Unions

Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Congress - Conservatives - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - GOP - Government - Jim DeMint - Jobs - Labor Law - Liberals - NLRB - President - Regulation - Republicans - Senate - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Senator Seeking Answers on NLRB’s Attack on Boeing

June 9, 2011 by 4 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Senator Jim DeMint (R, SC) wants some answers as to why Obama’s National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) thinks it has the power to tell American businesses where they are allowed to build their newest manufacturing facilities.

On June 6 Senator DeMint’s office filed a freedom of information request demanding documents connected to the NLRBs decisions to try to force Boeing not to open a new manufacturing plant it planned to open in South Carolina.

DeMint is concerned about the outside influence of unions in this case. On his website he notes that in the same month that the NLRB began attacking Boeing the International Association of Machinists was bragging in its newsletters about the political influence it had bought with its campaign contributions.
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Senator Seeking Answers on NLRB’s Attack on Boeing”

Anti-Americanism - California - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Teachers Unions - Unions

Do You Really Know Who is Teaching Your Child?

June 8, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

Hookers plying their trade while government turns a blind eye.

Consequences for sexual perverts? No, the state doesn’t seem to care.

Whistle blower fired for exposing massive corruption.

Rampant nepotism in government jobs.

Private bureaucratic empire using public funds.

The above could probably pass as blurbs for a sequel to the movie Chinatown. But while Chinatown was a fictitious movie sprung from the fertile imagination of Robert Towne, the above statements apply to an agency in the executive branch of California state government called the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC).

This entity whose mission is to “ensure integrity and high quality in the preparation, conduct and professional growth of the educators who serve California’s public schools” is in fact a corrupt, callous and self-serving club that cares nothing at all about your kids.

What is turning into a major scandal first came to light with little fanfare from the press in early April when California State Auditor Elaine Howle released a report that blew the lid off what she referred to as “one of the ‘worst state run’ agencies in CA.’”

Here are the “highlights from the auditor’s report:
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Do You Really Know Who is Teaching Your Child?”

ACORN - Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Frank Hyland - Government - Liberals - Taxes - Unions

Food for Thought: Achieving Resolution

June 8, 2011 by


-By Frank Hyland

Every so often a Writer looks back as his or her products and asks him/herself, “Why hasn’t this been fixed?” This is one of those times. The great majority of my columns over the years have been prompted by an event – a law, an attack, a speech, a budget, a gaffe, and on and on. If it were the first gaffe, when the Obamanation stood and offered a toast to Queen Elizabeth, continuing to speak during the playing of the British national anthem, I would not have written about it. The first time that FORMER Speaker Pelosi said something like “500 million US workers lost their jobs last month,” I didn’t respond. It wasn’t until the fall of 2010, following the proclamation of the “Recovery Summer” by President in Charge of Vice Biden, that I questioned the results. And I look at my many colleagues who generate factual, critical responses to the boneheaded or misguided or outright illegal actions of the Left day after day, year after year.

Our efforts have borne some fruit – think ACORN; think Van Jones; think FORMER Speaker Pelosi. Like you, I am extremely pleased, proud, and grateful to all who read our missives and who agree and take action. It is the pace of such progress that is frustrating for many of us. Cong. Barney Frank can state publicly that he obtained a position (pun intended) at Fannie Mae for his former lover and say, in essence, “Everybody does it.” Worse, he is not seen carrying a cardboard box of his personal items out of the Capitol the same day. National Public Radio continues to receive your tax dollars.
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Food for Thought: Achieving Resolution”

Communism - Crime - Ethics - Government - Journalism - Liberals - Media - Media Bias - New York City - Sex Offenders/Rape - Socialism - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Booster Uses Rape Case to Sell Unions

June 7, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

This one sure is disgusting. Remember that the chief of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, was arrested for sexually assaulting a maid in New York? Well the leftist website AlterNet is using the DSK rapist incident to push unions. Like most leftists no crisis is too bad to exploit for union gains, I guess.

In her article, Alternet’s Adele M. Stan spent a few paragraphs bemoaning the “abuse of power” perpetrated by DSK. But it wasn’t long until she focused on her theme. Without unions, you see, the rape victim could never have reported her attacker.

