Prosperity Reigns in Right to Work, Low Tax States

According to the March 29th Richard Rahn (Newsmax) article, Right to Work and Lower Taxes appear to deliver a one-two punch in states fights against unemployment and personal income decline.  In fact, Right To Work states lead in economic prosperity and personal income growth. State Economic Climate Economic Performance Ranking 2010 Business Tax Climate Ranking 2011 Small Business Survival Ranking 2011 Population Growth 2000-2010 Right to Work Florida 5 5 6 17.6% Yes Virginia 8 12 14 13.0% Yes Tennessee 10 27 11 11.5% Yes Texas 19 13 3 20.6% Yes California 46 49 48 10.0% No New Jersey 48 48 50 4.5% No New York 50 50 49 2.1% No Sources: American Legislative Exchange Council, Tax Foundation, Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, U.S. Census Bureau, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.   From Rahn's article: “Fiscal crisis hits the states” has become this year’s most boring and repetitive headline. But what is largely overlooked is that some states are doing relatively well — such as my home state of Virginia — and are, in fact, balancing their budgets without draconian budget cuts or tax increases. Given the ongoing fight between public-employee unions and some state governors, it is interesting to observe that the “right to work” states (that is, those states where workers are not forced to join a union against their will in order to obtain a specific job) also had much better performances than in those states where workers are not protected from involuntary unionism.
Congress Nearly Federalized the Mess in Madison

Congress Nearly Federalized the Mess in Madison

(Source: March 2011 NRTWC Newsletter) Time For Politicians in Both Parties to Own Up to Their Mistakes In late February, many concerned Americans in other states were paying close attention to the fierce, and still unresolved, battle over public-sector union monopoly bargaining in Wisconsin. Many observing the Madison showdown from their homes inwere undoubtedly amazed by what they saw. These five states, like roughly a dozen others, have no statutes on the books empowering government union officials to act as state and local public employees' monopoly-bargaining agents. When elected officials in such states make a judgment that a reform in public-employee compensation packages and work rules is necessary and can be prudently implemented to give taxpayers a better return on their money, they have the power to proceed. It is then up to the voting public to judge whether the reform was a good idea or not. In Wisconsin, however, like in other states which statutorily mandate union monopoly bargaining over public employee pay, benefits, and working conditions, elected officials from the governor on down have far less control over the roughly 50% of public expenditures that go into employee compensation. In the Badger State, half of state and local government employees are unionized. Elected officials and their appointees cannot make any significant changes in the way these employees are compensated or in how they are instructed to do their jobs without government union bosses' approval. Today, millions of Americans whose state and local governments operate free from Big Labor constraints appreciate, after watching the bitter struggle in Wisconsin unfold, better than ever before the importance of keeping union monopolists out of the government workplace. Only Intense Right to Work Lobbying Blocked Monopoly-Bargaining Bill What most freedom-loving Virginians, North Carolinians and Texans probably don't realize is that, just last year, the U.S. Congress came within a hair of taking away their prerogative to decide how their state and local government workplaces are run. At the outset of the 2009-2010 Congress, the votes were there to pass the so-called "Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act" in both the House and the Senate. Furthermore, President Obama was publicly vowing to sign this legislation as soon as it reached his desk. This measure, more accurately labeled the "Police/Fire Monopoly-Bargaining Bill," would have foisted Wisconsin-style labor relations on state and local public-safety departments in all 50 states.

