Some on the left are finally getting it

Would you expect a mini-uprising against public unions to be launched in San Francisco, California?  Would you expect that Democrats would be leading this mini-uprising?  If your answer to either of these questions is, “no”, please read on.

Last year, San Francisco’s Public Defender, and a “card carrying”  Democrat, Jeff Adachi, came to an interesting conclusion.

If you care about social programs or the network of support services, you have to understand that [public union] pensions and benefit costs are crowding out all these services.

So, Mr. Adachi launched a petition drive to require that all public employees pay more toward their benefits and pensions.  His fight was joined by a well known California Democrat, Mike Moritz, and, former California Assembly Speaker, and Mayor of San Francisco, Willie Brown, also a Democrat.

Mr. Adachi’s initiative was defeated last year, due in large part to an enormous amount of public union money spent to defeat it.  But, this isn’t stopping Mr. Adachi.  He is now working to place this issue on this November’s ballot.  And,

[a] few weeks ago, a small group of current and former municipal officials and taxpayer advocates in the San Francisco Bay Area convened to form California United for Fiscal Reform.

Mr. Adachi is its co-chairman.  The other co-chair, Stephanie Gomes, puts it this way,

[t]hese [pension and benefits] costs are a tsunami…[i]f we can’t rely on the state to fix it, we have to do it locally, and we have to join together, because the unions are joined.

And, in Orange County, the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility and the Pacific Research Institute held a seminar, attended by over 150 elected officials and others, to educate those in attendance about the growing California pension crisis.

It would appear that more and more Americans, from both sides of the aisle, are beginning to realize that there is only so much money that can be pried from taxpayers.  And, if we really do care about the poor, the sick and the children, we must take a serious look at public employee wages, benefits and pensions.

Public employees are not happy, but, then again, neither are those who pay their salaries.

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SoundOffSister

The Sound Off Sister was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and special trial attorney for the Department of Justice, Criminal Division; a partner in the Florida law firm of Shutts & Bowen, and an adjunct professor at the University of Miami, School of Law. The Sound Off Sister offers frequent commentary concerning legislation making its way through Congress, including the health reform legislation passed in early 2010.

8 Comments

  1. RoBrDona on April 2, 2011 at 10:47 am

    This will never be truly burned in the Dem. Party conciousness until they figure out that it is REALLY a zero sum game when there is no economic growth, no real jobs growth and incipient inflation. Even though "take from Peter to pay Paul" is the socialist motto … the hypocrytes ooze hubris and lie to our faces.   



  2. dkortebein on April 2, 2011 at 11:08 am

    Welcome to the conversation Democrats.



  3. Gary J on April 2, 2011 at 2:50 pm

    Has to be something in the water out there. I could swear SOS said that was being led by democrats.



  4. mathlady on April 3, 2011 at 1:58 am

    But it won't matter what the voters say. They'll just get an activist judge to overturn it, and the whole thing will be as though it never happened. Just look at what they did with Prop. 8.



  5. Dimsdale on April 4, 2011 at 5:45 am

    "Mr. Adachi’s initiative was defeated last year, due in large part to an enormous amount of public union money spent to defeat it."

     

    If the unions have all this money to throw at favorable legislation, what do they need more for?  Maybe if the unions stopped confiscating their huge dues, the workers would have little to complain about….



  6. PatRiot on April 4, 2011 at 6:33 am

    The winds of change start with the small breath of fresh air known as common sense.



    • Dimsdale on April 5, 2011 at 5:33 am

      Usually instigated by some cleansing sunlight….



  7. NH-Jim on April 5, 2011 at 3:34 pm

    "April Fools", can't fool me, SOS!



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