Even SNL understands the Problem

Following yesterday's post, this editorial outlines a long term danger to California -- namely making it impossible to renegotiate union contracts even in the event of local, county or state bankruptcy. If it becomes law, I predict that eventually the only people who will be left in CA will be former state employees (because I think they'll make it a condition of receiving pensions that you live and pay taxes in the state).

That said though, the SNL parody recounted in the editorial is pretty funny:

I was stunned – pleasantly so – by a recent "Saturday Night Live" sketch lampooning public employees. In the "2010 Public Employee of the Year Award" skit, the host of the "event" was on disability after being paralyzed from the neck down, even though he clearly had no signs of paralysis. The contestants included the surliest Department of Motor Vehicles employee, a double-dipping employee disabled because of a fear of cats and an employee who was taking a smoke break when he was supposed to be performing.

As someone who has written about public employee disability scams, I can attest that this bit of comedy wasn't as far-fetched as one might suspect. The best line: "In these times of anti-tax hysteria and threats of government budget cuts, it's important to remember that people with government jobs are just like workers everywhere," said the awards host. "Except for the lifetime job security, guaranteed annual raises, early retirement on generous pensions, and full medical coverage of no deductibles, office visit fees or co-payments."