How to bankrupt Clark County

All elected (and soon-to-be elected) officials in Nevada -- Democrat and Republican -- would be well served to take a few minutes to read this article on public sector unions.

It serves as a wise warning when it concludes:

"Public sector unions bring to the fore what James Madison called "the violence of faction" and its threat to the "permanent and aggregate interests of the community." This can't be blamed on the unions; they're advancing their members' interests. The fault lies with politicians, particularly those governors and mayors who have been willing to sabotage the public interest to smooth the path to their own reelections.

"In the absence of tough-minded reform leaders who will take on the public sector unions, the fiscal future of states and localities is bleak."

In particular, the Clark County Commission needs to learn this lesson. If commissioners don't come to grips with the budget-draining nature of the county's public unions, commissioners risk the spector of massive program cut-backs, or bankruptcy.