Hell Freezes Over: Mayors Beg Blue State for Freedom from Public Sector Unionism

CT Gov. Dannel Malloy, Driving His State into Bankruptcy

Two municipalities have elected young black Millenial Republicans to local office, an unheard-of upset. There are new generation conservatives serving in the state legislature, too.

I am talking about … Connecticut!

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Connecticut’s S.O.S.
Mayors ask Hartford to save them from collective bargaining.

Connecticut mayors grappling with rising retirement costs and sinking economies this week issued a distress signal to lawmakers in Hartford: Save us from our public unions.

The public sector unions are greedy self-enriching, self-aggrandizing whore political machines. They do not care about the workers, the cities which they are supposed to serve, and they do not even care about the future fiscal strength of the states where they live.

The state would be in a “stronger position if we don’t negotiate for benefits,” Joe DeLong, the executive director of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, told a committee convened by the legislature to restore fiscal stability and economic growth. The conference of municipalities implored the state to end collective-bargaining for pensions and health-care benefits as well as limit binding arbitration when unions and local politicians deadlock during contract negotiations. This usually results in a sweet deal for the unions.

Of course the unions come out winning. They have effectively mobilized their relatively small numbers to assault and harass elected officials time and again. Even when prudent, fiscally disciplined conservatives take charge over a city council or school board, they don't have the heft or the help to stand up to these abusive unions.

The pigs at the taxpayer-funded trough need to pushed away and slaughtered.

“We’re suggesting it’s very difficult in the state of Connecticut under the current labor agreements and under binding arbitration,” said Waterbury mayor Neil O’Leary, a Democrat. His town’s health care and pension costs make up 30% of its budget.

Notice that Democrats are demanding relief. Public sector unions are losing support from both sides of the aisle. They have turned in the very bane of the political spectrum. This will not bode well for Democrats nationally, however, who are desperate to raise money, especially since their

Gov. Dannel Malloy, after multiple tax increases, last year tried to close the state’s $3.5 billion deficit by shifting teacher pension costs to municipalities. Mayors warned that this would lead to property tax hikes. The legislature punted some pension payments to the future, but mayors are worried that they will eventually be required to pick up more of the bill.

That's the way Democrats have been running Connecticut for the last eight years. They put all the costs on someone else, never taking into account that shifting the burden does not ease the burden. Governor Malloy is one of the most shameful demagogues in the country, an outright jerk who has routinely shamed and diminished political opponents and allies alike.

That’s because state lawmakers have little flexibility to cut spending since Mr. Malloy extended collective-bargaining agreements through 2027 despite receiving few concessions from government unions. Meanwhile, tax revenues have been declining amid a sluggish economy and retirement costs are soaring. About 35% of state revenues go to debt service and retirement obligations. Connecticut’s annual teacher pension contribution is projected to quadruple by 2032.

OUCH! Who's going to pay for these massive entitlements? Mexico? I guarantee that the rest of the country might build a wall around Connecticut to ensure that the pension liabilities don't spill into federal coffers.

While mayors say they’re willing to pay more for pensions, many want the ability to shift their employees to defined-contribution plans that give them control over the costs. But will Democrats in Hartford defy their labor friends and rescue Connecticut’s underwater cities? Connecticut voters are only beginning to understand the damage from two terms of Mr. Malloy.

Voters need to send a new kind of politician to Hartford, men and women who will defy unions and not bend over for their every wish. They need to start sending Republicans to clean up the mess and make Connecticut Great Again.