The Unions Didn’t Just Lose In Wisconsin Last Night
Scott Walker’s big victory in Wisconsin is getting most of the headlines, mostly because that’s where the liberals drew the battle line on pension reforms, but it’s worth noting that unions lost two other telling elections last night too.
In California, both San Diego and San Jose voted in reforms to public worker compensation that were opposed by the unions there:
Voters in two major California cities overwhelmingly approved cuts to retirement benefits for city workers in what supporters said was a mandate that may lead to similar ballot initiatives in other states and cities that are struggling with mounting pension obligations.
Supporters had a simple message to voters in San Diego and San Jose: Pensions for city workers are unaffordable and more generous than many private companies offer, forcing libraries to slash hours and potholes to go unfilled. …
In San Diego, 66 percent voted in favor of Proposition B, while 34 percent were opposed. Nearly 97 percent of precincts were tallied by early Wednesday.
The landslide was even bigger in San Jose, the nation’s 10th-largest city. With all precincts counted, 70 percent were in favor of Measure B and 30 percent were opposed.
Let’s hope this is a national trend. Threats to the nation’s fiscal health like Medicare and Social Security get talked about a lot, but I’m not sure the public quite grasps what a threat underfunded public worker pensions are.
They’re out of control, but the unions and the Democrats they have in their pockets don’t want reforms. Wisconsin, San Diego and San Jose prove that those reforms can happen anyway.
Tags: california, Pensions, san dieo, san jose, scott walker, wisconsin
