Will someone please explain to me how public employees and unions have become the target of blame for America’s current economic mess?

It’s amazing how the conversation has changed from what really got us into this situation to pointing fingers at public employees and unions for the billion-dollar budget gaps states now find themselves in.

In Wisconsin, it’s gone past blame. It’s come down to blatant union busting, and that sentiment has begun to creep into other states, such as Idaho, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Here’s what the union busters in Wisconsin want you to believe: that public employees’ “fat” salaries, “overly generous” health benefits and “outrageous” retirement benefits have contributed so much to the state’s $3.6 billion budget gap that collective bargaining must be abolished. Such a radical move will go far in fixing Wisconsin’s economic tailspin, so they say.

Really? Doesn’t this anger you just a little?

Why are people so mad at public employees when the median compensation of CEOs of the companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average is almost $20 million a year? How much do you think these people are paying for their pension or health benefits? Let’s not forget that some of these companies were bailed out by taxpayers (that’s us!) in the recession and are now making record profits.

Doesn’t this anger you a little?

Then we’re told that these people who earn these huge amounts of money are the “job creators” of our economy. Then where are the jobs? If that premise were true, no one would be out of work. There would be new jobs springing up everywhere. Instead, these high earners receive tax cuts (which they’ve gotten since the early 1980s) while higher education is once again on the budget chopping block and our colleagues are receiving non-renewals and retrenchment notices.

This angers me a lot.

So what can we do about it? For starters, we can begin to change the conversation so that it is not totally one-sided. Talk to your family, friends, colleagues and neighbors about the issues at hand. Get involved in rallies that are happening around the state.

Visit our website and fax letters to your elected representatives. Contact your UUP chapter about visiting your local senator or assemblyperson in their home offices. They need to hear from you and they need to hear how this is affecting you and your families.

We need to spread the word that investing in our SUNY system will create the jobs this economy needs. We cannot afford any more cuts. But this can’t happen without you. We need you to get involved.