Newsletters

December 25, 2010

Iowans Repudiate Pro-Forced Unionism Governor

Right to Work Makes Major Gains in State Legislative Contests (Source: December 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) It takes a lot to convince Iowa citizens to oust a sitting governor. Until this fall, the last time a Hawkeye State chief executive failed to get another term after seeking one was in 1962! But over the past four years, Big Labor Democrat Gov. Chet Culver wore out Iowans' considerable patience. On November 2, he was one of 13 incumbent governors on the ballot across America. Eleven of these incumbents won, but Mr. Culver lost by a hefty 53% to 43% margin. What had Chet Culver done to receive such a harsh rebuke from normally amiable Midwesterners? He tried to gut Iowa's popular Right to Work law -- and he was sneaky about it. After saying nothing about the Right to Work issue during his successful 2006 gubernatorial campaign, Mr. Culver announced, almost as soon as the votes were counted, his support for legislation imposing forced union dues and fees on Iowa workers as a condition of employment. Since Mr. Culver's fellow Democrats controlled substantial majorities in both chambers of the Iowa Legislature that greeted him upon his inauguration in early 2007, it seemed Big Labor's stealthy scheme to bring back forced unionism to the state six decades after it had been banned would succeed. For four years, Gov. Culver tried to help union bosses extract forced fees from workers who choose not to join. But freedom-loving Iowans first thwarted him legislatively and then defeated him at the polls. But the National Right to Work Committee and the Iowans for Right to Work Committee were already mobilizing resistance. Pro-Right to Work Iowan Stopped Forced-Union-Fee Schemes in 2007 and 2009 Even before the new Legislature convened in January 2007, the National Committee began sending out a series of statewide and targeted mailings to members and supporters in Iowa, with a focus on selected House and Senate members in vulnerable seats.

December 21, 2010

Voters Give Forced Unionism a 'Shellacking'

(Source: December 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) Voters fed up with the Tax & Spend, forced-unionism agenda that Democratic U.S. House leaders have been pushing consigned them to minority status on November 2. See p. 3 of this Newsletter for details. But Big Labor Retains Hold Over U.S. Senate, Key State Assemblies Not just on November 2, but throughout this past election year, voters across most of the country sent two clear messages to Big Labor politicians on Capitol Hill: They are dismayed by what the politicians have done at union lobbyists' behest, and determined to stop them from doing more of the same. One major object of voters' ire was the controversial "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act" (ARRA), otherwise known as the "stimulus" package. In early 2009, AFL-CIO and Change to Win union lobbyists twisted arms to secure majorities in both chambers of Congress for this $800 billion legislation. Since it became law, ARRA has bilked taxpayers of hundreds of billions of dollars to ensure that bloated, unionized government payrolls stay bloated, but furnished no detectable net benefit for America's private sector. Another key source of voters' displeasure was ObamaCare. More even than President Obama or any other elected official, top union bosses and their arm-twisting union lobbyists are responsible for Congress's narrow votes to reconstruct America's enormous health-care system in late 2009 and early 2010. November 2's exit polls clearly indicate that voters across the country punished vulnerable U.S. representatives and senators for doing what Big Labor told them to do. Undoubtedly compounding the woes of many of the politicians who had voted for the government union boss-crafted "stimulus" package and ObamaCare was that they were also on the record in support of forced-unionism initiatives that, due to stiff Right to Work opposition, have yet to be enacted. Millions of freedom-loving citizens were furious with their incumbent politicians for having backed Big Labor's now-moribund "card check" forced-unionism bill and its so far-stalled scheme to federalize government union monopoly bargaining over state and local public-safety employees. Big Labor Appeasers in GOP Were First Casualties Of Voter Backlash

December 21, 2010

Voters Give Forced Unionism a 'Shellacking'

