I was watching the news about the "protests" in the state capitol of Wisconsin, where government workers are pissed off because the governor is going to slash a great many jobs, benefits or whatever. One person they interviewed had the balls to say that the situation was as bad as it was for Egyptians. The worst part of it was that she was a teacher. Seriously. Fire her first for thinking that teaching in Wisconsin is as oppressive as living under a dictatorship.
The brutal reality is that high unemployment means that aggregate income of people is lower, and that makes tax revenue for states lower. The states don't have the seemingly blank check that the feds have. If they don't have money, they don't have money. It sucks, but most states are dealing with this, including the otherwise well to do state of Washington here. Governors and legislators have no choice but to cut spending. It's the only responsible option they have.
That said, I can't believe that these people stand up in front of cameras and claim that "the people have spoken!" No, "the people" is who you work for, and they pay your salary. If they don't have the income to pay taxes, then there is no money for you to be paid. Again, it may suck, but even work in the public sector is not immune to the state of the economy.
This is also being used as a platform to indicate that teachers are underpaid, which shouldn't even key into it. I agree that teachers are underpaid, but it doesn't change the reality of the situation that state governments are in. I worked in government for years, and I know how these things go. A program or department can be cut at any time, because those are decisions that our elected people are there to make. It's the risk you take working for government. (And don't get me started about how screwed up teacher unions are.)
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