Interesting article on unions and pensions

Will, Interesting article here, partly on recents trends in union-busting, but also on public employee pensions.  Proposes, in the final paragraphs, that perhaps pensions should be put to a vote, just like bonds. http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/mayjune_2011/features/the_fallacy_of_union_busting029139.php I’m not certain this would work well, because the public tends to have anti-Keynesian impulses (“I’m cutting back, so should the …

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Off Topic – How’d the national debt get so huge?

Interesting study – see the original document (quick read, 8 pages, simple-to-understand, good graphics) at: http://www.pewtrusts.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewtrustsorg/Fact_Sheets/Economic_Policy/drivers_federal_debt_since_2001.pdf How’d the national debt get so huge? In 2001, the Congressional Budget Office forecast that the nation’s publicly-held debt would be eliminated by 2006, and a surplus of $2.3 trillion would have accumulated by now. Instead, the federal government is now …

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Two Approaches to Traffic Safety (or Revenue Generation — take your pick)

[from the NMA newsletter] This is a tale of two cities and how they approach their traffic safety responsibilities. As the newsletter title intimates, Roseville (California) and Chevy Chase Village (Maryland) represent a contrast of law enforcement philosophies. Let’s start with Roseville. Former Sacramento City Manager Ray Kerridge moved into that same role with Roseville …

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