Author: tiredoflibbs

The Right to Work: A Fundamental Freedom

tiredoflibbs38 Comments

Now when you hear the words “Right to Work”, what comes to mind?

The right to work at any job no matter what age, sex, race, religion, etc. etc.?  Or, as to the liberals, the right to work as long as you belong to a union?

Well it seems to our “friends” in Washington (who claim to want to create jobs) may stop job creation in South Carolina, a Right to Work state.  South Carolina protects workers’ rights not to join a union nor to financially support a union (and their political cronies in Washington).

Boeing is a great American company.  Recently it built a SECOND production line for its 787 Dreamliner aircraft in South Carolina, creating over 1000 jobs there so far.  The other production line is in Washington State.  But the National Labor Relations Board, created in 1935, has taken exception to this decision by Boeing.  Washington state does not support the workers’ rights as does South Carolina.  The general counsel of the NLRB, on behalf of the International Association of Machinists union, has issued a complaint against Boeing, which, if successful, would require it to move its South Carolina operation back to Washington State.  This favorable decision (to the unions) would be an unprecedented act of intervention by the federal government that would appear on its face “un-American”.  But it is an act long in the making, and boils down to a fundamental misunderstanding of freedom.  What is it called when the government controls the means of production?  But I digress…..

It cannot be overemphasized that compulsory unionism violates the first principle of the original labor union movement in America.  Samuel Gompers, founder and first president of the AFL wrote that the labor movement was “based upon the recognition of the sovereignty of the worker”.  Officers of the AFL, he explained in the American Federationist, can “suggest” or “recommend”, but the “cannot command one man in America to do anything”.

Just after WWI, Gompers opposed various government mandates being considered in the capitals of industrial states like Massachusetts and New York that would have mandated certain provisions for manual labors and other select groups of workers: “The workers of America adhere to voluntary institutions in preference to compulsory systems which are held to be not only impractical but a menace to their rights, welfare and their liberty.

Fortunately, there are signs that voters are recognizing the negative consequences of compulsory unionism.  As we have seen in Wisconsin and Ohio, the state legislators have revoked compulsory powers of government union bosses.  Furthermore, the NLRB’s blatantly political and unconstitutional power play with regard to Boeing’s SC plant is sure to strike fair-minded Americans as what it is – a blatant power grab and its ability to determine where private companies can locate.  The attempts by the pResident and the Democrat Congess (before 2010 elections) at passing card-check and eliminating the unionizing secret ballot was another attempt at grabbing power for their special interest group cronies.

All American workers in all 50 states should be granted the full freedom to associate and not to associate in the area of union membership.

To a Liberal, Taxation Is About “Fairness”

tiredoflibbs59 Comments

If you try engaging in a conversation about taxes with a liberal, you can expect for your conversation to last less than one minute.  This is because the only argument that liberals have about raising taxes is “fairness”.

I just can’t shake this idea that the purpose of taxation is to raise the revenue that is needed to fund the essential and constitutionally appropriate functions of government.  The looting left goes much further with this.  They view the power to tax – the power to seize property from an individual citizen at the point of a gun – as the power to reorder a free society to their ideas and desires.  This is why these social engineers will always start bleating about “fairness” When “progressives” (liberals afraid to call themselves “liberals”) start talking about “fairness”, what small chance you had for a rational discussion is gone, finished and out the window.

Two points:

#1: What is considered “fair” and who gets to define it? 

What would you consider fair?  Most liberals cannot tell you how much the evil rich earn compared to what they pay in taxes.  The answer, by the way, is that the top 1% of taxpayers earn about 20% of the income, yet they pay close to 40% in taxes.  Doesn’t matter.  To your friendly neighborhood “progressive”, that just isn’t enough.  And the fact that almost 51% of wage earners pay no federal income taxes at all?  Is this considered fair?  Should these people be getting a completely free ride?  A liberal will probably stutter and stammer and try to avoid answering the question.  So you give them a break.  “Progressives” also can’t give you specific number on how much the evil rich need to pay in order for our tax system to be fair.  They are just certain that it is more than they’re paying now.  And never forget — it is not for you to determine just how much money you can earn and keep.  That’s up to the government.  Remember that is was our Dear Ruler who said, “I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money.”