(Source: December 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) Voters fed up with the Tax & Spend, forced-unionism agenda that Democratic U.S. House leaders have been pushing consigned them to minority status on November 2. See p. 3 of this Newsletter for details. But Big Labor Retains Hold Over U.S. Senate, Key State Assemblies Not just on November 2, but throughout this past election year, voters across most of the country sent two clear messages to Big Labor politicians on Capitol Hill: They are dismayed by what the politicians have done at union lobbyists' behest, and determined to stop them from doing more of the same. One major object of voters' ire was the controversial "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act" (ARRA), otherwise known as the "stimulus" package. In early 2009, AFL-CIO and Change to Win union lobbyists twisted arms to secure majorities in both chambers of Congress for this $800 billion legislation. Since it became law, ARRA has bilked taxpayers of hundreds of billions of dollars to ensure that bloated, unionized government payrolls stay bloated, but furnished no detectable net benefit for America's private sector. Another key source of voters' displeasure was ObamaCare. More even than President Obama or any other elected official, top union bosses and their arm-twisting union lobbyists are responsible for Congress's narrow votes to reconstruct America's enormous health-care system in late 2009 and early 2010. November 2's exit polls clearly indicate that voters across the country punished vulnerable U.S. representatives and senators for doing what Big Labor told them to do. Undoubtedly compounding the woes of many of the politicians who had voted for the government union boss-crafted "stimulus" package and ObamaCare was that they were also on the record in support of forced-unionism initiatives that, due to stiff Right to Work opposition, have yet to be enacted. Millions of freedom-loving citizens were furious with their incumbent politicians for having backed Big Labor's now-moribund "card check" forced-unionism bill and its so far-stalled scheme to federalize government union monopoly bargaining over state and local public-safety employees. Big Labor Appeasers in GOP Were First Casualties Of Voter Backlash

December 19, 2010

December 2010 issue of The National Right To Work Committee Newsletter is available

The December 2010 issue of The National Right to Work Committee Newsletter is available for download in an Adobe pdf format for your convenience to read and share. It is the Committee’s official newsletter publication that provides an excellent…

October 14, 2010

Pennsylvania Worker Fights Union-Only PLAs

On September 17, John Falk and a few companions set off on foot for Washington, D.C. At the end of the journey, they pled with Congress to stop PLA discrimination against union-free workers and firms. Image Credit: Daily Record/Sunday News—Jason Plotkin Obama Executive Order Denies Union-Free Workers a 'Fair Shake' (Source: October 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) John Falk, a genial 59-year-old glass worker from Red Lion, Pa., made a five-day trek on foot last month from his home state to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Mr. Falk and the three people who accompanied him -- a friend, a fellow worker, and his employer, Debra Zarfoss -- walked 89 miles to help mobilize public opposition to federal and state policies that discriminate against union-free employees and businesses. As Mr. Falk puts it, "We're not looking for a handout, bailout, or any other special favor. We just want a fair shake." Unfortunately, President Barack Obama and most current U.S. congressmen and senators are opposed to letting union-free workers like John Falk compete on a level playing field. Back in February 2009, one of the first major actions the President took after settling in at the White House was to issue Executive Order 13502, which promotes union-only "project labor agreements" (PLAs) on federally funded public works. This April, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council published a "final rule" implementing E.O.13502. 'Job Discrimination Because . . . of a Worker's Union Membership Is Flat Wrong' "E.O.13502 pressures federal agencies to acquiesce to PLAs on all large public works," noted Matthew Leen, vice president of the National Right to Work Committee.

October 13, 2010

Committee's Goal: Pro-Right to Work Congress

Breaking Big Labor's stranglehold over federal labor policy will require far more than ousting union-label House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif., shown here with government union czar Jerry McEntee) from the seat of power. Image Credit: Jay Mallin Survey Presses Candidates to Pledge to Roll Back Forced Unionism (Source: October 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) If respected Inside-the-Beltway political prognosticators like Charles Cook and Stuart Rothenberg are correct, there is a significant possibility that, come January, union-label Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will no longer be speaker of the U.S. House. As of mid-September, Mr. Cook and Mr. Rothenberg were both reporting there was at least a 50-50 chance that Republicans would pick up, at a minimum, the 39 House seats they need to hold a majority in the chamber and, presumably, to elect a GOP speaker. Since virtually all Democratic politicians in Washington, D.C., rely on forced union dues-funded support from Big Labor to get elected and reelected, and few GOP politicians are similarly beholden to the union brass, a partisan House switchover would affect the climate for Right to Work-related legislation. For example, in all likelihood, the arrival of a GOP House would derail, for the time being, Big Labor's years-long campaign to mandate "card checks" or in some other way rig union organizing campaigns, and thus make it even harder for independent-minded employees to avoid being corralled into a union. However, if history is any indication, Republican House leaders are unlikely even to try to reverse federal policies that currently force millions of workers to accept monopoly union "representation," like it or not, and pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. Unlikely, that is, unless pro-Right to Work citizens nationwide are mobilized in unprecedented numbers to put the heat on GOP politicians to act. Right to Work Movement Hasn't Forgotten About GOP's 1995-2007 Record "From 1995 through 2007, Republican politicians like Newt Gingrich [Ga.], Tom DeLay [Texas], Dennis Hastert [Ill.], and John Boehner [Ohio] were calling the shots in the U.S. House," recalled Doug Stafford, vice president of the National Right to Work Committee.

