Thousands of union supporters descended upon Wisconsin’s state capital this week to protest Governor Scott Walker’s budget-balancing proposal. In order to save his state from bankruptcy, the Republican governor has called for public employees to contribute to their pensions and pay part of their health insurance premiums. His budget also limits government collective bargaining to just wages, and prevents government unions from forcing taxpayers to fund their luxurious benefits.

The schools in Madison had to shut down on Wednesday and Thursday because so many teachers abandoned their students to go protest Governor Walker’s partial dismantling of union ‘collective bargaining rights.’ Nothing says, “I’m here for the kids!” quite like shutting down schools because your cushy union benefits might be slashed.

Newsflash to public sector unions: We are all struggling. We are all scrambling to pay our bills, to deal with the ever-increasing cost of living, and we generally thank God every morning we wake up and still have a job. What makes you so much more special than us?

Public sector unions claim to protect against oppression of the worker, yet they ironically force everyone in a given field to join or be fired. Take the teachers for example — Wisconsin public school teachers have to join the union, and their wages are garnished to a tune of $1,100 a year. The union thugs are then able to contribute to handpicked candidates and get them elected, and that politician shows his gratitude by pushing legislation to give the public unions more and more taxpayer dollars.

Did you catch that? The organization that supposedly protects against oppression oppresses workers by forcing them to join a union, whether they agree with it or not.

Read the rest at The Stir