Democrat racket

The Democrats aren't even subtle about it anymore.

No, with Wednesday's Senate vote on another so-called "jobs bill," the modern Democratic Party now has no defense against charges that it has become the party of the public sector -- the party of the government for the government and by the government.

The regular taxpayer? Remain still while we rifle through your purses and wallets.

On a 61-38 vote -- with the help of two Republicans bought off by Majority Leader Harry Reid -- the Senate moved forward on a $26 billion measure full of giveaways for some of the biggest Democratic special-interest groups: the public employee unions.

Democrats claim the bill will save the jobs of thousands of teachers, firefighters, police officers and other government workers. In reality, it's a tourniquet to states and local governments, postponing the day they must address their own budget issues.

The legislation -- expected to be approved by the House -- extends handouts passed in last year's stimulus law, highlighting again how "temporary" aid from Washington tends never to go away, especially with Democrats in charge.

Of the $26 billion, some $16 billion will go to subsidize state Medicaid bills. Without the Beltway welfare, some states argue they would have to lay off workers. The remaining $10 billion will pad the budgets of various school districts so local officials can avoid making difficult fiscal decisions.

So at a time when private-sector taxpayers across the country are struggling to keep their jobs, pay their mortgages and put food on the table, congressional Democrats blithely shake them down for even more tribute in order to ensure their political supporters in the public employee unions can avoid the pain of the current economic disruption.

And how much of that taxpayer money will be forcibly extracted as union dues, turned into political contributions and eventually find its way back into Democratic coffers?

What a neat little racket.