October 13, 2010

Committee's Goal: Pro-Right to Work Congress

Breaking Big Labor's stranglehold over federal labor policy will require far more than ousting union-label House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif., shown here with government union czar Jerry McEntee) from the seat of power. Image Credit: Jay Mallin Survey Presses Candidates to Pledge to Roll Back Forced Unionism (Source: October 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) If respected Inside-the-Beltway political prognosticators like Charles Cook and Stuart Rothenberg are correct, there is a significant possibility that, come January, union-label Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will no longer be speaker of the U.S. House. As of mid-September, Mr. Cook and Mr. Rothenberg were both reporting there was at least a 50-50 chance that Republicans would pick up, at a minimum, the 39 House seats they need to hold a majority in the chamber and, presumably, to elect a GOP speaker. Since virtually all Democratic politicians in Washington, D.C., rely on forced union dues-funded support from Big Labor to get elected and reelected, and few GOP politicians are similarly beholden to the union brass, a partisan House switchover would affect the climate for Right to Work-related legislation. For example, in all likelihood, the arrival of a GOP House would derail, for the time being, Big Labor's years-long campaign to mandate "card checks" or in some other way rig union organizing campaigns, and thus make it even harder for independent-minded employees to avoid being corralled into a union. However, if history is any indication, Republican House leaders are unlikely even to try to reverse federal policies that currently force millions of workers to accept monopoly union "representation," like it or not, and pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. Unlikely, that is, unless pro-Right to Work citizens nationwide are mobilized in unprecedented numbers to put the heat on GOP politicians to act. Right to Work Movement Hasn't Forgotten About GOP's 1995-2007 Record "From 1995 through 2007, Republican politicians like Newt Gingrich [Ga.], Tom DeLay [Texas], Dennis Hastert [Ill.], and John Boehner [Ohio] were calling the shots in the U.S. House," recalled Doug Stafford, vice president of the National Right to Work Committee.

October 13, 2010

Forced Unionism vs. Private Health Insurance

Between 1999 and 2009, the number of people with job-based private health insurance grew by 570,000 in Right to Work states, but declined by 7.74 million in forced-unionism states. Big Labor can't explain why. Image Credit: sph.umd.edu (Source: October 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) Big Labor Bastions See Steep Decline in Job-Based Benefits On average, residents of Right to Work states have higher real, spendable incomes than their counterparts in non-Right to Work states. And Right to Work states have a much better track record of creating and sustaining private-sector jobs that come with health benefits. The evidence confirming these two points comes from the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and Bureau of the Census (BOC), as well as the nonpartisan Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC). Last month, the National Right to Work Committee's research affiliate, the National Institute for Labor Relations Research, conducted an analysis of the BEA-reported 2009 disposable (after-tax) income data for each of the 50 states. The Institute adjusted the data to account for interstate differences in living costs with the help of a quarterly index created and reported by MERIC. The analysis found that, in 2009, the cost of living-adjusted disposable income per capita for the 22 Right to Work states was $35,543. Productive, Well-Compensated Jobs Disappearing in Forced-Unionism States

