Nearly a century of union meddling and political mismanagement have culminated in Rhode Island's worst economic crisis in memory. Correcting generations of misdeeds and implementing policies and budgets that are sustainable are both necessary and daunting challenges. Doing so will require a multitude of taxpayers who are informed and willing to work for their cause, just as the unions have been for decades.

The most imposing obstacle to restoring prosperity in Rhode Island will be ending the sweetheart deals that have been given to state and municipal employee unions over the years. One example of these indefensible benefits is the right to retire after 20 years of service with a pension, annual 3-percent cost-of-living increases, and full health care for life. These public-sector retirement benefits are completely out of whack with their private-sector counterparts.

The union party must end. The state, and its cities and towns, simply cannot afford these overly generous union benefits any longer. Furthermore, the taxpayers hopefully will not stand for more tax increases to pay for these union-employee benefits that are far better than their own!

While the taxpayers are demanding change at the local level, the mayors and city managers simply do not have the power to make substantive changes to their budgets. While the unions have managed to incorporate these costly benefits into their collective-bargaining agreements, they have also managed to get their members and supporters elected to the state Senate and House so they can pass laws to protect the unions' interests. Some examples of these pro-union mandates are minimum-manning requirements, binding arbitration, prevailing wage, pay for accumulated unused sick days, specified health-care providers, unusually low minimum-retirement and pension-eligibility ages and nominal co-pays on health insurance.

These are just some of the expenses that have delivered Rhode Island to the brink of financial disaster. To return to prosperity, some fundamental changes must be embraced and supported by taxpayers and politicians alike.

First, to lower both municipal and state operating expenses, public-employee unions must be held at bay and their interests must be placed second to the greater interests of the state, its cities and towns and the taxpayers.

Second, there must be some regionalization of services, including but not limited to police, fire, schools and highway departments, while still preserving the individual identities of each of the cities and towns.

Third, Rhode Island, which is currently at a competitive disadvantage with our neighboring states, must make its tax burden the lowest in New England, so as to appeal to business and to foster job growth.

Fourth, Rhode Island is in the midst of a financial crisis, and it must begin to operate accordingly. It must function like a business that is in Chapter 11. The General Assembly has the power to provide mayors and city and town managers with the authority to cut costs and make fundamental changes to the labor laws that have favored the unions, but will they have the political courage to do so? Will their constituents demand nothing less?

Fifth, the powers of the many school committees must be reduced. They should not be allowed to negotiate with unions nor should they have the authority to approve school budgets, which in many cases can be up to 80 percent of a city or town budget. Instead, those powers should be vested with mayors, administrators or city and town councils.

Sixth, with all of the above in place, the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation should focus its efforts on recruiting companies with well-paying jobs and marketing Rhode Island to them.

Does this sound like a fantasy? You decide. I think that it is up to the five out of six taxpayers who are not represented by the unions to make it happen.