Ben Johnson, FloydReports.com

The protests in Wisconsin are a perfect representation of the American Left: loud, selfish, churlish, anti-democratic, and unshakably assured of their inalienable right to get paid for doing nothing. And make no mistake, the chaos rending Madison is precisely the future Barack Obama wishes for every state in the union, because only such radical paralysis can allow him to press forward with his unpopular agenda. That is why the president has sided with the left-wing crowd in Wisconsin in ways that some liberals believe may be unconstitutional (and thus impeachable).

Although left-wingers continually begged President Bush to demand the American people “sacrifice” during his administration, Big Labor has no intention of putting its own gains upon the altar. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has taken perhaps the most moderate, common sense course for a state facing a $3.6 million budget shortfall over the next two years. Not a single state employee will lose his job, not a single salary will be cut; he merely reduced the benefits package by asking public employees to pay for 12.6 percent of their health insurance. (They currently pay a whopping four percent; for every $40 they pay toward their benefits, taxpayers are on the hook for $960.) They must vote to recertify their union each year, and their pay raises will not exceed inflation – unless the voters approve it. The state will only match their retirement contribution, not pay 100 percent.

It is hard to work up much sympathy for the public sector’s plight. Most employees working in jobs that pay their salaries fear layoffs, are underemployed, or have no retirement plan at all.

Things have gotten so endemically out of hand because public employees are far more likely to be unionized than their private sector counterparts. They can demand larger salaries and, in many cases, threaten to strike if their wishes are not met. Since the state can always pay added benefits by raises taxes and fees, the public benefit structure has grown as quickly as the workforce itself.

Labor unions, violent minority organizations, extreme left-wingers, and illegal immigrants are the privileged caste of Obama’s America. All further the Left’s aims in some way. Big Labor buys its influence the old fashioned way. Former SEIU President Andy Stern stated flatly, “We spent a fortune to elect Barack Obama – $60.7 million to be exact – and we’re proud of it.” Other unions poured in millions more, as well as unleashing a torrent of “volunteers.”

Ironically, since many of these unions get their dues from state employees, that means the taxpayers are funding these protests for more taxpayer money. The protests are aimed at preventing the taxpayers from voting on government employees’ pay raises, or encouraging the legislature’s Democratic minority to ignore the will of the people in the last election.

How can the Left possibly sell a position so outside the mainstream to the American people?

How to Sell a Socialist Revolution

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