October 10, 2010

Right to Work Close to Securing Historic Win

Lisa Murkowski was the only GOP Senate sponsor of Big Labor's Police/Fire Monopoly-Bargaining Bill to seek re-election this year. Her support for this scheme became a cutting issue in her failed primary campaign.Image Credit:Rob Stapleton/AP (Source: October 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) National Right to Work Committee members and supporters are now tantalizingly close to securing a major legislative victory that seemed like a near impossibility when the 2009-2010 U.S. Congress convened 21 months ago. At the end of September, Congress adjourned without having rammed through the top power grab on government union bosses' agenda this year, the so-called "Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act." If union lobbyists also fail to get this scheme (introduced as S.1611 and S.3194 in the upper chamber and H.R.413 in the lower) rubber-stamped in a post-election "lame duck" session, Committee members and supporters nationwide will deserve the lion's share of the credit for a remarkable accomplishment. At the beginning of 2009, well over 60 of the 100 senators and roughly 70% of House members were on the record in support of this legislation. President Obama was publicly vowing to sign it as soon as it reached his desk. The only possible hope of blocking the government union power grab in the 2009-2010 Congress was a Senate filibuster -- and mustering the 41 votes needed to sustain one seemed to be a long shot at best. Nevertheless, from the beginning, Committee members and supporters have been ready to fight to the hilt, because the stakes are so high. Federally mandated union monopoly bargaining over public-safety employees is a top objective of AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and union-label U.S. President Barack Obama. But stiff Right to Work opposition has thwarted it. Image Credit: weaselzippers.us S.1611/S.3194/H.R.413, referred to unofficially, but accurately, as the Police/Fire Monopoly-Bargaining Bill, would empower Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) bureaucrats to survey all 50 states and identify which have failed to meet the legislation's "core standards."

October 7, 2010

October 2010 issue of The National Right To Work Committee Newsletter is available

The October 2010 issue of The National Right to Work Committee Newsletter is available for download in an Adobe pdf format for your convenience to read and share. It is the Committee’s official newsletter publication that provides an excellent…

October 7, 2010

Right to Work Poised to Gain Senate Strength

One of the Survey 2010's top target states is Nevada, where Big Labor Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (pictured at a union event) is now running neck and neck with pro-Right to Work challenger Sharron Angle. Image Credit: USW-Canada Survey Results in, Committee Members Put Heat on the Candidates (Source: October 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) With the results of the National Right to Work Committee's federal Survey 2010 now in, Committee members from coast to coast keep turning up the heat on U.S. Senate and House candidates to publicly pledge 100% support for the Right to Work. Committee members and supporters who receive the Newsletter through the U.S. Postal Service can find out whether and how their candidates responded to the Right to Work survey by consulting the Survey 2010 results roster enclosed with this month's issue. Pro-Right to Work Americans who have not yet received their Survey 2010 results may obtain a copy by contacting the Committee by e-mail -- Members@NRTW.org  -- or by dialing 1-800-325-7892. By calling, writing, and visiting their candidates and urging them to declare themselves in opposition to forced unionism, Committee members are making forced unionism and the Right to Work red-hot issues in state after state this year. Right to Work Activity Key to Stopping Big Labor At this writing, just a few weeks remain until Election Day. And reports from a wide array of pollsters and pundits indicate that the caucus of politicians who support Big Labor's agenda on forced-unionism issues such as federally-mandated "card checks" will shrink significantly after voters go to the polls.

September 28, 2010

Idahoans Commemorate Right to Work Anniversary

Gem State Politicians Eager to Be Associated With Successful Law (Source: September 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) Back in the 1970's and 1980's, as they successfully pressed first for passage of a state law prohibiting forced union dues and fees, and then to prevent Big Labor from overturning this law in a statewide referendum, Idaho Right to Work activists had few friends in the political establishment. Last month, former National Committee President Reed Larson joined with grass-roots Right to Work activists and elected officials in Idaho to applaud the Gem State's 25-year-old ban on forced union dues and fees. Credit: Courtesy of Gary Glenn The Gem State's union-label Democratic governors during those decades, Cecil Andrus and John Evans, were unabashed cheerleaders for compulsory unionism. Meanwhile, establishment Republicans' relationship with the Right to Work movement was often frosty. For example, 1986 GOP gubernatorial nominee David Leroy tried to have it both ways during his campaign, announcing late in the game that he would oppose efforts to reinstate the then-fledgling Right to Work law if Big Labor succeeded in overturning it. (Ironically, this craven attempt at self-preservation probably cost Mr. Leroy the governorship.) Also in 1986, Republican James McClure, then Idaho's senior U.S. senator, poured cold water on both local and national pro-Right to Work efforts, publicly declaring: "I've urged Republicans not to raise the issue for years. I think it's a bad political issue for us, and it's a real motivational issue for the union people." But after Idahoans upheld their Right to Work law by a solid 54% to 46% margin on November 4, 1986, and also reelected their staunchly pro-Right to Work junior U.S. senator, Republican Steve Symms, on what was otherwise a bleak day for GOP U.S. Senate candidates, Mr. McClure admitted he had been wrong. Most Idaho Politicians Have Finally Decided to Stop Arguing With Success In 2010, 25 years after the Idaho Legislature overrode Gov. Evans's veto and adopted a state Right to Work law prohibiting the termination of workers for refusal to pay dues or fees to an unwanted union, most of the Gem State's politicians have finally decided to stop arguing with success.

