Perhaps due to their plethora of special privileges under the law, union bosses frequently act and speak as if they were the actual government. Take AFSCME Maryland union boss Patrick Moran, who insultingly blustered to the Baltimore Sun,

This is about democracy, bottom line. If you don’t like democracy, then I guess you don’t like the country we live in.

You see, Moran’s government union — with the support of union-label politicians like Governor Martin O’Malley — wants the power to force nonmembers to pay for "services" they didn’t ask for and don’t want.

"At some point we can’t be a charity," said Sue Esty, assistant director for AFSCME Maryland.

Union bosses want the special privilege effectively to tax independent employees as a condition of employment.

Of course, union chiefs refuse to accept the easiest, most fair solution. Rather than lobbying for a new law forcing nonmember employees to pay so-called "fees" to an unwanted union, union bosses could work to repeal any sections of the law which supposedly require them to "represent" nonmembers.

The reason union officials will never accept this solution is simple: they just want the money.

The fees could more than double the union’s annual income. Currently, the union collects about $3.8 million in dues from about 10,000 members a year.