Your eyes on California Government

John Seiler:

The Occupy Wall Street crowd is protesting against the high pay of the top 1 percent in income in America. They say they’re part of the “99%ers” — all the working people who keep the country going.

Our friend Larry Sand points out that California’s government worker unions, especially the teachers’ unions, are joining the bandwagon, claiming to represent the 99 percent. He writes:

It’s almost Halloween and the California Teachers Association, a rich and powerful outfit, is in costume as one of the “99%ers” – protesters who claim to be have-nots.

A couple of weeks ago United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten made sympathetic statements about the Occupy Wall Street movement. Now the California Teachers Association has jumped in with a full endorsement and suggestions on its website as to how teachers and others can get involved in OWS activities.

Well, guess what?

Larry listed the salaries of some of the government union “99%ers.”

I plugged those salaries into the “What percent are you?” calculator. Here’s what I found:

* National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel (parent group of the CTA): $543,868 in salary in benefits: He’s actually a “1%er” — in the top 1 percent of incomes in America. So, by joining OWS, he’s protesting against himself!

* American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten (parent of the California Federation of Teachers): $493,859. Turns out she’s not in the top 1 percent — just the top 2 percent. So, she’s part of the proletariate — she’s an authentic 99%er. A real working-class person. Salt of the earth. Has trouble feeding herself.

* CTA President David Sanchez: $289,550. Another poor working stiff! He’s in the top 4 percent. As Sands notes, that’s “three times what an average teacher in CA makes.” Yet he, too, is an authentic, working-class “99%er.”

Actually: Bunch o’ fat cats, living off our tax money.

And let’s remember that this money for their salaries is forcibly taken from teachers’ dues — which originally is funded with money stolen from taxpayers. Unions keep resisting any move to make union dues optional — even dues for political causes that teachers themselves may despise.

It’s the best scam around because it’s all done “for the children.”

Wall Street certainly has a lot of sins to answer for. In particular, it buys the politicians who rip off our tax money for bailouts. President Bush’s treasury secretary was Hank Paulson, former top honcho at Goldman Sachs. When Paulson was doling out Bush’s TARP bailout money, guess who got a huge chunk? Hint: Initials are G.S.

But the government worker unions also are part of the government-Wall Street-union Axis of Bankruptcy.

What we need is an Occupy the Schools movement to get union power out of the classrooms — and competency and standards back in.

– Oct. 25, 2011

Tags: California Federation of Teachers, California Teachers Association, John Seiler