September 27, 2010

Auto Union-Boss Bailout Not Improving With Age

White House Again Exhorts Taxpayers to Feel Good About Boondoggle (Source: September 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) Autoworkers union President Bob King and other union bosses are the chief beneficiaries of the GM/Chrysler bailouts. Credit: www.motortrend.com In the summer of 2009, the Obama Administration handed over $49.5 billion in federal taxpayers' money to the Big Labor-controlled, money-hemorrhaging General Motors Corporation (GM). At the time, bankrupt GM was on the verge of being forced into liquidation. Its assets would then have been sold off. The White House publicly pitched this costly taxpayer-funded bailout as a bid to save American jobs. However, President Obama and his Administration actually knew full well that the number of Americans employed by GM would continue to shrink rapidly, even after the massive taxpayer bailout. Taypayer Bailout Hasn't Stopped Disappearance of Union Boss-Controlled Manufacturing Jobs In early 2009, GM had 47 production facilities in the U.S. By the end of this year, it will have just 34. The company's vehicle sales today, when the country's economy is recovering, albeit weakly, remain far below what they were in 2008, when the economy was in a recession. More than 80% of U.S. automotive manufacturing jobs are now in union-free firms, and these firms, not bailed-out GM and Chrysler, surely represent the future of domestic automotive manufacturing employment. Rather than workers, the single greatest beneficiary of the GM bailout was the United Autoworkers (UAW) union hierarchy. Along with sympathetic Obama agents, union officials were effectively left in charge of the company.

September 26, 2010

Big Apple Carpenters Union Local Stays Crooked

Federally-Authorized Compulsory Dues Undermine Clean-Up Efforts (Source: September 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) Samuel Johnson said it was second marriages that represent "the triumph of hope over experience." But were the eminent sage living in the United States today, he would surely agree that an attorney who accepts appointment as the federal monitor of a corrupt union is even more quixotic than a widower who remarries. Michael Forde was the fourth chief of New York City's District Council of Carpenters union to be charged with corruption since 1980. In late July, he pleaded guilty to racketeering and other related charges. Credit: Ward/Daily News (N.Y.C.) One such brave soul is former New York state organized crime prosecutor Dennis Walsh. This spring, Mr. Walsh became the fifth federal monitor in the past 15 years to take on the daunting task of cleaning up the notorious New York City District Council of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners union (UBC). Alleged Genovese Crime Family Associate Linked to New York Union Shakedown Scheme In late July, Mr. Walsh achieved a breakthrough when Michael Forde, chieftain of the council from 1999 until 2009, confessed in court that he had for many years regularly extracted bribes "in the form of cash payments" from construction contractors. He also confessed to perjury and obstruction of justice. In November, Mr. Forde will be sentenced, and he is expected to receive at least a nine-year prison term.

September 25, 2010

Pro-Union Monopoly Republican Loses in Kansas

Public-Safety Union Power Grab at Issue in Senate Primary After the Kansas GOP Senate primary was over, the Washington Examiner's "Beltway Confidential" blog suggested that Todd Tiahrt's pro-union monopoly stance had "hurt him significantly" in his race against Right to Work supporter Jerry Moran (pictured). Credit: statecard.com (Source: September 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) In covering the hard-fought and expensive campaign for the GOP nomination to succeed U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), which concluded early last month, national media pundits missed a major policy difference between the two top-tier candidates. Primary contenders Todd Tiahrt and Jerry Moran, who currently hold two of the Sunflower State's four seats in the U.S. House, had both opposed the 2009 "stimulus" package and ObamaCare. And they had virtually identical voting records on the politically charged issues of gun control and abortion. But there is one policy difference between Mr. Tiahrt and Mr. Moran that proved to be very important to rank-and-file Kansas voters this summer. In spite of the failure of newspaper, TV and radio political reporters to cover this issue during the campaign, it was clearly decisive for the race's outcome.

