Tenure for Teachers: Enough is Enough

December 18, 2011 | Filed Under California, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Government, Corruption, Larry Sand, Liberals, Los Angeles, Public Employees Unions, Teachers Unions, Unions | Comments Off

-By Larry Sand

Every year untold thousands of school kids are harmed by teachers who shouldn’t be allowed in a classroom. Parents must be given an opportunity to send their children elsewhere.

A teacher arrives at work high on drugs…daily.

A teacher regularly flies into rages, terrifying kids and coworkers.

A teacher talks in explicit terms about sex to the students.

A teacher makes constant sexual advances to other teachers.

A teacher doesn’t teach her students anything.

These are a few of the teachers that new Perth Amboy schools superintendent Janine Caffrey has to deal with on a daily basis. She is quick to point out that most teachers are committed and talented, but there are a few….

The evil here is tenure or permanence, which in New Jersey bestows a position for life on teachers after just three years on the job. (It’s even worse in other states – in California, for example, a teacher can get into the untouchables club after only two years.) Tenure for teachers would be nothing more than a bad joke if it didn’t destroy the education experience for tens of thousands of children who are subjected to incompetent/cruel/perverted people on a daily basis.
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Unions Acting Like Unions Harassing Teacher Supporting Gov. Walker

December 15, 2011 | Filed Under Budget, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Ethics, Government, Liberals, Nanny State, Public Employees Unions, RightPundits.com, Scott Walker, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston, Wisconsin | 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Kristi Lacroix, a Wisconsin teacher, appeared in a political ad produced by education reform supporters of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Now, her union is retaliating against her so harshly that she is considering quitting her job in public education because of the harassment.

As Kyle Walker says in the video, this is typical Alinsky tactics with a “fire Kristi” movement drummed up by union thugs to force the poor woman to quit her job. People that used to be her friends, used to be her coworkers are attempting to destroy her life just because of her political position….

Read the rest at RightPundits.com.

Racist Union Hypocrites

December 13, 2011 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Labor Law, Unions, Vote Fraud, Voter ID, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Unions are at the head of the critics on the left that claim that voter ID laws are raaaacist and suppress the minority vote. Yet, as Christian Adams’ Election Law Center blog notes even unions require their voters to show their ID before voting.

A picture is worth a thousand words. According to OpenSecrets.org unions belonging to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) have donated over $26 million to Democratic candidates and causes since 1990. During that same period, the union gave a paltry $272,311 to the Republican Party.

As you’ll note in the photo below the union requires its own members to produce a photo ID in order to vote. The photo shows a union worker voting earlier today on whether to sanction a new four-year contract with Boeing, clearly the union understands the need for a picture ID in order to help guarantee a clean election:

In America, one needs an ID to vote in a union election, buy liquor, drive a car, board an airplane, use a credit card and a slew of other things in our society. Yet, the Democratic party refuses to back the idea of requiring an ID to vote in state and federal elections under any circumstances. A sensible voter ID law that respects the rights of the poor, elderly, and minorities is a great idea. What are Democrats afraid of? You connect the dots.

Yet another example of how leftist and Democrats want to make rules for us to follow… but they don’t feel they need to obey them themselves.
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The Route to Teacher Union Extinction: Is the Other Shoe Dropping?

December 13, 2011 | Filed Under Budget, California, Children, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Government, Corruption, Larry Sand, Liberals, Los Angeles, Public Employees Unions, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions | Comments Off

-By Larry Sand

In addition to online learning, Democrat’s abandonment of their traditional union allies could put an end to the educational status quo and decimate the teachers unions

In my October 18th post, I wrote about Terry Moe’s book Special Interest: Teachers Unions and America’s Public Schools. I specifically addressed that part of the book in which he builds a scenario for the eventual undoing of the teachers unions. One of the two ways he claims this will happen is via technology, in the form of online learning. The other route to marginalization is the realization by Democrats that education is really a civil rights issue and that they are morally bound to get on board with reform and choice. By adopting this position, they will be abandoning their longtime political allies – the teachers unions.