After extolling the bravery of the victim for having reported the attacik, Stan made an absurd claim.
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Booster Uses Rape Case to Sell Unions”

AFL-CIO - Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Business - Capitalism - Democrats/Leftists - EFCA - Elections - Government - Liberals - President - Public Employees Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Big Unions Cooling on Obama?

June 6, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Bloomberg has another unions-are-mad-at-Obama story this week and, while there is no doubt that unions are a bit miffed at the big “O,” we should all be cautioned about where Big Labor will put its support in 2012. Miffed or not, and quite contrary to what Bloomberg wants you to believe, Big Labor will support Obama to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.

Still, it is interesting to see the unions whine about Obama. This president has been the biggest booster to Big Labor than any other president in history. The business punishing regulations alone that Obama has saddled upon this struggling economy makes his efforts more destructive and favorable to unions than any two past presidents combined.

Obama is using his regulatory powers to force contractors to pay unions off to get federal work even if those businesses aren’t members of any union, he’s sallied forth from his castle to inform businesses about where they will be allowed to build businesses, his crony capitalist efforts have put big businesses all across the country under his thumb, and he’s eased as many regulations that keep unions in line as he can… and he plans to do even more.
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Big Unions Cooling on Obama?”

Budget - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - GOP - Government - House of Representatives - Jobs - Liberals - President - Public Employees Unions - Republicans - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Your Taxes Paying Government Union Members NOT to Work, Part Two

June 3, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

At a hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday, it was revealed that federal employees spent nearly 3 million hours of official, taxpayer paid time on union activities in 2009. This cost the treasury $129 million, an increase of $8 million over the expenditures in 2008.

The report that fueled the hearing (see .pdf) was prepared by the Office of Personnel Management and prompted a stern comment from House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce Chairman Dennis Ross, (R, Fla).

At at time when our economy is in a recession and budget deficits are at staggering record levels, efficiency is imperative. Taxpayers should not have to continue footing the bill for union welfare, particularly when little evidence exists that official time is improving government productivity.

Of course, I spoke of this nonsensical situation, one where the American people are paying workers not to do any useful work, back in April.

Then I wrote…
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Your Taxes Paying Government Union Members NOT to Work, Part Two”

Budget - California - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Elections - Ethics - Gay Marriage - Gays - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - Nanny State - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

CTA, Transgender Clownfish and Our Children

June 1, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

The very creepy sexualization of young children, a part of the teachers unions’ progressive agenda, goes on unabated.

In the past few years, teachers unions in the United States have gotten into the perverse business of sexualizing children. I first wrote about this phenomenon several years ago. In 2004, the National Education Association gave its prestigious Human Rights Award to Kevin Jennings, the founder of the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and the man who eventually became President Obama’s school safety czar. GLSEN is the group that presided over the infamous “Fistgate” conference held at Tufts University in Massachusetts in March 2000, where state employees gave explicit instructions about “fisting” and other forms of gay sexual activity to children as young as 12. The conference was secretly recorded and can be heard here. (Warning: The contents are extraordinarily vile.)

Then this past March, I dug up a story about an NEA “trainer of trainers” who at a U.N. conference claimed that oral sex, masturbation, and orgasms should to be “taught in education” to children as young as 11.
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CTA, Transgender Clownfish and Our Children”

Anti-Americanism - CWA - Democrats/Leftists - Government - Liberals - New Jersey - Public Employees Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Union Contracts More Important Than Patients For Union Drivers

May 29, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Priorities. Union guys have priorities, you know? For instance, in New Jersey earlier this year a bunch of union drivers for the Communications Workers of America (CWA) decided that it was more important to have a “sick-out” and strand sick elderly people, preventing them getting to their life-saving medical treatment than do their jobs.

State Sen. Joe Kyrillos, (R-13), of Middletown wasn’t too happy with these uncaring union louts, either.
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Union Contracts More Important Than Patients For Union Drivers”

Budget - Chicago - Children - Dan Proft - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

‘Atlas Shrugged’ Offers Timely Message for Teaching Profession

May 28, 2011 by

-By Dan Proft

Almost as alarming as the rate at which children drop out of high school is the rate at which young teachers drop out of the profession. According to the National Education Association (NEA), nearly half of all teachers leave the profession within their first five years.

