We're all a bunch of greedy bastards when it comes down to it. The pursuit of happiness requires capital, and since we all want to be happy, we all want more capital. Right or wrong, it is what it is.

It always makes me chuckle when I read claims by small business owners arguing that union workers are self-entitled extortionists who should shut up and get back to work. First of all, union labor is virtually non-existent in small business, so you have no skin in the game. You're free to go on paying your employees whatever you think they're worth, comforted in the notion that if they're unhappy, they can vote with their feet, and you can easily replace them with another person who'll be grateful for the work. No need for you to concern yourselves with big business problems. In fact, I should think most of you small business folks would be far less enamored with the guys across the big business bargaining tables, who are the true extortionists. The Boeing deal was a perfect example of corporate extortion. When they get a $9B tax break, who do you suppose makes up the revenue shortfall that results come next legislative session? In case you didn't know, I'll inform you that it's the middle class, of which the vast majority of small business owners and union laborers alike are members.

Another one that gets me every time is the notion that people who aren't happy with what they earn as employees should just start their own business and control their own destiny. An economy in which everybody owns a business might be an amusing social experiment, but when everyone figured out they had no help to fill the orders they weren't getting, they might start to question the feasibility aspect.

Like most posting here, I do have a negative reaction when I see figures that suggest someone doing a job that didn't require higher education is earning $150K. Once reminded that is a fully loaded rate (which in almost any middle class job is about double the actual rate of pay), I don't find that figure so outrageous. When I'm reminded that middle class wages have been relatively stagnant for over 30 years, I can't fault the union workers for using the only means available to them to offset some of the enormous amount of inflation that has occurred over that same period of time.

I don't always support union action, and I also don't think all unions are appropriate. Let's take Stam's favorite, the state employee unions (one of which I happen to pay into, despite my non-member status), as an example. The main reason I oppose such unions is that when the chips are down, they have no bargaining power against legislatures that are constantly working to offset revenue shortfalls that result when they give corporations tax breaks to keep them in the fold. Indeed, when the money's not flowing, collective bargaining becomes a North of Falconesque dog and pony show, with the end result being net losses in state employee compensation. For my 8 years of making mandatory contributions to union funds, I have ZERO pay/benefit increases to show for it, and I have actually lost ground due to across-the-board pay cuts and furloughs. I'm anxiously awaiting the announcement of how much I will lose when the current legislature introduces a budget that somehow overcomes a $2B revenue shortfall. It probably sounds like I'm complaining, but I'm okay with things. I like where I work, the work I do, and the policy that enables me to work on a schedule that allows me to post stuff like this on a Thursday. Those things are worth a lot to me (especially blogging on Thursday). That said, I do sense that my patience is starting to wear thin, and in the likely event that nothing changes soon, I will do what all you Reagan worshippers out there would have me do and find a new job. Who knows? Maybe I'll start my own small business and learn all about the joys of watching most of my profit going to pay taxes that big businesses refuse to pay....