As with the rapid ascent of online learning, Moe’s second nail in the unions’ coffin is picking up speed. In a recent Huffington Post entry, Joy Resmovits addresses the “new education lobby.”
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ISU Lecturer: Patriotism Excludes People At Bottom, Troops Don’t Need Care Packages

December 9, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Anti-War, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Iowa, Liberals, Public Employees Unions, Society/Culture, Teachers Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Thomas Walker, lecturer in the intensive English and orientation program at Iowa State University, is disgusted over all this fawning over “the troops.” And so, to vent his disgust, he took to the letters to the editor pages of The Iowa State Daily. What Walker gave us is yet another screed from an extremist, left-winger being paid our tax dollars to “teach” our children his brand of hate for America.

What stirred Walker to spit his venom was a generally benign little program to assemble care packages for our soldiers overseas put on by ISU’s college Republicans. For five years the college Republicans have raised funds to buy socks, wet wipes, shampoo and other sundries for the troops. This year they raised the second highest amount of all the chapters.

But this feels-good story didn’t warm Thomas Walker’s heart, nosiree. University lecturer Walker was filled with disgust at the display of concern for our soldiers. So, Walker took to his pen — and his Thesaurus — to lambast this horrid display of patriotism perpetrated by these nasty college Republicans.

To get the full flavor of his bile, one must see the whole letter.
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Indoctrination: A Must Read For Parents, Taxpayers and Everyone Else

December 6, 2011 | Filed Under Budget, California, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Government, Corruption, Larry Sand, Liberals, Los Angeles, Public Employees Unions, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions | Comments Off

-By Larry Sand

To a large extent, the progressives have taken over American education, are transforming it and are doing it in plain sight

Indoctrination: How ‘Useful Idiots’ Are Using Our Schools to Subvert American Exceptionalism is an invaluable book written by Kyle Olson, founder and CEO of the Education Action Group, an organization that is on the frontline of education reform and a champion of school choice.

In this brief and very readable book, Olson describes the ways that the progressives in our society have taken over K-12 education. They have been running most of our elite colleges and schools of education for years now and this step is in keeping with their plan to transform America.

As a public school teacher whose career spanned four decades, I have seen the long march first hand. Perverting the traditional purpose of American education (which has been to make better and more educated citizens), progressives have been inspired by the theories of Paolo Freire, a Brazilian socialist who saw everything through a Marxist class warfare lens.
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Help Halt the NLRB’s Assault On America’s Union-Free Workplace

December 5, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Communism, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Liberals, NLRB, Regulation, Republicans, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

Originally posted at Labor Union Report…

Last week’s NLRB vote to give unions the ability to ambush union-free workers and the companies that employ them, as well as to deny due process on bargaining unit issues, is only the latest in a long line of attacks on America’s union-free workforce by the union extremists controlling Barack Obama’s National Labor Relations Board.

Notwithstanding the recent agreement between Boeing and the Machinists’ union to end the prosecution* of Boeing opening its second 787 in South Carolina, listing out of all of the attacks on job creators and America’s union-free workforce would necessitate more than an entire post. However, here are just a few:

Micro-unions: In a recent ruling, the NLRB has given unions the green light to begin unionizing portions companies by what are called “micro-unions.” Now, union can unionize small segments of a company by classification (or department).
Reducing employees’ rights to rid themselves of unwanted unions: In a reversal of a previous NLRB decision, the Obama-NLRB has made it much more difficult for employees to decertify unions where highly flawed card-check method of unionization had been utilized. The NLRB’s reversal was only outdone by the NLRB’s destroying of ballots from elections that were already held, but were awaiting the outcome of the NRLB’s decision.
Requiring union-free employees to post union posters. Though delayed, the NLRB is requiring all union-free, private-sector employers to post NLRB posters explaining workers’ rights to unionize.
Legitimizing union ‘sweetheart deals.’ Last year, the NLRB approved unions’ ability to negotiation pre-recognition agreements in exchange for ‘card check,’ thus undermining employees’ rights through “sweetheart deals.”

It’s time to put pressure on Washington to halt the NLRB’s assault and here’s how you can help.

Our friends at the Free Enterprise Alliance‘s Halt the Assault campaign have put together an online petition to send a message to Washington to Rein in the Rogue NLRB.

You can even embed a Rein in the Rogue NLRB widget on your blog or website.

Greedy Union to Destroy Black Restaurant Owner’s Business

December 1, 2011 | Filed Under Business, Capitalism, Free Trade, Jobs, New York City, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

An actress, model, and African American business entrepreneur credited with reviving a once-blighted neighborhood and bringing back theater goers to the New York Theater District is about to lose her business to a greedy union that wants to hike the rent for her famous restaurant 350 percent.

