The Great California Government Union Swindle
23rd December 2012
Are government employees overpaid? A six-part Bloomberg report answers that question with a resounding “Yes.” It also singles out one state as the biggest spender by far: California. This isn’t a case of a handful of isolated incidents. The team of Bloomberg reporters found a pattern of fiscal irresponsibility characterized by:
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Lack of control in overtime pay and unused vacation time payouts;
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Lack of coordination among state agencies which in one instance launched a costly salary bidding war for qualified personnel; and
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Compensation for pension fund managers that bears little relation to performance.
Unions are, by their nature, criminal organizations — the only tool in their toolbox is extortion. ‘Nice business you got here. Pity if something happened to it.’
Combine that with the natural tendency of government workers to squeeze the maximum amount of money out of the minimum amount of work (which miminum is often zer0), this result comes as no surprise.