Warner Todd Huston's blog

Listen up conservatives, time to soften that spine just a tiny bit.

Yeah. I'm as mad at the GOP as you are -- then again I have been for a long time, not just lately. So, in the hope that something good could come of our losses, I listened in on Eric Cantor's conference call launching the National Council for a New America (NCNA) project and you all saw my immediate report. I patiently listened to Representative Eric Cantor and Senator John McCain and heard the vague overview, I took note of the names that were attached to the project, and I realized the import of the five basic issues that they wanted to address. And I just knew what the first reaction to the idea would be. Certainly, I was not disappointed.

One commenter on my piece reflected what seems to be the most common reaction: "If John McCain is in, I'm out." The same sentiment was expressed about Romney, but to a lesser degree. And I've heard this dozens of times over the few days since my report. That and much more, and scarce little of it has been complimentary.

As I said, I feel your pain.

Granted my work appears most often on conservative sites because, after all, I write from the conservative viewpoint. So, it is to be expected that John McCain would bring out the beast in my readers. We all know that it is McCain that thrills in repeatedly sticking his finger in the eye of every conservative in the country, not to mention the poor campaign he ran. If he expects all to be forgiven, he's got another think coming.

Oh, I could lay out all the conservative objections to Mitt Romney, McCain, or a few of the other names currently connected with the project, for sure. But is there any value in doing so? In fact, is there any value in turning away from this idea without giving it any chance at all like so many are vowing to do?

Until something actually happens with this effort, I am going to have to say no, there is no value in not giving it a chance. In fact, I am going to have to say that we should encourage the conservative members of the effort to stick with the thing regardless. And we should not attack them for doing so, either. Yes, even if this thing turns into just another example of Romney flip-flopping or McCain eye poking we should support the conservative members of the thing and encourage them to stick it out.

Now before you get your conservative spine stiffened, or your conservative spleen all in an uproar, I am decidedly not saying we should support any mushy moderate, non-conservative ideas that might be expressed in this effort. What I am saying is that we should push the members of this thing that are conservative to speak up and not to allow themselves and their conservative ideas to fade into the background. I am saying we should stick with this thing and push the conservative message to be heard here.

Many of you will throw your hands up and say we should not even entertain any effort that allows the mushy moderates to have a forum. When it comes to debates on the floor of Congress, when it comes to crafting legislation, when it comes to pushing the conservative message, I am with you there. In those areas we should work hard to push our important principles.

But, here is the thing: If we leave the discussion to the moderates, will it be any surprise if our voice is ignored? In fact, if I were a moderate, I'd be happy if the conservative voice would walk away from the debate and give me the floor! Well, that is what we will be doing if we decide not to participate with the NCNA project. We will be giving the moderates the floor free and clear of any of our own ideas. And that would be a silly thing to do, don’t you think?

We need to remember one important point with this NCNA effort, folks. This national discussion IS the arena of ideas. It IS a debate. It IS a discussion. If we don't participate at all, whose fault will it be if our ideas never get a fair hearing? It sure won't be the moderate's fault, it won't be the Democrat's fault, it also won't be John McCain's fault. If our ideas never get brought into the discussion it will be OUR fault for abandoning the field of battle for our safe, conservative enclave.

Also, do not expect this NCNA effort to be a conservative effort. It is a Republican discussion with America, not a strictly conservative effort and it isn't meant to be a singularly conservative effort. Granted, none of us on the conservative side like it, but the simple truth is that there are many moderates in the GOP and they have every right to have their voice heard during this national discussion.

Let’s take some stock of ourselves and this effort, shall we? Think about yourselves for a minute here. How often do you consider yourself a Republican? My guess is that you consider yourself an American first, a conservative second and a Republican by default. So, now place yourself in context with this NCNA discussion and ask yourself a question: if you don't consider yourself a Republican, why, exactly, should the NCNA cater only to your side of the issues?

You see, if the folks at the NCNA see that you have no real loyalty to the GOP and that you are going to walk away from this effort merely because you don't like a few of the personalities included in the discussion, why should they bother with you? Were I them, I’d say good riddance to you.

Lastly, the NCNA is being called a discussion with America. This means that they are purposefully searching out the moderate's opinions here. Moderates are being included by design (hence the inclusion of Romney and McCain). Like I said, this is not a conservative effort, it is a discussion seeking to hear from all corners of the country.

The final analysis here is that if we eschew this effort, if we walk away, we will be excluding our voice from the debate. We must stick through this thing and fight to get our ideas included in it by consistently urging the conservatives involved to speak our viewpoint. This does not mean that we have to accept the moderate voice, this does not mean that participation is bowing to their wrongheaded views, and joining this debate does not mean that we are turning against our own principles.

It means that we are proudly taking our rightful seat at the table and having our voice heard by the citizens of the nation. After all, should we be so stupid as to prevent the nation from hearing our important viewpoint by not bothering to speak up in a national forum?

Walking away would be self-destructive. It's just that simple.

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The United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW) has engaged in a guerrilla war to destroy Arizona based Bashas' Food Stores and the grocer has about had it with the lies and underhanded attacks. So, this week Bashas sent out a mailer to the citizens of the metro Phoenix area to try to re-direct the PR war to a more equal footing.

The union has engaged a war to the hilt strategy against the grocer even to the extent of surreptitiously placing expired products on store shelves and then calling authorities as if it was the store chain itself allowing those expired items to stay on sale. The union has also filed dozens of harassing and false lawsuits as well as opening uncounted EEOC investigations attempting to force the business to acquiesce to union demands.

The food store chain owns 153 stores out of which only eight are unionized. These eight stores were unionized before the chain bought out those locations. Bashas' workers in he 145 some other stores have consistently resisted union advances to join the union, as well.

