From the Wall Street Journal.......

Frank Zeidler, the Socialist Party mayor of Milwaukee, Wis., from 1948 to 1960, writing on the consequences of collective bargaining by public employees, in the magazine Personnel, July- August 1969:

This sharing of powers in wage determination and conditions of employment through the negotiation process has in turn diminished public officials' authority in other areas of policy involving organized employees.

The net effect has been to create what amounts to a two-chamber local government. One chamber is made up of elected representatives and chief executives—aldermen, councilmen, county board or commission members, mayors or other chief executives—the traditional decision-making body for local government. The other chamber comprises the organized public employees who have gained official recognition to negotiate. The public business on wages and conditions of work, and therefore indirectly on policy, cannot be carried on without mutual agreement between these two Chambers. . . .

The implications of this new method of reaching decisions in local government put an entirely different aspect on the sovereignty of councils and executives and elected officials as well. The challenge of organized public employees can mean considerable loss of control over the budget, and hence over tax rates and over government programs and projects.

The gravity of the challenge was recognized by some municipal officials at least ten years ago, but most of them took the position that to study the new phenomenon was to encourage it. As is usually the case, the ostrich stance was a mistake: When employee organizations suddenly burgeoned, municipal officials were not prepared with effective rejoinders before legislatures and in negotiations.

Education spending...More money, more money, more money.

Look at these two graphs and you should not wonder why the private sector is now pushing back against state workers. Also, doesn't D.C. have the best educated youth in the country?

Unemployment by the numbers...you better freshen up because we are in for a long haul.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704364004576132060812423814.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEFTTopOpinion

Ad hominem anonymous email from my NPR piece last week.

Here is what someone wrote anonymously to my email account:

Pernicious anachronism!!

Did you stay up all night to come up with that?

Hilarity of that statement aside, I would like to know what favors you dished out to get quoted on NPR.

NPR does not normally interview an intellectual feather weights (sic.) from a no name school, does it?


Here is my response...Have a great day and listen to the following from John Lennon. He's right, it ain't easy.

"Dialed In" deserves a close look as a Derby Contender. Runs a great race here.

More on Wisconsin...or is that Moron Wisconsin?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704900004576152172777557748.html?mod=djemEditorialPage_t

The Parker family..."top 'o the world!!!"

My niece Audrey just climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest point in Africa and one of the 7 summits of the world. She is on the far right. Very proud of her.

NEWS FLASH!!! Revolutionary Guards say they will not shoot Protesters!

http://www.groundreport.com/Business/The-Revolutionary-Guard-Won-t-Open-Fire-on-Protest_1/2934735

I don't know what is going on, but I would love to believe this is the beginning of the end for that Thugocracy in Iran. Pray hard my brothers and sisters.

On Wisconsin, On Wisconsin, on to bankruptcy!

I hope there is a pot 'o gold at the end of the rainbow...they neeeeeeed it.

This is lengthy, but it is a wonderful, wonderful description of what went wrong in Ireland...just like all bubbles from history. Warning...it contains the "F" word in some text. Be ye warned. But it is so well written and so packed with information I am compelled to post it with that caveat.


Oh yes and one more thing...Greece is in even worse shape than Ireland.

http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2011/03/michael-lewis-ireland-201103