Making the argument!

Tuesday-February 22, 2011

Making the argument!

Citizens in foreign lands are making the argument for a new form of democracy in their country. Some in this country are forging ahead to reform our own democracy!

As protestors on the other side of the world are demanding that their leadership should step down, our leaders here have fled the state of Wisconsin to avoid voting on the Governor’s bill to effectively end collective bargaining of state employee by their unions. As protestors on the other side of the world are fighting to show how democracy in their country could work, the Democratic State Senators in Wisconsin are ignoring how democracy works here. As protestors demand that royal families step out of power in foreign lands in the Mid East, the royalty in our country, namely our elected officials, are demanding that the public serves them.

Last week and yesterday, I wrote that, “You cannot win an argument if you are not willing to make the argument.” Those who are on the streets and those who are following the events around the world and here are now arguing to make their side heard and to win their argument.

However, you cannot expect an argument to be won fairly when the other side never plays by the rules. The Governor’s of New Jersey, Michigan, Ohio, Idaho, Indiana and Wisconsin, to name a few, all ran on a platform of restoring their state budgets and the way their state does business. As protestors in Wisconsin are being assisted by President Obama’s organizing arms and are inserting others from outside of the state, they, along with elected officials, are hijacking the voter’s rights and the decision that the voters made to elect their chief executive’s agenda.

We know that doctors are now out in numbers on the streets in Wisconsin to write written medical excuses, so that teachers can protest on the streets, instead of being in their classrooms doing what they are being paid to do: teach and not protest. This is not only a violation of ethics, but it in most states is illegal, because of the anti trust concerns in the medical field. The doctors and the liberal teachers who are out in the streets not only violate ethics, but violate all the principles of democracy when they lie in the public forum.

We know that what the governor has asked for are modest increases in what state employees contribute to their pension and healthcare costs. We know that the Unions that service state employees in Wisconsin and around the country are among the strongest. We know that there is approximately 3 trillion dollars of unfunded pension liabilities countrywide, as a result of how Unions do their business.

The Unions would be the first to say that there is no free lunch, but they would be the first to demand the free lunch of the state, because that’s what they have been doing for nearly 8 decades.

A case in point about what Unions do and the collective thought that they inspire. General Motors has approximately 96,000 employees in their work force, but they also pay 500,000 retirees benefits. This is okay in the private sector, if they can afford it. We know they can’t, because of the bad deals that were made, due to the demands of the unions. They not only put their own members out of work, but bankrupted the company in the process. When the government bailed GM out the government made sure that the Unions were taken care of first. The same thing is happening to these Public Employee Unions. The big difference here is that the citizen is now becoming aware of the sweet deals that these employees have gotten over decades of abuse. This is why so many states are now facing bankruptcy.

We know that in 1983 - 20% of the work force was unionized. We know that in 2010 – 12 % of the work force is unionized. We know that union workers on average earn an average of $40,000 whereas non unionized workers earn an average of $27,000 per year. We know that the Unions are a friend of the White House. We know that the President came out in support of the protestors last week. We know that the citizen is rejecting the unions and the President.

We know that this movement in Wisconsin is being likened to the liberal version of the Tea Party. This will be the liberal cause going into the 2012 elections.

We know that the Governor of Wisconsin campaigned and was elected on the issues that he is attempting to rectify now. We know that he is asking that the unions pay more of a percentage of the cost of their pensions and their healthcare cost. Currently, the union workers in Wisconsin contribute 0.2% to their pensions and that the governor is asking them to now contribute 5.8%. Currently, the union workers in Wisconsin pay 4 to 6% of their healthcare tab and the governor is asking them to pay 12.6%. These increases are reflective of what the state sees as one way to reduce the deficit.

We know that the Senators that have fled the state now say the Governor is not a good negotiator. This is the only excuse they have, but to some, it is an important one, because everything the union does is based on negotiating. While citizens in many states are losing their jobs, because companies cannot compete and are laying off employees, the Governor of Wisconsin is trying not to layoff these Union workers. This should be enough to satisfy the negotiating concern of the Union.

While citizens are suffering and struggling to pay their bills, Union workers act as if they are not a part of the citizenry. Union workers and the State Senators who have fled their work place do not deserve to keep their jobs. There are plenty of people who can fill these roles and that can do far better of a job than the ones who now fill these positions. The other big difference is they will serve, rather than wanting to be served.

Union activity and political correctness go hand in hand. Political correctness is also a by product of Multiculturalism, which is a favorite cornerstone of liberal thought. We know that multiculturalism is now failing in the European Union. We know that Unions in Europe are now a small shadow of what they use to be. Why it is that America is now so far behind in these reforms?

If unionizing gave us a better product, then there would be an argument. But when unionizing is about retaining power for the White House and the Progressive Liberal and not about improving the status quo, then it becomes the right of the citizen to stand up and just say no. As the new citizens of pro democracy movements around the world are finding out, it is easy to say no. We want a change and we want reforms that will benefit the whole and not the minority. This is now the argument going forward in the world!

We are also finding out in this country that we to can be a pro democracy movement by saying no to Unions and no to big Government.

Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives

A footnote: We have forgotten what a democracy is but more important we have drifted from the republic that was established for us to protect! Dwight D. Eisenhower said: “Every step we take towards making the state our caretaker of our lives, by that much we move towards making the state our master.”