Posts From Ed Ring
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Ed Ring
BART strike is a teachable moment
Reactions from the press and public to the BART strikes this year have been overwhelmingly negative. In one of the safest Democratic strongholds in the U.S., there is serious talk of outlawing future BART strikes. As reported in the San Francisco Chronicle
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Union power prevents public-sector union reform
“Public employees have a private interest in taking more and more of the taxpayer-generated revenue for themselves. In other words, public employees have a private interest in diverting public funds from public services to their wages and pensions. In this
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Big business banks on union power
Earlier this week, former state Sen. Gloria Romero published a lengthy article in the San Diego Union-Tribune entitled “Fixing California: The union chokehold.” It described how public sector unions, virtually unopposed, have undermined the effectiveness and overpriced the costs of
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Will bipartisan coalition restrict public safety unions?
During the effort to curb collective bargaining rights for public employees in Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker suggested the exemption for public safety employees was necessary to avoid the possibility of a strike by “first responders.” The real reason may have
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Social Security is healthy compared to public-sector pensions
Last week yet another missive on the lessons to be learned from Detroit’s bankruptcy was published, this time in Forbes Magazine by Jeffrey Dorfman, an economist at the University of Georgia. Dorfman’s article, “Detroit’s Bankruptcy Should Be A Warning To
Read MoreCA state and local spending rises to nearly $400 billion a year
California’s state and local spending, in total, has risen to nearly $400 billion a year. That is, if anyone can actually compile accurate financial information. The state controller hasn’t produced a consolidated financial report for K-12 school districts and community
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