The public strongly opposes laws taking away the collective bargaining power of public employee unions as a way to ease state financial troubles, according to a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll.
The poll found that 61% would oppose a law in their state similar to one being considered in Wisconsin, compared with 33% who would favor such a law. ...USA Today
It has become very clear that this isn't about budgets but about political power and a very monied subculture in America that wants to get rid of unions because of power-to-the-people politics. Even so, USA Today notes the reluctance, in general, to confront budget shortfalls.
The poll results suggest how politically difficult it is to solve budget shortfalls. The survey found that people believe budget problems in their state are real but strongly oppose tax hikes to solve them. Americans are split on whether to cut state services to balance budgets.
The survey of 1,000 adults was taken Monday night. It has a margin of error of 4%.
Key results:
• 71% oppose increasing sales, income or other taxes while 27% are in favor that approach.
• 53% oppose reducing pay or benefits for government workers while 44% are in favor.
• 48% opposed reducing or eliminating government programs while 47% were in favor of cuts.
Most telling, though, are the actual numbers that relate to reducing pay, benefits, and the right to collective bargaining -- in view of the power of Fox and similar outlets (cloacas) to outshout Americans. Those numbers are underlined above. They're surprising and optimistic. Even with a 50/50 split on affection for unions in general, they're good news.
Translated into the terms we use to describe elections, the poll reflects a "landslide" for public service workers.
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