Public Employees Unions

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Democrats/Leftists - Ethics - Government - Jobs - Liberals - NLRB - President - Public Employees Unions - Regulation - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

How Radical is Obama? This Radical…

November 28, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Barack Obama is very successful at one thing: the bait and switch. He stands before America presenting a picture of a hard-working moderate and claims that he wants to work with the Republicans to get things done. In reality he won’t even meet with them. He talks about compromise, but never offers any. He mouths kind words abut the business sector but uses his powers to make new regulations to destroy its profitability. In short, he’s a radical even though he doesn’t play one on TV. His modus operandi is to assume most voters are too stupid, lazy, or disinterested to compare his hope-n-change rhetoric with his actions.

Obama’s penchant for bypassing Congress and making radical changes to regulations in order to push his far left agenda is a case in point. Obama’s push to radicalize the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and turn it from a non-partisan watchdog agency into a tool for Big Labor is a perfect example of how the President uses regulations to achieve what he and the far left cannot do with legislation. It is also an example of how he is trying to radically change America under the radar of most voter’s notice.
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How Radical is Obama? This Radical…”

Anti-Americanism - Business - Capitalism - Communism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Government - Jobs - Liberals - Lobbyists - Nanny State - Public Employees Unions - Socialism - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Big Labor Pays Big Bucks For Occupy D.C.

November 23, 2011 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

A nurses union spent big cash to “Occupy Washington DC.”

On November 3rd, 2011, the National Nurses United Union, allied with the AFL-CIO, payed for the expenses of more than 1000+ members to march with Occupy DC and ask the President to raise taxes. Both public and private hospitals must have gone short staffed as the nurses hailed from all over the country and were very clear who brought them there.

My favorite part was the militant, anti-American nurse that said her union refuses to deal fairly with employers and prefers to use their big money to get the federal government to “force” employers to do what unions want them to do.

We don’t believe in trying to work with management in a hospital to make change cuz they won’t do it, they won’t do what’s right. So, we lobby for legislative change to force them to do it.

What could be a more un-American attitude than this? Our founders didn’t intend government to an interventionist force that would lord over the business sector and “force it” to do things that unions what employers to do.

Unions are authoritarian, anti-democratic, big government monsters that really do need to be cut down to size.
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Big Labor Pays Big Bucks For Occupy D.C.”

California - Education - Larry Sand - Los Angeles - Public Employees Unions - Teachers Unions

Teachers are Overpaid and Underpaid

November 21, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

A new study claims that public school teachers are overpaid. Are they? Depends.

An ongoing whine from teachers unions and their fellow travelers is that public school teachers don’t earn enough money. But according to Andrew Biggs, a researcher at the American Enterprise Institute scholar and Jason Richwine, a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, it is just not true. In fact, in a recently released study, they find that teachers are overpaid. Typically teachers have many perks like excellent healthcare and pension packages which aren’t counted as “income.” Armed with facts, charts and a bevy of footnotes, the authors make a very good case for their thesis. For example, they claim,

“Workers who switch from non-teaching jobs to teaching jobs receive a wage increase of roughly 9 percent, while teachers who change to non-teaching jobs see their wages decrease by approximately 3 percent.
“When retiree health coverage for teachers is included, it is worth roughly an additional 10 percent of wages, whereas private sector employees often do not receive this benefit at all.
“Teachers benefit strongly from job security benefits, which are worth about an extra 1 percent of wages, rising to 8.6 percent when considering that extra job security protects a premium paid in terms of salaries and benefits.
“Taking all of this into account, teachers actually receive salary and benefits that are 52 percent greater than fair market levels.”

Needless to say, the usual suspects are none too pleased with the report. A teacher-blogger going by New York City Educator calls his piece, “‘That’s Just Mean’: Bullies at the Heritage Foundation.” Okay, whatever.
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Teachers are Overpaid and Underpaid”

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

Fake Teacher Evaluation Racket is Busted in Los Angeles

November 14, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

Parents sue the LA school board and teachers union, forcing them to obey a law that they have ignored for 40 years.

