Strong support for public workers unions in survey

Bad news for Republicans trying to make hay over the impasse in Wisconsin: A NYT/CBS News survey finds that Americans oppose weakening the bargaining rights of public employee unions by a margin of nearly two to one. They are also against cutting the pay or benefits of public workers to reduce state budget deficits, which sounds nice but doesn't suggest a real understanding of how much the states are struggling to make ends meet. From the NYT:

When it came to one of the most debated, and expensive, benefits that many government workers enjoy but private sector workers do not -- the ability to retire early, and begin collecting pension checks -- Americans were closely divided. Forty-nine percent said police officers and firefighters should be able to retire and begin receiving pension checks even if they are in their 40s or 50s; 44 percent said they should have to be older. There was a similar divide on whether teachers should be able to retire and draw pensions before they are 65.

Early retirement is one of the reasons states are in such desperate shape with regard to pensions.