Posted on 06/05/2012 3:38:32 AM PDT by tobyhill
If Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker loses the election to recall him from office Tuesday, the political press will declare the arrival of Big Labor's comeback. If Walker wins, it will be seen as yet another sign of labor's demise.
The election to recall the Republican governor, sparked by Walker's successful 2011 effort to end collective bargaining for public employees, has drawn participation from many different groups, including the tea party. But unions, which have long been fighting stories of their demise, have much of what's left of their reputation as powerful political organizers riding on the race.
Union membership in 2011 fell to a record low for the second straight year, according to the Department of Labor, but that's not the only avenue in which unions have been struggling.
Bill Schneider, a a senior fellow and resident scholar at centrist think tank Third Way, told Yahoo News that labor has lately experienced "tougher times winning" electoral races in which they've inserted themselves. This includes labor's unsuccessful attempt to take down Sen. Blanche Lincoln in the 2010 Arkansas Democratic primary.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Unions=Brownshirts. Their time is up.
Increasingly, Big Labor = Government Unions. Doubly bad.
I saw this with Maureen Dowd railing against Obama. What's going on here folks?
OK, Wisconsin - TODAY IS THE DAY!!!!!
I heard Paul Ryan’s quote: “June 5th, we save Wisconsin and Nov. 6 Wisconsin saves the United States of America.”
It’s OUR turn in history, it’s our duty to set the ship right, so let’s get on with today!
Let’s DO THIS!
You could almost understand this recall election if Moses or Jesus had come back and indicated a desire to run as a demoKKKrat for some reason, but this is just the same clown who lost to Walker last election, what the hell are they doing or what makes them think anything different is going to happen?
They created a system that while not perfect has more self correct release valves compared to Europe for example.
The Walker reforms / revolution are the blow off valve against unproductive unsustainable Statism/Union-ism and their cradle to grave you owe me dependency model.
Once these reforms are enacted, they will be noticed (they have, they work) and can't be stopped, that is why they (the Unions) are trying to do a retroactive abortion here.
It is too late IMHO, he will probably win big.
If so, this evening we maybe witnessing the beginning of the end of the 100 year oldish Labor Movement in America, and my guess is they know their gig done....
I expect many Union Leaders to take early retirements and we will see them soon with the mustard socks in the sandals with the bad Hawaiian Shirt at the Senior Special at Shonnie's in Boca Raton..
>>Notice its the normally Liberal/Progressive ABC News that has fired this broadside.
I think ABC is moving slightly to the right of the other TV news outlets except for FNC. They’ve come out with far more stories on Fast and Furious than anyone else, for example.
Praying for yunz up there in Wisconsin! Wish I could vote with ya!
I hope everyone voting today keeps a video recorder (iPhone or something) on them to record any of the librat voter crimes that are bound to happen.
Also, hoping for a live thread soon.
Ping!
“What’s going on here folks?”
I would guess frustration with a big heaping bucketful of gloom ‘n doom. Next the libs will form a surrender monkey parade.
If Walker wins, will the unions riot?
Oh, I don't know, I think their tally on the expenditures is fuzzy math, and of course the Koch brothers are tied to it in a way that any mention of Soros in a contrary opinion would be edited out.
DRIVE A WOODEN STAKE THROUGH THE HEART OF UNIONS!
Typical LSM.
Here is the true and correct framing.
If Walker wins, the people and Taxpayers win.
If Walker loses, the people and Taxpayers will once again be oppressed by the Union bosses
Airborne! Walker will win. Wisconsin forward!
In the private sector there are market restraints on what a union can demand. If UPS (union) workers demand too much in compensation as to render their company non-competitive with FedEx (non-union), they will lose business. This puts a real world restraint on what these unions demand in terms of compensation and benefits. Corporations can go out of business, which obviously would hurt the union employees. Government has no competition, and is in effect a monopoly in terms of the services that it supplies. Therefore, there is no similar control placed upon public sector union demands. If government workers go on strike, where else can consumers go to get their drivers licenses? There is no market mechanism to keep the price of labor in line.
With the lack of market forces, taxpayers must rely exclusively upon management to say no to costly demands. Management in this case of the current issue in Wisconsin is the Governor, but the scenario is no different throughout other levels of government. County Executives, Mayors, & Town Councils all act as management in the government “corporation”. The government official must work even harder to represent the taxpayer in negotiations with public employee unions under these circumstances. There is a political party, however, that is beholden to the very government unions they are supposed to be negotiating with.
The Democratic Party receives an overwhelming amount of money in political donations from public sector unions, in fact their top 4 donors are various government unions (http://www.opensecrets.org/overview/topcontribs.php).
Many candidates go to union sponsored events, and pledge their support. This would not be a problem if not for the fact that the elected official in question will be sitting across the negotiating table from the very union that supported them in their campaign. If a candidate for office received a donation from a corporation, then after elected gave a no bid contract to that corporation it would be called corruption. How is this situation any different?
Considering most government entities (other than federal) must balance their budgets every year, you would think that politicians would be restricted from offering paybacks to the unions. They can’t give what they don’t have. Right? The problem with this argument is that the official has the ability to promise, and get passed into law, retirement and health benefits that will be paid for in the future. This takes away any current budgetary restraint that may exist, and puts us in the situation we find ourselves today in Wisconsin and all across the nation.
Mr. Walker’s proposal specifically eliminates collective bargaining for pension and healthcare benefits. This addresses the problem of politicians overpromising future benefits for unions that helped elect them. Any progress made in Wisconsin or other states, however, may be short lived if the screamers get to rule the debate. It would not be surprising if unions spend even more than the current record amounts in the next election in order to drown out rational discussion.
http://freemarketsfreepeople.net/?p=363
Re post 18:
Excellent summary of the perverse incentives and feedbacks between unionized government workers, their elected “bosses”,
and the political parties!
Public employee unions could care less about any impact on the tax dollar just as long as someone else pays their way. Union bosses could care less if there are massive layoffs just as long as the union remains intact. The union is solely for the union. Taxpayers and voters need to remember that.
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