Are We Broke Yet?

Progressive Ruling Class ignorance imperils U.S. future

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Class Warfare Cited Again

Progs always offended by anti-socialism

If my opinion offends anyone, I apologize in advance. I do not desire to upset you, my neighbors. I merely wish to join in the great public debate and add my ideas to the conversation.

Limited government — fiscal responsibility — free markets are inherently compassionate. These principles provide a strong foundation for citizens to help themselves and others. Big centralized government is not compassionate. The bigger the government, the smaller the individual.

I view socialism the same way President Ronald Reagan viewed communism: it is a disease and form of insanity. When government gets in the way, poverty increases. Therefore, rather than helping, big government actually is harmful.

Redistribution of wealth has been tried many times and it never works. Let's broaden our scope of compassion to include even the wealthy. Yes, even the wealthy have the right to pursue happiness responsibly.

The Pledge of Allegiance states "with liberty and justice for all"; that includes the wealthy. Let us not demonize one another or divide over this — enough with the class warfare! Works of mercy will always be necessary, but there is a safety net and much opportunity in this great country. Who pays the taxes? Who gives to charity? The 1996 welfare reform helped; it did not cause harm. The time has now come for more limited government reforms.

Darin Tosse, Rochester

(from postbulletin.com)

The American Dream in Reverse

How Job-Killing Labor Unions are Destroying American Jobs and the Economy

The United States is heading for financial despair, with the worst of the recession yet to be felt by the millions of Americans out of work. The financial crisis, according to controversial author and financial expert Robert S. Graham, is not over and in fact, may have only begun. While there are many factors that have contributed to this economic crisis, one perpetrator plays an especially damaging role in suppressing our country’s ability to climb out of this recession.

“Today’s unions’ attempts at relevancy are, at best, grasping at straws.”

In his controversial new book, Job Killers: The American Dream in Reverse, financial expert Robert S. Graham calls for the eradication of labor unions, detailing their strong-arm politicking, forced memberships and outlandish policies that are not only failing to serve their members, but are detrimental to our country’s financial security and survival.

“Today’s unions’ attempts at relevancy are, at best, grasping at straws. There is a reason President Obama has backpedaled in his support of unions,” Graham said. “Thanks to the Department of Labor and other taxpayer-funded organizations, 120 million American workers are protected under 180 different laws. We don’t need unions. Their actions over the past several decades have made it clear their intentions no longer protect workers.”

Graham spent years studying labor unions, calculating their influence on each state’s ability to thrive financially. His findings, detailed in the book, are surprising:

• Right to work states earned more than non-right to work states by 10%.
• Americans who work in non-right to work states work more hours for less money.
• Right to work job growth in industries such as manufacturing, construction and others far outpaced non-right to work states by as much as 92%.

“Countless studies by many of the nation’s top economists show labor unions’ parasitic influence on our workforce,” Graham said. “What began as an admirable movement has turned detrimental for the American worker. It’s time to take back America’s right to work and prosper and there is no better time than the present to make it happen.”

Job Killers offers concrete, sustainable solutions to getting America’s businesses back on track such as enacting more right-to-work laws and ways states can gain more control over their economic potential. In addition, Graham arms readers with tools to create synergy in the workplace without the presence of unions as well as economic recovery fundamentals. Employees, business managers and government leaders alike should be reading this insightful book chock-full of solutions.

(from businesswire.com)

Union Thugs Focus on Politics

Operatives live high on the hog but dues-paying workers doomed to joblessness

Ten or 20 years ago, many conservative lawmakers would have - right or wrong - railed against unionized labor as the reason job creation was stagnant in Ohio. Today, the focus is on organized labor paid with the public's dollar, with nary a word about the increasingly less-relevant private-sector unions.

In the past 25 years, public-union employment grew nominally in Ohio, but no state can claim larger losses in private-sector union membership, according to data from unionstats.com, an academic website that aggregates the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Not even labor-ravaged poster-child Michigan can claim more than the 367,000 names that disappeared off private union rolls in Ohio in the past 25 years.

