Shortly after Rep. Giffords and other innocents were shot by a mentally-ill man, I went on Thom Hartmann’s television show and was surprised at how Thom-who I disagree with about just all matters of policy, but consider a generally reasonable and fair person-had joined the bandwagon in trying to somehow blame overheated political rhetoric for the actions of the apolitical lunatic in Arizona. Thom was careful to say it wasn’t just the political Right, but the entire “anti-government” movement that was too blame for using violent rhetoric and creating an atmosphere where citizens were more likely to strike out against members of the political class.


I’ll be on Thom’s radio show on Monday, and I’ll be interested to hear his thoughts on the union’s behavior in Wisconsin. Do unions now count as part of the destructive “anti-government” faction of society? Is Thom denouncing those unions and sympathetic parties for the blatantly violent imagery that they are using?


I’m sure many on the Left will attempt to characterize the unions as standing up against “the government” or “power,” and it’s certainly true that today they are working to undermine (illegally) the democratically-elected government of Wisconsin. But let’s not kid ourselves, what the unions is fighting for is bigger, more expensive government in the future.


The unions have been the powerful, and have been using that power to elect people who will “negotiate” sweetheart deals that soak taxpayers. Let’s be clear: it is the epitome of a corrupt relationship: unions make massive campaign contributions to elect those who will then give union members (and especially union leaders) a bigger cut of taxpayer money and more power (as Charlotte describes here). Taxpayers are the ones who have lacked any power in this equation, and that’s why Wisconsin elected a Governor who pledge to cut government spending and protect taxpayers.


The American people (most of whom are not part of a union) understand that there is a big difference between private and public sector unions. They also know that elections are supposed to have consequences.


Is the Left really comfortable with the idea of lawmakers fleeing to shut down government operations when they know they are going to lose in the legislature?


I’m anxious to hear what Thom has to say.