There is nothing new about unions bullying weak-kneed school districts, but this may be the mother of all abuses– for forty years, school districts and unions have collaborated to break the law in California. According to the Stull Act (Section 44660 of the state’s education code), part of a teacher’s evaluation is required to include a student achievement component, but this has not happened anywhere in the state. Last week, after consulting with EdVoice, a reform advocacy group in Sacramento, parents of some students in Los Angeles Unified School District sued the school district and teachers union for what amounts to a dereliction of duty. While the lawsuit is aimed at LA, it will have state-wide ramifications.

Originally enacted in 1971, the Stull Act, named after State Senator John Stull, was amended in 1999 to include,

“The governing board of each school district shall evaluate and assess certificated employee performance as it reasonably relates to:

The progress of pupils toward the standards established pursuant to subdivision (a) and, if applicable, the state adopted academic content standards as measured by state adopted criterion referenced assessments….”

In other words, a part of a teacher’s evaluation is supposed to be contingent on how well his students do on state mandated tests. This is hardly a radical notion, as half the states in the rest of the country now evaluate teachers in part by student performance on these tests.
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Fake Teacher Evaluation Racket is Busted in Los Angeles”

Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Ethics - Government - Jobs - Liberals - New York - New York City - Police - Public Employees Unions - Regulation - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

NYPD Police Union: Another Example of Why Public Employee Unions Need to be Outlawed

November 11, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Last week 16 dirty New York cops went on trial for all sorts of criminal behavior. From dealing drugs, to assault and grand larceny, and “unrelated corruption,” these cops are proving to be some very crooked characters. But fellow officers don’t care about that. They have ginned themselves up to act like the punks and scumbags they are supposed to be putting behind bars all due to their police union and its agitation over the trials.

Even The New York Times seemed shocked by the venomous treatment these union thugs cops were delivering to the District Attorneys handling the case. Certainly these crooked cops are innocent until the prosecution proves its case, but these union toughs don’t care to let the law take its course. They want to storm the gates like the barbarians they are.

These so-called police officers even began to accost the media as the defendants left the courtroom. Says the Times, “The assembled police officers blocked cameras from filming their colleagues, in one instance grabbing lenses and shoving television camera operators backward.”
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NYPD Police Union: Another Example of Why Public Employee Unions Need to be Outlawed”

Anti-Americanism - Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Government - Liberals - Ohio - Pensions - Public Employees Unions - Republicans - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Defeat of OH Issue 2 Means $1,468 More Per Taxpayer By 2015

November 8, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Matt Mayer of the Buckeye Institute has done the math on what a defeat of Issue 2 will cost Ohio’s taxpayers. Turns out it will cost taxpayers $1,468 more a year by 2015.

Mayer made a simple calculation by taking the $8 billion tax hike that a defeat of Issue 2 will usher in by 2015 and dividing that by the 5,448, 500 state tax returns filed in Ohio. He also took the initial $1.4 billion tax hike that will result if the unions win on Tuesday and found that each taxpayer will be stuck with an immediate $257 more in taxes next year.

The annual savings we calculated from SB5 once all contracts are negotiated would be nearly $1.4 billion per year (for details, see www.buckeyeinstitute.org/getthefacts).

In 2007, Ohio had 5,448,500 [tax] returns filed, so that would equate to a “tax” of $257 per return… That is [merely] the savings from SB5 enactment.

An additional wrinkle is that Big Labor/Democrats have essentially gone all in on higher taxes; meaning, if SB5 is repealed, that removes one option to reducing local government costs, which leaves two options–program/staff cuts and/or raising taxes… For example, Ohio’s 613 school districts currently project a collective deficit by 2015 of [approximately $8 billion]…

[Thus, without] SB5, taxes will have to go up … [at least] $8 billion just for [Ohio’s] 613 school districts by 2015, which is $1,468 per return.

So, Ohio, you have a choice. Vote Issue 2 down and stick yourself with needlessly higher taxes and give unions the ability to stick it to you further, or give your legislature — not union bosses — the power to control your state’s budget like they should.
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Defeat of OH Issue 2 Means $1,468 More Per Taxpayer By 2015″

Illinois - Larry Sand - Pensions - Public Employees Unions - Teachers Unions - Unions

Unions Continue to Swindle the Public

November 8, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

Unions are still treacherous, but with a generous helping of legislative malfeasance, their tactics are more subtle.

