UNIONS AND RED INK

No doubt you know that several states out there are having financial problems. There are underfunded pensions, declining tax revenues and increased costs associated with the recession; and these problems only scratch the surface.

Forbes.com has developed some information that you might find interesting. First of all, here's a list of the five states that are in the worst financial shape:

* Illinois
* New York,
* Connecticut
* California
* New Jersey

... and the list of the five states in the best condition financially:

* Utah
* Nebraska
* Texas
* New Hampshire
* Virginia

Now ... let's look at the politics. The five states in the worst financial condition are solidly Democrat. They are the bluest of the blue. Of the three states in the best financial condition, three are solidly Republican; Utah, Nebraska and Texas. The other two lean Democrat, but only slightly.

The question, then, is why do heavily Democrat states seem to be in the poorest financial condition? According to Forbes, the problems in these Democrat-controlled states revolve around two facts ... stronger unions and more moochers. By more moochers I mean what Forbes refers to as "a stronger appetite for public programs." Stronger appetite for public programs? That means you have more people who are interested in using the government as an instrument of plunder (the moochers) than you have people who are interested in such arcane concepts as self-reliance and hard work.

Example? This from yesterday's (3/1/2010) Washing times: For the first time since the Great Depression, Americans took more aid from the government last year than they paid in taxes. Now just how long can we sustain this?

Sooner or later we're going to have to recognize that the proliferation of government sector unions and the growth of the moocher class are combining to bring this country to economic ruin. With unions you get less work for more money. With the moocher class you get no work - nothing productive - for vast sums of money. Productive American taxpayers pay the price.

Again FDR was steadfastly opposed to government-sector unions. He had that right, but where is the politician today that has the nerve to bust these unions; to cut them off at the knees. Look at Greece, where the economy is in ruins. Perhaps it's important to know that over 50 percent of people with jobs in Greece work for the government, and most of them are represented by unions. Right now the unions are marching through the streets offering up threats and rhetoric as solutions to Greece's problems. Could that scene be repeated here?