The union says low wages and poor working conditions cause this scandalous turnover rate. But that cannot be universally true for the thousands who enter the teaching profession because they truly want to instill a love of learning in the hearts and minds of a generation, only to abandon the job in disgust a few years later.

Although some young people may find they are simply not cut out for teaching as part of the routine trial-and-error that occurs in any industry, it seems unlikely this could explain a 50 percent attrition rate in a profession that—the NEA’s special pleading notwithstanding—provides above-average wages, excellent benefits, and secure employment. No, something else is at work here.
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‘Atlas Shrugged’ Offers Timely Message for Teaching Profession”

Business - Capitalism - Democrats/Leftists - Government - Illinois - Illinois Policy Institute - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Pensions - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Illinois Pension Reform One Step Closer‏

May 27, 2011 by

This week, State Treasurer Dan Rutherford drew a line in the sand. Dismissing shortsighted calls for more borrowing, he pledged to warn would-be lenders against extending more credit to Illinois’s spendthrift state government. I spoke with Rutherford about his stand; listen in.

Much of the state’s borrowing in recent years has been for government employee pensions costs – which are climbing annually. But this pattern of borrowing for pensions could someday halt if a pension reform proposal succeeds in Springfield.

Pension reform language was just posted at the statehouse. Collin Hitt read the bill and offers up his review here. Simply put, a vote for pension reform will brighten this state’s future – a vote against it will push Illinois further into economic decline.
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Illinois Pension Reform One Step Closer‏”

Anti-Americanism - Budget - Children - Chris Christie - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Elections - Government - Judges - Labor Law - Liberals - New Jersey - Pensions - Public Employees Unions - Regulation - Taxes - Teachers Unions - The Law - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

N.J. Courts Not Interested in Democracy

May 26, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Most Americans are under the mistaken assumption that we as voters can elect someone to make changes in our government. Whether the government of our city, county, state or that in Washington DC we voters have this romantic idea that we can affect change by electing people to office that will make those changes. The New Jersey Supreme Court, however, has disabused us all of those absurd notions.

Governor Chris Christie was elected to office for one reason, to solve New Jersey’s budget mess. He’s not Mr. Nice guy. He’s not the prettiest face in New Jersey politics. He wasn’t even the state’s most beloved public figure. He ran on fixing the budget and the people hired him to do just that.

But now, even though he was able to get certain budget changes through both houses of his state legislature, even though he has kept his shoulder to the grindstone doing the very job that the people hired him to do, even as he was on the verge of succeeding, the courts have stepped in and torpedoed the effort.
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N.J. Courts Not Interested in Democracy”

Anti-Americanism - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Ethics - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Tea Party - Teachers Unions - Unions

The Tea Party and the Teachers Unions

May 26, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

Teachers unions wield great power in determining school board races, but with state legislation and Tea Party activism, their power is being diminished.

As I write this, a school board election held in Los Angeles on May 17th is too close to call. Even with the backing of Mayor Villaraigosa, Luis Sanchez is still lagging union-supported frontrunner Bennett Kayser by a few hundred votes.

Whoever prevails, there is a much bigger story – less than 8% of eligible voters voted in this election. And even worse than that, 8% is nothing out of the ordinary. The size of the district doesn’t seem to matter; people just don’t seem to be interested in voting in school board elections.

To be sure, part of the low voter problem is that these elections are held in the spring when there is nothing else on the ballot. The groups that have to gain the most by a small turnout are the special interests that are the most organized. Terry Moe, in his excellent new book Special Interest: Teachers Unions and America’s Public Schools, leaves no doubt that the teachers unions are by far the most dominant of these groups. The unions, even if they don’t outspend their opponents, have a great advantage because of their organizational mechanism and a large group of ready voters (teachers and other school workers) who reliably turn out to vote for the union-endorsed candidates.
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The Tea Party and the Teachers Unions”

Budget - Business - Capitalism - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Energy - Government - Liberals - Lobbyists - Oil - Pennsylvania - Public Employees Unions - SEIU - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Union Thugs Protest The Wrong Place!

May 25, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

I guess that getting the correct information when arranging a smear campaign and protest is not necessary when you are the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Who needs to be in the right when you are an important, powerful, politically connected union, eh? The seriousness of the charge and the effort to “raise awareness” is far more important than targeting the right people to smear, right?