As a federation, the AFL-CIO is not involved in organizing, but in championing union activities in the political sphere, Burga said. This is where union power still lies, Lichtenstein said.

He sees a strong possibility that right-to-work laws will spread from traditionally non-union regions of the country to the Midwest, starting with Indiana and with Ohio likely to follow. Right-to-work laws allow workers to individually choose whether to join a union at an organized business.

(from marionstar.com)

WH Global Emissary Takes on Libya

Where in the world is Wade Rathke of ACORN-SEIU?

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Divide and Conquer

Modernized labor-state bargaining proposal exempts most-costly public hogs

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was in Wausau today defending his proposal to strip most collective bargaining rights from public employees.

As protesters gathered in the Capitol rallying against the plan, Walker was at Wilson-Hurd Manufacturing in Wausau, again outlining his plan to limit unions’ negotiating powers. Unions representing police and firefighters, including the Wisconsin State Patrol, are exempted from Walker's plan.

Some Democrats have charged that the exemption is political payback for several police and fire unions' endorsements of Walker in the general election. After a brief meeting with about 25 Wilson-Hurd employees, Walker said the accusation isn't true.

The governor declined to answer questions after the meeting about a criticism leveled by some Democratic opponents of his plan: that his eventual goal is to make Wisconsin a “right-to-work” state in which payment of union dues can’t be made a condition for employment.

(from wausaudailyherald.com)



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Worker-Choice Threatens Granite State

Dem Gov. to veto modernized collective bargaining law that would disarm union bigs

The New Hampshire House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to make New Hampshire the first state in the Northeast to enact a “right-to-work” law that would block unions from compelling payment from employees.

The 221-131 vote sends the controversial bill (HB 474) to the state Senate without the two-thirds super majority that would be needed to overcome a potential veto from Gov. John Lynch, who strongly opposes it.

House Deputy Speaker Pamela Tucker, R-Greenland, claimed that this is the biggest job-creation incentive legislators could adopt in 2011. New Hampshire would become a magnet for new employers by embracing this worker-choice measure, she said.

“New Hampshire would be the first state in the Northeast to pass right-to-work legislation and would help us become a haven for employers seeking a pro-business environment,” Tucker said.

“Freedom is a core New Hampshire belief, and freedom of association and choice is a fundamental right of every NH citizen.”

(from nashuatelegraph.com)

Updating Antiquated Labor Laws

Union bigs oppose modernization, cling bitterly to rent-seeking subsidies

When state Sen. Shannon Jones testifies on Ohio Senate Bill 5 today, there will some fellow Warren County residents supporting her efforts to limit the power of public unions in collective bargaining negotiations.

Ten residents met just before 11 a.m. at the Country Kitchen restaurant at Ohio routes 123 and 350 to carpool to Columbus to provide moral support to Jones, R-Clearcreek Twp., who introduced the bill last week to the displeasure of the reportedly 800-plus union members in attendance.

Jones and other Republicans unveiled details of the most sweeping attempt in 27 years to limit the power of public unions to negotiate terms of employment.

Collective bargaining would be wiped out for all state workers, including those at institutions of higher education. Local police officers and fire fighters who cannot strike would see weakened binding arbitration if the bill is passed.

Local workers would no longer bargain for health insurance, automatic pay increases would be stripped from state law, and teachers would not get a say in which buildings they teach in, opponents of the bill said.

(from pulsejournal.com)

Show-Me Panel Modernizes Labor Law

But union bigs threaten typical thuggery against worker-choice movement

A Missouri Senate panel has advanced legislation that would prevent people from having to pay union fees as a condition of employment.

The legislation cleared the Senate General Laws Committee on a party-line vote Tuesday, with Republicans backing it and Democrats it opposing it. The vote means the bill can now move to the full Senate for debate.

Voters rejected a measure in 1978 that would have made Missouri a "right to work" state. But union membership has declined since then, and Republican lawmakers say the potential for unionized shops discourages some businesses from coming to Missouri.

(from ktts.com)

O-Progs Ignore 800-lb. Gorilla

WH crash-burns U.S. economy; typical leftwing destructive impulse

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