I have a theory I would like to share with everyone with regard to the recent nuclear strike Republicans have taken against organized labor in this country.
The States that took the brunt of this assault being Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Florida, and New Jersey. Now lets examine some of the similarities. 1) All of these States have new Republican Governor's. 2) In my opinion, organized labor had no idea about the size of the train heading their way, and were not prepared to stop it until it was too late. 3) All these Governor's are putting this forward as their first act of business, in the hope people will forget what they did 4 years from now, and I think this highly unlikely. 4) All the various ways to crush Unions, were put forward as budget balancing measures, which if you look closely at all these States, turns out to be non-sense. 5) All these States, except New Jersey, are battleground States for President Obama in 2012. 6) The direct result of destroying Unions in these States, is to destroy, in large part, the money machine that President Obama and other Democratic hopefuls would depend on to carry these States next year.
In Wisconsin, while jammed through the State Legislature in the middle of the night, with a number of procedural laws potentially breached, Wisconsin's Unions demise will now rest with the courts. If you say you need concessions from the Unions to balance the budget, then get those concessions, and vote to destroy the unions anyway; then it's not about the budget, it's about crushing Unions. In Ohio similar legislation is pending. In Michigan they gave the Governor "Emergency Powers" to dismantle union bargaining a case at a time, town by town, city by city. In the Right-to-Work State of Florida the Governor said he would not pursue that tack. Well isn't that white of him, to not attack organized labor where there is none.
I've done some research on one area near and dear to my heart, education. Below is a map of Right-to-Work States vs. Union Represented States.
The Union States are in Green, the Right-to-Work States in Red. Now lets take a statistic like pay and high school graduation rates, and compare it to the map above.
This map simply splits the top 25 States with the highest graduation rates in Green, and the 25 States with the lowest graduation rates in Red. While some may say the pattern is mixed, this is the facts. Eight Union States are in the lowest graduation group. Sixteen Right-to-Work States are in the lowest graduation group. So by 2 to 1 Union States pay better and get better results, while Right-to-Work States make less and have worse results. Look closely, where are the Republicans attacking labor? Where the States are battlegrounds, and labor has a strong presence. So tell me again, this is about balancing States Budgets? There is one glaring area I want you to notice, if you haven't already. The Republican, evangelical, Confederate South, has lower pay, are in the bottom 20% of high school graduations, and are all Right-to-Work States, what a surprise?
When the Japanese decided to attack Pearl Harbor in 1941, it was said they were only going to awaken a sleeping giant. The Republicans have done just that. Organized labor is going to go after these Republicans like mad dogs, and nobody is going to forget what they did, just like at Pearl Harbor. Eight Wisconsin State Republican Legislators are facing recall votes, similar plans are in the works for Governor Scott Walker, and the organized labor movement has been given a burst of momentum unlike anything they've seen since the 40s and 50s. I can only close to Republicans, "be careful what you wish for, you may get it."
The States that took the brunt of this assault being Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Florida, and New Jersey. Now lets examine some of the similarities. 1) All of these States have new Republican Governor's. 2) In my opinion, organized labor had no idea about the size of the train heading their way, and were not prepared to stop it until it was too late. 3) All these Governor's are putting this forward as their first act of business, in the hope people will forget what they did 4 years from now, and I think this highly unlikely. 4) All the various ways to crush Unions, were put forward as budget balancing measures, which if you look closely at all these States, turns out to be non-sense. 5) All these States, except New Jersey, are battleground States for President Obama in 2012. 6) The direct result of destroying Unions in these States, is to destroy, in large part, the money machine that President Obama and other Democratic hopefuls would depend on to carry these States next year.
In Wisconsin, while jammed through the State Legislature in the middle of the night, with a number of procedural laws potentially breached, Wisconsin's Unions demise will now rest with the courts. If you say you need concessions from the Unions to balance the budget, then get those concessions, and vote to destroy the unions anyway; then it's not about the budget, it's about crushing Unions. In Ohio similar legislation is pending. In Michigan they gave the Governor "Emergency Powers" to dismantle union bargaining a case at a time, town by town, city by city. In the Right-to-Work State of Florida the Governor said he would not pursue that tack. Well isn't that white of him, to not attack organized labor where there is none.
I've done some research on one area near and dear to my heart, education. Below is a map of Right-to-Work States vs. Union Represented States.
The Union States are in Green, the Right-to-Work States in Red. Now lets take a statistic like pay and high school graduation rates, and compare it to the map above.
This map simply splits the top 25 States with the highest graduation rates in Green, and the 25 States with the lowest graduation rates in Red. While some may say the pattern is mixed, this is the facts. Eight Union States are in the lowest graduation group. Sixteen Right-to-Work States are in the lowest graduation group. So by 2 to 1 Union States pay better and get better results, while Right-to-Work States make less and have worse results. Look closely, where are the Republicans attacking labor? Where the States are battlegrounds, and labor has a strong presence. So tell me again, this is about balancing States Budgets? There is one glaring area I want you to notice, if you haven't already. The Republican, evangelical, Confederate South, has lower pay, are in the bottom 20% of high school graduations, and are all Right-to-Work States, what a surprise?
When the Japanese decided to attack Pearl Harbor in 1941, it was said they were only going to awaken a sleeping giant. The Republicans have done just that. Organized labor is going to go after these Republicans like mad dogs, and nobody is going to forget what they did, just like at Pearl Harbor. Eight Wisconsin State Republican Legislators are facing recall votes, similar plans are in the works for Governor Scott Walker, and the organized labor movement has been given a burst of momentum unlike anything they've seen since the 40s and 50s. I can only close to Republicans, "be careful what you wish for, you may get it."
