Labor luminaries such as George Meany and FDR agreed on the dangers of a unionized government. More recently, prominent Democrats such as California’s former assembly speaker Willie Brown, or current San Francisco supervisor Jeff Adachi, have found themselves criticizing or confronting public sector unions. The reason is clear – private sector unions must be reasonable...
By Editor
An recent report in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel entitled “Walker looks at showdown with state employee unions” claims Wisconsin’s incoming Governor Scott Walker will attempt to reduce public sector union prerogatives in order to make it easier to eliminate the state’s budget deficit. Based on the election results on November 2nd, Governor Walker may get some...
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In the wake of the election on November 2nd, 29 of the 50 states have Republican governors (ref. Real Clear Politics), and they are all looking to California to woo companies. Can California live on green jobs and agriculture? Because that’s about all that’s going to be left under the combined weight of the global...
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Earlier this month the Federal Labor Relations Authority ruled that 50,000 TSA workers are going to be permitted to vote on whether or not to join a union with full collective bargaining rights. To find out more about this, read John Fund’s November 26th Wall Street Journal commentary entitled “How to Make Air Travel More...
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In Monterey County, Maryland, the Washington Post reports the county government spends 80% of their budget on personnel costs – a not unusual percentage. In their November 27th editorial entitled “Taming Montgomery’s Unions,” they further report that in the past 10 years salaries for Montgomery County employees have gone up 50% and health and pension...
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During the 2004 Presidential election there were allegations of voter fraud; the 2000 Presidential election was alleged to have been “stolen” by the Republicans. If you go further back in history, you can point to evidence the Democratic machine in Chicago manipulated election results to throw the 1960 Presidential election victory to Kennedy. A close...
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The SEIU has spread their tentacles into the realm of higher education, with campaigns underway to organize faculty at colleges and universities. According to a report entitled “The War on Conservative Teachers,” posted today by Al Katman on Frontpage.com, the SEIU holds multiple elections, identifying the departments where union support is strongest, then holding a...
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There are those who may criticize outgoing Florida Governor Charlie Crist for issuing a posthumous pardon to rock legend Jim Morrison (ref. “Gov. Charlie Crist will pursue pardon of Jim Morrison,” St. Petersburg Times). We should all be so lucky. In Iowa, incoming Governor Terry Branstad, in a press release today, exposed a lame-duck move...
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One might argue that if public sector workers are paid over-market wages and benefits, then lowering their wages and benefits to levels comparable with private sector taxpayers might take away the need to push for higher taxes. Less visible but equally relevant to taxpayers are the compensation packages provided to public utility workers. These public...
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There’s so much more where these stories came from, reports on another labor-friendly legislation or regulation, and always the same theme, more burdens on emerging private companies. None so horrendous at first glance, none without far reaching consequences – and none without numberless counterparts, assaulting any entrepreneur – who just wants to do honest hard...
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An interesting post from the website “Intercepts: A listening post monitoring public education and teachers’ unions,” entitled “NEA/CTA Outspends Everyone on California Ballot Measures” has added up the political spending by California’s teacher’s union in last week’s election. For the nine initiative measures, the spending by California’s teacher’s unions was as follows: California Teachers Association:...
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Despite candidates backed by public sector unions pretty much running the table in the statewide elections – they retained virtually every State Assembly and State Senate seat and among higher office, and only the Attorney General race still hangs in the balance – at the local level there were significant gains by union reformers. A...
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When assessing the financial sustainability of any government administered plan to provide retirement security to their citizens, it is important to consider two factors, (1) the nation’s overall population demographics, and (2) the economic model of the plan. In-turn, when evaluating the economic model of the plan, it is important to consider the plan’s sustainability...
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"It's impossible for this legislature to reform the pension system and if we don't we bankrupt the state. And I don't think anybody can do it here because of who elected you."
By Editor
a new form will got here