If you want to know how Big Labor got its claws into California’s taxpayers pockets, then check out “The Beholden State: How public-sector unions broke California” by Steven Malanga.

Here’s a highlight from City Journal:

“Meanwhile, what was once the most prosperous state now suffers from an unemployment rate far steeper than the nation’s and a flood of firms and jobs escaping high taxes and stifling regulations. This toxic combination—high public-sector employee costs and sagging economic fortunes—has produced recurring budget crises in Sacramento and in virtually every municipality in the state.”

“How public employees became members of the elite class in a declining California offers a cautionary tale to the rest of the country, where the same process is happening in slower motion. The story starts half a century ago, when California public workers won bargaining rights and quickly learned how to elect their own bosses—that is, sympathetic politicians who would grant them outsize pay and benefits in exchange for their support.”

Watch the SEIU threat video below if you want a window into the union’s line of reasoning and sense of entitlement. It’s an oldie, but a goodie.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avB_iFEURY4&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]