If you ever wondered how well our Congress handles your money, this story tells all. An article in the WSJ (“House Democrats Introduce Resolution Allowing Staff to Unionize”, 2/10/22) cites efforts of Rep. Andy Levin of Michigan and 130 co-sponsors to expand the 1995 law which allowed legislative branch employees to unionize. He cites it’s a “human rights” issue. Our dear Congresswoman from Brooklyn, Ocasio-Cortez, is quoted in the piece saying its is long known that the pay and conditions are sub-par and that is why she set a rock bottom salary at $52,000 for her staff.
As is the case with all our tax dollars, these “elected” officials have no curbs on which to bounce their fiscal decisions. The spigot of our labor, in the form of tax dollars, just needs to be opened a bit wider every time they see a “need”.
Must be nice to be the “good guy” when you’re handing out OUR money. Of course, in return for providing this largesse for distribution, that we may or may not agree with, we taxpayers get vilified for not ponying up even more.
Why we have public employee unions is beyond me. That we allow politicians to negotiate the terms of these union contracts is on its face, a conflict of interest. It is a disservice to taxpayers and provides a petri dish for illegal activities. In the least, negotiations should take place between citizens and the unions and all political donations from public employee unions deemed illegal.
Current Day Publius 