It seems that the SEIU decided to picket against Marcellus Shale drilling, sometimes called hydrofracking, and the severance tax associated with it. So the government employee union picked a site in Hastings, Pennsylvania to highlight this subject and to shame the company that owns the property into siding with them.

Only one tiny, little problem. There is no Marcellus Shale drilling going on at the site they descended upon with their protests. And there never has been. It turns out the SEIU got the wrong place.
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Union Thugs Protest The Wrong Place!”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Government - Labor Law - Liberals - NLRB - North Carolina - President - Public Employees Unions - Regulation - Right To Work - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston - Washington

Hypocrisy: Obama’s Stock And Trade

May 24, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Obama’s National Labor Relations Board made itself infamous not long ago by attempting to tell Boeing in what state it was allowed to build a new manufacturing plant. Indulging his penchant toward anti-business, anti-capitalist sentiment Obama decided that he was the final arbiter on where companies were allowed to move and set up shop. Boeing was evil, you see because they wanted to get out from under the business-destroying grip of unions.

The monsters at Boeing were “retaliating” against the unions said Obama and his NLRB. Boeing was moving its plant from Washington State to North Carolina because in NC the unions have less power. So, it’s the unionista in chief to the rescue of the jobs-killing unions. Boeing needs to be slapped down for it’s evilness, don’t you know?

But, here is where Obama’s ever present hypocrisy rears its ugly head once again.
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Hypocrisy: Obama’s Stock And Trade”

Americans For Prosperity - Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Pensions - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Pension Debate Heats Up – Tell Your Lawmaker to Fix Illinois’ Pensions NOW!‏

May 20, 2011 by

Lawmakers continue to debate pension reforms for current state employees and a decision will be made soon – this year’s legislative session is scheduled to end on May 31st.

This may be our last chance to have our voices heard. Click here NOW to tell your lawmaker it’s time to enact substantive reforms of the state employee pension system that directly affect current state employees.

Illinois’ fiscal problems can no longer be ignored. Illinois is spending beyond its means and has ignored countless unpaid bills! Moreover, the fact that we have no real plan for dealing with these fiscal problems have made our state one of the least attractive places for doing business.

The website 24/7 Wall St. took a look at the pension systems of every state in America and created a top 10 list of states where pensions are running out of money. Sadly, Illinois is second on that list with a $126 billion pension liability.

Take action now to return our great state to fiscal sanity. Click here to tell your lawmaker to fix Illinois’ pensions now.

For more information on pension reform go to: http://fixillinoispensionsnow.com/.

Thank you for your continued support and activism.

Sincerely,

Joe Calomino
State Director
Americans for Prosperity-Illinois

Budget - Chicago - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - Illinois - Illinois Policy Institute - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Pensions - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Ill. Policy Institute: One Week’s Lost Pay for Pensions‏

May 19, 2011 by

I returned from maternity leave just in time to take part in the epic debate over public pension reform. Get the teachers’ pension costs will top General State Aid education spending this year unless we act now.

To date the working model for pension reform has been House Bill 149, introduced by House GOP Leader Tom Cross. The language in that legislation is being modified and likely will be placed on Senate Bill 512, a shell bill assigned for hearing in tomorrow’s House Personnel and Pensions Committee.

Given Illinois’s worst-in-the-nation unfunded liability and “blue state” politics, what unfolds over the coming days will be a bellwether for the rest of the country. Has your legislator heard from you? (Click here to find your state legislator)
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Ill. Policy Institute: One Week’s Lost Pay for Pensions‏”

Budget - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

Teachers Unions Keep Fiddling While Public Education Burns

May 18, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

There are too many tenured incompetents and criminals who are teaching our children. The unions’ “reforms” will do little, if anything, to get these undesirables out of our nation’s classrooms.

As we all know, Navy SEALs recently killed terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Unfortunately, it seems that it was easier to flesh out and kill American Public Enemy #1 in a hostile foreign country than to get rid of an incompetent or criminal teacher in the U.S. Too bad for OBL that he wasn’t a member of the National Education Association. He’d still be a working terrorist going through what unionistas laughably refer to “due process.” Actually, as teacher and blogger Darren Miller has pointed out, what was once “due” has become “undue process.”

