Re: Strands in the Tapestry: the Business, Economics, and Tax Policy Thread
Pirate just to be clear I don't have a dog in a union fight. I don't know anybody in a union, my industry isn't unionized and as I said they have little impact in Democratic politics. Right now in Mass there's a union backed Congressman running against an old time one for the Senate race, and the union backed one's odds aren't that good...in Massachusetts in a Democratic primary.
As far as federal workers go, all workers should be free to unionize if they choose. I imagine the big appeal is job security in exchange for paying your dues. On the federal level, one would think you'd unionize in order to not get fired every time the administration changed. Weren't conservatives trying to elevate the travel office dismissals when Clinton came into office as an impeachable offense? I recall several Congressional investigations over it just to use an example.
However, all of this union busting strikes me as a contest to see who's the tallest midget. Its like bragging about kicking @ ss in Grenada during that invasion. I mean really, what passed for an accomplishment here? If you truly believe the anti-union arguments or if unions wronged you during your career then that's cool as everybody's opinion is as good as the next one. However I feel far too many rigthies think that busting unions is somehow key to stopping Democrats from winning in their state. If that's the case then someone has sold you a bum steer. Unions can't even stop right to work legislation from passing in what I believe is the most unionized state. Does anybody seriously think they have anything to do with the Dems carrying Michigan in the last 6 Presidential elections, often by double digit margins?
So, as far as the Fishy of the world and sadly yourself implying that the Democratic party is doing anything and everything the unions want and generating some sort of payoffs, my question back is "why"? On the list of entities the Dems would be rewarding, unions are way down on the list. Yeah, they donate 50M which isn't chump change..until you consider Obama raised a billion dollars and the national committees another 500M. Obama also has his own door to door GOTV operation on a national scale. Really, this GOP effort to defeat unions is like saying you'll weaken the United States militarily if you conquer Switzerland. My take is that the Dems are happy for union help but its not worth it to go out of their way to prop them up so they're left to their own devices.
Pirate just to be clear I don't have a dog in a union fight. I don't know anybody in a union, my industry isn't unionized and as I said they have little impact in Democratic politics. Right now in Mass there's a union backed Congressman running against an old time one for the Senate race, and the union backed one's odds aren't that good...in Massachusetts in a Democratic primary.
As far as federal workers go, all workers should be free to unionize if they choose. I imagine the big appeal is job security in exchange for paying your dues. On the federal level, one would think you'd unionize in order to not get fired every time the administration changed. Weren't conservatives trying to elevate the travel office dismissals when Clinton came into office as an impeachable offense? I recall several Congressional investigations over it just to use an example.
However, all of this union busting strikes me as a contest to see who's the tallest midget. Its like bragging about kicking @ ss in Grenada during that invasion. I mean really, what passed for an accomplishment here? If you truly believe the anti-union arguments or if unions wronged you during your career then that's cool as everybody's opinion is as good as the next one. However I feel far too many rigthies think that busting unions is somehow key to stopping Democrats from winning in their state. If that's the case then someone has sold you a bum steer. Unions can't even stop right to work legislation from passing in what I believe is the most unionized state. Does anybody seriously think they have anything to do with the Dems carrying Michigan in the last 6 Presidential elections, often by double digit margins?
So, as far as the Fishy of the world and sadly yourself implying that the Democratic party is doing anything and everything the unions want and generating some sort of payoffs, my question back is "why"? On the list of entities the Dems would be rewarding, unions are way down on the list. Yeah, they donate 50M which isn't chump change..until you consider Obama raised a billion dollars and the national committees another 500M. Obama also has his own door to door GOTV operation on a national scale. Really, this GOP effort to defeat unions is like saying you'll weaken the United States militarily if you conquer Switzerland. My take is that the Dems are happy for union help but its not worth it to go out of their way to prop them up so they're left to their own devices.
