It has been a while since I thought that Paul Krugman spoke about facts rather than about ideological or partisan positions. Nevertheless, there are times when Krugman says things that are so bizarre that the only possible response is to laugh. In his latest column, Krugman says that the public employee unions are among the few remaining institutions that speak for the middle class and the poor. Ha, ha, ha!
The idea that the public employee unions speak for anyone other than the public employees is ridiculous. When the middle class and the poor suffer due to the recession, did the public employee unions speak for them when they pushed for raises that would mean higher taxes for the suffering middle class and poor? No! When the services provided by governments have to be cut back so that the public employees can collect generous taxpayer funded pensions and health benefits granted by politicians beholden to the unions, was that for the benefit of the middle class and the poor? No!
The truth is that the public employee unions have become enemies of the middle class and the poor. These unions compete for every dollar of government revenue that otherwise could be used to help middle class or poor Americans or to reduce taxes on them. If there were any doubt about this, take a look at the people out protesting in Madison. You have the union members out there seeking to protect themselves from paying part of their pensions and healthcare costs like everyone else. You have the professional protesters like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. You also have students from the nearby University of Wisconsin who are out for a good time. There are no legions of middle class or poor out there. Indeed, there are essentially no middle class or poor in Madison. these folks well know who the unions speak for, and it is not for them.
Maybe one of them should explain this to Paul Krugman. But, of course, he would not listen.
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