The unions are an essential part of the Democratic Party power structure. Particularly public unions, which can be used to form a tight network of political support in return for taxpayer money (which gets kicked back yet again in the form of political donations solely to the Democratic Party).

Of the top 20 political donors in America, 12 are unions, and they always donate to the Democrats. In fact, in the top 20 list of donors, only one on the list donates primarily to Republicans. You have to get down to #78 on that list before you find "three elephants." By the time you get down to that point, there are 20 listings with three donkeys.

Unions can be relied on to demonstrate unquestioningly in support of Democratic positions. To march on command, to get on buses as instructed, to say what the Democrats ask them to say.

A weakening of union power is a direct attack on the Democratic Party.

When Christie took on the unions last year, there was a response, but nothing like this. Back then, the Democrats were still deluded enough to think they were going to keep their near-absolute power in Washington.

Now, they're like cornered animals. Had all of the Senate been up for election in 2010, they would have lost that, too. And they're facing a 2012 election where Democratic seats up for grabs vastly outnumber Republican seats.

We're looking at some dirty, dirty fighting over this next two years. The one saving grace is that, unlike years ago, information is now free.