War Of The Spheres (cont.)

 In short, the lumpen electorate works, and the lumpen bureaucratariat spends. They get away with it because they have perfected the illusion that no human hand causes these commitments. The payroll tax just happens. Entitlements are "off-budget," presumably in the hands of God. This is government without the responsibility of governance.
    Danniel Henninger, WSJ

As we have noted before, many of the most ferocious struggles seems to be contests between the private and public sector.  Who gets the money and the power, the bureaucrats and the politicians or the people who pay the taxes in return for ... promises, mostly.

Perhaps the most effective weapon in the public sector's arsenal is the automatic spending increase.  As, for instance:

David Dunn, chairman of the Brattleboro Union High School Board #6 and member of the negotiation committee, said the teachers eligible for step increases in salary will receive a boost in wages for the 2009-2010 contract year.

The teachers at the longevity step (the maximum pay level) will receive a 0.75 percent salary increase, as according to a salary matrix used by the district.

Sixty percent of the teachers are at the maximum salary level, while the remaining 40 percent are eligible for step increases, said Dunn.
Reformer

Comments

[Dennis Lukas]

I think our overspending friends in government are going to to see many angry constituents over the coming months. GDP is dropping, tax revenues are falling, and unemployment is 16.4%. Governments answer to short falls is to raise taxes.The American people have had enough.They are not seeing their lives improving by all the wonderfull government spending, and they are sick of the government telling them what they can do. There is a large storm coming from THE GREAT SILENT MAJORITY, they have had enough.