“BTW, our states are not going broke because of the unions. They are going broke because of the boom/bust policies of the Federal Reserve.”

CAR,

Actually, it was the policies of the Federal Reserve that helped us to realize what kind of untenable commitment we made as states. As Warren Buffett says, “you don’t know who is swimming naked until the tide goes back out”.

As income tax revenues declined, and people lost their jobs, and thus sales tax revenues declined, we have in place these hard budget promises of lavish pensions of over $1M/employee (not just teachers).

I see that as far as tax revenue, the natural business cycle went into a bust period, so you are correct there. But states are unable to be nimble because of the spending that the public unions are unwilling to cut.

And then they go on strike against their boss…which is you and me. They want blood from a stone.