James Smith, Executive Director of School Security for Paterson, NJ, and Michigan’s Education Action Group have prepared a flow chart, which shows that it takes two to five years to get rid of a criminal or poorly performing tenured teacher in New Jersey. This is not peculiar to the Garden State. Most states have to go through a similar circuitous and arcane maze get rid of teachers who should not be allowed near children, let alone responsible for them.
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Teachers Unions Keep Fiddling While Public Education Burns”

Budget - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - House of Representatives - Jobs - Liberals - Pensions - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston - Washington D.C.

Democrats FINALLY Talking of Cutting Back Govt Employee Pensions

May 17, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Washington Post had a recent piece saying that it looks like Washington is finally coming to the stark realization that the benefits and pensions of federal workers are wildly over promised and even Democrats are finally contemplating cuts in federal pensions.

The GOP has already targeted these pensions by proposing that federal workers contribute more toward their own pension benefits. As the Post slantedly puts it, this policy plan would “effectively impose an immediate 5 percent pay cut on more than 2 million federal employees”

Of course, it would not be cutting their pay at all, sadly. It would merely be deferring until retirement when they get the cash. Sure their pay should be cut — heck thousands need to be simply fired outright — but there is no pay cut being proposed.
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Democrats FINALLY Talking of Cutting Back Govt Employee Pensions”

Anti-Americanism - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Government - Liberals - Nevada - Public Employees Unions - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Nevada Teachers Cast Out An Eeeevil Conservative Blogger

May 17, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

My friend Mike Chamberlain was a baaad boy last week at the Nevada State Education Association’s annual convention. It seems he was tossed out of the convention on his ear for his blasphemies. It’s no wonder they tossed out this ne’er-do-well, too. He had the temerity to… sit quietly in a corner and take notes on his laptop. How disruptive, eh?

Saturday I was kicked out of the Nevada State Education Association, the state teachers union, convention for, well, for being a conservative at the NSEA convention. Not only did they kick me out of their meeting but, later, one of the directors called me and the others who attended as guests of one of the delegates “enemies” of the organization.

Heck, Mike didn’t even crash the joint. He was properly invited and allowed int the place by a NSEA member, too. I’d say he has a lot to learn about being an obstreperous, party crasher! Being all peaceful and unassuming. The NERVE of him!
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Nevada Teachers Cast Out An Eeeevil Conservative Blogger”

Budget - California - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - Los Angeles - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

CTA Desperation Days in Progress

May 15, 2011 by 1 Comment

-By Larry Sand

Cindy Sheehan, Code Pink and a band of fringe groups have joined the California Teachers Association protest in Sacramento

We are now in the midst of California Teachers Association’s desperation week or as they are calling it “state of emergency.” At the crux of the issue is that Governor Jerry Brown will unveil his revised budget on May 16, and deep cuts to the K-12 education budget could mean widespread teacher layoffs as early as next month. Californians are getting heavy doses of union demagoguery this week, as Brown works to forge a deal with Republicans who oppose any tax hikes.

As I wrote recently, there are many other ways to solve educational budgetary problems without raising taxes. However, none of my proposed solutions are acceptable to CTA because the union insists on maintaining the status quo lest its power be threatened in any way.

As CTA was making final plans for their week long protest, someone crashed their party — none other than Cindy I-am-sorry-but-if-you-believe-the-newest-death-of-OBL-you’re-stupid Sheehan decided to cash in on CTA’s event, figuring she could tag on to a group of sympathetic fellow travelers. (Ms. Sheehan, lest you forget, is a peace activist best known for her for obsessive hatred of George Bush, who set up camp near the former president’s Texas home to protest our involvement in the Iraq War.) Then, the radical Code Pink group and a few other fringe groups joined Ms. Sheehan.
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CTA Desperation Days in Progress”

Anti-Americanism - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Congress - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Ethics - GOP - Government - Jobs - Labor Law - Liberals - NLRB - Republicans - Senate - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston - Wyoming

VIDEO: Senator Enzi Says Boeing Complaint by NLRB ‘Not the Way to Encourage Jobs in U.S.’

