At Least the Texans Know How Much They Owe

By Mike Shedlock
01/31/2013
Editor’s Note: In this report by Mike Shedlock, which provides details from the recent Texas State Comptroller’s report entitled “Your Money and Local Debt,” you can see that in Texas, state and local government total outstanding debt combined equals $233.2 billion, which equates to nearly $9,000 for each and every one of the 26 million...

Appeals Court Invalidates “Recess” Appointments to NLRB

By Dave Bego
01/31/2013
Last Friday’s opinion by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals was a profound blow to Big Labor’s aspirations to achieve card check through use of regulatory action (see blog Card Check through Regulation vs. Legislation), especially after the re-election of President Obama and recent decisions by the pro-labor NLRB to extend Big Labor’s political money...

Union Watch Highlights

By Jack Dean
01/29/2013
Here are links to the top stories available online over the past week reporting on union activity including legislation, financial impact, reform activism, etc., from California and across the USA. Can Latinos Save Labor Unions? By Kathleen Miles, January 28, 2013, The Huffington Post Facing an onslaught of anti-union legislation and the pressure of outsourcing,...

Calling for Public Sector Union Reform is Not Anti-Union

By Edward Ring
01/29/2013
Last week an article written by UnionWatch contributor Kevin Dayton was republished in its entirety by the State Building and Construction Trades Council. While we are pleased that the SBCTC is sharing our material with their members, we object to their characterization of UnionWatch as an “anti-union website.” We also invite them to consider the...

TAGS: Kevin Dayton, State Building and Construction Trades Council of California

Charter Proposals for California Cities Continue Provoking Union Opposition

By Kevin Dayton
01/29/2013
California Governor Jerry Brown claimed in his State of the State address that California now has “a solid and enduring budget.” His Finance Department even predicts state budget surpluses. Despite the jubilation at the state capitol inspired by tax increases and one-party rule, California cities seem skeptical, as shown by their continued efforts to exercise their state constitutional rights to govern their own municipal affairs,...

TAGS: Are Charter Cities Taking Advantage of State Mandated Construction Wage Rate ("Prevailing Wage") Exemptions?, Jerry Brown, Los Angeles/Orange County Building and Construction Trades Council, Minimum Wage, Prevailing Wage, Smart Cities Prevail

Got Glue?

By Larry Sand
01/29/2013
Restoring civic attachment and mainstreaming revolution. Back in 2010, the American Enterprise Institute launched “The Program on American Citizenship,” a worthy project that is dedicated to strengthening the foundations of American freedom and self-government by renewing our understanding of American citizenship. The ultimate goal of the Program is to deepen Americans’ appreciation for and attachment...

TAGS: American Enterprise Institute, Bill Ayers, International Socialist Organization, United Teachers of Los Angeles

Gina Raimondo’s Shining Example – Pension Reform in Rhode Island

By Edward Ring
01/28/2013
January 28, 2013 By John G. Dickerson About the Author:  John Dickerson is a financial professional living in Mendocino County who is involved in public sector pension analysis and reform. Since 2008 Dickerson has been the publisher of the influential website and newsletter www.YourPublicMoney.com. He focuses on the impact of unfunded pension debt on the...

CPC Study Documents How Rhode Island Implemented Pension Reform

By California Policy Center
01/28/2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Sacramento, California, January 28, 2013 Contact:  press@calpolicycenter.org The California Policy Center has just published a new study that provides an in-depth chronology of Rhode Island’s pension reform efforts. Despite several incremental pension reforms passed by their state legislature starting in 2005, by 2010 Rhode Island’s state pension plan was only 48% funded,...

Los Angeles “Diners’ Guide” is Labor Front Group’s Latest Ploy

By Alison Harden
01/25/2013
This month, a front group for organized labor called the Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC) is asking Los Angeles diners to embrace a half-baked new “Diners’ Guide” that ranks restaurants based on their labor practices. In reality, this is a hypocritical ploy done for the benefit of ROC’s labor allies, not the general public. Given ROC’s history of...

Government Debt Should Be Clearly Disclosed To Voters

By Susan Combs
01/24/2013
Federal, state and local governments have generated millions of pages of unreadable prose laying out rules and regulations and asserting their authority over our lives. But the whole nation began with a Declaration of only about 1,300 well-chosen words—and perhaps the most important are the words that say governments derive their powers “from the consent...