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Josh Barro writes on Public Sector Inc.:
Democrats in the Indiana House of Representatives have staged their own walkout, copying their colleagues in the Wisconsin Senate. But in Indiana, the issue that has Democrats up in arms isn’t collective bargaining for public employees; it’s a proposed Right to Work law that would apply to the private sector. (A Right to Work law prohibits a business from making it a condition of employment to join a union or pay union dues.)
Also unlike in Wisconsin, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels (R) has said he won’t send the state police after the missing Democratic legislators, and he’s urging his Republican colleagues in the House to drop the bill and attend to other business. Unsurprisingly, Daniels is catching some heat from conservatives over this, but he’s making the right choice. Here’s why.
As of 2010, only 8.2 percent of private-sector workers in Indiana were members of unions. That’s a bit above the national average of 6.9 percent, owing to the state’s industrial base, but it’s also falling faster than in most states: down 37 percent in the last decade, compared to 22 percent nationally. Private firms don’t appear to fear excessive union power in Indiana; indeed, the state has had significant success in drawing non-union Japanese auto factories.
In Indiana, even moreso than in the country as a whole, private sector unionization is inexorable decline. So what’s the point in spending a bunch of political capital on a fight with private sector unions, especially when private sector unions have lately shown a willingness to back conservative reforms in the public sector?
And not a moment too soon:
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/02/23/official-use-ammo/
Can you imaging the nuclear response from unions in Indiana if this had occurred while there was any doubt about what Daniels might do.
The GOP has gone completely insane. And the good part is your crazy base is just ramping up. The mental cases elected in November have only had six weeks to propose crazy-ass sh*t.
Like this.
[blockquote]
Georgia state Rep. Bobby Franklin (R) has made a name for himself by introducing far-right extremist bills. He has introduced legislation barring the state from requiring vaccinations, eliminating income taxes and replacing them with nothing, and requiring state taxpayers to only pay in gold or silver.
Now, he has introduced what may be his most offensive and extreme bill yet. Last week he unveiled HB 1, which would, as the parenting blog Babble explains, “require proof that a miscarriage occured naturally.” If proof could not be provided, the mother could face “felony charges”:
State Rep. Bobby Franklin of Georgia introduced a bill in his state last week that, if enacted, would require proof that a miscarriage occurred naturally. If a woman can’t prove that her miscarriage–or spontaneous abortion–occurred without intervention, she could face felony charges. [/blockquote]
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/02/23/bobby-franklin-miscarriage-naturally/
This Is What a Broke Democracy Looks Like | Daily Libertarian // Feb 23, 2011 at 7:38 pm
[...] union collective bargaining powers. Indiana legislators are fleeing the state to scuttle a private sector right-to-work bill prohibiting companies from forcing people to join or pay dues to a union in order to [...]
This Is What a Broke Democracy Looks Like - Reason Magazine // Feb 23, 2011 at 7:55 pm
[...] union collective bargaining powers. Indiana legislators are fleeing the state to scuttle a private sector right-to-work bill prohibiting companies from forcing people to join or pay dues to a union in order to [...]