During obAMATEUR’s press conference earlier in the week, we heard one of the most absurd and dangerous quotes I’ve ever heard from a president.  Here’s the quote:

I do not want, and I will not accept, a deal in which I am asked to do nothing, in fact I’m able to keep hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional income that I don’t need, while a parent out there who is struggling to send their kid to college suddenly finds that they’ve got a couple thousand dollars less in grants or student loans.

Asked to do nothing?  Oh .. I see.  So we’re all supposed to be sitting around just waiting for our orders from the Imperial Federal Government.  “What do you want me to do today, Dear Ruler?”  The fact is that the best thing any citizen can do is to strive to be a self-reliant and independent citizen who is NOT running to the federal government for help every day of their life.

But let’s discuss this “I’m able to keep hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional income that I don’t need.”    “ABLE TO KEEP?”  Are you kidding me?  That amazing statement belies a belief that everything obAMATEUR – or any other citizen earns for that matter – actually belongs to the government, and it is the political class and government bureaucrats who will decide just how much of those earnings each individual will be “ABLE TO KEEP”.  It is these looters’ belief that your wealth is to be determined by government, not by your own initiative, hard work and good decision-making.  Consider the “DON’T NEED” part of obAMATEUR’s statement.  WHO gets to decide how much of what you earn you “NEED”?  Can anyone make that choice except you?  Well, not in a free society.  But this is the obAMATEUR Society, where government knows how much you have earned, then decides what you “NEED” and then determines what you will be “ABLE TO KEEP”.

Karl Marx would be so proud of Barack Obama.  While obAMATEUR is not a true Marxist, he has Marxist beliefs and leanings.  (The drones will latch on to this one!!! …and ignore everything else.)

#2: Increasing taxes does not mean increasing revenue. 

And the converse is true as well; decreasing taxes does not necessarily mean a decrease in revenue.  The history books show countless examples of tax revenues increasing when tax rates decline (Kennedy did it).   Let’s just take the Bush tax cuts as an example.  These liberals love to scream aboutthe Bush tax cuts costing us billions of dollars!  The fact is that revenues actually increased after the Bush tax cuts went into effect in 2003.  The Heritage Foundation has the facts: “Tax revenues in 2006 were 18.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), which is actually above the 20-year, 40-year, and 60-year historical averages.  The inflation-adjusted 20 percent tax revenue increase between 2004 and 2006 represents the largest two-year revenue surge since 1965-1967.”  On a more macro scale, “Since 1952, the highest marginal income tax rate has dropped from 92 percent to 35 percent, and tax revenues have grown in inflation-adjusted terms while remaining constant as a percent of GDP.”  In other words, revenues are not about increasing tax rates … they are about economic growth: producing more and/or creating new tax payers.  Here are some more historical examples for your liberal drones to consider (if they have the courage).  Or even take capital gains taxes.  Historically, as capital gains tax rates dropped, revenues from the tax increased?  Conversely, in the 1980s when the rate was increased to 28%, revenues went down.

So why raise it at all, especially given the fact that 100 million people in this country own stock and would be affected?  Oh wait!! Somebody did ask this question.  It was Charlie Gibson, who asked that question to Barack Obama in 2008.  Barack Obama’s response: “Well, Charlie, what I’ve said is that I would look at raising the capital gains tax for purposes of FAIRNESS.”

You can’t argue with logic like that.

ObAMATEUR’s Stimulus Worked??? (Bumped)

tiredoflibbs38 Comments

The Chosen One, The Rockstar, the sort of a god, the one who sends chills up Matthew’s leg, the obAMATEUR has come up with the latest dumbed down talking point for his drones.  Are you ready?  The reason of the state of the economy and the latest down turn, he claims that this is  “evidence” that his stimulus plan worked … because as the “stimulus” is phased out, local governments are shedding jobs.  When in reality, the jobless rate steadily rose after the spendulus plan was passed – so much for the “jobs saved” talking point.

Amazing!

  • We have the worst unemployment picture since the Great Depression because Obama’s stimulus worked!
  • Over two million fewer people are working in private sector jobs in our economy because Obama’s stimulus worked!
  • We are still seeing record levels of foreclosures because the stimulus worked!

The only thing that the obAMATEUR’s stimulus plan is evidence of is that government spending does not induce a climate of economic prosperity, particularly in the private market.  The economy does not thrive when the government is making the economic choices, plus the federal government is taking $0.25 for every dollar the private sector generates.