May 14, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

During a hearing last week on middle class employment, Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said that the Obama Administration’s policies are costing America good, middle class jobs.

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VIDEO: Senator Enzi Says Boeing Complaint by NLRB ‘Not the Way to Encourage Jobs in U.S.’”

Anti-Americanism - Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - Liberals - New York - New York City - Pensions - Public Employees Unions - SEIU - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Employee Levels Fall But New York’s Fringe Benefits and Pensions Costs Soar

May 13, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Pensions are the single biggest problem that every state, county and city in the Union face and New York City is no different. It is so bad that even as New York City has seen the numbers of its government employees fall, its costs in fringe benefits and pensions have still continued to soar. (Download the 2012 Budget Summary)

The latest budget info released by the Big Apple is a horror story of budget woes with pension costs leading the pack.

Marc Cenedella has done the heavy reading and his report is discouraging, to say the least.
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Employee Levels Fall But New York’s Fringe Benefits and Pensions Costs Soar”

Budget - Chicago - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - Illinois - Illinois Policy Institute - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Pensions - Public Employees Unions - SEIU - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Defusing the Illinois Pension Bomb, One Letter at a Time‏

May 13, 2011 by

How to reform the public employee pension system is the most crucial question facing Illinois today. The state has an $86 billion unfunded pension liability, and a recent study by the Pew Center ranked Illinois’s pensions as the worst funded in the nation. Bold action is needed to balance the state’s pension funds while keeping Illinois from falling deeper into an economic death spiral.

The public employee pension system is unsustainable. It must be fixed. We need your help now.

As you read this, a pension reform bill is being debated Springfield: HB149. This bill would begin to create equity government workers and the taxpayers who fund their salaries. Legislators on both sides of the aisle are coming together, and with your help, we believe we have a chance at passing one of the most important reforms in Illinois history. That’s why I’m asking you to write to your local newspaper in support of reforming the pension system.

Writing a letter to the editor is an easy way to reach thousands of your neighbors on this important issue.
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Defusing the Illinois Pension Bomb, One Letter at a Time‏”

1st Amendment - Budget - Business - Campaign Finance - Capitalism - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Ethics - Free Trade - Government - President - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Obama’s Plan to Force Fed. Contractors to Disclose Political Donations Meeting Bi-Partisan Opposition

May 12, 2011 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Barack Obama’s Executive Order that requires federal contractors to disclose the political contributions they have made is garnering bi-partisan opposition on the Hill this month.

The order would force contractors to reveal any political donations as a condition for being allowed to bid on a contract to work for the federal government. And the order doesn’t only require the company to disclose donations but would also force the directors or company officers to reveal their personal donations as well. Naturally, this same requirement is not forced on unions. (You can see a draft of Obama’s order HERE)

This forced disclosure, however, is not sitting well with either Democrats or Republicans.
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Obama’s Plan to Force Fed. Contractors to Disclose Political Donations Meeting Bi-Partisan Opposition”

Democrats/Leftists - Liberals - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Dues Paid to Union Fat Cats Could Have Funded 265,447 Workers For A Year

May 11, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Leftists and union supporters love to point to the salaries of corporate bosses and claim them an excess in order to goad regular people into fits of envy and hatred, stirring that class warfare that leftists love so much. But the folks at LaborUnionReport.com thought it might be interesting to turn the tables and calculate what could have been done with all that money were it not wasted on union dues.

LUR notes that with 14.7 million union members nation wide, that is a “substantial amount of dues money flowing to unions.” It is, indeed.

Before we get to LUR’s calculations, though, we should note that most dues money goes to fund the excessive lifestyles of union bosses who routinely make well over $200,000 a year, dues go to shore up the bloated staffs of union offices, and let us not forget that millions go into the pockets of compliant Democrat politicians to help them get elected over and over again. Many millions more go to create political issue advocacy efforts, like moves to raise our taxes so that union members can get even more of our tax money.
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Dues Paid to Union Fat Cats Could Have Funded 265,447 Workers For A Year”

Business - Capitalism - Democrats/Leftists - GOP - Government - Jobs - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Republicans - Right To Work - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Republicans Fighting Their Own Right-To-Work Measures?

