Government Unions and Democrats: Parties of the Rich

A new report puts the lie to what some Americans have suspected for a long time: “Party of the Rich” is a moniker best reserved for Democrats, particularly when it comes to their cozy relationship with public sector labor unions. The biggest losers in that version of “crony capitalism” – or something?  Tax payers.

Scheduled for a Tuesday release, the report by the Competitive Enterprise Institute is entitled How Government Unions Undermine Upward Mobility.  It demonstrates how the We’re-for-the-working-class persona unions and their Democrat allies try to project is far from reality.

Think Neverland.

The report documents the changing face of unionism in America. It indicates that government employees who now make up a majority of the nation’s union members are a long way from the blue-collar archetype of yesteryear. In fact, white-collar professionals in the public sector are overtaking the private sector working class as the face of unionism.

“Public sector unions may claim they stand up for the little guy, but generally they aren’t representing blue collar workers against a better-educated, white-collar management,” says Carrie Sheffield, a scholar at the institute, in a release. “Government unions represent skilled, white-collar workers who enjoy big benefits and job security, courtesy of the taxpayer.”

According to Sheffield:

Government employee unions create a more expensive and protected class of workers at the expense of nonunion workers, students, and taxpayers. They engage in politics to expand and protect the perks of government employees who are more likely to have attended college and garner salary and benefit packages more generous than the average private sector worker.

Also:

A larger share of public sector than private sector workers are employed in “management, professional, and related occupations.” In 2013, 56.2 percent of public sector workers and 37.8 percent of private sector workers were employed in these occupations,” the report says. “As the percentage of public sector union members increased between 1971 and 2004, the fraction of union members in the top third of the nation’s income distribution increased by 24 percent, while the proportion of unionists in the bottom third of the distribution declined by 45 percent. This is because better-educated and more affluent workers are more likely to belong to public rather than private sector unions.”

While public sector paychecks and costs have seen rapid growth in recent years, they “have the effect of pitting taxpayers, including the working class, against well-paid civil servants.” Meanwhile, pension debt and other unfunded compensation for government workers have some municipalities in bankruptcy. Can you say, “Detroit”?

Government unions routinely donate mega moola to elected officials, who in turn conduct “collective bargaining” for Cadillac compensation and benefits packages often unheard of in private business. And good luck trying to get into one of those closed-door sessions to find out how and where your tax dollars are going.

The report says:

“Government unions are a powerful interest group that is uniquely privileged in being funded by taxpayers. Their members generally have higher levels of education than the average private sector worker, and enjoy greater compensation and job security. David taking on Goliath they are certainly not.”

So why do we keep thinking they are? Why do Democrats keep posturing themselves as “champions of the working stiff” when the evidence clearly indicates otherwise? What would happen is Democrats become known as The Party of the Rich? Because as the CEI report indicates, Democrats and their kissing cousins – public sector labor unions – are exactly that.

H/T: Washington Free Beacon

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A multi-published author and recovering Democrat, Kristine Lowder is a native Californian recently transplanted to the People's Republic of Washington State. She still refuses to cede her life, fortune, or sacred honor to liberal Nazgul or anyone else with poor eyesight. Kristine is a graduate of Biola University. You can find her online at: Kristine Lowder, Writer or at Conservelocity.

Kristine Lowder

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