September 24, 2010

Forced Union Dues-Funded Incumbent Protection

Will Big Labor Machine Rescue Unpopular Union-Label Politicians? (Source: September 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) Over the past two years, Big Labor bosses have repeatedly succeeded in getting their favored federal politicians in competitive U.S. House districts and states to cast "politically difficult" votes. Top AFL-CIO union official Richard Trumka is going all out this fall to help U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) retain the power to keep pushing forward his forced-unionism agenda in 2011 and 2012. Credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images North America Early in 2009, for example, union lobbyists twisted arms to secure majorities in both chambers of Congress for controversial "stimulus" legislation. Since it became law, the "stimulus" has bilked taxpayers of hundreds of billions of dollars to ensure that bloated, unionized government payrolls stay bloated, but furnished no detectable help for America's private sector. And, more even than President Obama or any other elected official, top union officials are responsible for Congress's narrow votes to reconstruct America's enormous health-care system in late 2009 and early 2010. As the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics reported March 22, 2010, "in the final push before the vote," many union bosses and union operatives "displayed their clout through threats to withhold endorsements from lawmakers who failed to back the bill. They also vowed to support primary challenges or third-party bids against incumbents who opposed" ObamaCare. Now polls indicate that voters across the country are poised to punish vulnerable U.S. representatives and senators for doing what Big Labor told them to do.

September 16, 2010

Capitol Hill's 'Lame Ducks' Are Dangerous

(Source: September 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) Since forced-unionism cheerleader Barack Obama became President in January 2009, Big Labor bosses and their yes-men in the U.S. Congress have helped him inflict a lot of damage on employees, businesses, and taxpayers across America. To take just the latest example, last month union puppet politicians in the Senate and House rubber-stamped a special-interest measure (H.R.1586) that will ultimately extract an additional $10 billion from beleaguered private-sector employees and businesses to maintain and expand wasteful unionized government payrolls. From 1998 to 2007, the number of instructional employees at K-12 public schools nationwide soared by 15.9% -- an increase 3.5 times greater than the 4.5% growth in school enrollment over the same period. The rapid-fire expansion of school payrolls, roughly 70% of which are unionized, produced no measurable improvement in educational outcomes, but cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. And the terms on which H.R.1586 piles on another $10 billion are expressly designed to ensure that currently strapped states do not pare back the past decade of teacher union boss-driven growth in K-12 payrolls in order to avoid increasing the burden on taxpaying individuals and businesses. On August 11, just one day after the House had okayed H.R.1586, President Obama signed it into law. Big Labor Bosses Still Far From Satisfied

September 16, 2010

Capitol Hill's 'Lame Ducks' Are Dangerous

(Source: September 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) Since forced-unionism cheerleader Barack Obama became President in January 2009, Big Labor bosses and their yes-men in the U.S. Congress have helped him inflict a lot of damage on employees, businesses, and taxpayers across America. To take just the latest example, last month union puppet politicians in the Senate and House rubber-stamped a special-interest measure (H.R.1586) that will ultimately extract an additional $10 billion from beleaguered private-sector employees and businesses to maintain and expand wasteful unionized government payrolls. From 1998 to 2007, the number of instructional employees at K-12 public schools nationwide soared by 15.9% -- an increase 3.5 times greater than the 4.5% growth in school enrollment over the same period. The rapid-fire expansion of school payrolls, roughly 70% of which are unionized, produced no measurable improvement in educational outcomes, but cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. And the terms on which H.R.1586 piles on another $10 billion are expressly designed to ensure that currently strapped states do not pare back the past decade of teacher union boss-driven growth in K-12 payrolls in order to avoid increasing the burden on taxpaying individuals and businesses. On August 11, just one day after the House had okayed H.R.1586, President Obama signed it into law. Big Labor Bosses Still Far From Satisfied