Posted on 11/10/2012 10:17:52 AM PST by Steelfish
Labor: Tax The Rich, Don't Touch Safety Nets By SAM HANANEL
After two years of getting pummeled in Wisconsin, Indiana and other battleground states, leaders of the nation's big labor unions were beaming on election night.
Labor's massive voter turnout effort played a major role in helping President Barack Obama win Ohio, Nevada and Wisconsin, according to exit polls, and its leaders are now looking for a more liberal, pro-union agenda from the White House.
"There are things the president can do, and we'll be expecting that leadership from President Obama," AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told reporters after the election.
Topping labor's wish list — for now — is a push to raise taxes on wealthy Americans and discouraging Obama from agreeing to any deal with Republicans over the looming "fiscal cliff" that cuts into Social Security and Medicare.
But unions are also pressing for new measures that might help boost their sagging membership rolls. New investment in infrastructure would bring construction jobs for trade unions. Immigration reform — and a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented Latino immigrants — would create a vast new pool of potential union members. And new regulations could remove some obstacles to union organizing.
Business groups that have vigorously opposed efforts to help unions draw new members say they will keep playing defense.
"My primary concern is in the regulations," said Randel Johnson, vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for labor issues. "We are afraid that on employment issues, the administration will stay firmly to the left and follow the lead of the unions."
A new rule expected........(snip)
The Obama administration might even consider a plan that would give an advantage in bidding on government contracts to companies that offer workers a higher living wage and generous benefits.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Tax the media.
if you own a house or have a job, you are filthy rich now
Tax the unions.
Bust the unions. Stop letting them avoid anti-trust and collusion laws.
The following is a letter to the editor that I wrote to the Yakima-Herald Republic here in Yakima, Washington. It was published last Wednesday. Hope you enjoy!
To the editor:
The rich can pay more. It is only fair. That was the mantra spoken by Sen. Kennedy, Sen. Mitchell and others when a little tax, with no public hearings, was slipped into the 1990 budget legislation that Bush 41 signed into law. Anything sound familiar? Thirty years later, it is deja vu.
The luxury tax took effect in 1991. It didn’t produce the revenues that were projected, not even close. What it did produce was thousands of unemployed, millions spent in unemployment benefits, millions in lost business revenues, plus some bankruptcies. Did the rich stop purchasing luxury items? Some did, but many went to Europe and other places to buy their yachts, airplanes, furs and jewelry. Did the tax hurt the automobile industry? Yes, the sales of hi-end automobiles nose-dived. In 1992 the tax was repealed on all luxury items except cars, which was phased out over a 10-year period, ending on January 1, 2003.
Here is an economic truism. There is an inverse relationship between tax rates and revenues. Seldom do taxes generate projected revenues, because people make other choices. So, tax those rich who spend their money and employ people. It’s only fair.
Don Parmentier
Yakima
The party’s over.
Raise taxes on union benefits. They need to pay their fair share.
No 0bama phones. Get the gov’t out of mortgages and student loans.
But the people who need to see it don't want to be rational, and their leaders are more interested in ideology.
Great letter...right to the point, documented with facts and explains how the real world works. Therefore, nobody on the left will understand it or believe it. Prepare to be excoriated!
A flat tax at 15% on everone would cure many problems.
49% pay no income tax it’s time for them to pay up,no free ride for anyone.
Private sector unions are dying on their own, forget them.
Frame the debate as public sector unions against taxpayers. That is really what it is.
Leave the cops alone in this battle, many of them are conservative and we need them to win this war. Fire fighters are a little different, but there aren't that many of them.
That leaves mostly public school teachers, way overpaid for their part-time jobs, idiots at the DMV and workers(?) in government offices.
They drive up your taxes with their endless demands and act like it is your duty to work for them. It should be easy to turn taxpaying voters against them.
It worked in Wisconsin and they just got their ass kicked big time in Michigan.
The bottom line is we get rid of the public sector unions and The rest of them fall.
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