Let's see ... our debt is at astronomical levels. We're spending far more money that the government is collecting in taxes. You really have to be hiding under a pile of People Magazines to avoid some sort of an understanding that this country is in a precarious financial position. We're spending too much. Our debt is too high. It is totally and completely unsustainable.

Democrats certainly understand the trouble we're in .. but they also see the trouble they're in. This November could turn into a disaster for them. What to do? What to do?

Well .. one thing the Democrats could do is to make sure that their core supporters get to the polls in November and cast those all-important Democrat votes. Where do you find a nice treasure trove of Democrat votes? That would be in labor unions.

Now I heard this from Stu Varney this morning on Fox News. I did try to search for the actual information on the Internet ... no luck. We'll be doing further research .. but in the meantime you might be interested in what Varney had to say.

First ... Varney says that Pennsylvania Democrat Senator Bob Casey is proposing legislation to take $165 billion in unfunded union pension liabilities and transferring these liabilities to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Program. This means that the liability for these pension payments to these union members become a liability of the American taxpayers.

Secondly ... Varney says that California Democrat Rep. George Miller is proposing another bailout .. this one of for a mere $100 billion to bail out municipal employee pensions.

What's going on here? Oh come on. I don't have to tell you, do I? You do realize that most Americans do not have guaranteed pensions, don't you? For the most part guaranteed pensions are saved for government employees and union members. You may have your 401K and IRAs. You may have a savings account .. but do you have a guaranteed pension?

How did we get here? Union power, that's how. As was pointed out this week in U.S. News and World Report, government sector unions organize get out the vote campaigns and contribute huge amounts of money to the politicians who, after they are elected, return the favor by approving exorbitant salaries and pension benefits for the union members who supported them.

Here's a direct quote from the US News and World Report article:

"These public (government) sector employees have a unique ad powerful advantage in contract negotiations. Quite simply it is their capacity to deliver political endorsements and votes for the very people who are theoretically on the other side of the negotiating table. .... The unions will naturally back a candidate willing to support better pay and benefits for their members ..."

Democrats obviously need votes ... and perhaps they believe they can buy those votes with a little (hundreds of billions) bailout of these union pension plans. No big deal, really. We'll just add it to the federal debt and your children can cover the cost.