Weekend Links

Local:

Washington State Legislators are wondering if state workers have given their fair share to help balance the state budget.  Washington is one of the most unionized states in the nation (think Boeing and its 55,000 employees).  The state is also one of the more leftist states in the Union.  Like in Wisconsin, that is a volatile combination.  Right now, it is only a low murmur in the Capital hallways but when the noise starts to become  louder (and it will), the state workers and their union cohorts will be un in arms and it would not surprise me to see a repeat of Wisconsin here in Washington.

National:

Gov Walker is talking layoffs if the bill is not passed due to the runaway state Senators.  I say he should start the layoff process tomorrow. See how the union folks start to eat themselves as people begin to get laid off. The people are so blinded by their hatred for Walker and their desire to keep the union sucking at the teat of the taxpayers they are willing to sacrifice fellow teachers and other employees.

One third grade teacher was quoted as saying, “It’s never good when anybody loses their job.  But we know in the long run if we keep our rights they could somehow find the money to hire those teachers back.”  What part of “we’re broke” don’t they understand?  I guess they have in their minds that the taxpayers have a bottomless pool of money from which they can take money whenever they want.

Global:

Iraqi oil refinery attacked and damaged by insurgents. After all the years and times I have spent over in the Middle East, I don’t think I will ever truly get my mind around how foolish some of these people can be.  Why in the world would you want to damage the one thing that your country has going for you? If you don’t like the way the government functions, wait until the next series of elections and run yourself or vote for a candidate that meets your demands.

I know folks over in the Middle East don’t necessarily think like we do. They have a history of solving problems in a different manner going back 100’s if not 1000’s of years. But I just can’t understand why they would want to live life like it was 300 years ago. Yes, things were simpler, but the world has gone way past the simple nomadic life some of these people seem to desire. Destroying a means in which your country can be an economic force seems kind of backwards.

In other Middle Eastern news: Forces in Libya turning against the government. Anti-Government protesters die in Oman. Prime Minister in Tunisia resigns.