“On the Waterfront” portrayed union power at its rawest. In the 1950s, the unions typically got their way with nothing less than brute force. But today the tactics are different. In “Pretty Boy Floyd,” Woody Guthrie sang, “Some will rob you with a six-gun, and some with a fountain pen.” The unions are well entrenched in the “fountain pen” camp and recently, Illinois has been in their crosshairs.

In September, the Chicago Tribune broke a story about Dennis Gannon, a former sanitation worker who became a president of the Chicago Federation of Labor. He went back to work for the city for one day, then took a leave of absence and was legally allowed to collect a $158,000 pension, about five times the average sanitation worker.
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Unions Continue to Swindle the Public”

Anti-Americanism - Anti-Semitism - Budget - Business - California - Capitalism - Communism - Democrats/Leftists - GOP - Government - Liberals - Los Angeles - Public Employees Unions - Socialism - Taxes - Tea Party - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Occupy LA Video: ‘Get Rid of America and Everything it Stands For’

November 6, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Occupy Whatever movement — if it can be called a movement — is at its heart a hate-America movement. With each new video we see this more and more and this cretin at Occupy Los Angeles is just one more example.

An avowed communist, like so many of these people are, he feels that America is the chief evil of the world and needs to be destroyed.

This man wants America destroyed. He is not an outlier at these Occupy events. He is quite typical. And always remember, the U.S. Democrat Party is supporting these people. People that hate America are an important constituency as far as Democrats are concerned.

Transcript

… From the beginning the votes that they give us are for a very specific purpose, they give us these elections to put the stamp of legitimacy on the crimes and horrors that America commits around the world and the millions of people who’s lives it crushes, degrades, and murders.

You know that’s what this is and no good can come of this, nothing positive. You know I’m a communist, you know, look.

Nothing positive can come about unless you get rid of America and everything it stands for…

The Old Media establishment will not tell America of these people that make up such a large part of the Occupy events. But, oh, if there was just one guy at a Tea Party event supporting some hate-America movement the whole world would have seen it.

The Old Media has allowed these hatemongers at the Occupy events go unreported. They’ve avoided the rapes, allowed the thefts, the thousands of arrests, the property destruction, fires, broken windows, and general unruliness of the Occupiers have gone unreported.

It’s up to you, folks. Tell as many people as you possibly can what these Occupiers really are.
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Occupy LA Video: ‘Get Rid of America and Everything it Stands For’”

Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Liberals - Ohio - Pensions - Public Employees Unions - Scott Walker - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Ohio, Vote YES on Issue 2

November 2, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

A few days ago the Cincinnati Enquirer came out in support of Issue 2, which will enact Senate Bill 5 — a reformation of how the Buckeye State deals with government unions.

For decades, Ohio has been on an unsustainable path of rapidly increasing public-sector benefits. SB 5 would give the people we choose to manage our money, our safety and our schools greater flexibility in benefits and work rules for public employees, bringing them closer in line with what comparable workers receive in the private sector. That could relieve the pressure to raise taxes and thus help, not hurt, middle-class Ohioans.

This is an important bill not just for Ohio, but for the whole country. What Ohio is trying to do (and what Governor Walker of Wisconsin has already done) is to take away the power of un-elected union bosses from determining how the state’s budget will be spent. Ohio is trying to take back the reins of making policy, allocating tax money, and making rules for employment from the union thugs that now have control over it all.

This new rule that states such as Ohio and Wisconsin are struggling to pass is not a war against the middle class, nor even necessarily a war against the idea of unions themselves. It is a move toward fiscal responsibility and the democratic process.

These new reforms must pass now or our states will necessarily go bankrupt for all the unfunded liabilities and unfair goodies handed out to government union members.

