Who Are the Rats Now?
The Nation has an analysis of the strike in New York which is very harsh (somewhat surprisingly given their neo-liberal ideological bent) towards the MTA board and Governor Pataki. While mercifully holding their ideological punches against the Union's attempt to save the pension, they paint a picture of a corrupt, politically motivated board. A board which acts as a sock puppet for the Governor, wasting billions of dollars to reward cronies with lucrative contracts, running up huge deficits to pay for the largess, manipulating financial records to deceive the public, and flirting with the mob.
The Nation goes on to attack the notion of public authorities, at least as they exist in New York. And they have a point. The Authority as a public financing mechanism is what made Robert Moses the master destroyer that he was. But at the same time, corrupt governing boards running their charges into the ground and then forcing employees to pay for it is not just artifacts of the authority--nor is it at all uncommon, in either the public or private sector. The real shame is that most people end up blaming the unions.
[Jan 04, 2006] | [econ] | # | G
