AMY TRAUB SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT

Amy Traub, writer and Huffington Post blogger did America some justice by responding to the insipid article in a Wall Street Journal editorial which blames the demise of our economy on public employee unions.  Please read on:

YOUR MAILMAN DIDN'T MAKE THE ECONOMY COLLAPSE

Huffington Post, February 4, 2010--  Forget about the too-big-to-fail banks: the real economic menace comes from the officer directing traffic downtown. That's the message of yesterday's preposterous Wall Street Journal editorial arguing that public employees - and their unions - "may be the single biggest problem" for the nation's economy. It's part of a mounting conservative effort to direct populist rage against public sector workers and build political will to slash public services, prevent tax increases on the wealthy, and deflect attention from the real causes of our economic decline. After all, why regulate risk-taking bankers when you can stick it to the guy who picks up the trash?

Conservatives' crusade against public employees is decades old, but it's received fresh momentum now that the recession is causing tax shortfalls that have strained public budgets. And the latest impetus comes from a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report finding that a slim majority of the nation's union members now work in the public sector.  (Scroll down to January 25 post to read related article)

To read the entire article, go here.