Why the anti-union animosity?

If unions restricted themselves to working issues like pay, benefits and working conditions for their members, rather than funding the political viewpoints of the far left, they'd probably see less resentment and pushback from this right of center country.

That's because "federal" is a much different environment; we can't have the military in unions. People "volunteer" into the military knowing many of the civilian freedoms will be lost.

Otherwise, there are federal workers unions:
http://www.federaldaily.com/labor/UnionTradeProGroups.htm

The socereignty of states is even more fundamental than that of the federal government in that they created the Federal government. If the Feds can limit the bargaining powers of unions infesting Federal agencies themn surely the states can do the same.

Agreed. What government gives, it can take away.

Right now Wisconsin is facing declining economic activity, high unemployment, and a large deficit. It can either pare costs or raise taxes. Both involve taking something that someone wants. Judgement is required to select the options doing the least general harm. I believe the state in this instance has made the best judgement.

Are you aware that the Federal government provides even more restrictions on the "collective bargaining rights" of unions representing Federal employees than those that are in the draft legislation in Wisconsin? Do you also assert that the federal government has "taken away" the rights of their workers?

A Look at Federal Employee Unions
By Angelia N. Levy Feb 02 2009, 10:01 AM

(Updated version of our Jan. 21 story, with fresh reporting)

If you’re lucky enough to be hired by the federal government, then you have a job for life. At least that’s how government jobs are often viewed, both inside and outside the Beltway, and not without some degree of truth.

The federal government may not offer a lot of private sector perks to its employees, such as bonuses, stock options, or significant salary increases. Yet it does offer a mostly stable environment with long-term job security.

Fed workers looking for additional job security and workplace protections might find their answer in union membership. Federal unions represent a diverse group of federal civilian employees, mainly those who would be classified as white collar or service industry workers. Analysts, researchers, computer technicians, Foreign Service, nurses, maritime, and electrical workers, for example.

Mark Roth, the general counsel for the American Federation of Government Employees, a leading union for feds, told OhMyGov! that the average union member is about fifty years of age, has approximately twenty-five years of work experience, and works in highly-specialized jobs at agencies such as Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense.

The Office of Personnel Management lists more than 80 national and international unions and associations which are recognized, or which have representation in government executive agencies. Federal employees who work in the judicial and legislative branch generally don’t have much union representation. Of these 80-plus agencies, eight are unions that represent federal civilian employees.

Over the years OPM consistently reported that approximately 62% of federal employees were union members. In 2005 the Wall Street Journal claimed that only about 35% of the federal workforce belonged to federal unions.

Federal unions have complained that their low union membership totals is due to the federal government being the largest ‘right-to-work’ employer. Right-to-work allows an employee to determine whether he or she wants to join a union. It also keeps employers from making union membership an employment prerequisite.

According to Richard N. Brown, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, much of the federal government still lacks union representation. He adds that the federal government’s right-to-work policy presents unique challenges when it comes to union recruitment efforts.

There are a few federal employee unions whose membership base numbers over 100,000. The top three federal civilian employee unions, ranked in order by size, are the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the National Treasury Employee Union (NATEU), and the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE). Combined membership in these three unions is almost 850,000.

It's not fallacious at all. I was responding to Setanta's suggestion that the state's action , after the fact in his view, to call for union employees to raise their share in the funding of pension and health benefits, was unfair. My response to that point was direct, self consistent, and clear. You and Setanta may disagree with it, but, as I noted, it is a matter of judgment, and that there are no options available to the state that don't involve taking something from someone.

The bill would also authorize the Department of Employee Trust Funds to use $28 million of excess balances in reserve accounts for health insurance and pharmacy benefits to reduce health insurance premium costs.

This clown wants to loot an existing trust fund made up of employee contributions.

Setanta wrote:

This clown wants to loot an existing trust fund made up of employee contributions.

He also wants to sell State power plants to private companies in no-bid contracts. If I didn't know how morally upstanding tea-party governors are, I would suspect him of cronyism.