The Right Lane update 9.03.13

The pursuit of Constitutionally grounded governance, freedom and individual liberty

"There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily." --George Washington                                       

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Citing Obamacare, 40,000 Longshoremen Quit the AFL-CIO  by Warner Todd Huston

In what is being reported as a surprise move, the 40,000 members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) announced that they have formally ended their association with the AFL-CIO, one of the nation's largest private sector unions. The Longshoremen citied Obamacare and immigration reform as two important causes of their disaffiliation.  In an August 29 letter to AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, ILWU President Robert McEllrath cited quite a list of grievances as reasons for the dissolution of their affiliation, but prominent among them was the AFL-CIO's support of Obamare.

"We feel the Federation has done a great disservice to the labor movement and all working people by going along to get along," McEllrath wrote in the letter to Trumka.

The ILWU President made it clear they are for a single-payer, nationalized healthcare policy and are upset with the AFL-CIO for going along with Obama on the confiscatory tax on their "Cadillac" healthcare plan.  The Longshoreman leader said, "President Obama ran on a platform that he would not tax medical plans and at the 2009 AFL-CIO Convention, you stated that labor would not stand for a tax on our benefits." But, regardless of that promise, the President has pushed for just such a tax and Trumka and the AFL-CIO bowed to political pressure lining up behind Obama's tax on those plans.

McEllrath also went on to say that they support stronger immigration reform than the AFL-CIO is supporting. One ILWU committeeman was even harsher on both the AFL-CIO and the President. ILWU Coast Committeeman Leal Sundet criticized the AFL-CIO telling LaborNotes.com that Trumka was marching "in lockstep" with Obama both on the "Cadillac healthcare tax" as well as immigration.

Sundet slammed Obama's immigration plan saying it is "designed to give [only] highly-paid workers a real path to citizenship." Private sector unions have fallen to an all time low participation rate in the US workforce. Unionized workers now account for only 11.3 percent of the US workforce.

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The Hidden Number Behind America’s Falling Unemployment Rate

The unemployment rate has been going down over the last few months - slowly, yes, but surely - and the economy has appeared more resilient than predicted in the wake of sequestration going into effect. This may mask underlying problems in our economy that has made it appear better than it is.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics keeps statistics on the labor force participation rate, the ratio of the total workforce to total employment-age Americans. Since the economic crisis, the participation rate has dropped from 66.4% to 63.4%.

As Emily Hulsey at the IJ Review writes:

The New York Times reported that the shift could, more specifically, be due to “the rise in the number of workers on disability.” Today, a record 8.7 million Americans receive disability benefits – that more than the population of New York City. However, the most disturbing aspect, as well as the most volatile variable, of this is the unprecedented number of young adults who are giving up on work and signing up for government assistance.

Surprisingly, this news is not due to the lack of jobs; rather, both Baby Boomers and Millennials are experiencing a skills gap. That is, the skills that employers demand do not match the skills that today’s unemployed possess. For example, in their job searches, many college graduates are encountering entry-level jobs that require only a high school diploma. A large number of Baby Boomers cannot find jobs in their respective fields, and employers consider them too close to retirement to invest in much training and education.

The drop in the labor force is being driven by more than demographic shifts. There are deeper problems at work in the economy. It's more than just a structural skills mismatch, though. A record number of Americans have claimed federal disability payments. It's not necessarily because of fraud - a study found that fraudulence isn't particularly correlated with the business cycle - but that a struggling economy causes some people who might be otherwise employable to file for disability. There are two troubling aspects here: the federal disability program is expensive, and once a worker goes on disability, they're unlikely to re-enter the workforce. The Wall Street Journal explains: Federal disability rules allow workers to get benefits only if they have an “impairment” that prevents them from working. But Mr. Rothstein notes that the ability to work isn’t necessarily independent of the labor market.

A construction worker who hurts his back, for example, might be able to get a desk job during good economic times; when unemployment is high, however, making such a career switch could be much harder. Moreover, companies are much more likely to make accommodations for existing workers who become disabled than to hire a disabled worker — so a person with a disability who loses a job might well struggle to find a new one.

Mr. Rothstein says his findings suggest that “really what’s going on is that there are people who are disabled who may in good markets be able to get jobs but in difficult market can’t.”

Just because people aren’t cheating the system doesn’t mean the rise in the disability rolls isn’t a concern. Economic research has found that the disability system is mostly a one-way street: Once people start receiving benefits, they rarely go back to work.