Back in 1986, Barbara Smith, sometimes called “the black Martha Stewart,” opened a restaurant in the Theater District called B. Smith’s. Her eatery soon became the toast of theater goers and stars alike. It also became a favorite in the African American community.

B. Smith’s was visited by such famous people as Denzel Washington, August Wilson, Danny Glover, Sidney Poitier, Luther Vandross, Aretha Franklin, Angela Bassett Liza Minnelli and more.

Unfortunately, the building in which Smith opened her famous restaurant is run by the Local One of the stagehands union and quite despite what she has done for New York Theater the union has decided to raise the rent so high on Smith that she will be priced out of her long-time business.
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With the Economy Down, Obama Looks to Help Big Labor Make it Worse

November 30, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Government, Government, Corruption, House of Representatives, Jobs, Liberals, NLRB, President, Stimulus, Taxes, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

With this week’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of American Airlines, we again see the results of unions having a hand in destroying American businesses. We also saw GM laid low by union demands costing Americans billions in bailouts. But despite these lessons of the recalcitrance of Big Labor forcing even worse calamities on our jobs climate in this dismal economy, Obama is about to make matters worse by using his powers to regulate to further harm both our business sector and our economy.

Obama likes to stand before the American people and claim that he wants to “help” the business sector. He claims that his crony capitalism is meant to “save” those businesses that are “too big to fail.” But while he stands before the microphones and pretends at being interested in capitalism, he wields his powers to regulate like a club with which to beat down the business sector.

Obama’s latest move — among dozens in the last three years — is to have a regulatory board he controls to issue new rules which would make it harder on business owners to prepare themselves and inform their employees on what it might mean to unionize their workplace.
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NLRB Chairman Releases Election Proposal Ahead Of Wednesday Vote‏

November 29, 2011 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Business, Capitalism, Jobs, NLRB, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

Board Chairman releases details of election proposal for Wednesday vote

National Labor Relations Board Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce today released details of his proposal to amend certain election procedures in order to reduce unnecessary litigation in disputed cases. The amendments are drawn from a comprehensive overhaul of the election process proposed this summer through the federal rulemaking process.

The Chairman’s resolution will be considered and put to a vote at a public meeting of the Board set for Wednesday afternoon at 2:30. The text of the Chairman’s resolution is here, and an explanation of the amendments can be found here. The meeting will be streamed live from the Board’s website at www.nlrb.gov.

If the resolution is approved by a majority of the Board, a final rule will be drafted and circulated among the members for a subsequent vote. No final rule can issue without such approval.

Chairman Pearce issued the following statement in connection with the resolution:
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More Union Workers Caught Blowing Weed on Break Time

November 29, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Business, Crime, Detroit, Jobs, Michigan, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Not long ago a series of Detroit sting-styled TV News reports found autoworkers getting high and drunk during their lunch breaks. Now WJBK has found the same problem with the union workers at an aerospace factory.

Tower Defense and Aerospace Factory Workers Party at Lunch: MyFoxDETROIT.com

The company claims it has “been investigating” the employees. But the fact is, if these workers were not protected by unions they’d have been properly fired the second management realized that they were doing illegal drugs on company property during their break time.

It shouldn’t take a TV expose for a company to be able to fire criminals! But that’s what happens with unions. They protect criminals.
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California’s Looming Fiscal Disaster: Sunlight and an Informed Public are the Best Disinfectants

November 29, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Budget, California, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Ethics, Government, Corruption, Larry Sand, Liberals, Public Employees Unions, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions | Comments Off

-By Larry Sand

With the state and various cities on the brink of insolvency, it’s imperative that the electorate become more informed and demand that school districts and teachers unions do their negotiating in public.

This past Sunday’s Los Angeles Times above-the-fold headline screamed “Voters back tax hikes for schools.” It was déja-vu all over again. As I wrote in September,

“… a poll which is biased and does not take into account the knowledge of the people being polled is misleading and dangerous. The public is led to believe that the responders are perceptive and knowledgeable, when in reality so many are not.”

(And I could have added that a poll that misleads or misinforms its respondents is the most dangerous of all; I’ll address that shortly.)

The Times article reported that a USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences/Los Angeles Times Frequency Questionnaire released last week showed that 61 percent of those surveyed said they would pay higher taxes to boost school funding.