Pass issue 2, Ohio.
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Ohio, Vote YES on Issue 2″

Budget - California - Children - Education - Larry Sand - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

CTA Dons Victim Guise and Joins OWS Crowd

October 31, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

It’s almost Halloween and the California Teachers Association, a rich and powerful outfit, is in costume as one of the “99%ers” – protesters who claim to be have-nots

A couple of weeks ago United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten made sympathetic statements about the Occupy Wall Street movement. Now the California Teachers Association has jumped in with a full endorsement and suggestions on its website as to how teachers and others can get involved in OWS activities.

Stunning in its mendacity, CTA issued a press release (H/T Mike Antonucci) which announced its “support of the nationwide ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement for tax fairness and against corporate greed.” It goes on to say, “…a stable tax structure begins with everyone paying their fair share.”
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CTA Dons Victim Guise and Joins OWS Crowd”

Anti-Americanism - Banks - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Congress - Conservatives - Democracy - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - EPA - Ethics - Financial Reform - Free Trade - Freedom - GOP - Government - Government, Ill. County - House of Representatives - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Jobs - Liberals - Policy - President - Public Employees Unions - Regulation - Republicans - Senate - Taxes - The Law - Unemployment - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Business Roundtable: Regulations Are Killing Business

October 28, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

On Friday I attended an informative business roundtable meeting of Chicago-area small businessmen who came together to discuss how government intervention and its avalanche of regulations are killing jobs and businesses not only in Illinois, but nation wide. Some of the stories were chilling, to say the least. These trials go to show how anti-business the most famously capitalist country in the world has become. No wonder we can’t get out of this second great depression!

The event was held at the headquarters of The Rabine Group in Schaumburg, Illinois. The Rabine Group is a group of nationwide companies that specializes in driveway paving, roofing, and other contracting work. The company is headed by owner and CEO Gary Rabine.

Filling out the panel was Moderator, Brian Kelly of Bulk Lift International; Gary Rabine, The Rabine Group; Garrett Patten, Patten Industries; Randy Truckenbrodt, Randall Industries, Inc, and Former State Senator Steve Rauschenberger, Rauschenberger Partners.

The panel began with some of the regulatory horror stories experienced by the panel. Each story illustrated how government stands in the way of job creation, small business, and expansion, and how government is not working hand-in-hand with small business but actually fosters an inimical relationship. The panel showed how the oppressiveness of these regulations actually tempts business to break laws just to be able to carry on with business.
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Business Roundtable: Regulations Are Killing Business”

Americans For Prosperity - Budget - Conservatives - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Elections - GOP - Government - Liberals - Pensions - President - Public Employees Unions - Regulation - Republicans - Scott Walker - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston - Wisconsin

Wisc.: Walker’s Union Reforms Are Working! (A Lesson for Illinois)

October 28, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Governor Scott Walker was the worst devil the unions could imagine. They targeted him and Wisconsin’s Republicans mercilessly earlier this year. Fortunately, the unions and their Democrat handmaidens lost most of these battles.

But now some results are being seem from the efforts to curtail the un-democratic, unearned power of Wisconsin’s government employee unions. A new effort by the MacIver Institute and Americans for Prosperity is showing the world where these policies have succeeded in making things better in Wisconsin.

This is a lesson for Illinois and every other blue state. We can fix our problems, too. But it means defeating entrenched, un-American union power and their bought and paid for Democrats.
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Wisc.: Walker’s Union Reforms Are Working! (A Lesson for Illinois)”

Anti-Americanism - Business - Capitalism - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - Jobs - Liberals - Ohio - Pensions - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Union’s Battle Against Ohio Heats Up

October 25, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

On November 8, Ohioans will go to the polls to vote on a series of ballot initiatives, among them Issue 2.

A yes vote will support Governor Kasich’s collective bargaining reform (SB 5) to become law. A no vote would return power to the bloated, thieving unions to do hat they have always done: steal from the taxpayers. (I wonder if you can tell which side I am on, here? Ha, ha)

Unions have rolled into Ohio with millions of dollars for anti-issue 2 advertising, donations to politicians, and the usual corrupt bargaining behind the scenes that unions generally employ. Sadly, it looks like their big money has persuaded too many Ohioans to back the unions as polling shows Issue 2 is losing with voters.
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Union’s Battle Against Ohio Heats Up”

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

Union Organizers Work 1 Day As Teachers, Get $100K+ in State Pensions

October 24, 2011 by 5 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Two union organizers that represent the Illinois Federation of Teachers were able to secure millions in state pensions by working one day as a teacher here in Illinois. This outrageous abuse of the state pension system is exactly why government unions should not be allowed to exist.

