Townhall.com reported Monday on one section of the American economy that has grown since President Obama took office. 

According to the article:

“According to a report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) last Friday, in 2009 the number of federal, state and local government employees represented by unions actually rose by 64,000. Coupled with union losses in the private sector economy, 2009 became the first year in American history that a majority of American union members work for the government. Specifically, 52% of all union members now work for the federal, state or local government, up from 49% in 2008. Or, to better illustrate these statistics: three times more union members work in the Post Office than in the auto industry.”

This is not good news for all of us taxpayers.  The article points out the differences between collective bargaining in a private sector setting versus collective bargaining in the public sector setting.  In the private sector, profits have to be considered–with no profit there is no company.  This keeps the demands of the unions in check.  In the public sector, there is nothing to prevent excessive union demands–the state, federal government, or municipality can simply raise taxes.

Meanwhile, state and local government employees make more than private sector employees.  The average wage for a government employee is $39.83 an hour in wages and benefits; the average wage for a person in the private sector is $27.49 an hour in wages and benefits.  That is a difference of almost $500 a week or $26,000 a year.  That is serious money when you figure that it is coming out of someone else’s pocket.