Both the left and right consider current events in Wisconsin as singularly defining to their respective causes. Our shallow 24/7 info-entertainment news media enjoys whipping up more excitement and exaggerated controversy. It is wholly uninterested in providing the public with most of the unbiased facts that surround the situation. Both Republicans and Democrats narrowly play their type-cast roles by demonizing each other. Americans are either spellbound or completed bored with this third-rate opera being staged in Madison.

Unions in America should not be glorified or demonized. They have played both positive and negative roles in our history. They were and still are most effective when battling egregious and pervasive abuses of workers by greedy oligarchs in private enterprises, but once they became successful, they often descend into corruption and excessive demands that no longer consider the realities of a competitive market economy. Our nation’s huge problems go far beyond the role of unions in both the public and private sectors. We are facing wholly unsustainable economic, financial, social and political systems that few people wish to honestly address or even explain.

I may personally view unions in a more positive role than the majority of Americans, but I have been disappointed many times in the past by obtuse union leadership in pursuing many short-sighted priorities. I am more in favor of protecting and expanding collective bargaining rights and economic power in the private sector rather than in the public sector. However, in an overall climate of rage, fear, anger, extreme ideologies and partisanship, a “moderate” middle road is not likely to form within our corrupt merged political-economic system.

I am more of the opinion that over 90% of Americans and people around the globe are being massively abused by unregulated global corporations, corrupt public officials, and the small cadre of wealthy oligarchs, plutocrats and kleptocrats who control both. Our national political systems are today dominated by crony capitalism descending into neo-feudalism. Excessive bribery and money lavished upon elected officials of both parties effectively drowns out the voices and best interests of the vast majority of people in this nation and in most countries around the world. Representational democracy, competitive free market systems, and strong protections of individual rights and the health of the entire planet are under assault from a powerful and wealthy few. Fighting over the collective bargaining rights of unionized public employees is pretty much irrelevant to the big picture and much larger challenges facing our nation.

In the past, many of the generous provisions in public pension and health benefits were negotiated by weak elected officials working under excessively delusional economic assumptions. Not only was there some “collusion” in the bargaining process between union leaders and Democratic politicians they helped elect, both sides made irrational assumptions during the past 20 years about future growth in the economy, the cost of healthcare services, and the overall returns on investment in various stocks and bonds.

We must now see reality for what it is and that means many promises to public employees cannot be met under any likely circumstances. If (1) GDP and tax revenues have only increased at a 2% annual rate for the past decade and will continue at this average low rate for the next 10 years, (2) healthcare costs grow at over 10% per year, (3) pension fund investment returns and public contributions are flat, and (4) overall defined-benefit plans do not keep up with the needs and numbers of likely future retirees, the system cannot be sustained under any set of economic assumptions or political ideologies. Something has to give and no one is going to be happy.

While I advocate serious tax reform at the state and federal levels to expand the tax base, and that overall tax rates on those whose active and passive incomes exceed $500,000 or more should be far more progressive, no reasonable or even aggressive efforts at tax code reform and passing tax increases on the oligarchy can possible stem the tide of red ink at the state and federal levels.

If half of working Americans (65 million) now earn just $505 a week or less, no one can realistically expect the lower half of all workers, plus the 50% of all members of society who constitute the young, the retirees, the unemployed, and the disabled to contribute much in the way of tax revenues. We have to honestly enact serious spending cuts in every area of government activity. We need a mature and honest debate with respect to what state and national priorities are worth pursuing and thereafter making many unpleasant choices. I am also of the opinion that it is highly unlikely that any of these areas will be addressed.

Even if collective bargaining rights were preserved for all of the public employees in Wisconsin and elsewhere where they still exist, in this climate of permanent budget shortfalls, exactly what greater salaries and benefits could unionized public employees bargain for now and for the foreseeable future? Alternatively, why put some offensive and excessive bargaining limitations into law when effective hard bargaining would come to the same results? Instead of both sides finding new ways to embarrass, insult and demean the opposition, would not strong and honest negotiations with the flexibility to accept smart compromises be sufficient in most cases?

I will fault Republicans today in over-reaching on many budget areas at both the state and federal levels in order to solely win points with an extremely ideological and uncompromising base while generally ignoring the best interests of the vast majority of Americans. Simultaneously, I fault Democrats for not proposing a strong alternative to the Republican policies and fully explaining their positions with the American public. Republicans have an agenda; Democrats simply are flailing about. I will fault both parties in completely ignoring the huge need to find ways to encourage the creation of tens of millions of good-paying private sector jobs in America that can compete globally with workers and industries of any nation.

If Republicans want to gut many programs dear to Democrats and simultaneously threaten to close down the government if they don’t get their way, then Democrats should make strong counter-proposals to end needless tax subsidies to big oil, agribusiness, and many wasteful military projects (including many foreign bases and two unwinnable wars) that are dear to Republicans. Both parties could find far more than just a paltry $60 billion to cut when the projected deficits will exceed $1.5 trillion this year and next, and still keep the government fully operational. In this extreme partisan climate, it is perfectly logical to respond to proposed odious budget cuts from one political side with equally odious proposals for budget cuts from the other side of the political spectrum.

Unfortunately, hubris, greed, narcissism, fear, anger, willful ignorance, extreme ideologies, rampant corruption and short-term priorities on the part of many Americans and the majority of our elected officials in both parties will prevent most moderate and sane compromises. The American Empire is quickly collapsing from increasingly un-payable mountains of public and private debt secured against declining assets, excessive financial speculation and corruption, and from pursuing far too many wildly misplaced priorities. We sadly cannot seem to do a thing about anything big or small as a society. At least things are looking up at bit in Tunisia – we hope.

Submitted 2/28/11 by Marc Pascal happily ranting from Phoenix, Arizona.