Job Creation in Detroit and Government Employed Horseshoers

Productivity gives us more bang for the buck.

Jobs give employees more bucks.

Income from the jobs of dues paying public sector union members provides unions with more income to spend on political campaigns and the salaries of union officials.

Unnecessary and unproductive people in government jobs will cause taxes to increase unnecessarily.

Now let's consider the thinking in too many governments and public sector unions, apparently including the city of Detroit.

Notable & Quotable says this:

"Jarrett Skorup on why the city of Detroit still employs a horseshoer—whose job is fiercely protected by the union, of course.

Despite having no horses, the water and sewerage department for the city of Detroit employs a horseshoer. . . .

The horseshoer's job description is "to shoe horses and to do general blacksmith work . . . and to perform related work as required." The description was last updated in 1967.

The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) has a large debt, rising water prices and inefficient services—using almost twice the number of employees per gallon as other cities like Chicago.

A recent independent report about the DWSD recommends that the city trim more than 80 percent of the department's workforce. The consultant who wrote the report found 257 job descriptions, including a horseshoer. . . .

In response to the report, John Riehl, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 207, which represents many of the DWSD employees, told the Detroit Free Press that the department needs more workers. "They don't have enough people as it is right now," Riehl said. "They are just dreaming to think they can operate that plant with less."

Summing Up 

If it's all about saving the middle class by creating more jobs, why not pay for millions more of them in the following way?

First, we triple, quadruple or even raise taxes by 1,000%.

Then we can hire lots of additional horseshoers, have them pay public sector union dues, and then use those dues to help elect their political allies.

Who wouldn't like that, other than the taxpayers?

Horseshoes or horses_ _t? 

We report; you decide.

Thanks. Bob.