People may think Wisconsin matters only for two reasons: the Green Bay Packers and cheese. Recent events, however, have given everyone a third reason. Wisconsin has erupted, and no, it is not a prolonged Super Bowl party.

For the past week, hordes of demonstrators have descended upon the state capital to raise their voices. Wisconsin teacher’s union members and their allies have gathered to protest Gov.Scott Walker’s plan, which can be found on the governor’s website, to address the state’s projected $3.6 billion shortfall by 2013.

An unjustified outcry

The Wisconsin teachers union is undoubtedly angered by Gov. Walker’s proposals, which include ending collective bargaining for benefits and increasing out-of-pocket contributions for health and pension plans.

Public school teachers have a Constitutional right to assemble and petition, but they currently pay relatively very little or even nothing towards their lavish pensions and health care plans. Moreover, Gov. Walker’s modest proposals merely raise these out-of-pocket rates to levels that are still considerably less than what the private sector pays.

The power-grabbing agenda

The point is that current public employee benefit plans are unsustainable, yet the teacher’s unions continue to ignore looming circumstances and instead, pursue their own gain.

To be fair, many teacher’s union members disagree with the collective teacher’s union stance. Public school teachers simply do not have a choice to opt out of union membership, and that is a crucial problem. Essentially, this lack of choice exists so that the union can loot more paychecks.

When I was a high school teacher, I was forced by the union contract to pay annual dues of $1000 for services that I did not want or need. The union also took my money to support political causes with which I disagreed, but I had no choice; http://neaexposed.com reveals more details of this.

Notably, Gov. Walker’s proposal includes giving teachers the option to opt out of the union and keep their money, much to the union establishment’s chagrin.

It’s not about the kids

The teacher’s union interests — protecting bad teachers, less accountability, better benefits, and blocking productive education reforms that threaten its organization, according to an article in The Washington Post — do not always accord with the interests of schoolchildren.

Nevertheless, the teachers union constantly advances its agenda under the guise of helping schoolchildren. Truthfully, the adults wallow in their perks at the expense of the students.

Not only have Wisconsin public schools closed because of the protests, but unless the teacher’s union makes concessions, the very students it teaches will be handed a burdensome debt when they are older. After all, future generations are stuck with the tab to pay for the older generation’s relatively luxuriant retirement.

A lesson from California

California is an example of what can happen to a state that panders to unions. In this state, the situation is much more dire. The state government holds a $25 billion budget shortfall, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office’s “California Fiscal Outlook,” for the current fiscal year, and a Stanford University study projects up to $500 billion in unfunded public employee pension liabilities, according to http://californiawatch.org. Granted, unions are not the only players to blame for the fiscal predicament, they have been significant contributors to the problem.

Happy Cows Come From… Wisconsin?

California dairy farmers boast that that happy cows come from California. Such a claim may be false now that the California state government has milked its taxpayers dry, not that I am derogatorily calling myself or any other taxpayer, a cow.

Gov. Walker’s plan to reform the public worker retirement system, to rein in the unions’ plundering of taxpayers, and to check union bullying will at least help Wisconsin from descending into the same plight as California.

Then, happy cows will come from Wisconsin. Great cheese will come from Wisconsin, and all Green Bay Packer fans can more proudly wear their cheese head hats.