Union Membership on the Decline

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the percentage of Americans who were members of a labor union declined by roughly 0.5% between 2011 and 2012. This appears to be part of a larger trend. In 1983, it was estimated by the bureau that 20.1% of Americans belonged to a union. This report also shows a substantial gap between the percentage of private sector workers who belong to a union and the number of public sector workers. More than a third of public sector workers belong to a union but only 6.6% of private sector workers are unionized.

There are also large differences in union membership between states and regions. As evident by the figure, union membership in quite low in many areas of the South but significantly higher in the Midwest, the West, and the Northeast. It also appears that certain people are more likely to be members of unions than others. For instance, union membership stands at 14.9% among those ages 55 to 64 but only at 4.2% among those between the ages of 16 and 24. More men than women are members of union. Union membership also varied by race, with African Americans boasting the highest union membership rate, followed by whites, Asians, and Hispanics.

Union Membership in 2011

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently released a report on union membership in 2011, and how the membership rate compares across regions and industries. The Editor's Desk summarized some of the findings and provided visuals. Some findings of note:

 -"The union membership rate for public-sector workers (37.0 percent) was substantially higher than the rate for private-sector workers (6.9 percent)."

 -"Within the public sector, local government workers had the highest union membership rate, 43.2 percent."




-"In 2011, 29 states and the District of Columbia had union membership rates below that of the U.S. average, 11.8 percent, while 21 states had higher rates. All states in the Middle Atlantic and Pacific divisions reported union membership rates above the national average, while all states in the East South Central and West South Central divisions had rates below it."

Gov Walker Withstands Violent Rehetoric, Fake Caller, Questionable Doctors Notes, and Fleebaggers During Wisconsin Budget Battle

Observations and analysis on the $3B Wisconsin state budget crisis:

• The genesis of a new political term: "fleebagger" (Twitter hashtag #fleebagger sometimes #fleabagger; blogoshere example Michelle Malkin who also uses the term "Party of Truancy") to describe those who abdicate duty for protest and flee to a fleabag motel. Note that the right's use of this term provides a high road contrast to the sexually-explicit left's term of "teabagger." (see Urban Dictionary; reader discretion advisory)
• Gov. Scott Walker is a strong leader. He's calm and doesn't deviate from the basic task of government of fiscal functionality. Reminds me of Chris Christie.
• Where is Obama's condemnation of the union protester's uncivil comparisons (see example photos at Doug Ross At Journal) using crosshairs over Walker's face and Hitler comparisons, when just a few weeks ago at the AZ shootings memorial service he took a supposed strong stance for civility? Obama is weak and his lack of prior executive experience continues to glare--even now halfway through his presidency.
• And where is the condemnation by Obama of his own party's Democratic member of the U.S. House, Michael Capuano (MA-08) urging union supporters to "get a little bloody" with their protests in the streets? (New American including video)
• Wouldn't it be nice if the Democrats in the U.S. Senate were to go into hiding, too? In 2012 America has the opportunity to send 23 of these Democrats and Progressive Independents out of the public eye. (themostsearched, Nov 2012)
• Many of the Wisconsin union protesters are paid while tea party protesters pay their own expenses. Tea party rallies are more often on weekends so that tea party patriots can work and contribute to society and family. Many a Wisconsin state employee including teachers used questionable doctors' notes issued at the union protest rally (MacIver Institute, Feb 19) and illegally abused sick pay to protest, putting children and classrooms behind protest and pay. (politics.gather.com)
• Union dues help fund the election of Democrats and are unfair to those who contribute but do not support different candidates than those to whom the union decides to give their due money to.
• These union dues are no small change as Commentator Charles Krauthammer points out: "[Unions] are worried to death if you give teachers and others a choice to pay $1,000 a year in union dues or not, some of them may actually say, 'I think I can use that thousand dollars.'" (O'Reilly Factor transcript, Feb 22).

Concerning leftist blogger Ian Murphy who posed as David Koch in a phone interview this week with Wisconsin Gov. Walker ("Koch Whore" to use Murphy's disparaging term), seeking to entrap the Governor (coverage including full audio at FireAndreaMitchell.com):