So while the economy has looked resilient this summer, it's not the case that there's nothing to worry about or that a skyrocketing recovery is right around the corner. There are long-term factors at play here - some of them structural - that mean we are a very long way away from full employment.

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OBAMA ZOMBIES: 4th Graders Taught ‘Government Is Like Your Family’,

Fourth-grade students in Illinois are learning that “government is like a nation’s family” because it sets rules and takes care of needs such as health care and education. So says a worksheet for social studies homework that was distributed to students at East Prairie School in Skokie, Ill, complete with a drawing of Uncle Sam cradling a baby that represents the citizens. Students are then prompted to answer 10 questions comparing government and families, including how their family provides for their health care needs and how the government does the same, and what rules families set and what rules government sets

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Debt Ceiling Rerun - Yes again!

Congress will return from its August recess to face a $16.7 trillion-dollar debt ceiling that the government is expected to reach by mid-October. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew urged Congress in a letter last week to raise the debt limit "as soon as possible" in order for the government to meet its fiscal obligations. Lew has used a few tricks to hold the debt in place since May, including withholding reinvestment in certain government securities and holding back new pension investment. But those gimmicks have reached the end of their usefulness. Lew and Barack Obama want a "clean" debt limit increase, and they refuse to negotiate on the issue. House Speaker John Boehner says that Republicans will agree to a limit hike only if it is matched by real spending cuts.

We've seen this movie before. The last time talks broke down, we ended up with a budget sequester crafted and pushed by Obama. The sequester amounted to a meager 2.4 percent spending cut over the next decade, and Obama then turned around and used it as a political bludgeon to beat Republicans for cutting funds to popular programs. The sequester's fiscal impact was negligible, but the irrational reaction to it by Obama, congressional Democrats and the Leftmedia demonstrated just how hard it can be to unwind impending fiscal disaster. Obama has racked up $5 trillion in budget deficits since taking office, complete with wasted fiscal stimulus packages and the budget-smashing ObamaCare law. And he has no plans to change now. Indeed, if he continues to have his way, spending will continue at its present pace as he operates under the assumption that the government can tax its way out of this mess. Fiscal conservatives have to be strong and demand reduced spending, though until this administration is gone, there's little hope for success.

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A New Yorker's view of gun control By Tom Purcell

During my last visit to New York City, I stumbled into an unexpected discussion about its restrictive gun polices. The discussion occurred after I ducked into a coffee shop. The place was empty except for three transit employees.

“I don't know why the kid shot me,” said one of the men. “But I got myself some protection now.” Curious, I introduced myself and asked the fellow about his story.

“One day three years ago,” he said, “I'm sitting in my Brooklyn neighborhood in my 2008 Lincoln, eating a sandwich. “This kid comes up to the passenger side and tells me how nice my car is. A lot of people compliment my ride, so I think nothing of it. “But then he tells me to give him the keys. I think he's kidding, so I laugh. He pulls out a gun — a 9-mm handgun, I think. “I tell the kid I don't want no trouble. I open the door to start getting out. But then I make a big mistake. When he reaches through the window to grab my keys, I grab the keys before he can get them. “He says, ‘I'm gonna pop you, man!' I look into his eyes and they're black as death. Then BOOM!

“The next thing I know, I wake hooked up to all kind of wires in the hospital and the doctor is telling me how lucky I am. The bullet hit me in the right shoulder and passed out the left armpit — just missing my heart.  “That was three years ago, but I'm OK now. I guess it wasn't my time to go.”

I was spellbound by his story and the matter-of-fact way he told it, but his story grew more fascinating when he told me how he now is breaking the law to protect himself and his family. “In New York,” he said, “the gun laws are so strict, the majority of people who have them are the criminals. Maybe if you're a small-business owner or have some other valid reason for protecting yourself, you might get a permit to carry. But if you're a regular guy like me, forget about it.  “But I live on the Brooklyn-Queens border, and in that part of town there's only one way to protect yourself — you got to let the punks know you're packing heat. “So I bought myself a street gun that I carry with me everywhere. Lots of the decent people in my neighborhood are carrying illegal guns. It's the only thing we can do.” The fellow knew what he was talking about.

