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I often have to pick my chin up off of the floor when reading letters to the editor, but one line from a letter in the March 6 Denver Post had my face so contorted I could have posed for Picasso.
That letter, written by one Patricia KC Anthone, asserted that "the level to which these (public-sector, union) jobs are overcompensated is legend."
Overcompensated? My kids' teachers? Our snow plow driver? Really?
I have a teenaged son and a preteen daughter, and they know enough about the world to know that there are some galactically wealthy people out there. And they further know that those rich people aren't their teachers or firemen…or parents, for that matter.
No, those kind of rich people aren't so accessible. They can be seen in the newspapers or on TV interviews wearing shiny shoes to match their shiny teeth. They have soft skin and clean fingernails and creepy, rich-guy smiles. My children can see, even if Ms. Anthone cannot, that no matter how these guys got that rich, one thing is certain. They did NOT work for it.
At a more tender age, my son once asked me sincerely if, because it seemed that people should get paid more money for harder work, or at least more valuable work like doctors and engineers, then what did people like the Koch brothers do, exactly, to "earn" all that money? (Of course at the time he used a different rich-guy example like Bill Gates or Queen Elizabeth.) Well, unless I allowed myself to be snarky and dismissive, something I try hard not to be around my kids, and say "They stole it," or "They sat on their fat, white, Christian asses smoking Monte Christo's and sipping Maker's Mark," I was kind of at a loss, so I mumbled something about needing to clean the bathtub, and sent him to ask his father.
My point here is that it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that the Koch's didn't "earn" their money at all. They do not work for a living and never have, unless you count all of that wrist work from writing checks to ever more grateful politicians.
And yet, according to Ms. Anthone, it is not the multi-millionaires who are "overcompensated" for their hard work, but the police officers, nurses, and meter readers.
And before you come back at me with, "But they need that money so they can invest it and create jobs," let me just respond…Bulshit! If they had any intention of investing any of their money in jobs out of their heartfelt concern for the country's middle class, they would have done it ten years ago when President W one-upped Reagan in the whole "taxes bad; Swiss bank accounts good" movement, and lopped off several more percentage points from the Koch's personal income taxes. Instead, they invest their new savings in something much, much more lucrative—politicians.
I don't know about Ms. Anthone, but my children don't need ten whole years to learn that they are being played like a cheap fiddle. The only jobs that those rich corporate jerks intend to create are in China, because, hey! why pay for healthcare for some line worker's asthmatic son when you can throw three dollars a day at a woman in China who will never complain, demand a raise, or—God forbid!—unionize because her oppressive government won't let her?
The really sad part is that Ms. Anthone is being pitted against her fellow citizens in order to fight the Kochs' fight for them. She's being told, "Watch out for those union folks. They want you to pay more in taxes so that they can have more money than you. Look at them. They get all of this vacation and overtime. Where's YOUR overtime? How about THEY pay more so that YOU can have more vacation, huh?!"
And so she blithely goes about railing against the unions, never once stopping to consider that taking away the collective bargaining rights of her friends and neighbors will not only have ZERO effect on her own financial well-being, but will most-likely make her poorer…much poorer. She doesn't understand that the rising tide of higher wages and better benefits for union workers also puts pressure on her own private employer to provide her with the same perks. Maybe that's just a few too many synapses for her tiny little brain to fire off at once.
Hey, here's an idea: How about, instead of trying to squeeze blood from the turnips which are Ms. Anthone and the union workers she envies, we tax the people who actually HAVE THE MONEY. Instead of demanding that unionized workers give up their rights, how about demanding that the Kochs give up some of their cash. Now, I'm not talking about "punishing" them for being wealthy. I simply mean that when you can afford to write millions of dollars worth of checks in order to get your elected officials to stand up and salute, then you can afford to pay your share of taxes, taxes on money that you did nothing to obtain.
So, the Koch's and their ilk, are essentially getting Ms. Anthone and her ilk to propose the following ultimatum to the American people: You want jobs? Fine. Just give up all of the hard-fought, hard-won rights like overtime, weekends, and a safe working environment, and stop whining about not making enough money. 'Cause, see, compared to people in China, you're overcompensated!
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