The Chicago Tribune has the story of Steven Preckwinkle and David Piccioli who took advantage of a loophole to enrich themselves off the backs of the taxpayers written into law just for them by pliant Democrat politicians.

The crony legislation enabled the unionistas to quickly get state teaching certificates, work one day as a substitute teacher, then count their years as union operatives to qualify them for pension benefits from the state.
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Union Organizers Work 1 Day As Teachers, Get $100K+ in State Pensions”

Anti-Americanism - Anti-Semitism - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Communism - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Ethics - Government - Liberals - President - Public Employees Unions - Socialism - Taxes - Terrorism - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Occupy Chicago Sign: ‘Dear Rich Straight White Dudes, F**K Off’

October 24, 2011 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Like the rest of the large cities in the US, Chicago is currently suffering with small pockets of Occupy protesters and their ever-present signs. And like every other big city these signs are often misspelled, sometimes profane, commonly anti-capitalist, occasionally anti-Semitic, almost always anti-American, not to mention merely ignorant of the facts. But one thing that is the same in every protest, at least in the media reportage of same, is that the worst of the signs go unseen by the general American news consumer.

Chicago blogger John Ruberry took his trusty camera downtown to the Windy City and captured some pretty representative signs the like of which were similar signs seen at Tea Party events would have made the nightly news programs for their outrageous messages.

For instance, there’s the one I note in the headline of this piece.

Now imagine if a Tea Party sign said something like, “Dear Gay Blacks, F**k Off.” The media would have lost its tiny hive mind over such a blatantly ignorant sign. It’s been two years of Tea Party protests and there’ve been few signs as blatant as the dozens seen at many of these Occupy-Whatever events.
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Occupy Chicago Sign: ‘Dear Rich Straight White Dudes, F**K Off’”

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

Teachers Unions: On the Road to Extinction?

October 23, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

Online learning is the wave of the future, but teachers unions still have a Paleocene mentality

In his extraordinary book Special Interest, Terry Moe writes about the massive power of the teachers unions. After much gloom and doom, in the final chapter of the book, he manages to convey some hope about the future. Emerging technology-based education, he asserts, is the “long-term trend…, and the unions cannot stop it from happening.” Online teachers from different states and countries will be much harder for the unions to corral and control.

However, according to a post on hotair.com by Tina Korbe, the University of California chapter of the American Federation of Teachers hasn’t gotten the message yet. University of California schools, which are in dire financial straits, have begun using online education programs as a way to save money. As a result, some lecturers’ jobs could be done away with. However, their union is using its collective bargaining power to ensure that every job, no matter how unnecessary, will be saved.

“… the California lecturers, who make up nearly half of the system’s undergraduate teaching teachers, believe they have used … bargaining power to score a rare coup. The University of California last week tentatively agreed to a deal with UC-AFT that included a new provision barring the system and its campuses from creating online courses or programs that would result in ‘a change to a term or condition of employment’ of any lecturer without first dealing with the union.”

In other words, the union is determined to keep all its dues-paying members on the payroll whether they are needed or not, whether we can afford them or not. The fact that there are some excellent online classes and that their use would save the beleaguered taxpayers of California bushels

Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Ethics - Government, Ill. County - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Pat Quinn - Pensions - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Reform Illinois Pensions Now!

October 19, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Springfield must reform pensions now or our children will pay.

According to Illinois Is Broke, “The 30-second spots, in English and Spanish, will begin airing on Tuesday, October 18th and are scheduled to run through the veto sessions, which begin October 25th. The television campaign will be supplemented with a billboard, print and radio campaign, timed to coincide with the legislative sessions. In addition to nightly newscasts, the spots will run during sporting events, and programming such as 60 Minutes.”

Connect with Illinis is Broke on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/IllinoisIsBroke

Follow them on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/IllinoisIsBroke
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Reform Illinois Pensions Now!”

