Blame the Teachers

Somewhere along the line it has become accepted that the pensions of state employees are a key factor in the budget crises threatening so many states. There is no thought at all of placing blame on a lack of financial regulation or trying to reform wall street. There is barely even a mention of the financial crisis at all. There is also no interest in looking into what the numbers really are (how are they calculating these 'shortfalls'?), or wondering whether any of the lost revenue that is plaguing so many states might come back. No, the blame must be laid at the feat of teachers and state bureaucrats, who are living high on the hog off of state dollars. We all know how many teachers vacation on the French Riviera, drive Ferraris, and sport too much bling. It is time our hard earned tax dollars stop supporting such opulence. I mean, they don't even work. If you can't do, teach. I've never seen a teacher work after hours. There aren't extracurricular activities to lead or papers to grade or lessons to plan. They never buy supplies out of their own pockets. Teachers, and all state employees, get paid so much more than people in the private sector. It's highway robbery. These people are a much more appropriate target for our anger than wall street, or companies that move jobs overseas, or people who lower taxes when less revenue is coming in. No, they are right. The financial crisis should be laid at the foot of public employees and their unions. It's all about unions. Let's get rid of them. Let's get rid of teachers while we're at it. Who needs them. We'll home school our kids. Hell, why school them at all. We can send them right to work for next to nothing. Their hours will be so long, we won't have to pay for day care. Employers will have an incentive to keep them in good health. There won't be any need for annoyances like vacation time, overtime, or retirement benefits. I know, this is complete nonsense. A slippery slope to nowhere. But why try reason ... that doesn't seem to be working. Until we can get back to the real issues (how did this situation come about, how cane we avoid having this happen again, what is the prospect for recovery, how can we intelligently reach a compromise approach that looks to the long term) why not join in on the ridiculousness? Maybe it will get so ridiculous that we will be forced to come to our senses. It can't hurt.