A Question

while Conservatives everywhere are jumping up and down in glee over the prospect of neutering public sector unions, despite the fact it will essentially put a sledgehammer to large chunks of the comfortable middle class in this country, I gotta ask:

Why aren't we gutting the political class?

Don't get me wrong: there are (some) very dedicated public servants out there, but people who make a lifetime of politics are part of the problem, not the solution. You only have to take a hard look at the House of Representatives to realize that- there's little to no turnover and if you can win 2, 3 elections at most, then you're essentially set for life, unless you take meth and kill puppies with a gay hooker on the sly or something. This little Wisconsin brouhaha just proves my point- no one has the right answers!

Yes, things have got to change. I'm sorry, but the days of wine and roses are over for the Baby Boomers and they're just gonna have to deal. We can't afford everything that's been promised to you! Like the wise man said, there's one born every minute and this is a generational swindle that the Boomers have been totally complicit in and it undermines a large section of Progressive thought in this country that I've yet to see a decent counter-argument too: we can't AMEX our way to Nirvana. Suck it up and deal.

That said, though: let's not pretend this about fiscal conservatism. It's not. The bedrock of the Democratic Party rests on unions and the only game in town anymore are the Public Sector variety. This is about neutering the entire Democratic Party. Fiscal conservatism is just how Republicans get to sell it to taxpayers. But what's the answer? We need SOME government. People aren't going to be happy when we fire cops and firefighters and the streets are less safe and their houses burn down. They won't be happy when we fire teachers and the quality of education their kids are getting goes straight down the toilet. It's a real problem with all this happy union-busting that Republicans are NOT answering. You can't just GUT the middle class. It's going to kill the economy.

Some random thoughts: slice the pay of every politician in this country in half. Make them pay for their own health insurance and no, they shouldn't get a dime in pension money, because kids, they shouldn't be retiring as politicians! Public service, we're being told is all about sacrifice. It sure would be nice if the politicians would take one for the team.