Here We Go Again!

My latest column in the Washington Examiner alerts Americans to union-label Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's scheme to try to ram the Police and Firefighter Monopoly Bargaining Bill (S. 3194) through the lame-duck U.S. Senate.

As you know, this dangerous legislation is designed to force virtually all police officers and firefighters nationwide under union boss control.

And as I explain in my op-ed, passage of the Police and Firefighter Monopoly Bargaining Bill could be the final straw for cities and small communities that are already struggling to make ends meet during these tough economic times:

 

For many years now, union-boss featherbedding and counterproductive work rules have sharply increased real taxpayer costs for compensation of state and local government employees. In fact, according to the U.S. Commerce Department, taxpayers' aggregate real cost for compensation of state and local employees soared by almost 30% between 1998 and 2008 - an increase 50% greater than the total real growth of private-sector employee compensation.

Last year, even as the nation's economy endured a severe recession, state and local employee real compensation rose by nearly 3%. Meanwhile, businesses whose revenues were plummeting had no choice but to cut back real compensation for private-sector employees by 4%.

Incredibly, Reid and many likeminded senators and representatives now appear eager to put an even more onerous burden on private-sector employees and employers so that already bloated unionized government payrolls can keep expanding.

Reid may move to cut off debate as early as Monday.