National Right To Work Indiana Ad Blitz Conference

From the joint appearance by the National Right To Work Committee President Mark Mix and Indiana Right To Work Committee President Rob Beiswenger.  Mr. Mix's comments follow or his complete statement can be downloaded  by clicking this link. Thank you for coming today. I have a brief statement about the National Right to Work Committee’s joint multi-media campaign with the Indiana Right to Work Committee, and then I’ll take your questions. This $100,000 media campaign, which has been kicked off with an initial ad running this morning in the Indianapolis Star, will also include mail, phones, internet, a state-wide newspaper ad buy and hopefully TV and radio advertising. Our objective will be to urge Hoosier citizens to put pressure on Speaker Brian Bosma and Governor Mitch Daniels to use their Constitutionally-granted authority to force the Democrats to return to work and hold roll-call votes on the Indiana Right to Work Bill. More than four weeks ago, Indiana Democrats fled to Illinois to avoid voting on Right to Work because they understood if allowed to come to the floor for an up-or-down vote, the Right to Work Bill would pass and become law. The good news is, the Indiana Constitution requires legislators to legislate. And the Indiana Constitution, which requires a quorum of two-thirds, is also very clear on what to do about a walk out. Should legislators refuse to perform the jobs they were elected to do, the Indiana Constitution allows the majority party to authorize stiff fines and seek other remedies to force law-breaking legislators to return to work. Currently, Speaker Bosma is fining the Democrats who fled to Illinois a measly $350. The truth is, the Democrats know that these fines can easily be covered by the union bosses’ “special funds,” which is why they’ve done little or more than chuckle at this threat. Unless they want to continue being a laughingstock, it’s time for Speaker Bosma and Governor Daniels to start showing some backbone and force the Democrats to come back to work. To force the Democrats to come back to work, Daniels and the Republican majority should impose a $10,000 a day fine on each legislator until they return to work. If the Democrats still don’t return, the sitting legislature should take out liens on their property to force them to do the job they were elected to do. This would get the Democrats to come back to work, and the people of Indiana could get what they voted for on Election Day 2010 -- including Right to Work. The fact is, if passed, an Indiana Right to Work law would simply state that Hoosiers cannot be forced to pay dues or fees to a labor union as a condition of employment. And as the Governor has conceded in the past, forced unionism has put Indiana at an enormous disadvantage when compared to those states with Right to Work laws. The U.S. Department of Labor’s own statistics reveal that while Right to Work states were busy gaining jobs, Indiana has continued to lose them. Over the past decade, private-sector employment increased by 3.7% in Right to Work states, but fell by 8.8% here in Indiana.
Don't Forget the Lights

Don't Forget the Lights

Will the last person living in Detroit, please turn out the lights. It may be a bad joke, but it is quickly become sad reality. Detroit is dying thanks to the greed, power and corruption of the labor union bosses and the politicians who did their bidding. An Investors Business Daily editorial asks: Who Killed Detroit? Poor Detroit. It hasn't had any good news for decades, and now, despite a $77 billion bailout of the auto industry, its population continues to implode. The No. 1 reason: the United Auto Workers union. Census data released Tuesday show Detroit's population has plunged 25% since 2000 to just 713,777 souls — the same as 100 years ago, before the auto industry's heyday. As recently as the 1970s, Detroit had 1.8 million people. What's happening is no secret: Detroiters are fleeing an economic disaster, the irreversible decline of the Big Three automakers. In his now-famous Super Bowl commercial for Chrysler, rapper Eminem drives up to a theater in a sleek new 200 model and says, "This is the Motor City. And this is what we do." But, sadly, that's no longer the case. Detroit's decline has been shocking. Sure, a lot of the blame goes to a generation of bad management. But the main reason for Detroit's decline is the greed of the industry's main union, the UAW, which priced the Big Three out of the market. As recently as 2008, GM, Ford and Chrysler paid their employees on average more than $73 an hour in total compensation. The 12 foreign transplants, operating in nonunion states mostly in the South and Midwest, averaged about $42 an hour. Guess which manufacturers are healthiest and expanding their market today? In 2008, the Big Three still made 59% of all cars in the U.S. But, according to recent estimates, their market share is now 46% — with foreign companies selling the bulk of all U.S. cars. So Detroit's loss has been the South's and Midwest's gain. Behind this is the gold-plated benefits package once guaranteed to UAW workers. We're not against workers getting what they deserve, but total pay and benefits for a full-time worker for the Big Three until recently averaged about $140,000 a year.