Polarization Response

The Housewife wanted to respond, but Blogger is being a booger, so here is the reply she sent off-site for me to post:

I tried to post this as a comment but it wouldn't let me. You can copy & paste it if you want.

Let me preface this comment by saying that I grew up in a home where my dad was a long time member of a union. Eventually he took a low level management position. When he was fired by the company a few years later, he had little recourse and frequently commented on how the company wouldn't have been able to treat him so unfairly if he hadn't left the union. My parents never really recovered financially from that economic hit. I get on a very personal (as in the memory of an entire school year without breakfast) level what you are saying.

But the private sector unions deal with something public sector unions don't, the realization that at some point, they could break the company, unless we are talking giant corporations. We've frequently seen employees forgo all kinds of strides they'd made to help the companies they work for remain solvent in tough times. The public sector doesn't have to worry about that because government growth seems to be a given. The government employee at odds with the government employer seems out of whack somehow. If the Wisconsin governor ran on this issue and it's what the voters (who we would say are the true employers)wanted then shouldn't he do what he was elected to do? Can you comment on the elected officials who have fled the state?

On the other hand I'm always astounded by how these budget cut discussions play out at every level. Massive hidden wastefulness is overlooked while the areas where the electorate can actually see their tax dollars at work and don't mind paying for, teachers, police, firefighters, are often the first things on the chopping block. Really? There's NOTHING we can find to cut before we get to those? This isn't an issue so much in my state where the state doesn't engage in collective bargaining with state employees but local teacher associations negotiate with local school boards by means of majority vote. Teachers did head to the capital in a sort of "support" protest this week, though. I haven't heard any teachers here comment on whether or not they think our system superior.

Looking forward to your other posts on this!