Anti-Americanism - Budget - Chicago - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Ethics - Hate Crimes - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Society/Culture - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Lisa Fithian: Teaching Radicalism to Chicago Teachers Union

October 18, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Violent, union thug comes to Chicago to fake teacher “arrests”

When people ask me, “What do you do?” I say I create crisis, because crisis is that edge where change is possible.
— Lisa Fithian

The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) trained under radical street organizer, and leader of the anti-capitalist #occupy movement, Lisa Fithian, to stage a protest march in Chicago on 10/10/11.

During this event, more than 20+ members of the CTU were arrested.

THE NYT MAGAZINE SAYS THIS ABOUT FITHIAN
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Lisa Fithian: Teaching Radicalism to Chicago Teachers Union”

Business - California - Capitalism - Economy/Finances - Larry Sand - Public Employees Unions - Teachers Unions - Unions

Steve Jobs vs. Wall St. Whiners and Teachers Unions

October 17, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

Steve Jobs knew how to create wealth. The parasitic Wall Street protesters and teachers unions want to destroy it

There are many theories as to who is orchestrating the “Occupy Wall Street” protests – known in some circles as “Kamp Alinsky” and “Kamp Kvetch” – in lower Manhattan and elsewhere throughout our country. George Soros? President Obama? Could they possibly be spontaneous?

No matter. The protesters and their message of social justice, socialism and general hatred of all things corporate will not affect the great majority of Americans. The average Joe and Jill are just trying to pay their bills, raise a family and live a decent life. Hence the Wall Street rabble, a motley combination of bored teenagers, old guard lefties and hard core partiers, many armed with iPhones, digital cameras and many other luxuries produced by corporations, are badly missing the mark. As usual, the protesters’ signs tell the story – none more so than the one that says, “A job is a right. Capitalism doesn’t work.” Could any serious types associate with this fringe mentality?

Enter Michael Mulgrew – the United Federation of Teachers president. Speaking “truth to power,” his tax-the-rich talk at a Wall St. rally fit right in with the angry mob that thinks wealth is evil and that if A has more money than B, A owes B some of it. It’s the mentality that thinks that there is no moral difference between Bernie Madoff and Bill Gates.
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Steve Jobs vs. Wall St. Whiners and Teachers Unions”

Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Government - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Republicans - Taxes - Tom Cross - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Cross Files Bill to Protect Taxpayers from Double Dipping

October 13, 2011 by

From the office of Rep. Tom Cross, Ill GOP House Leader…

“Can you name any place in the world where someone can get two pensions for the same job?” said state Rep. Tom Cross, a Republican from Oswego who has been pushing for statewide pension reform. “Even by our standards here in Illinois, it’s beyond belief. It’s insane.”

This was part of a story uncovered by the Chicago Tribune and WGN-TV in the last 24 hours taking a look at union leaders exploitation of a loophole created by a questionable interpretation of state statute in the Chicago pension funds.

As the media continues to uncover gross abuses in the Chicago’s pension funds, Cross filed legislation today to ensure that Chicago union officials cannot collect multiple pensions, one through the City of Chicago and one through other labor organizations for pension credit earned for the same period of service.
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Cross Files Bill to Protect Taxpayers from Double Dipping”

Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Elections - Ethics - Government - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Scott Walker - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston - Wisconsin

Labor Unions Support Wisconsin Agitators

October 12, 2011 by 1 Comment

Until now many of the often-illegal antics perpetuated by several individual Wisconsin-based protesters appeared to be random acts committed by disillusioned agitators. But the MacIver News Service has learned that these acts have been highly orchestrated and perpetuated by an organization whose members are told to deny their involvement in the group. A group, we’ve discovered, which is financed by thousands of dollars from Big Labor.

With that funding comes clout. They have shared the stage with Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate. They’ve hosted prominent Democratic legislative speakers such as Representative Cory Mason and Minority Leader Peter Barca, a rumored potential candidate for governor.

These protesters have played a key role in many of the most visible events in and around the State Capitol since February. This week, their organization was listed alongside the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and United Wisconsin as key organizers behind the efforts to recall Governor Scott Walker.

