The Price Of Bipartisanship

When I hear or read about politicians and pundits bemoaning the lack of bipartisanship in government, I cringe.

BEING a political PARTISAN is WHAT Democracy is all about. If everyone in politics got along to get along and compromised on all issues, there would be no good political or social progress, and a dearth of anything resembling decent policies.

I would NEVER vote to send my representative to government “TO GET ALONG” with the other side. I want him or her to be as tough as nails, and if necessary to be as mean as a junkyard dog when it comes to fighting for the principles I support.

The BRILLIANCE of the American system is that it has been designed to be CONFRONTATIONAL.

This past Congress has been the MOST PARTISAN in my memory, ONLY because of the total control the Democrats had over all three levels of government, INCLUDING several compliant Republicans.

But it really wasn’t partisan at all, since the other side (Conservative Republicans) were never allowed to get into the “game”. And it didn’t start with this Congress and President.

This bipartisan rubbish has been fomenting for generations amongst politicians whose ONLY concern has been getting elected and staying elected.

And what have the people won for this bipartisanship?

1 – Horrific unemployment.

2 – Sky-high taxes.

3 – Suffocating regulations.

4 – An empowered, bloated and intrusive civil service.

5 – Loss of world economic dominance to our global competitors.

6 – Loss of individual FREEDOMS.

7 – And a ONE-WAY street to national bankruptcy.

Because the politicians REFUSE to campaign on the TRUTH, and when in office do and say whatever their pollsters tell them to do, and what to say based upon what might help them in their NEXT election, NO ONE IN OFFICE IS WILLING TO STAND AND FIGHT.

NON-PARTISANSHIP BE DAMNED!

When John Boehner, the new Speaker of the House said that “we are not the Party of no, WE’RE THE PARTY OF HELL NO”, it was the first time since following politics that I thought – FINALLY there’s hope.

I want this Congress, especially the House to come out swinging with a sledgehammer in each hand, caring in the least what the other side and pundits have to say about bipartisanship.

If the Republicans think a deal is NOT good for the country, or if a deal costs the country money it doesn’t have, or an entire department should be shut down for whatever reason; they should JUST DO IT!

The people sent an unmistakable message to the politicians this past November 2010. THEY SAID HELL NO! So, all the politicians who want to get reelected in November 2012, who don’t understand what the people said loud and clear . . . are ignorant at their own peril.

THE SLEEPING BEAST WILL STRIKE THIS YEAR:

We, who pay attention to these things, know that the free-for-all mortgage industry, the lax controls on banking institutions, and the Wall Street Casino better known as the Stock Market all played a huge role in the financial mess America is in today.

We also know that those heavily BLOATED union contracts, salaries, healthcare deals, and pensions, which priced General Motors and Chrysler out of the worldwide competitive auto industry, are untenable.

Ford hung in by the grace of their F-Series Trucks and offshore factories.

But, when we combine EVERYTHING that we KNOW that has caused the misery and huge unemployment and underemployment in the USA and Canada, they won’t amount to a hill of beans in comparison to the calamity that is about to strike.

ANYONE WHO DOESN’T WORK FOR A CIVIL SERVICE DOESN’T KNOW.

What they do know . . . is that the BOOMERS who are retiring now in the MILLIONS are beginning to collect their pensions.

What they DON’T know . . . is that the civil service BOOMERS who have worked for whichever level of government are going to be collecting pensions at a rate that is on average 45% higher than what a comparable private pension pays, to TEN TIMES what will be paid to most people who never worked for a large company, and had to manage their own pensions themselves.

Even WORSE that that . . . the civil service BOOMERS can retire at age 55 WITH OUR MONEY.

WHERE IS THE MONEY SUPPOSED TO COME FROM?

As hard as I tried to find any information whatsoever for the accumulated cost of civil service pensions across Canada and the USA respectively, I could not.

Not only could I find nothing – I believe the governments don’t know either.

If the mortgage industry was “underwater” for as much as a half TRILLION dollars, and the auto industry for about $100 BILLON, and the banks through the “toxic assets” representing several hundred more BILLION, with the insurance industry several hundred more BILLION on top of that, it might all be chickenfeed to what the civil service pensions represent.

I’ve been writing about this for more than a year. Where has the mainstream media been?

No one seems to want to talk about it – But the unfunded public sector pension entitlements from all villages, towns, cities, states/provinces and national capitols are in the TRILLIONS, and are absolutely UNSUSTAINABLE.

We’re not talking about a one shot TRILLION-DOLLAR debacle, which would be bad enough. This is much worse than that.

What we are talking about includes at least two generations of ongoing COMPOUNDING public sector retirement debt NOT INCLUDING CURRENT PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS who are years away from retirement, that must be paid for by the dwindling private sector who are already taxed into the ground.

FOX News listed several towns which are raising their property taxes, NOT to build better infrastructure, or to maintain existing infrastructure, or even to hire more employees or pay them a better wage.

The tax increases are there EXCLUSIVELY to pay the pensions of retired and retiring civil servants for which the respective government has no money.

If the town or province where I live raised my taxes even one penny to pay a civil servant’s pension – I’d EXPLODE.

BUT THAT’S WHAT’S HAPPENING. AND IT’S JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG.

How bad is the situation? Just ask the public sector retirees of Pritchard Alabama, who no longer receive any pension checks because the town has simply run out of money. And what are the pensioners going to do about it?

Who knows, since these are uncharted waters in the BLACK-HOLE created by the politicians and bureacrats of where no one has ever been before?

But, if as I suspect it will be, it will be a pattern of things to come for public sector workers right across the USA and Canada. Because, if the politicians start raising taxes on the already overburdened PRIVATE SECTOR working class, to pay these BLOATED public sector pensions that are GREATER than the money EARNED by the taxpayers . . . THERE WILL BE A REVOLUTION.

If we had politicians who worked a fraction as hard for their constituents as they do for themselves and their Parties, who would be quick to be confrontational and ABSOLUTELY partisan, it is very doubtful that any of the preceding would have happened.

But, when you show up to office with your primary goal to be NON-CONFRONTATIONAL and BIPARTISAN, there is no one to guard the gate to keep the union hordes at bay, especially when it’s so easy to buy votes with other people’s money.

And now we’re about to pay the price . . . BIG TIME!

There is no audio editorial with this article.

Best Regards . . . Howard Galganov