Wisconsin Budget Problems

Guest Blog
By: Kevin Hannigan
       Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has been dominating the news lately as he attempts to balance the budget deficit that his state has incurred. Wisconsin has run a deficit of around three billion dollars, and Walker understands that the budget needs to be balanced. Throughout his campaign for governor in this past election cycle, Walker ran on the idea that he was going to balance the budget—by making cuts to the public sector, as opposed to inflicting a tax increase on the entire population. Judging by the state of the nation’s economy, it’s illogical to increase taxes because it will only to continue to hurt the people. So, Governor Walker is proposing to cut benefits for public sector unions in order to fix the budget deficit. This has sparked outrage from thousands of state employees—mostly teachers—that will be affected the most by this policy.
       Obviously, most on the left have been critical of this plan, but unfortunately they are in a very small minority. The fact is public unions are a tiny percentage of the population—at just over two percent of the national population. And, they are not very popular among those who are not involved in unions. Economically, those involved in public sector unions are among the most unproductive workers in this country. They receive far greater benefits than those in the private sector and don’t have to worry about being laid off, as they are government employees. Public union members see the world much differently than those in the private sector. For example, one of the outcries from the protestors is the fact that they will have to give 12% of their paychecks to pay for their healthcare—among the best in the state. This is an increase from 6%, and yet they are outraged. What they don’t understand is that there are many people in the private sector who pay 30%, and continue to see increases. They can’t complain or do anything about it, so they just have to do what they have to do.
       Not only that, but teachers—the bulk of the protestors—are complaining despite the fact that they get close to four months of vacation during the calendar year. They are eligible for tenure—one of the worst ideas in this nation’s history—after just a few years. They get great health care and retirement benefits among other things. It’s pretty fair for the taxpayers—who employ these people—to ask for cutbacks to state employees. What the taxpayers don’t deserve is for the state senators—whom they elected—to flee the state and their obligation to the people, simply because they disagree with a policy. Imagine if everybody employed this kind of behavior. Nothing would ever get done. It’s childish, yet nobody criticizes them for this. If the roles were reversed and the Republicans were the ones fleeing the state, it’s pretty much guaranteed that the left-wing media would criticize them without mercy. Yet when Democrats behave like this, they are seen almost as martyrs or the ones who are really sticking up for the people.
       The public unions in Wisconsin are on the losing side of this debate. They have more benefits than anybody in the private sector—even the private-sector unions—yet they don’t work as hard, get four months of vacation, and are guaranteed jobs for life. Public sector employees should be at the mercy of the state and the taxpayers, not the other way around. In fact, public unions should not even exist. Private unions are meaningful—they deserve collective bargaining rights in order to gain better working conditions, etc. But when our teachers forge notes from doctors in order to join a protest about which they have no argument, there is a serious problem. And it shouldn’t be seen as a coincidence that two-thirds of eighth grade students in public schools in Wisconsin cannot read proficiently.
       There needs to be a change in the public sector. Public employees need to be able to be fired. They have to have some sort of incentive to fulfill their duties as efficiently as possible. Unfortunately though, it is not this way. But, there are glimmers of hope in states such as Wisconsin. Other governors around the country are following this path. New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and New York are all states that are venturing into this territory in order to solve budget problems. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York may be a Democrat, but he knows what he has to do to fix the state’s fiscal problems. Governor Walker of Wisconsin won the 2010 governor’s election by a significant majority as a result of running on the idea that he would cut benefits and collective bargaining rights for his state. He has rightly refused to implement a tax increase, but he promises to lay-off thousands of public sector workers if his current proposal fails. It’s time for the unions to decide what’s best: a cut-back in their benefits as a whole or continual job loss in a terrible economy? They should accept Walker’s proposal, and learn to deal with it. The vast majority of the country certainly has.