As I read those words, I wondered,
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How Radical is Obama? This Radical…

November 28, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Democrats/Leftists, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Liberals, NLRB, President, Public Employees Unions, Regulation, Taxes, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Barack Obama is very successful at one thing: the bait and switch. He stands before America presenting a picture of a hard-working moderate and claims that he wants to work with the Republicans to get things done. In reality he won’t even meet with them. He talks about compromise, but never offers any. He mouths kind words abut the business sector but uses his powers to make new regulations to destroy its profitability. In short, he’s a radical even though he doesn’t play one on TV. His modus operandi is to assume most voters are too stupid, lazy, or disinterested to compare his hope-n-change rhetoric with his actions.

Obama’s penchant for bypassing Congress and making radical changes to regulations in order to push his far left agenda is a case in point. Obama’s push to radicalize the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and turn it from a non-partisan watchdog agency into a tool for Big Labor is a perfect example of how the President uses regulations to achieve what he and the far left cannot do with legislation. It is also an example of how he is trying to radically change America under the radar of most voter’s notice.
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OWS Misfits, Drug Addicts, Rapists, and Unicorn Riders Go Home for the Holidays

November 28, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Communism, Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Socialism, Taxes, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

The anti-western, anti-capitalist group whose advertisement started the Occupy Wall Street movement has told its adherents to go home. The first phase of Occupy is over they said. Time to regroup, network, and try to finally come up with some sort of message besides an amorphous we-hate-whatever chant. Time to finally figure out an agenda to go on to the next step.

Only there isn’t one. OWS is now SOL.

It isn’t surprising. After all there was really never any there there. Sure there was some legitimate ire at its heart, but, quite unlike the Tea Party movement, there was never a scintilla of coherence to the Occupy… I hesitate to even call it a movement. To be a movement there has to be something moving.

The Occupy-Whatevers had trouble appealing to the average American from its inception. After all, nearly every major group sponsoring it — and those claiming partisanship with it — are the antitheses of Americana.
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Big Labor Pays Big Bucks For Occupy D.C.

November 23, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Business, Capitalism, Communism, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Government, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Liberals, Lobbyists, Nanny State, Public Employees Unions, Socialism, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

A nurses union spent big cash to “Occupy Washington DC.”

On November 3rd, 2011, the National Nurses United Union, allied with the AFL-CIO, payed for the expenses of more than 1000+ members to march with Occupy DC and ask the President to raise taxes. Both public and private hospitals must have gone short staffed as the nurses hailed from all over the country and were very clear who brought them there.

My favorite part was the militant, anti-American nurse that said her union refuses to deal fairly with employers and prefers to use their big money to get the federal government to “force” employers to do what unions want them to do.

We don’t believe in trying to work with management in a hospital to make change cuz they won’t do it, they won’t do what’s right. So, we lobby for legislative change to force them to do it.

What could be a more un-American attitude than this? Our founders didn’t intend government to an interventionist force that would lord over the business sector and “force it” to do things that unions what employers to do.

Unions are authoritarian, anti-democratic, big government monsters that really do need to be cut down to size.
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Teachers are Overpaid and Underpaid

November 21, 2011 | Filed Under California, Education, Larry Sand, Los Angeles, Public Employees Unions, Teachers Unions | Comments Off

-By Larry Sand

A new study claims that public school teachers are overpaid. Are they? Depends.

An ongoing whine from teachers unions and their fellow travelers is that public school teachers don’t earn enough money. But according to Andrew Biggs, a researcher at the American Enterprise Institute scholar and Jason Richwine, a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, it is just not true. In fact, in a recently released study, they find that teachers are overpaid. Typically teachers have many perks like excellent healthcare and pension packages which aren’t counted as “income.” Armed with facts, charts and a bevy of footnotes, the authors make a very good case for their thesis. For example, they claim,

“Workers who switch from non-teaching jobs to teaching jobs receive a wage increase of roughly 9 percent, while teachers who change to non-teaching jobs see their wages decrease by approximately 3 percent.
“When retiree health coverage for teachers is included, it is worth roughly an additional 10 percent of wages, whereas private sector employees often do not receive this benefit at all.
“Teachers benefit strongly from job security benefits, which are worth about an extra 1 percent of wages, rising to 8.6 percent when considering that extra job security protects a premium paid in terms of salaries and benefits.
“Taking all of this into account, teachers actually receive salary and benefits that are 52 percent greater than fair market levels.”

