…on public sector unions. Gov. Kasich is unamused at the notion that it’s somehow unacceptable to even note that public employees are getting great deals on healthcare at taxpayer expense – and by great deals I mean ‘Ohio public sector employees are paying between one half and three-quarters what Ohio private sector employees pay:’
The 9%/23% number there*, by the way, is one of the better ratios out there for private sector employees. And by ‘better’ I mean ‘better for the tax payers.’ To give an idea: one large part of the sturm und drang being witnessed in Wisconsin right now is over public sector employees having been told that they will be expected to double their contributions to their own health care plans from 6% to 12% – which is half the Ohio number (or, for that matter, the Wisconsin number of 20%-23%), and even worse when you look at national ones. I understand that people are upset that their unsustainable sweetheart deals are about to go belly-up. I do, truly. But they are sweetheart deals, and they are unsustainable, and the country can no longer afford to ignore the fact that government employee unions have been raiding the public treasury in exchange for tawdry partisan political patronage. So as a practical matter the subject’s kind of closed. Continue reading Gov. Kasich (R, OH) Chews iron, spits nails…