[quote=paramount]One of the targets of McCarthyism was unions, including SAG.
“Not only that, the money from govt workers goes directly into the local economy. If that money is pulled out, how in the world does anyone think it would benefit workers in the private sector?”
I am an engineer by training and as such know very little about economics, but I know enough to see that you have even less knowledge than I do. Every dollar that is taken from the private sector to pay a government worker is one dollar less that would be used more efficiently by the private sector/producers.
In other words, gov’t workers are for the most part overhead.[/quote]
The private sector benefits from the services provided by the public sector (social, physical, and legal infrastructure; security; health and safety; an educated workforce and customer base…on and on it goes), and without those benefits, would not be nearly as profitable. In the extreme case of a complete absence of these public services (or total corruption of these workers, as happens when they are underpaid), the private sector would collapse.
Yes, services performed by the public sector are indeed a form of overhead, but the benefits that result from this overhead outweigh the costs.
You’re assuming that a dollar “saved” by taking from government services would somehow materialize as a dollar in your pocket. It doesn’t work that way. Like it or not, those taxpayer dollars are largely (if not entirely) responsible for our quality of life in the U.S. — because our military has been able to defeat our competition, and because our leagal and social infrastructure makes it safe for people to perform their tasks with the knowledge that their intellectual property will be protected, and that their physical property (and life) will be protected as well. We do not have to worry about day-to-day survival in this country because of our government services which create order, and prevent chaos and constant civil unrest.
Look around the world and try to find a successful country that is able to maintain a quality of life for the majority of their populations that is comparable to what middle-class Americans have been able to enjoy; note how much they pay in taxes, and whether or not their public servants are well-paid or underpaid, compared to private sector employees. There is NO evidence that reducing compensation for govt workers will result in more money for private sector workers.