Needless to say, the usual suspects are none too pleased with the report. A teacher-blogger going by New York City Educator calls his piece, “‘That’s Just Mean’: Bullies at the Heritage Foundation.” Okay, whatever.
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The Triangulation of the ‘Occupy’ Movement

November 17, 2011 | Filed Under Banks, Business, Capitalism, Democrats/Leftists, Ethics, Frank Salvato, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Liberals, New York City, Taxes, Unions | Comments Off

-By Frank Salvato

Throughout the painful and paradoxical existence of Occupy Wall Street (OWS) we have been told by those in the mainstream media, as well as by sympathetic politicos, that at its root, at its genesis, the OWS Movement was both organic and legitimate. We were told that the movement was exclusively about a rebellion against high unemployment and crony Capitalism, even as those championing the cause disingenuously blurred the line between crony Capitalism and Capitalism. But, an honest examination of the underlying goal(s) of this movement – and who is serving to advance its agenda – exposes a nefarious, deceitful and dangerous reality.

The notion of “triangulation” is not new to American politics. Savvy politicians have triangulated messages and circumstances to their benefit ever since the creation of our country. One needs look no further than the debates that took place over the creation of the US Constitution to understand that even though our Framers and Founders were dedicated to their principles and positions, they were willing to employ rhetorical leverage to achieve their goals. Alexander Hamilton was a master at message triangulation.

Perhaps the most contemporary politician to masterfully employ the art of message triangulation was former Pres. Bill Clinton. In pursuit of re-election in 1996, Clinton senior advisor Dick Morris advocated for a set of statements, a set of policies, that differed from those of his fellow elected Democrats. These policies, which pandered to the ideological Middle and Right, included deregulation and balanced budgets, culminating in the false declaration, included in Mr. Clinton’s 1996 State of the Union Address, that the “era of big government is over.”

Fake Teacher Evaluation Racket is Busted in Los Angeles

November 14, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, California, Children, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Ethics, Government, Corruption, Larry Sand, Liberals, Los Angeles, Public Employees Unions, Teachers Unions, Unions | Comments Off

-By Larry Sand

Parents sue the LA school board and teachers union, forcing them to obey a law that they have ignored for 40 years.

There is nothing new about unions bullying weak-kneed school districts, but this may be the mother of all abuses– for forty years, school districts and unions have collaborated to break the law in California. According to the Stull Act (Section 44660 of the state’s education code), part of a teacher’s evaluation is required to include a student achievement component, but this has not happened anywhere in the state. Last week, after consulting with EdVoice, a reform advocacy group in Sacramento, parents of some students in Los Angeles Unified School District sued the school district and teachers union for what amounts to a dereliction of duty. While the lawsuit is aimed at LA, it will have state-wide ramifications.

Originally enacted in 1971, the Stull Act, named after State Senator John Stull, was amended in 1999 to include,

“The governing board of each school district shall evaluate and assess certificated employee performance as it reasonably relates to:

The progress of pupils toward the standards established pursuant to subdivision (a) and, if applicable, the state adopted academic content standards as measured by state adopted criterion referenced assessments….”

In other words, a part of a teacher’s evaluation is supposed to be contingent on how well his students do on state mandated tests. This is hardly a radical notion, as half the states in the rest of the country now evaluate teachers in part by student performance on these tests.
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Coke Heads Protest Koch Heads at Blogcon 2011

November 11, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Budget, Business, Conservatives, Democrats/Leftists, Denver, Economy/Finances, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Liberals, Republicans, Taxes, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | 3 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Well, here we are we conservative bloggers gathered together at Blogcon 2011 (sponsored by Freedom Works) in downtown Denver, Colorado and what do we find? You guessed it, the Occupy-Whatevers, ever present Guy Fawkes masks in hand, came to disrupt our little conference.

Just after 3PM the Occupiers tried to Occupy Blogcon yelling out epithets at their favorite boogiemen, the Koch Brothers (pronounced coke, like the famous American soft drink). Of course no one at this conference is funded by the Koch Brothers, but, hey, let’s not ruin a good chant.

Small handful of Occupy protesters disrupt conservative conference

The Occupiers infested the lobby here at the Crowne Plaza and immediately raised a ruckus. It seemed that the protesters numbered somewhere about 30 or so and were heavily outnumbered by the conservative bloggers huddling around them with cameras and microphones to record their theatrics for prosperity.

