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.
~~~~~~
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.
~~~~~~
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
~~~~~~
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.
~~~~~~
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.”
~~~~~~
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!
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!
~~~~~~
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!
~~~~~~
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.
~~~~~~
Iowa Democrats
Praying for Abortions to Keep Killing Pre-Born Babies
Here’s the prayer:
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.
~~~~~~
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
~~~~~~
"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
