February 23, 201115 yr Some good points. As for working conditions, I think it's ironic that Congress' passage of many laws and regs concerning work place safety, workers' rights and working conditions over the last several decades has taken away or certainly diminished the importance of one of the many reasons workers valued and needed unions. Just stop and think how many workplace issues that used to be dealt with as a result of negotiations between a union and the employer, are now governed by ADA, FLMA, OSHA, OWBPA, ERISA, PDA, FLSA, EEOC, etc (here's a link to some more: http://www.dol.gov/elaws/elg/). I think that's a good point, though I wonder if those laws would have passed without either unions getting them on the agenda or mobilizing voters to pressure their elected officials for their passage. Those don't seem like things most other Americans spend a lot of time worrying about and thus things politicians don't spend a lot of time worrying about. Then again, it could just be a trend away from the need for unions. It's a question I don't have the answer to. Those are all good points, with the exception of the comparison to Germany. Germany's economy, until the repeal of certain workplace laws very recently, was on the brink of disaster. It is on the brink of disaster right now in places like Italy and Belgium, due almost entirely to the incredible weight placed upon employers by "employee guarantees." In fact, I would point to the EU as a broad example of exactly why America needs to move away from guaranteed employee benefits. Even despite German reforms they still have a much more favorable union climate and overwhelmingly more unionized workers than the US. Outside of the PIIGS the EU still has a powerful economy and is dealing with a similar economic situation as that of the US. The point being not that the US should look more like the EU, but that unions don't appear to be a monolithic variable.
February 23, 201115 yr So much for that civility thing... Dem lawmaker on labor protests: 'Get a little bloody when necessary' http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/145627-dem-lawmaker-on-labor-protests-get-a-little-bloody-when-necessary Sometimes it's necessary to get out on the streets and "get a little bloody," a Massachusetts Democrat said Tuesday in reference to labor battles in Wisconsin. Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.) fired up a group of union members in Boston with a speech urging them to work down in the trenches to fend off limits to workers' rights like those proposed in Wisconsin.
February 23, 201115 yr So much for that civility thing... Dem lawmaker on labor protests: 'Get a little bloody when necessary' http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/145627-dem-lawmaker-on-labor-protests-get-a-little-bloody-when-necessary Don't approve of the rhetoric but anything he has in mind I'm sure is a far cry from "Bloody Harlan" union fights.
February 23, 201115 yr Author I assume this is rhetorical, you are much smarter than that question. I've seen you post before. You may want to take a look at your own posts before you start calling people out.
February 23, 201115 yr You may want to take a look at your own posts before you start calling people out. I assume you are referring to my conspiracy post? I will stand by that. There has been an assault on public schools since Reagan first started talking about vouchers in the 80s. The simple fact is, there is no empirical evidence that show kids are not learning at high levels. We have democratized the system and when that happens, when you open it up to more people, the folks who had been left behind will take some time to get caught up. Kentucky's ACT scores dropped significantly a couple of years ago when compared to other states and to previous years - why? We made EVERY junior take the test. Our scores of our college bound kids did not go down, we did not all of a sudden get worse at what we do AND our scores will continue to improve so now EVERYONE will soon be making some scores that will get them in some college somewhere. Kids I played ball with in High school made 8s on their ACT. I am the director of an alternative school with kids who have significant learning barriers and NONE of them made 8s last year. Our school composite was over 15. So back to the topic - schools have been under siege. The goal is to label all public schools as failures so we can move to vouchers and charters - VOUCHERS is really the goal so that the wealthy can send their kids to parochial schools and get a voucher to offset the cost. NCLB AGAIN as I said before, ranks schools on their lowest performing sub group. If you have 1 sub group that is not proficient you don't meet your goals. The next year if you have a DIFFERENT sub group not meet its goal (but the first one now did) you are a low-performing school, EVEN if 98% of your kids are proficient, graduate and go to college. How is that a good measure. Keep attacking the schools and the teachers, and soon you will have no one willing to step up and do the work for a long enough time that they actually get good at it. TFA work for a couple of years and not long after that they usually leave. This is an attack on teachers, unions and the middle class - which continues to dwindle. It is as plain as . . .
February 23, 201115 yr I assume this is rhetorical, you are much smarter than that question. I've seen you post before. To a degree it is rhetorical but I definitely think one or all are redundant and could be eliminated.
February 23, 201115 yr The issue in Wisconsin is not about how the schools are performing.. Sure it is. That is how they can take bargaining away from them but not some of the other unions.
February 23, 201115 yr Author Sure it is. That is how they can take bargaining away from them but not some of the other unions. No it isn't. They are taking it away from correction officers, does that mean they think the inmates aren't being rehabilitated properly?
February 23, 201115 yr Interesting day. Indiana Deputy AG gets canned for comments he made about using "live ammunition" on the protesters. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/02/23/indiana-deputy-attorney-general-reportedly-urged-cops-shoot-protesters/ WI Governor gets "punked" by someone posing as one of the Koch brothers. I'm in Chicago today and a lot of the radio talking heads are talking about this and what the Gov's opponents might to to make out of it. http://www.businessinsider.com/scott-walker-punked-david-koch-2011-2
February 25, 201115 yr I wonder why the left suddenly has a dislike for Obama's ram it down your throat style of politics?? http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110225/ap_on_re_us/us_wisconsin_budget_unions
February 25, 201115 yr ^ What a brouhaha. I love the guy that said "They're trying to ram this down our throats without giving us a say," after 59 hours of debate.
February 25, 201115 yr I wonder why the left suddenly has a dislike for Obama's ram it down your throat style of politics?? http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110225/ap_on_re_us/us_wisconsin_budget_unions Lots of irony in that article.
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