s no question that Gov. Walker’s remedy is tough medicine to swallow. But he appears to be the only political leader in the nation that’s showing some modicum of intestinal fortitude by following that uncomfortable path to bring about real change. The others are mere preservers of the status quo and need to be turfed at the earliest possible opportunity.


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Klaus Rohrich -- Bio and Archives

Klaus Rohrich is senior columnist for Canada Free Press. Klaus also writes topical articles for numerous magazines. He has a regular column on RetirementHomes and is currently working on his first book dealing with the toxicity of liberalism.  His work has been featured on the Drudge Report, Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, among others.  He lives and works in a small town outside of Toronto.

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