Capitol Hill Showdown Looms Over TSA Takeover Bid

Capitol Hill Showdown Looms Over TSA Takeover Bid

(Source: March 2011 NRTWC Newsletter) Committee Calls on U.S. House Leaders to Block Union Power Grab On February 4, President Barack Obama's handpicked head of the Transportation Security Administration publicly announced he would help government union bosses grab monopoly-bargaining control over more than 40,000 airport screeners and other TSA employees. John Pistole, who was sworn in as TSA chief in July 2010, made the move shortly after Republican John Boehner (Ohio) replaced Big Labor Democrat Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) as speaker of the U.S. House. The changing of the guard at the House made it impossible, in all probability, for union lobbyists to ram through Congress legislation mandating union monopoly bargaining at the TSA. Therefore, in order for the Obama Administration to hand federal union officials what they wanted, Mr. Pistole had to act administratively. Agency Would Likely Become 'Less Efficient and Flexible' As a consequence of the Pistole edict, the honchos of one of two large government unions, either the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) or the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), could grab so-called "exclusive" representation power at the TSA within the next few weeks. If this happens, the already much-reviled federal agency will likely become even "less efficient and flexible," as National Review Associate Editor Robert Verbruggen pointed out in a February 11 commentary.

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.