Who's Really Hurting The Middle Class?

The argument of the unions in their battles with state legislatures in three states can be summed up perhaps in one simple claim: the government is hurting the middle class.

What I find interesting about the whole thing, especially in regards to Wisconsin and Ohio, is the fact these states are in dire financial straits, and they need to cut their budgets.  They are broke, and they need to cut the spending; it's that simple.  The public employee unions, on the other hand (the fat cat leaders, I should say), don't really care about the budgetary problems.  They care only about their own nest eggs and the power they have through collective bargaining.

So what is the state of Wisconsin, for instance, supposed to do, just keep spending and hope it'll all turn out okay?  Thankfully, Governor Scott Walker is doing nothing of the kind, but because of the standoff engineered by the unions, he is forced to layoff state employees.  I guess if it's beneficial to the cause of the fat cat labels, the layoff of public employees is an okay thing, is that it? 

Naturally, the unions will spin that around and portray it as the middle class suffering from all this, but I ask you, what's the alternative?  Raise taxes?  Increase rates for public services?  Push all of this onto the local governments and let them deal with it?  Just because the union fat cats want to continue receiving the huge salaries and pensions they get from the state, that the state can no longer afford?

Who's really hurting the middle class here?  Do you wonder now why I despise the unions?