Union legacy costs have to go or public unions need to disband. Period.

Editor's notes: it turns out that government unions are the bane of a free society. All this business about redistributive wealth only applies to public (government) unions. The only jobs Obama has "created or saved" -- all 600,000 of them -- have been public union jobs. Remember his promise that 95% of his new jobs program would be private sector jobs? Just another broken promise bordering on an outright lie.

What is not mentioned in Heritage's review of public unions' push for ever increasing taxation (public unions are paid out of tax revenues) is that in California, public union legacy programs are 500 billion dollars in unfunded liabilities. What is unsustainable besides the spending of the current Administration are the legacy costs of the public unions. Public unions have become the enemy of a free people. --- jds

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Heritage reports:

Representing government employees has turned unions into determined supporters of tax increases and more government spending. Higher taxes mean the government can hire more workers and pay higher wages. As a result, public-sector unions have become a potent force lobbying for higher taxes and against spending reductions across America:

• Arizona . The Arizona Education Association (AEA) successfully lobbied against a repeal of a $250 million a year statewide property tax.[16] The AEA helpfully identified another $2.1 billion in tax increases for the legislature to pass to forestall spending reductions.[17]
• California . The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) spent $1 million on a television ad campaign pressing for higher oil, gas, and liquor taxes instead of spending reductions.[18]
• Illinois . The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 31 funded the “Fair Budget Illinois” campaign in 2009. The campaign ran television and radio ads pushing for tax increases instead of spending reductions to close the state’s deficit.[19]
• Maine . Mainers rejected a ballot initiative in November 2009 that would have prevented government spending from growing faster than the combined rate of inflation and population growth and require the government to return excess revenues as tax rebates. The Maine Municipal Association, the SEIU, the Teamsters, and the Maine Education Association collectively spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to campaign against the initiative, and it ultimately lost by a wide margin.[20]
• Minnesota . AFSCME Council 5 unsuccessfully lobbied state legislators to override Governor Tim Pawlenty’s veto of a $1 billion tax increase in the spring of 2009. Two Democrats joined all the Republicans in the state House to uphold the veto. In response AFSCME endorsed a primary challenger to one of the Democrats.[21] AFSCME is now lobbying state legislators to raise taxes by $3.8 billion.[22]
• New Jersey . Democratic State Senator Stephen Sweeney, now the president of the New Jersey Senate, opposed a 1 percent increase in the state sales tax in 2006. In response, the Communication Workers of America sent giant inflatable rats and protestors in hot dog costumes reading “Sweeney the Weenie” outside the former labor leader’s office.[23] The tax increase ultimately passed.
• Oregon . Public employee unions in Oregon provided 90 percent of the $4 million spent advocating two ballot initiatives to raise personal income and business taxes by $733 million.[24] The unions want the tax increases to prevent cuts in the gold-plated medical benefits for state workers.[25]
• Washington State. The Washington state legislature has resisted calls from unions to raise taxes. In response, labor unions are threatening to withhold donations and fund primary campaigns against the Democrats who will not vote for tax hikes.