A Cato Institute study found that 60 percent of criminals would not attack if they knew a potential victim were carrying a gun. In New York City, though, it's the criminals, not the innocent civilians, who are often armed. Of the estimated 400,000 illegal guns that flood the city, most are in the hands of the criminals.  Thus, if you can't get a permit to carry — which is difficult to do in New York — and you choose to arm yourself for personal protection, you become a criminal. “What if you use an illegal weapon to shoot someone who tries to shoot you or steal your car?” I asked the transit worker. “Won't you face charges yourself?”  “Maybe so,” he said, “but at least I'll be around to do the explaining.”

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From The Left - Workers’ new ways to address injustices  E.J. Dionne is a columnist for the Washington Post

Could this Labor Day mark the comeback of movements for workers’ rights and a turn toward innovation and a new militancy on behalf of wage-earners? Precisely because no one in organized labor expects the proportion of private-sector workers in their ranks to rise sharply anytime soon, unions, workers themselves and others who believe that too many Americans receive low wages are finding new ways to address long-standing grievances.

Those who make the economic engine run are receiving less of what they produce. And it’s not because employees aren’t working harder, or smarter. From 1973 to 2011, according to the Economic Policy Institute, employee productivity grew by 80.4 percent while median hourly compensation after inflation grew by just 10.7 percent. Last Thursday’s one-day strike of fast food workers in dozens of cities is one of the new forms of labor creativity aimed at doing something about this. The folks who serve your burgers are demanding that instead of an average fast-food wage of $8.94 an hour, they ought to be paid $15.

The group Good Jobs Nation filed a complaint this summer alleging that food franchises at federal buildings in the nation’s capital have ignored minimum- wage and overtime laws. There’s a new idea that brings these approaches together: “pre-distribution.” The term was coined by Yale political scientist Jacob Hacker as an alternative to “redistribution” that involves “government taxes and transfers that take from some and give to others.”

Redistribution is necessary, but Hacker thinks that we need a fairer distribution “even before government collects taxes or pays out benefits.”  [No lose of ideas how to rename the Socialist theme]

The genius of the labor movement has always been its insistence that, if the law genuinely empowered workers to defend their own interests, the result would be a more just society requiring fewer direct interventions by government.

Dionne might consider changing his vocation from writing left wing babble to stand up comedy!

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Note to Conservatives: Change Really is Possible; Keep Pushing! by Mark Horne

Sometimes the situation looks dire. On same-sex “marriage” and some aspects of the Second Amendment, it looks like the opposition is winning. But we are fighting a multi-front war and one or two issues are not enough to measure our standing. Think about how pro-abortion forces are panicking at the closures of abortuaries. But also, think about the fact that Syria was supposed to already be bombed, but Obama has publicly and visibly backed down before Congress and the Constitution. Suddenly, as a gift from God,

1.) a needless war that was all but certain now appears that it may be averted,

2.) Obama has renounced his plan to publicly violate the Constitution as he did with Libya, and

3.) he has been publicly humiliated by this public admission that he does not have the power to carry out his own will in this matter. “President Barack Obama addressed the crisis in Syria on Saturday, saying he has decided the United States should take military action against regime targets, but that he will seek authorization from Congress before taking action. ‘I will seek authorization for the use of force from the American people's representatives in Congress,’ Obama said during a press conference in the White House Rose Garden.”

This whole week the media was telling us that Congress was unnecessary. Politico reported that some in Congress had signed a letter, but the way they reported on that letter made it sound too anemic to do any good. I complained about the letter being too tame on that basis. I was wrong. Others realized that real threats against Obama were contained in its polite words: “If that were all that the letter said, it would be momentous enough. But the statement goes further and labels Obama’s cruel war on Libya as ‘unconstitutional,’ because it was done without so much as a nod to Congress. In the end no lawyer and no court, not even the Supreme Court, can overrule Congress when it decides what to do when it considers a serious presidential action as “unconstitutional.” In Libya Obama usurped the powers of Congress. If Congress takes the next step and determines that such an action rises to the level of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” then it is an impeachable offense. It is not hard to see the implications of the warning to Obama that the Representatives are issuing in raising Libya. If Obama attacks Syria, that will be the second offense, greatly strengthening the case for impeachment. The implied threat of impeachment is of utmost importance because the President, long become an Emperor, will heed no warning unless it is backed by threat of punishment.” The fight is not over. We now need to make sure Congress renounces the pretention that we are the judges and governors of the Middle East. Some are claiming Obama will attack even if Congress votes against him; but he has already wavered, so it is hard to believe he could really do so. God has blessed us with an amazing victory. So don’t be discouraged! Keep fighting!