• Murphy fails reader in the title his supposed expose "Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker answers his master’s call." That Koch is the supposed "master" makes no sense because Walker fails to recognize the so-called "master's" voice. David Koch's real voice can be heard here: (Youtube). Walker also fails to question impostor-Koch's offer of "flying to Cali" when Koch is a longtime resident and philanthropist of NYC (Wikipedia).
• Walker plays along friendly with the call, calming asserting his position while not falling for the foul language or attempts at dirty play. Walker responds exactly how he should have, exactly like how one would respond to any media with exception of detailing appropriate GOP strategy.
• The Left thinks conspiratorially: many of their writings reflect their belief that the Koch brothers are the financial seed-planters of the tea party. As a self-described tea party member, I had never heard of the Koch brothers until now as the tea party is devoid of centralized leadership and formal membership.
• The Left are preoccupied with right-wing conspiracy such because they have their own financial seed-planter George Soros and unprecedented access to President Obama by SEIU's Andy Stern, Goldman Sach's Lloyd Blankfein, and AFL-CIO's Richard Trumpka (see articles WashingtonExaminer.com and above-referenced O'Reilly Factor transcript).
• Murphy could (and should) face criminal identity theft charges. The Freedom Fighter's Journal does a thumbs up job in examining Wisconsin state law and makes a strong case for such charges. I wonder whether Wisconsin law would apply, New York law, the state of origin of Murphy's call, or any of the above depending on who wanted to run with it.
• In addition to or instead of criminal charges, Mr. Murphy could face a civil defamation of character or related lawsuit by David Koch.
• Murphy has written offensively in the past including "F*ck the Troops" and "Let There Be Retards" (The Daily Caller)

A Tale of Two Democratic Nebraskan Senators

With the 1978 Labor Law Reform Act (as recounted in the Orrin Hatch biography "Leading the Charge" by Lee Roderick, Chapter 7), Democrats wielding control of all of Congress and the White House [sound familiar?] sought to greatly expand the power of the Unions by easing election rules and expanding federal power exercised by the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board).

Economist Pierre Rinfret projected the measure to have a severe inflationary effect on an already bumpy economy while Carter-administration pollster Pat Caddell showed the President the people wanted unions to have less, not greater power. The Senate, then with a 61 Democratic +1 Independent supermajority needed the help of moderate Democrats to stay in line with with the party in order to avoid being filibustered by the Republicans.

The filibuster endured several weeks and repeated failed attempts by Majority Leader Robert Byrd at cloture, but the last Democratic holdout--a Nebraskan Senator by the name of Ed Zorkinsky seemed on the verge of wavering just before a record-setting sixth cloture vote on a single bill (ten years later Byrd would later push the record to eight attempts in 1988). "Leading the Charge" describes the pressure on Zorinsky thus:

Hatch calls Zorinsky and says he must have his vote today. Zorinsky sounds haunted. Hatch guesses that Byrd worked him over last night, Zorinsky confirms it: "They promised me everything."

"Ed, you didn't give in did you?"

"No, but you can only count me as a mushy no," says Zorinsky, meaning he's still with Hatch--barely. "If I change my mind I'll call you." (p. 98)

Yet Zorinsky went on to stick to his convictions and became the deciding holdout vote against big government and big unions when 58 Senators had voted for filibuster-ending cloture and a 59th had announced on the floor his conversion. The bill was defeated and the filibuster held.

When I read this story, I reflected on the contrast to the modern-day story of another Senator from Nebraska--Ben Nelson¹--and the infamous "Cornhusker Kickback" he received in exchange for his vote a year ago this month for cloture on another economy-busting Democratic bill: Obamacare.

As 2012 elections slowly begin to roll around, I hope we will not forget the damage Ben Nelson did to our country through his vote and find someone better in Nebraska with Zorinsky-like toughness to vote for what is right.

¹ Coincidentally, Nelson occupies the selfsame Class I seat previously held by Zorinsky

Nancy Pelosi: Teacher-bribing

Today Nancy Pelosi held a special session of Congress to pass HR1586, another $26B stimulus bill. The bill comes as a de facto admission of the failure of previous tax-and-spend stimuli to generate jobs. (Why would you need to save jobs if you have already saved them?)

What is particularly onerous are the constitutional overreaches of the federal government in bailing out state union jobs, in particular the teachers' unions. The federal government has no business in education let alone raising federal taxes to pay for states who are unwilling or unable to manage their own fiscal houses (like Pelosi's own Democratically-dominated California).

The bottom line is that the last thing Americans need are more taxes during a prolonged recession. Yet Pelosi and the Democrats think that offering a monetary bribe to unconstitutionally dole out other people's money will garnish them votes with the teachers in what portends to be significant Democratic losses this November.

People are smart enough to see past this awful and endless spending and to call it like it is: a bribe for votes. This will backfire.

The vote on HR1586 was 247-161 with Louisiana's freshman Cao (ignominiously the only GOP originally voting for Obamacare) and Delaware's Castle (one of the cap-n-tax 8 GOP) the only 2 GOP voting in favor while three southern Democrats opposed: Taylor (MS-04), Bright (AL-02), & Cooper (TN-05).

What this means for Utahans, this is more fuel to the fire to get rid of tax-raising, teacher-bribing, Constitution-shredding Jim Matheson (UT-02) and to get Morgan Philpot elected in his stead. Matheson along with 246 wreckless Representatives must be voted out.