May 10, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Associated Press is reporting that resistance to right-to-work laws is coming from a surprising source in many states where the legislation has been lately introduced. It seems that Republicans themselves are divided on the efficacy of right-to-work laws and are busy obstructing other Republicans that are for such laws.

AP notes that only one state, New Hampshire, which has newly introduced the bill, has seen it pass the legislature but even that state still might find the thing vetoed by a Democrat governor. In several other states Republicans are bickering over the law stalling passage.

Maddeningly, AP reports that, “some Republican lawmakers who represent more heavily unionized areas have teamed up with Democrats to protect unions from the legislation.” Certainly Democrats that have for decades had their hands in the union till are against a right-to-work law, but that these liberal Republicans are also reticent to pass the economy-spurring law is infuriating.
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Republicans Fighting Their Own Right-To-Work Measures?”

Budget - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Ethics - Freedom Works - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston - Washington D.C.

Union Thug Teacher Hopes Opponents Get Roughed Up by Teamsters

May 10, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Like any union thug, when confronted by someone that simply won’t bend to union will, why, the first thing they resort to is violence — or at least threats of same — and this union thug in Washington D.C. is no different than any other.

Caught at a protest arranged by unions to attack school choice, the cameras of some Freedom Works folks found a typical unionista that hoped the Teamsters would “kick the asses” of those that dare oppose the unions. She wished violence to descend upon anyone that wants kids to have a better education.

Naturally, this union creep also resorted to foul language.

Typical union thug.
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Union Thug Teacher Hopes Opponents Get Roughed Up by Teamsters”

Anti-Americanism - Chicago - Children - Cook County - Daniel Clark - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Government - Liberals - Society/Culture - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Western Civilization

Totalitarianism For Tots: School lunches are just a start

May 10, 2011 by 1 Comment

-By Daniel Clark

The prohibition on bagged lunches at Chicago’s Little Village Academy elementary school was not the result of Michelle Obama’s culinary reign of terror, as was widely assumed when it was first reported by the Chicago Tribune. In reality, the ban had been unilaterally enacted six years ago by principal Elsa Carmona. So, although there may be one little tyrant presiding over one little school, it is not indicative of a broader, nationwide campaign. Or is it?

Carmona’s edict has just become newsworthy because of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, signed by President Obama in December. That law has imposed far stricter nutritional standards on school lunches, while at the same time rejecting all standards of edibility. Because the kids won’t want to eat the gruesome grub, Little Village’s forbidding them from bringing lunches from home may lead to their refusing to eat lunch at all.

While touting the new rules, the White House posted a sample of a weekly elementary school lunch menu online. If we fed many of these same items to the terrorist detainees at Guantanamo, the ACLU and Amnesty International would scream brutality, and for once they’d have a point.
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Totalitarianism For Tots: School lunches are just a start”

Budget - Chicago - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Pensions - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Pension Reform in Illinois: A Hard Job That Springfield Wants to Ignore

May 9, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Americans for Prosperity – Illinois has launched an effort to goad our lawmakers in Springfield to tackle the single most vexing problem the state faces: pension obligations.

AFP has launched a website called “Fix Illinois Pensions Now” to help inform and empower voters so that they might encourage their representatives to do the right thing and fix this mess now!

A second website to find important information can be seen at: www.illinoisisbroke.org.

AFP has partnered with The Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago and they have jointly produced an informative video on the effort.
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Pension Reform in Illinois: A Hard Job That Springfield Wants to Ignore”

California - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Teachers Unions - Unions

Teachers Unions Continue Their Assault on School Choice

May 8, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

CTA and CFT sponsor legislation that imperils charter schools in California.

On April 27, Rasmussen Reports released the results of a poll which addresses American voters’ sentiments about our public schools. Some of the more interesting findings are:

  • 72% say taxpayers are not getting their money’s worth from our schools, while only 11% think we are.
  • By a margin of 41-34 (25% were unsure), those polled said that spending more money on education will not improve student performance.
  • 61% said that public education had become worse over the last ten years.

Given the citizenry’s increasing disaffection with our traditional public schools, charter schools would appear to be a good alternative. Charter schools are public schools which are allowed to operate outside the boundaries of costly multilayered district bureaucracies and piles of restrictive union mandated rules and regulations.
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Teachers Unions Continue Their Assault on School Choice”