Daley: 'We're a country of whiners'

Well, it’s less partisan than “bitter clingers.” Chicago’s retiring mayor also channeled Chris Christie on the teachers unions.

“The cost of government has to go down. It can’t keep growing. It has to someway level off,” Daley said, adding that it was “unacceptable” to burden another generation with the costs of paying down debt.

“I don’t think the taxpayers at the present and in the future can afford the costs of government,” Daley said. “I don’t believe they can, because the cost of government is going up faster than the cost that you can bear in your own pocketbook. I firmly believe that. It cannot go up so significantly each year for the cost of government. And that’s why you have to look at the value” of various government services to taxpayers.” …

“Our teachers work six hours a day. Six hours a day. What do you think of that? Thirty hours a week,” Daley said. “I’m not condemning all the teachers, but you know, there has to be a time and place for everybody to have to give to the less fortunate. … Unions have to understand, that you have a responsibility. It’s not just a paycheck.”