Bribing Legislators With Taxpayer Money

Here is yet another reason why California is in so much trouble: Teachers union tops list of state political spenders

Five special interests were responsible for more than half of the billion dollars spent since 2000, including:

--The California Teachers Assoc., which spent $211.8 million.
--The California State Council of Service Employees, $107.4 million. 

That's right. The teacher's union and the public employees' union has spent $300 million of taxpayer-derived funds lobbying the California state government. Our tax dollars at work, folks.

Their return on investment? California teachers are now the highest paid in the nation, with a 10-year pay increase of 41.6%. Despite these pay hikes, California schools still rank consistently near the bottom in nationwide rankings. Zero layoffs have affected the current state employees, despite California's massive deficits, and the number of public employees in California has grown during the past decade of financial troubles for the state.

Pretty good, really. For them. The state, however, is pretty well screwed.