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Tuesday, March 10, 2015

OBAMA GETS HIMSELF ALL STOKED UP…


Apparently Scott Walker must be doing something right as evidenced by the fact that Barry “Almighty” recently felt it appropriate to take the extraordinary step of publicly criticizing the Wisconsin governor for signing a "right to work" law that blocks unions from collecting mandatory fees from ‘non-union’ members.  Walker, as you may or may not know, is a rising contender for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. He has built a national reputation, of sorts, for countering union influence.  In 2011, as a newly elected governor, he worked to undo the collective bargaining powers of Wisconsin's public employees' unions.  He has continued to draw the ire of big unions that spent a great deal money trying to remove him from office.

Barry declared, "I'm deeply disappointed that a new anti-worker law in Wisconsin will weaken, rather than strengthen, workers in the new economy."  And he went on to say, "Wisconsin is a state built by labor, with a proud pro-worker past.”  He added, "So even as its governor claims victory over working Americans, I'd encourage him to try and score a victory for working Americans, by taking meaningful action to raise their wages and offer them the security of paid leave."  Barry acts as if he has scored so many victories for working American.  But on the contrary, it has been his policies that have decimated our economy, and have had the result of removing 10 million Americans from the nation’s workforce.

Barry went on to say, "That's how you give hardworking middle-class families a fair shot in the new economy — not by stripping their rights in the workplace, but by offering them all the tools they need to get ahead.”  And he continued, "It's no coincidence that the rise of the middle class in America coincided in large part with the rise of unions — workers who organized together for higher wages, better working conditions, and the benefits and protections that most workers take for granted today."  The new law means that in Wisconsin unions may no longer enter into arrangements with the private sector in order to collect fees from non-members.  You’d think that even Barry would see that as being reasonable.

But Barry said it was "inexcusable that, over the past several years, just when middle-class families and workers need that kind of security the most, there's been a sustained, coordinated assault on unions, led by powerful interests and their allies in government."  Barry likes to spend a great deal of him time talking about such things as fairness, but what’s fair about having to pay dues to an organization of which you are not even a member?  Critics of “right to work” laws, which you’ll find in considerable number there on the left, like to point out how it is that non-members are able to obtain the same wages, benefits, and grievance process won by the union for its workers.  It’s really the only argument they have, lame as it may be.   

So now Wisconsin will join 24 other states that have "right to work" laws on their books.  Let’s face it, while once unions provided a useful purpose, today that is no longer the case.  Unions have morphed from being and advocate and guardian of the American worker, into what is, today, nothing more than an arm of the Democrat Party, spending millions in dues money provided by members to elect Democrats or, as Walker’s case, to unseat sitting governors.  In 2013 there were 14.5 million members in the U.S., compared with 17.7 million in 1983.  In 2013, the percentage of workers belonging to a union was 11.3%, compared to 20.1% in 1983. The rate for the private sector was 6.7%, and for the public sector 35.3%, a trend that must continue.

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