Clearing the Browser Tabs – How Maryland Will Rob Me to Enrich Union Fat Cats Tuesday Edition

This is the month the state of Maryland, on behalf of the public sector union known as AFSCME, steals somewhere in the area of $400 from my yearly salary in order to enrich the union. As I’ve written before, I did not ask for AFSCME to negotiate on my behalf and have seen no gain that I would not have received as a matter of routine operation by the state. By the by, my salary is a matter of public record, so if you think I’m one of those state employees who is living high on the hog in one of the most expensive areas in the country to live, you have only to look.

AFSCME says the law it lobbied a majority Democratic legislature and Governor to pass is a matter of fairness. I say it’s a matter of some $4.7 million dollars the union will receive in money the state will pilfer for it from thousands of state workers who could use that money to help Maryland’s economy. Oh, did I mention that the state’s economy is still in terrible shape and we just faced down a deficit of over a trillion billion and a half dollars for fiscal 2012? (I originally had trillion, which I knew was wrong but my brain just didn’t flag that I used the wrong amount. Maybe this is the Democrats’ problem?)

And did I also mention that AFSCME coincidentally negotiated a $750 bonus for almost all state employees that will be given not as a lump sum but over the course of the year? That not only makes it taxable, but helps to hide the bite they will be taking from thousands of unwilling “contributors”.

Slick, huh? It’s almost as if the union was more interested in a big payday kept through deception than in the welfare of those it claims to nobly and selflessly represent.

You just might hear more about this on tonight’s episode of The Delivery. Remember, the fun and games kick off just a little bit before 9:30 P.M. Eastern.

And now, links!

• Geez. President Obama has the left calling him all sorts of names, doesn’t he?
• There’s a good reason we consider Cuba a state sponsor of terrorism. Because it is. Israel, on the other hand, has no place on a terrorism alert list and the administration should publicly apologize for its presence there.
• Ed Driscoll found a choice bit from Mark Steyn on the subject of immigration that’s worth your time today. You can get Steyn’s excellent thoughts on “Dependence Day” here.
• “Unexpected”? Unexpected!
• I’m honestly baffled, sometimes, at how people of surpassing stupidity get professional writing gigs.
• Our President would have us believe that hope is audacious, but he’s wrong. The real audacity is independence.
• Yes, Mr. Troglopundit, my rates are very reasonable!
• This is breathtaking: A one-year time-lapse video of the southern sky.

Other Posts of Interest:

• Clearing the Browser Tabs – The Budget Battle is Now Joined Tuesday Edition
• Clearing the Browser Tabs – Washington’s Been Berry Berry Good to Them Friday Edition
• Clearing the Browser Tabs – State of the Union Wednesday Edition

Tags: Linky Love

Category: Links