And they’re currently organizing and participating in many of the ‘Occupy’ protests in Washington, DC, New York and Wisconsin.

Bill Osmulski reports in this MacIver News Investigation.

http://maciverinstitute.com/

Anti-Americanism - Budget - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Ethics - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Pat Quinn - Pensions - Public Employees Unions - Regulation - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Bad News For Illinois Teachers: Illinois is Broke and You Might Not Get Your Pension!

October 12, 2011 by

The unions and the Democrats are lying to you, teachers.

In Illinois we have a $140 billion retirement pension deficit for teachers, folks. Don’t let the unions lie to you all the way until you decide to retire only to find out you lost everything.

And you police, firemen, and other state employees… don’t think you are better off than the teachers. You aren’t.

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

The Tragedy and Farce of American Schools of Education

October 10, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

Education schools are nothing more than dumbed down, politically correct fad factories supported by the teachers unions.

If you ever wanted to have a complete file of Diane Ravitch’s inane union apologist utterances all in one place – here it is. As Part of NBC’s Education Nation, she and Harlem Children’s Zone’s President Geoffrey Canada duked it out for a half hour. (As I watched this, I recalled Steven Brill’s comment in Class Warfare, that American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten should become the next New York City Chancellor of Education because she’s “smart” and could fix public education by making the rank and file perform better. I would add that in the highly unlikely case of this happening, Ravitch could easily replace Weingarten as AFT president.)

Needless to say, Ravitch vehemently disagreed with Canada on just about everything. However, they did agree that we needed to train our teachers better. This, of course, is like agreeing that snow is white.

The schools of education in the U.S. are by and large an abomination. Richard Vedder, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, pretty well nails it in a recent article he wrote for the Chronicle of Higher Education. He says that:
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The Tragedy and Farce of American Schools of Education”

Adam Andrzejewski - Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - For The Good Of Illinois - Franklin Deleno Roosevelt - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Pensions - Public Employees Unions - Regulation - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Abuse: Union Leaders Pull Down Millions in Public Pensions in Illinois

October 9, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Andrew Thomason of the Illinois Statehouse News agency has a pair of stores on the criminal syndicate that is unions in the Land of Lincoln this week that have to be seen to be believed. In fact, these stories and the ones like them we’ve seen for the past several months in Illinois are proof positive that unions should be illegal for government employees.

In one story, Thomason reports the tale of Michael Johnson, a corrupt teacher out to milk the taxpayers dry by collecting $209,379.43 in pension benefits while at the same time also collected $324,785 from a separate Illinois pension fund. And so far this crook has already collected $1.1 million of our tax dollars on top of the $198,105 a year he makes for “part-time work” for the school district.

This is called double dipping. Johnson was able to do this because he worked at one job in Illinois education, “retired” from it, then took a second job in the same field. This means he gets two pensions to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, likely totaling up to millions by the time he dies. All paid for by the taxpayers of Illinois.
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Abuse: Union Leaders Pull Down Millions in Public Pensions in Illinois”

Business - Capitalism - Card Check - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - GOP - Government - House of Representatives - Jobs - Labor Law - Liberals - NLRB - President - Public Employees Unions - Regulation - Republicans - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

New Bill Introduced to Roll Back Obama’s Anti-Business NLRB Rules

October 8, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman Rep. John Kline (R, Minn.) is tired of sitting around doing nothing while Obama ramps up his extremely anti-business, anti-jobs regulatory regime. So Kline has introduced a new bill to roll back some of these harsh rules.

Since he became president Obama has been using his power to create regulations to push his pro-big labor, anti-business ideology. Obama knows he cannot get Congress to implement these anti-jobs regulations, so he has been quietly changing rules using his Dept. of Labor, the NLRB, and the EPA to hamper business and increasingly institute big government control over all our lives.
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New Bill Introduced to Roll Back Obama’s Anti-Business NLRB Rules”

Budget - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - GOP - Government - House of Representatives - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Jobs - Liberals - Pensions - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Tom Cross - Warner Todd Huston

Ill. GOP House Leader Tom Cross: Reforming Chicago and Cook Co. Pension Boards‏

October 7, 2011 by

From Illinois GOP House Leader Tom Cross…

In a speech at the City Club of Chicago this afternoon, Illinois House Republican Leader Tom Cross announced that he filed a bill that will help give more accountability to taxpayers by reconstituting the City of Chicago and Cook County pension boards. The bill, which will be sponsored by Senator Matt Murphy (R-Palatine) in the Senate, will also require pension boards statewide to refer any suspected fraud to the local authorities.