Some of these young people were brought by a Denver school teacher who was ashamed to tell us her name.
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NYPD Police Union: Another Example of Why Public Employee Unions Need to be Outlawed

November 11, 2011 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Liberals, New York, New York City, Police, Public Employees Unions, Regulation, Taxes, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Last week 16 dirty New York cops went on trial for all sorts of criminal behavior. From dealing drugs, to assault and grand larceny, and “unrelated corruption,” these cops are proving to be some very crooked characters. But fellow officers don’t care about that. They have ginned themselves up to act like the punks and scumbags they are supposed to be putting behind bars all due to their police union and its agitation over the trials.

Even The New York Times seemed shocked by the venomous treatment these union thugs cops were delivering to the District Attorneys handling the case. Certainly these crooked cops are innocent until the prosecution proves its case, but these union toughs don’t care to let the law take its course. They want to storm the gates like the barbarians they are.

These so-called police officers even began to accost the media as the defendants left the courtroom. Says the Times, “The assembled police officers blocked cameras from filming their colleagues, in one instance grabbing lenses and shoving television camera operators backward.”
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Defeat of OH Issue 2 Means $1,468 More Per Taxpayer By 2015

November 8, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Budget, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, GOP, Government, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Ohio, Pensions, Public Employees Unions, Republicans, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Matt Mayer of the Buckeye Institute has done the math on what a defeat of Issue 2 will cost Ohio’s taxpayers. Turns out it will cost taxpayers $1,468 more a year by 2015.

Mayer made a simple calculation by taking the $8 billion tax hike that a defeat of Issue 2 will usher in by 2015 and dividing that by the 5,448, 500 state tax returns filed in Ohio. He also took the initial $1.4 billion tax hike that will result if the unions win on Tuesday and found that each taxpayer will be stuck with an immediate $257 more in taxes next year.

The annual savings we calculated from SB5 once all contracts are negotiated would be nearly $1.4 billion per year (for details, see www.buckeyeinstitute.org/getthefacts).

In 2007, Ohio had 5,448,500 [tax] returns filed, so that would equate to a “tax” of $257 per return… That is [merely] the savings from SB5 enactment.

An additional wrinkle is that Big Labor/Democrats have essentially gone all in on higher taxes; meaning, if SB5 is repealed, that removes one option to reducing local government costs, which leaves two options–program/staff cuts and/or raising taxes… For example, Ohio’s 613 school districts currently project a collective deficit by 2015 of [approximately $8 billion]…

[Thus, without] SB5, taxes will have to go up … [at least] $8 billion just for [Ohio's] 613 school districts by 2015, which is $1,468 per return.

So, Ohio, you have a choice. Vote Issue 2 down and stick yourself with needlessly higher taxes and give unions the ability to stick it to you further, or give your legislature — not union bosses — the power to control your state’s budget like they should.
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Unions Continue to Swindle the Public

November 8, 2011 | Filed Under Illinois, Larry Sand, Pensions, Public Employees Unions, Teachers Unions, Unions | Comments Off

-By Larry Sand

Unions are still treacherous, but with a generous helping of legislative malfeasance, their tactics are more subtle.

“On the Waterfront” portrayed union power at its rawest. In the 1950s, the unions typically got their way with nothing less than brute force. But today the tactics are different. In “Pretty Boy Floyd,” Woody Guthrie sang, “Some will rob you with a six-gun, and some with a fountain pen.” The unions are well entrenched in the “fountain pen” camp and recently, Illinois has been in their crosshairs.

In September, the Chicago Tribune broke a story about Dennis Gannon, a former sanitation worker who became a president of the Chicago Federation of Labor. He went back to work for the city for one day, then took a leave of absence and was legally allowed to collect a $158,000 pension, about five times the average sanitation worker.
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Occupy LA Video: ‘Get Rid of America and Everything it Stands For’

November 6, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Anti-Semitism, Budget, Business, California, Capitalism, Communism, Democrats/Leftists, GOP, Government, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Los Angeles, Public Employees Unions, Socialism, Taxes, Tea Party, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Occupy Whatever movement — if it can be called a movement — is at its heart a hate-America movement. With each new video we see this more and more and this cretin at Occupy Los Angeles is just one more example.

An avowed communist, like so many of these people are, he feels that America is the chief evil of the world and needs to be destroyed.

This man wants America destroyed. He is not an outlier at these Occupy events. He is quite typical. And always remember, the U.S. Democrat Party is supporting these people. People that hate America are an important constituency as far as Democrats are concerned.