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ICE Union Head Calls for Congressional Investigation into Obama's Illegal Immigration Policies by Suzanne Hamner

As far as scandals and lawless behavior goes, Obama has definitely earned a PhD (piled higher and deeper). America has heard over and over about the various IRS scandals, the Benghazi atrocity, and NSA spying to name a few; a list of unconstitutional executive orders can be placed alongside these. Added to this impressive list of constitutional degradation is the president's policy regarding the current immigration laws. Immigration and Customs Enforcement union head, Chris Crane, appeared on the Sean Hannity radio show Friday, hosted by fill-in Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX). Crane has called upon Congress to investigate the administration's immigration policies. And, rightly so. According to Crane, "With regard to our government in general, I mean right now, that's our problem with our immigration system. [The problem] is not our immigration system, it's our government, and it's the ability of a president of the United States to ignore laws enacted by Congress." "And it doesn't matter what type of legislation we pass until we address that problem, we will never have an immigration system that works," Crane stated. "As long as one person can act like a dictator and ignore the law and make his own laws through policy, we will never have a system that works." Here it is folks. The problem in the immigration system is not the current law. It's the policy coming out of Washington, DC, by the president of the United States and the cronies in Congress who support it that prevent enforcement of the current law. A new immigration law was not needed; it was proposed and passed for political posturing, power, vote gains and more than likely, at the behest of the White House Royals.

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Iowa Democrats Praying for Abortions to Keep Killing Pre-Born Babies
Here’s the prayer:

“We give thanks, O Lord, for the doctors, both current and future, who provide quality abortion care.”

“We pray for increased financial support for low-income women to access contraception, abortion and childcare.”

“Today, we pray for women in developing nations, that they may know the power of self-determination. May they have access to employment, education, birth control, and abortion.”

“Today we pray for the families who have chosen. May they know the blessing of choice.”

During the entire prayer, State Senator Jack Hatch and Rep. Tyler Olson, both of whom are running for governor, kept their heads bowed and eyes closed, joining in the group prayer. This is worse than sick. It is pure evil. Any nation that calls on God to seek His favor to kill His image bearers are worse than pagans. We know what's growing in a mother's womb. We can see the images in 3D. As the Apostle Paul writes, "they are without excuse" (Rom. 1:20). Now let's see if the people of Iowa are equally appalled.

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Retire at 65. Become a Ward of the State. by Gary North

On September 3, 2013 PBS had a recent article about retirees who stay in the work force beyond age 65. It interviewed economists. What it did not do was provide statistics on how many Americans work until age 75. The answer is: hardly any. A proponent of working longer is Prof. Alicia Munnell, who is careful to keep her date of birth a secret. Here is her assessment.

PAUL SOLMAN: And, says Munnell, that would be a good thing for the older workers, considering that 55-to-64-year-olds have an average of only $120,000 dollars saved for retirement.

ALICIA MUNNELL: One hundred and twenty thousand dollars may sound like a lot, but when you think about taking that out over a 20-30 year retirement, you’re talking about only a few hundred dollars per month.

PAUL SOLMAN: So you mean if you have saved as much as $120,000 dollars in your late 50s, you’re still facing relative poverty?

ALICIA MUNNELL: People are not going to have very much money if they retire at 64. So my view is the single most important thing they can do is to work as long as they possibly can.

The problem is, hardly anyone believes this. Economist Lawrence Kotlikoff understands this. Dr. Munnell carefully avoids it.

LARRY KOTLIKOFF, Boston University: Only a very small share of people over 65 are going to continue to work under the best of circumstances, so it really can’t matter much to the macro-economy or to our fiscal problems. It’s just not a big enough effect.

PAUL SOLMAN: So you don’t think that this is going to make that much of a difference?

LARRY KOTLIKOFF: Even if we had another 20 percent of people in their 60s continue to work through their 70s or 75, it just wouldn’t add up to much. It’s just not enough people earning enough money, paying enough taxes to matter much. So, most Americans do not have enough savings. They retire anyway. Most Americans believe in the tooth fairy: the federal government. They think the checks will keep coming. They will not budget. They will spend their $120,000 long before they die. Then what? Continue Reading on www.pbs.org

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"I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death." –Thomas Paine, The Crisis, No. 1, 1776

"To cherish and stimulate the activity of the human mind, by multiplying the objects of enterprise, is not among the least considerable of the expedients, by which the wealth of a nation may be promoted." –Alexander Hamilton, Report on Manufactures, 1791

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