But it was never obAMATEUR’s goal to boost the private sector but rather to keep unions, government workers and Democrat looters prosperous while non-unionites and the private sector individuals sweat it out.  So look around, America … this, what we are experiencing right now, is proof that the spendulus plan worked!  But which is it, two weeks ago he was saying that “the shovel ready jobs were not as shovel ready as he thought”.

Hmmmmmmm, it seems that the obAMATEUR is not sure himself or he needs new excuses for the coming election year.

UPDATE, by Mark Noonan:  More Obama success -from Bloomberg:

The dollar weakened against all its most-traded counterparts as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said policy makers will provide economic stimulus if needed and investor demand for higher-yielding assets increased.

The greenback fell the most in six months versus the euro as Bernanke said central bank is prepared to take additional action, including buying more government bonds, if the economy appears to be in danger of stalling…

If Obamunism worked then the economy wouldn’t be in danger of tanking and the Bernanke wouldn’t be firing up the printing presses.  Hope you all enjoyed the drop in gasoline prices this past month…because that is going to reverse itself right quick if Bernanke carries out his threat.

The Obama Lapdog Media Defends Atlanta Cheating Scandal (Bumped)

tiredoflibbs57 Comments

The Atlanta government schools are not worrying about the ObamaMedia pressing too hard on this test score cheating scandal.  They are more worried about Casey Anthony.  Instead, they are using the usual dumbed down talking points for the ignorant drones: blame Bush.  It’s Bush’s fault!  Wow, WHAT A REVELATION!!!!  Blame Bush for the cheating in Atlanta’s government schools.

Not surprising … they are pushing this tired old regurgitated talking point that if it wasn’t for No Child Left Behind, this cheating scandal would not have escalated (or even happened).

ABC correspondent Steve Osunami  said during a report:

Everyone here is pointing the finger at No Child Left Behind, the federal policy that made test scores king , closing schools with low scores, and rewarding schools with high ones. This former superintendent is accused of encouraging the cheating. She received hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonuses tied to improved test scores. I’m personally friends with a good number of teachers in this community who tell me that they’re under tremendous pressure. They say that the same parents who are angry about all the cheating would be even more furious if the schools started reporting lower test scores … 

Pay close attention to: “Parents would be even more angry is the schools had reported lower test scores?”    Test scores, which by the way shows three things:

1) the incompetence of government schools (federal government policies and regulations rather than the states’ and local governments that are more accountable to the local people).

2) the detrimental effects of special interest unions which at heart are not “about the children” but about advancing their own power.

3) the inability to get rid of unionized teachers and administrators that are simply not doing (or can’t do) their job.

These parents should be concerned about whether or not their children are learning.  Period.  To falsify these test scores meant cheating many struggling students out of education they otherwise needed.  Of course, the looters will come up with the same excuses – MORE MONEY…..  and the ignorant drones will take up the chant.

It is time for the media to do their jobs and return to their ethical standards rather than support their ideological comrades.

UPDATE, by Mark Noonan:  Nothing to see here, people – let’s just move on:

Former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin called the state investigative report into widespread cheating on standardized tests in Atlanta Public Schools “pretty scary.”

However, she said, former Atlanta School Superintendent Dr. Beverly Hall deserves credit for her successes…

She’s a liberal, you see?, so her heart must have been in the right place…

Update: Award-winning gains by Atlanta students were based on widespread cheating by 178 named teachers and principals, said Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (a Republican) on Tuesday. His office released a report from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation that names 178 teachers and principals – 82 of whom confessed – in what’s likely the biggest cheating scandal in US history.  The cheating has been going on for 10 YEARS!

http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/high-school-notes/2011/07/07/educators-implicated-in-atlanta-cheating-scandal

http://news.yahoo.com/americas-biggest-teacher-principal-cheating-scandal-unfolds-atlanta-213734183.html

The Criterion-Referenced Competency Test was instituted in the SPRING OF 2000!  Gee, long before the passage of NCLB and the election of George Bush!!!

http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/ci_testing.aspx?PageReq=CI_TESTING_CRCT

Note: There is no mention of NCLB nor did (or could) the 82 confessors blame Bush for their cheating.  The mindless drones would have you believe otherwise.