General Public Despise Public Workers But They Demand Their Services.

[TheMastersNemesis]

What is your local or state public worker did not show up in an emergency or were not their to provide a needed or vital public service? Public employees and teachers provide vital services to keep the country running. Yet voters hate them and want the to work for nothing. They are against them getting benefits, retirement and other benefits.

The push to privatize all of our public services is a dead end street. In the end it costs more as profits go to cronies and corporations. And services end up suffering or become non existent. Plus the employees doing those jobs end up being able to apply for food stamps.

The Walmarterization of our public domain is touted as a cure all and a better way to do business. In actuality it is a well disguised raid on the treasury by the monied class. In the end the populace suffers.

Years of public employee bashing and misinformation has taken its toll. Even the Democrats have given only weak kneed support of public employees and teachers if at all.

Trump is the epitome of turning our public institutions and commons over to profiteers who will leave our country in shambles. Health care is only the most prominent example of profiteering that we face.

Federal, state, county and municipal public employees provide vital public services to the community that hold the country together. Firefighters, police, teachers, administrators, regulatory staffs et al are important to communities in keeping us civil and safe. Turning these positions into unstable, temporary, and ill paying positions to just save money (which is false) erodes our society.

Billionaires like the Mercers, Kochs, Sinclairs, Petersons et al can make billions bilking the public trough. It is economic vampirism as its best. Trump is their biggest fan.

[SHRED]

1. Well said...thank you

[TheMastersNemesis]

5. One Problem Is That Obama & Democrats Have Been Silent On Public Servant Support.

Obama abandoned teachers with his Department Of Education pick. It left teachers with no one to vote for. Charter school jobs are only temporary and work at will. Pay little and have NO security. Teaching is a revolving door position at these schools. You can be gone for no reason and political considerations are the most important.

When a job is privatized, 40% or more is carved out of the tax money for profit. So there is in actuality a 40% reduction in money and that short fall comes with a reduced wage for the person doing the job. So in the end the cost is much more only it is hidden in the profit and overhead of the contracted company.

[LisaM]

2. Public employees put money into their communities too.

Outsourcing the profits (and I don't think public services should be run for profit anyway) sends the money away.

[Jake Stern]

3. Everyone wants smaller government until they can't get someone on the phone nt.

[Igel]

7. Everybody loves government. Everybody hates government.

Both are true pretty much for everybody.

My mother loved government. A bit racist, but otherwise had only ever voted straight (D). Donated (D). Called on behalf of (D) candidates. Stuffed circulars on behalf of (D) candidates. She loved the social programs, the way they looked after women, equal rights. She loved trash collection and when they caught the burglar in the neighborhood.

My mother hated government. All that NASA crap, and the military! The IRS was horrible, and she had little use for some of the agencies' functions. The county politicians were corrupt, and when they put the detention pond for harbor dredgings not too far away, they were truly contemptible. Let's not mention when the fat smelly rude policeman--damn them all--pulled her over and wrote her a ticket.

Even die-hard libertarians support the military (albeit perhaps a smaller one).

It's not a binary love/hate the whole enchilada.

When the (R) I know say "government" they don't mean the parts that help them. They mean the parts that help others. And they hate those parts. The parts they like they separate out by name.

When the (D) I know say "government" they don't mean the parts they disagree with. They mean the parts that help them and those they approve of. They love those parts. The parts they hate they separate out by name.

It's like states rights. (D) hate them when it involves allowing states to do things they don't like. (D) love them gay rights or recreational marijuana laws are adopted state by state.

Both sides mis-generalize based on just part of the whole.

[KT2000]

4. good post!

as the middle lass disappears, the wealthy take the spoils.
Privatization also closes the door to accountability.

[TheMastersNemesis]

6. A Major Part Of Accountability Is The Poor Service & Jobs Become Work At Will.

Many of these privatized jobs end up being contract labor limited term and pay contracts.