One mediocre consequence of Obama's bad economy is that employers are more inclined to oppress employees because the employer knows that there are ten people waiting in line for that particular job.  The bad employer feels free to demand unreasonable productivity "goals."  The flip side of this dilemma is that many employees have no regard for the Protestant work ethic.

In times past, unions provided a check and a remedy against oppressing workers. Today, unions are sophisticated and effective shakedown organizations focused on extorting large amounts of cash from middle class workers with an endgame of obtaining power and influence.  An objective analysis of California politics clearly reveals that union interests prevail.  The Manhattan Institute reports that over the last thirty years, "75 percent of the measures that the unions opposed were defeated."  The unions have effectively dissolved Lincoln's, "...government of the people, by the people, for the people..." in California.

In 1984 California was the 5th largest economy in the world but in 2012 California slipped to the 9th largest.  Workers, about 225,000 per year, and employers alike are fleeing en masse to business friendly and tax friendly Texas, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon and North Dakota.  Some will undoubtedly slam economic might as a worthy goal for California but the lament of that mindset is high unemployment (people's livelihoods), huge deficits and bankrupt cities like Vallejo, Stockton, Mammoth Lakes and San Bernardino.

The San Francisco Chronicle reveals a common issue with these red ink communities, "...cities that are unable to persuade public employee unions to agree to deep cuts in salaries and benefits."

If voters want to overcome California's $16 billion budget deficit and its real unemployment rate of 20.3 percent then they will have to deal unions a mortal blow.  Bankruptcy seems to be the only circumstance that makes unions back down from their demands.

The amount of cash that unions extort from taxpayers is just staggering.  Union Watch reveals this, "California's public sector unions are collecting, and presumably spending, over a billion dollars a year.  Since the payroll data provided by the state controller does not include K-12 teachers, nor local police and firefighters, professions where the annual dues are almost always over $1,000 per year, this estimate of $1.0 billion is probably low."

Union bosses are using well over a billion dollars per year of hard earned taxpayer dollars to buy lobbyists, buy politicians, litigate and force their will on California.  Of course the ads and the propaganda claim that it is all about the kids, jobs, education and public service!  That is subterfuge.  It is about an outrageous cash cow and the power that cash brings to the table in Sacramento.  And we haven't said a word about private sector unions.

Proposition 32 is a legitimate attempt to end this evil fiasco.  But the unions are spending huge amounts of cash to deceive voters about Proposition 32.

Ballotpedia describes Proposition 32:

If approved, Proposition 32 will:

• Ban both corporate and union contributions to state and local candidates
• Ban contributions by government contractors to the politicians who control contracts awarded to them
• Ban automatic deductions by corporations, unions, and government of employees' wages to be used for politics

If unions can be pushed out of politics then maybe they will get back to caring for and addressing the needs of individual union members at the local level.  As it is now, their focus is on power in Sacramento.

The high crime of union members is that they keep voting their pocketbooks in lock step with the unions.  Meanwhile taxpayers are turning blue due to excessive taxes and many cities are operating deep in the red.  Progressives routinely claim greed and avarice against big business and rich folks but union members voting for financial gain and unions buying politicians reveals a far worse problem.

Paying union workers and government employees a great wage would not be a problem if revenues supported it.

California classrooms suffer many needs and as things stand now if the unions do not want a particular change then it is easy enough for them to kill the remedy -- monopolies work that way

This great experiment called America has always been about a constitutional republic -- elected officials representing the interests of the people.  Unions have usurped, "We the People" and the time is now for Californians to fight back and regain control of their government.