Public Sector Unions Choke The Taxpayer

With a little (actually a lot) of help from their friends - the Democrats.

Steve Melanga of the Manhattan Institute complains that politicians get union political support by granting government workers generous pensions and health benefits. After those politicians leave office, taxpayers are liable for trillions in unfunded promises. 

"It's squeezing out all other spending," Melanga says. "Where are we going to get this $3 trillion dollars? ... When they're (government workers) allowed to retire at 58 and the rest of us are retiring at 60 and 67 — and by the way we're living to 80 — it's crazy. The public sector is the version of the European welfare state which, by the way, in Europe, they're actually rolling back." 

John Gage, president of the biggest federal workers union, the American Federation of Government Employees, disagrees: "This thing about unions and the public sector and bankrupting America, that's very far from the truth. Yes, we have a problem with pensions. Basically because these pension plans haven't been properly funded." 

So there you have it. Already overpaid public sector employees are whining that you haven't given enough.