Transcript

… From the beginning the votes that they give us are for a very specific purpose, they give us these elections to put the stamp of legitimacy on the crimes and horrors that America commits around the world and the millions of people who’s lives it crushes, degrades, and murders.

You know that’s what this is and no good can come of this, nothing positive. You know I’m a communist, you know, look.

Nothing positive can come about unless you get rid of America and everything it stands for…

The Old Media establishment will not tell America of these people that make up such a large part of the Occupy events. But, oh, if there was just one guy at a Tea Party event supporting some hate-America movement the whole world would have seen it.

The Old Media has allowed these hatemongers at the Occupy events go unreported. They’ve avoided the rapes, allowed the thefts, the thousands of arrests, the property destruction, fires, broken windows, and general unruliness of the Occupiers have gone unreported.

It’s up to you, folks. Tell as many people as you possibly can what these Occupiers really are.
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The Second Man: Libs Reveal Their Anti-Truth Bias

November 5, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Business, Capitalism, Communism, Daniel Clark, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, GOP, Government, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Liberals, New York City, President, Socialism, Taxes, Unions | Comments Off

-By Daniel Clark

You can tell a liberal is trapped when he pulls out the trusty fill-in-the-blank evasion that White House press secretary Jay Carney used when discussing the “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrations: “One man’s mob is another man’s democracy.”

This time-tested rhetorical tactic has often been used by liberals to shield their positions from examination, by denying the very existence of an objective reality. “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom-fighter,” they’ll say. “One man’s pornography is another man’s poetry.” Simply by asserting that there are differing opinions, they declare the issue to be effectively nullified.

The fundamental flaw in these arguments is that the theoretical Second Man in each example is demonstrably wrong. Considering his track record, one would have to conclude that he’s either a liar, or else an ignoramus unable to discern fact from fiction, or right from wrong. An Islamic terrorist who wants to force the rest of the world to submit to his beliefs is not a freedom fighter. Larry Flynt is not just a modern-day Robert Frost in a puddle of drool. The fact that somebody might take contrary positions on matters like these does not elevate those contentions to equal footing with the truth.
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Ohio, Vote YES on Issue 2

November 2, 2011 | Filed Under Budget, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Ohio, Pensions, Public Employees Unions, Scott Walker, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

A few days ago the Cincinnati Enquirer came out in support of Issue 2, which will enact Senate Bill 5 — a reformation of how the Buckeye State deals with government unions.

For decades, Ohio has been on an unsustainable path of rapidly increasing public-sector benefits. SB 5 would give the people we choose to manage our money, our safety and our schools greater flexibility in benefits and work rules for public employees, bringing them closer in line with what comparable workers receive in the private sector. That could relieve the pressure to raise taxes and thus help, not hurt, middle-class Ohioans.

This is an important bill not just for Ohio, but for the whole country. What Ohio is trying to do (and what Governor Walker of Wisconsin has already done) is to take away the power of un-elected union bosses from determining how the state’s budget will be spent. Ohio is trying to take back the reins of making policy, allocating tax money, and making rules for employment from the union thugs that now have control over it all.

This new rule that states such as Ohio and Wisconsin are struggling to pass is not a war against the middle class, nor even necessarily a war against the idea of unions themselves. It is a move toward fiscal responsibility and the democratic process.

These new reforms must pass now or our states will necessarily go bankrupt for all the unfunded liabilities and unfair goodies handed out to government union members.

Pass issue 2, Ohio.
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People, President, Prophet, Pope – VS – Anarchy, Unrest and Tons of Dope

November 2, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Conservatives, Constitution, Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Ethics, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Liberals, Michael Bresciani‏, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions | Comments Off

-By Rev Michael Bresciani

One of America’s most well known news commentators gave a summary of how America got into its present troubles only last night. There is no need to name or quote the man because almost all commentators and pundits are mouthing the same spiel.

He said the people began to adopt a “do your own thing philosophy” in the sixties, what followed was a dip in morals and there was a rise in dependence on government for money, medical care and everything else, that in short time created the present, ‘nanny state.’

