The fight brewing in the Ohio legislature over Senate Bill 5 could be monumental, but it is necessary. Ohio laws governing collective bargaining for public employees and teachers-union contracts deprive public employers — that is, taxpayers — of essential management rights. At the core, they hamper public employers’ ability to decide how much tax money to spend on personnel, which makes up the bulk of most government budgets.
That was objectionable enough in flush times, but as state and local leaders grapple with crushing budget deficits, it is unsustainable.
The rules have to change, to free state agencies and local governments of many of the employment mandates that have burdened budgets and stymied innovation and flexibility.
Go read the whole thing. The fact is, the public also knows that government compensation is out of control, and favors reducing that compensation to balance Ohio's budget.
So, how are the unions reacting? What is their well reasoned argument that they deserve to be better compensated THAN private sector workers AT private sector workers expense? Surely, they have a reasonable response.
Well, if you think government compensation should be reduced in order to balance the budget, you must be mentally retarded, according to one government employee union boss.
Well, that's quite a convincing argument. Let's see what clever argument our old friend Chris Redfern, Ohio Democratic Party Chairman, comes up with to counter the Dispatch's well thought out opinion.
"Cbus Dispatch hates public union members that care for grandparents, protect us, fight fires"
Gee, that's brilliant, Chairman Redfern. The same old demonization the left brings out every time. Sounds a lot like "disagreement with Obama is rooted in racism."
These folks are so predictable sometimes.
I have hard time disagreeing with you in theory, though I’d like to see the application of such reform take a slightly less than “normal” across the board approach to cutting funds and jobs.
ReplyDeleteHaving spent most of my adult life watching government from the inside, my simple observation is that the bottom 20% of personnel in terms of productivity could disappear with only nominal degradation of mission. Of course unions would never stand for this approach and would insist on seniority as the determining factor on who stays and who goes, which ultimately seems to be a leading factor in diminishing productivity in the government workplace.
I’m not sure the argument is quite so cut and dried as simply reducing a combination of government employee benefits and government services across the board. How we go about applying the blade to those issues is every bit as important as deciding that they are they place to cut.
Great post, 3BP! You’ve got people thinking about the right issues, now let’s hope we start asking the nuanced questions!
Only thing more predictable is YOU. Other studies show that state employees are paid less in wages than equally educated, trained, and experience workers doing similar work in the private sector.
ReplyDeleteThe Buckeye Institute is not a credible source for public opinion. Period. That's like me quoting a poll from a union.
Regardless, the only objective polling outfit that has polled on this question is the recent poll by Quinnipiac which found 51% of registered voters in Ohioans OPPOSE eliminating/reforming collective bargaining for state workers in order to "balance the budget."
Only 34% favor it.
So, yes, your entire post is nothing more than a conservative fantasy. You do not have public opinion on your side, and the fact that you use a biased poll from a conservative think tank is just pathetic.
Only thing more predictable is YOU. Other studies show that state employees are paid less in wages than equally educated, trained, and experience workers doing similar work in the private sector.
ReplyDeleteThe Buckeye Institute is not a credible source for public opinion. Period. That's like me quoting a poll from a union.
Regardless, the only objective polling outfit that has polled on this question is the recent poll by Quinnipiac which found 51% of registered voters in Ohioans OPPOSE eliminating/reforming collective bargaining for state workers in order to "balance the budget."
Only 34% favor it.
So, yes, your entire post is nothing more than a conservative fantasy. You do not have public opinion on your side, and the fact that you use a biased poll from a conservative think tank is just sad.
Looks like somebody is getting all his different logins mixed up.
ReplyDeleteHere's some free advice, modern, adsense, modern esquire, whatever you will call yourself next week:
If you are going to create multiple logins to make it look like more people agree with you, try making your posts a little different so its not obvious the same person wrote them.
hahahaha.
ReplyDeleteI though I had erased the other one, obviously that's why I reposted.
ReplyDeleteSeriously.
Now address what I ACTUALLY said.