Sometimes it is best just to surrender

This Wisconsin protest item has me on both sides of the fence, and to be honest, I do not really think I will pick a side. It is not that I am disinterested in the fiscal status of Wisconsin, or the repercussions for the nation as a whole, it is just that there is a lot going on in the world right now and I simply do not have the time to research this issue and figure out who is wrong and who is right.

My gut instinct is to side with the GOP governor, who of course is sensible for trying to save expenses by cutting salaries and pensions, which is what I understand he is doing. But as correct as that is, public servants are market actors too, and they certainly have every right to peacefully and lawfully protest against such changes.

So what then is this business about taking away their "collective bargaining rights?" I wasted three years of my life enrolled (yet rarely in) law school and that is one of those neo-legal terms I am still a little vague on. Does it mean he is trying to push back on unions for their fat cat, tax payer sucking, cushy pension deals? That is okay by me. Or does it mean he is trying to argue that people cannot negotiate with the government for higher pay and benefits- and strong them using big government regulations to do so? That offends my sense of economic liberty.

I just do not know.

I did a bit of reading on the issue and it is a sign of the times that media on all sides of the spectrum simply assumes that "collective bargaining rights" are protected rights. A right is something you are owed, and since government has no assets, it can only take from others to redistribute to you. Our system of government has few "rights," but conversely, few grants of authority to government- so there is little which can be, in theory, appropriated by politicians.

But on the other hand, is Governor Walker's (this is speculative, as I wrote- I have not really researched this) squashing of the ability to bargain a violation of property rights? (Property rights, are certainly protected rights under Anglo-American law).

I am too busy to research this. Until an intelligent article or video comes out to explain the issue- I surrender.

I am too mesmerized by Libya, oil, and the dollar fallout to worry about state and municipal defaults right now. That is still a few months away.

I hope.