Expect public employee union strikes

Newspapers are reporting that public employees have struck in Ecuador, Greece, Spain, France and Portugal. Look for them to strike in California if their wages or benefits are cut.

It's alive!

This is the first post since December 2009. Whether this marks a return to regular posting remains to be seen. Here are a few things that bug this old fool. Perhaps they'll be subjects for future posts:

• California's budget deficit
• California's inept government
• California's inept governator
• California's misguided Democratic legislators
• Unions that represent California's public employees

Come to think of it, those are all one subject -- except for the inept governator. California's public employee unions finance the election campaigns of Democratic candidates for the legislature. Once elected, the legislators are beholden to the unions. Legislators structure legislation to require more workers or higher pay or both. Unions collect more dues and use a portion to elect more friendly legislators who vote to increase public sector payrolls. As a result, Californians get more government than they need and bigger deficits than they can afford.

As for the governator, he's simply incompetent. Ostensibly a Republican, he's often gone along with legislative Democrats and he refuses to defend Prop. 8. Each year he signs roughly three quarters of the thousand or so bills that the legislature produces.