A few days ago the Des Moines Register published a lengthy article detailing how public employees' (taxpayer funded) benefits are far better than what private employers offer. Among other sources, the article referenced a well-known Iowa benefits survey done by a colleague and friend of mine.
This is another brick in the wall of why taxes are generally evil, and too high. We end up paying too much (in this case, compensation) to too many (in this case, public employees) without the invisible hand of the market to control it.
That's not even the point I want to make here. The point is, the article also quoted some politicians (in this case Iowa Democrats) who said they didn't feel they could do anything about it since the benefits are bargained for in good faith with state employee unions. But guess who's supposed to be on the taxpayer's side in those negotiations? Those same politicians and/or political appointees!
To be a state legislator and make the argument that you can't do anything to curtail state employee compensation is about as asinine an argument as you can make. That's like saying you murdered your parents, but can't be held accountable because you are now an orphan.
To add injury to insult, all of this is going on while Iowa has a $1 billion budget deficit thanks to those same politicians. Sure, there may be other bigger and better ways to cut spending, but to say this is off limits is nothing but pandering to the political left.
I'm a political independent - and proud of it - but if the Iowa Republican Party wants to win back the legislature and executive office, all they really need to do is get off their social conservative loser-of-a-horse and start focusing on the tried-and-true message of lower spending and taxes. But since Republicans have their own pandering issues, I suspect we'll just see more of the same.
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