It all sounded good until he offered what has become the standard answer to resolve the problem of our dying society. As you might expect, it was a return to self reliance, invigorating businesses to grow, and cut the spending. With lots of nodding, assent and general agreement those on his panel were in full and unfettered agreement with him.
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Pelosi: Boeing Plant Should Unionize or be Shut Down

November 1, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Business, Capitalism, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Ethics, Free Trade, Government, Government, Corruption, House of Representatives, Jobs, Liberals, Nancy Pelosi, NLRB, Pensions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

The now thankfully former Speaker of the House Nancy “San Fran Nan” Pelosi said in a recent interview that a Boeing plant in South Carolina should either unionize or be shut down by the iron fist of government. So much for America being the land of the free, eh?

Pelosi appeared on CNBC with hostette Maria Bartiromo. Bartiromo asked about the famed Boeing plant being harassed by Obama’s union-sold National Labor Relations Board.

“Do you think it’s right that Boeing has to close down that plant in South Carolina because it’s non union?” Bartiromo asked. “Yes” insisted the former Speaker.

A flat out “yes.” No equivocation.

Lachlan Markay notes that the workers at the Boeing plant in question overwhelmingly voted not to join a union.
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CTA Dons Victim Guise and Joins OWS Crowd

October 31, 2011 | Filed Under Budget, California, Children, Education, Larry Sand, Public Employees Unions, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions | Comments Off

-By Larry Sand

It’s almost Halloween and the California Teachers Association, a rich and powerful outfit, is in costume as one of the “99%ers” – protesters who claim to be have-nots

A couple of weeks ago United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten made sympathetic statements about the Occupy Wall Street movement. Now the California Teachers Association has jumped in with a full endorsement and suggestions on its website as to how teachers and others can get involved in OWS activities.

Stunning in its mendacity, CTA issued a press release (H/T Mike Antonucci) which announced its “support of the nationwide ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement for tax fairness and against corporate greed.” It goes on to say, “…a stable tax structure begins with everyone paying their fair share.”
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Occupy Wall Street Kitchen Staff Tired of ‘Freeloaders’?

October 29, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Communism, Democrats/Leftists, Government, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Liberals, New York, New York City, Socialism, Taxes, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Apparently some of the folks slaving away to cook politically correct meals for the participants of Occupy Wall Street are sick and tired of working themselves to the bone for homeless people, criminals, and other freeloaders who are eating their food. This is called being mugged by reality.

It is also pretty darn funny.

The New York Post reported that volunteer kitchen staff at Occupy Wall Street are angry about working 18-hour days to feed the protesters but are being taken advantage of by the local homeless people and criminals. And they are going on a work slow down to protest at their protest.

For three days beginning tomorrow, the cooks will serve only brown rice and other spartan grub instead of the usual menu of organic chicken and vegetables, spaghetti bolognese, and roasted beet and sheep’s-milk-cheese salad.

The menu as reported by the Post sounds… um… tasty, sort of. I’d rather have a pizza from Godfathers.
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Business Roundtable: Regulations Are Killing Business

October 28, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Banks, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Congress, Conservatives, Democracy, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Elections, EPA, Ethics, Financial Reform, Free Trade, Freedom, GOP, Government, Government, Corruption, Government, Ill. County, House of Representatives, Illinois, Illinois State Government, Jobs, Liberals, Policy, President, Public Employees Unions, Regulation, Republicans, Senate, Taxes, The Law, Unemployment, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

On Friday I attended an informative business roundtable meeting of Chicago-area small businessmen who came together to discuss how government intervention and its avalanche of regulations are killing jobs and businesses not only in Illinois, but nation wide. Some of the stories were chilling, to say the least. These trials go to show how anti-business the most famously capitalist country in the world has become. No wonder we can’t get out of this second great depression!

The event was held at the headquarters of The Rabine Group in Schaumburg, Illinois. The Rabine Group is a group of nationwide companies that specializes in driveway paving, roofing, and other contracting work. The company is headed by owner and CEO Gary Rabine.

Filling out the panel was Moderator, Brian Kelly of Bulk Lift International; Gary Rabine, The Rabine Group; Garrett Patten, Patten Industries; Randy Truckenbrodt, Randall Industries, Inc, and Former State Senator Steve Rauschenberger, Rauschenberger Partners.

The panel began with some of the regulatory horror stories experienced by the panel. Each story illustrated how government stands in the way of job creation, small business, and expansion, and how government is not working hand-in-hand with small business but actually fosters an inimical relationship. The panel showed how the oppressiveness of these regulations actually tempts business to break laws just to be able to carry on with business.
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