I'm not going to get into the politics of your post, but I will point out simple factual errors. > Here in the US it used to be more subtle. Not now. Democrats

I'm not going to get into the politics of your post, but I will point out simple factual errors. > Here in the US it used to be more subtle. Not now. Democrats openly channel benefits towards government and private unions as a way to buy their votes. What "then" and "now" are you talking about? Democrats have been aligned with unions since at least FDR. > If a being from another planet landed in the US and listened to Obama speak it would conclude that the only important people in this nation are "teachers, police, firemen and construction workers". Why? Because that is all he mentions in his speeches. Translated: "union, union, union, union". I don't know why you think this is the case. Lets see, let's take an example from a speech directly to the audience most friendly to him; the DNC. And let's list all of the occupations that he mentions in a positive way: 1. soldier in Patton’s Army 2. work on a bomber assembly line 3. people in the shadow of a shuttered steel mill 4. teachers 5. students 6. scientists and engineers 7. small businesswoman 8. construction worker 9. workers ... who feared they’d never build another American car 10. business leaders 11. manufacturing jobs 12. jobs today building wind turbines 13. farmers 14. scientists (again) 15. construction workers (again) 16. teachers (again) 17. principals 18. students (again) 19. Americans who still serve in harm’s way So, he mentions soldiers several time, scientists several times, businessmen/women several times, teachers several times, construction workers several times, students several times. He mentions farmers once, principals once, engineers once, and a few assorted manufacturing jobs (whether you count that as one item or not depends on how you categorize them). He mostly criticizes Wall Street and bankers. So, yes, he does mention the people you mention, but he mentions a bunch of other people as well. > The last thing this country needs is more union workers earning $300K for life when they retire. You are going to seriously have to stretch to find such unionized workers. Sure, you may be able to find one or two here or there to use for anecdotal evidence, but a few anecdotes do not make good evidence. Median wages for unionized workers are $917 per week (~$48,000 per year), median wages for non-union workers are $717 (~$37,000 per year). Source: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm. And the premium for union membership is much higher for lower-wage jobs than higher wage. Source: http://lcc.aflcio.org/WhatsNewDocuments/EFCA/LowWageWorkers.pdf http://lcc.aflcio.org/WhatsNewDocuments/EFCA/LowWageWorkers.... Unionized workers are not, in general, fat cats making six figures without working. They are lower wage workers who happen to have gotten a somewhat better deal than they could have individually via collective bargaining.