“Recent media reports have unveiled abuses in the Chicago Pension systems that were not reported to the proper authorities for punishment or investigation. We believe these matters should have and still should be reported to law enforcement. We mandate that in our bill,” said Cross. “We also believe the pension boards in the City of Chicago and Cook County need a fresh start—that’s why we are seeking reconstitution.”
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Ill. GOP House Leader Tom Cross: Reforming Chicago and Cook Co. Pension Boards‏”

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

Cherry Picking Facts + Bad Polling = Demagoguery

September 27, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

Teacher union boss cherry picks from a biased poll and ends up with the pits.

Cherry picking is a phrase that has become quite popular these days. The term simply refers to advancing a certain point of view by using only data which supports that POV and omitting any contradictory or mitigating information.

A recent illustration of this phenomenon is on display in an article written by NEA President Dennis Van Roekel. The ironically titled Back-to-School Reality Check is, in fact, quite short on reality. The article, primarily a pep talk for teachers, uses a recent Phi Beta Kappa/Gallup poll as its motivating source. Early on, Van Roekel tells us,

“73 percent (of the poll’s respondents) said teachers should have flexibility in the classroom.”

I’m all for that. But what the union boss leaves out is that for teachers to have more flexibility they would need to tear up the telephone book-size union contract that dictates every little move a teacher makes.
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Cherry Picking Facts + Bad Polling = Demagoguery”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Government - House of Representatives - Illinois - Jobs - Liberals - NLRB - President - Public Employees Unions - Regulation - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

President Obama’s NLRB & Their Summer Assault On American Jobs

September 22, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Obama pretends that he wants to cut regulations and make it easier for businesses to make jobs. Unfortunately, what he says and what he does with his powers to regulate are two very, very different things.

From the Workforce Fairness Institute:
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President Obama’s NLRB & Their Summer Assault On American Jobs”

Budget - Chicago - Cook County - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Ethics - GOP - Government - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Pensions - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Chicago: Union Members Collect Millions in Tax $$ With Sweetheart Pension Deal

September 22, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Now this is the sort of corruption we are used to seeing in Illinois, eh? This week the Chicago Tribune and WGN TV has found up to 23 retired union operatives that are collecting millions in taxpayer dollars because they had pals in government tweak the state’s pensions laws to favor them.

These former government workers that were government union members got pliant politicians to alter the pensions laws to say that their pension remuneration would be calculated not on the lower pay they received when they retired from government, but from the much higher salary they received when they worked as union operatives. These folks worked as union bosses at the same time as working on the clock for government.

The “luck” of former union boss and Dept. of Streets and Sanitation worker Thomas Villanova is a typical example. Villanova last worked full-time for the city in 1989 and made $40,000-a-year. But he was also a union big wig making $198,000 annually upon his retirement in 2008 at age 56. His city pension, it appears, was calculated on the union salary of $198,000 instead of his real salary of $40,000 — itself obviously a no-show job in the first place.

Villanova stands to make millions off the taxpayers.
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Chicago: Union Members Collect Millions in Tax $$ With Sweetheart Pension Deal”

Children - Education - Public Employees Unions - Teachers Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Launch of Choice Media — Education News Service

September 22, 2011 by

ChoiceMedia.tv to Serve as Nation’s ‘Education Reform Homepage’

NEW YORK, NY, September 19, 2011 — Choice Media launches today, a non-profit news service devoted to covering all facets of K-12 education quality and reform.

“Education remains the most under-reported facet of American life by the traditional news media,” said Bob Bowdon, founder of Choice Media. “The coverage it does receive is often shallow and scandal-focused, with too little attention paid to the intractable systemic failures of a broken education model. Choice Media will attempt to reddress this imbalance.”
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Launch of Choice Media — Education News Service”