Here & There Column 3-15-11

The Dirty Game Of Politics

I guess the truth and real facts tend to ruffle the feathers of left leaning politicians.
Some liberal factions are trying to tell the folks that the federal, along with many state and county governments are not broke....wow......don't know what they are smoking but reality is not in their vocabulary.
Throw in the Union faction and the first to jump on this bandwagon are left leaning thinkers.
Now when you bring up the facts it is true that Unions have been very helpful and we support the many good things they have done for union members.
Unions politically do what they do and this means pouring millions of dollars into politicians pockets and as you travel down this path government has mostly supported Unions in their demands for higher wages and benefits that most other non-union members do not get and truthfully could not afford.
The federal government's deficit it staggering but left leaning politicians just want to continue spending, spending and spending. Many states now find themselves in deep debt and are faced with laying off many state employees. No one will win in this battle.
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo has directly called upon county, town and village governments to consolidate because there is just too much duplication but even some local politicians support the theory of just doing business as usual.
The old saying "politics makes strange bedfellows" could easily be described in the difference between state governments and the unions in Wisconsin and New York. Like it or not Wisconsin is not a battle for our nation's soul but a government that is facing the true facts and reality and unions have trucked in supporters from all over to stage the anti-government demonstrations we see. The unions have agreed to have their members pay for some of their benefits which hopefully will reduce some of the state's $137 million budget shortfall and we would hope to see Wisconsin give back to union members the right to collective bargaining.....compromise is best. A small amount of compromise is evident in Sullivan County.
We complement Sullivan County Chairman Jonathan Rouis for asking for cooperation from the unions in his annual State of the County message.
In New York State Gov. Cuomo while on the campaign trail last year made it very clear that the folks in this state were stretched to their limits and that public worker unions were among the special interests that had turned New York the wrong way and changes and layoffs would be taking place........but wait a second here.....where are those nasty union demonstrations like in Wisconsin.....it might be just plain politics as one governor is Republican and the other Democrat. The liberal left apparently don't like the changes that are sweeping across America.
Politicians who use phantom writers, make false statements and take cheap shots at others will get their reward at the polls..
Some nasty remarks are made in the heat of political battle and we would all be better off if these folks learned how to work together and compromise for the benefit of everyone.