Who said this:
"Although taxpayers are on the hook for the recession’s costs, most state employees pay only 3 percent of their salaries to their pensions, half the level of most state employees elsewhere. Their health insurance payments are about half those in the private sector. In all, the salaries and benefits of state employees add up to $18.5 billion, or a fifth of [the State]’s operating budget. Unless those costs are reined in, [the State] will find itself unable to provide even essential services.
To point out these alarming facts is not to be anti- union, or anti-worker."
Rush Limbaugh? Anne Coulter?
Hosni Mubarek? Scott Walker? Nope..none other than the
New York Times about NY state's current fiscal woes.
Now over at the NYT, they still can't bring themselves to fully admit that conservatives are right. Saying so leaves such a bitter taste in their mouths, that they must immediately follow up any kudos with a big BUT!
Immediately after printing the words above, they got right back to the business of what passes for civility in Liberal Fantasy Land:
"In recent weeks, Republican politicians in the Midwest have distorted what should be a serious discussion about state employees’ benefits, cynically using it as a pretext to crush unions. New York does not need that sort of destructive game playing. What it needs is a sober examination of the high costs of wages and benefits, and some serious proposals to rein them in while remaining fair to hard-working government employees."
Really? The Republicans have distorted the discussion? The Republicans have cynically used the situation to their own ends? Really??
Last I checked, the only ones willing to have a serious discussions *were* the Republicans. The only serious discussions that Wisconsin or Indiana Democrats were having were with the waitresses working at the undisclosed hiding locations.
Last I checked, the ones who were cynically using the situation were the Union members who left school children and their parents in a lurch, shouted down debate, held a state capital building hostage [see Presidential lexicon], shoved their opponents around, and essentially told taxpayers "Suck it up whiners, and gimme my due!". This is the type of sober, serious discussion that the NYT wants Republicans to be party to?
The bottom line is that the only folks who have performed "a sober examination of the high costs of wages and benefits" has been those "cynical" Republicans. Democrats prefer to still live in fantasy land where the government gravy-train can go on forever. The only folks who have offered "some serious proposals" to rein in costs have been those same Republicans. Democrats have either abdicated their responsibility, or again believe that their don't need to be serious proposals to change the path of government spending. Of course it is no mystery as to why this is....
It is great that the editorial board at the NYT may be finally catching onto reality, but they need a little more rehab to able to kick the "Blame Republicans" addiction.
Although I fully expect this addict to relapse....