Proving that what workers want is of no interest to unions, rejection by employees is not good enough for the UFCW, however. The food workers union has used every weapon at its disposal to tear down the food chain and force its own will on workers and business alike.

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That tax "credit" may cost you next April!

President Obama was praised by the Old Media as the savior of the American taxpayer when he announced in his magnanimity that he was going to give a tax break to "95 percent" of America's taxpayers. He was hailed as the hero of the working man when he said that a "tax credit" would be given to taxpayers and that this much needed "extra" money would soon be seen in their weekly paychecks. But now comes word that Obama's IRS is going to want some of that "tax credit" back from an unknown number of taxpayers next year.

It will come as a shock to two income families, some federal workers, retirees, and young people with more than one low paying job that they will be expected to give back some portion of that "extra" money that Obama claimed he was giving them come April 15, 2010.

The Associated Press is now reporting something that insiders knew all along but it was a story that wasn't getting any traction during the debate about the Obammessiah's loving gift to his people. Turns out it ain't free. At lest it won't be for many Americans.

At-risk taxpayers include a broad swath of the public: married couples in which both spouses work; workers with more than one job; retirees who have federal income taxes withheld from their pension payments and Social Security recipients with jobs that provide taxable income.

Where was this warning when the media was hailing Obama as the most caring father to ever hit the nation's capitol?

As it happens the tax tables that the IRS use to compute tax bills does not take Obama's gift into account. And the result is confusion as well as shock for untold numbers of Americans that will owe taxes at the end of the year when they didn't think they would. This bill will come due if you aren't careful calculating your withholdings.

--A single worker with two jobs making $20,000 a year at each job will get a $400 boost in take-home pay at each of them, for a total of $800. That worker, however, is eligible for a maximum credit of $400, so the remaining $400 will have to be paid back at tax time -- either through a smaller refund or a payment to the IRS.

The IRS recognized there could be a similar problem for married couples if both spouses work, so it adjusted the withholding tables. The fix, however, was imperfect.

-- A married couple with a combined income of $50,000 is eligible for an $800 credit. However, if both spouses work and make more than $13,000, the new withholding tables give them each a $600 boost -- for a total of $1,200.

There were 33 million married couples in 2008 in which both spouses worked. That's 55 percent of all married couples, according to the Census Bureau.

-- A single college student with a part-time job making $10,000 would get a $400 boost in pay. However, if that student is claimed as a dependent on a parent's tax return, she doesn't qualify for the credit and would have to repay it when she files next year.

Some retirees face even bigger headaches.

The Social Security Administration is sending out $250 payments to more than 50 million retirees in May as part of the economic stimulus package. The payments will go to people who receive Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, railroad retirement benefits or veteran's disability benefits.

The payments are meant to provide a boost for people who don't qualify for the tax credit. However, they will go to retirees even if they have earned income and receive the credit. Those retirees will have the $250 payment deducted from their tax credit -- but not until they file their tax returns next year, long after the money may have been spent.

Retirees who have federal income taxes withheld from pension benefits also are getting an income boost as a result of the new withholding tables. However, pension benefits are not earned income, so they don't qualify for the tax credit. That money will have to paid back next year when tax returns are filed.

More than 20 million retirees and survivors receive payments from defined benefit pension plans, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute. However, it is unclear how many have federal taxes withheld from their payments.

If you are curious what effect this might have on your taxes, you can use the IRS withholding calculator to work it out. (http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id96196,00.html)

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This morning I listened in on Eric Cantor's conference call concerning the launch of the National Council for a New America (NCNA) hosted by Congressman Cantor and Senator John McCain.

One of the main points that the two men stressed is that this is "not a contract with America," but a "conversation" with her. The GOP leaders also stressed that this is an "inclusive" effort with which they want to hear from all manner of Americans adhering to a variety opinions on today's most pressing Issues. The two also said that this is not an attempt to "re-brand" the GOP.

The first townhall style meeting is to be held on May second in Northern Virginia and along with Cantor and McCain it is expected that Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush will be in attendance.

Additionally, several Governors past and present have joined this effort. Governor Haley Barbour, Governor, Jeb Bush, Governor Bobby Jindal, Senator John McCain, and Governor Mitt Romney.

Senator McCain also mentioned several times that they had contacted Governor Sarah Palin's office and asked her to join them with future NCNA efforts. Senator McCain made sure to mention that fact several times.

The effort has thus far been broken down into five areas of discussion. The economy, healthcare, education, energy, and national security all will come into focus.

My impression is that it certainly is an attempt to refocus the GOP, maybe not necessarily “re-brand” it but certainly re-introduce Republican principles to the people.

It is sure that the “conversation” meme will be looked upon with skepticism, but let’s face it. They had little choice but to employ the terminology. The GOP is in a weakened state and something does have to be done to vivify the Party.

We shall have to wait and see where this goes, but I see no reason to unnecessarily scoff at the effort. Let’s give it a fair hearing, fellow Republicans, conservatives, Libertarians, Americans.

Here is the press release that has been put out by Representative Cantor's office detailing the initial thoughts on the NCNA:

Dear Friends,

The United States is the greatest country in the world, a beacon of hope, strength, and prosperity that Democracies worldwide seek to emulate. Our nation and its people have persevered through past challenges with strength derived from our common belief in freedom, liberty, and personal responsibility. Like every American, we look to the future with optimism for the great possibilities of tomorrow. Although today we face some of the toughest times in recent history, together, like so many generations before, we march forward with a vision for an even brighter future for our children.

Today, we are launching the National Council for a New America (NCNA), a caucus of Congressional leaders gathering the expertise of national leaders and doers. We hope that will form the foundation of a concerted, policy-based forum to listen to, partner with, and empower the American people with ideas and solutions that speak directly to the needs of our great nation. This forum will engage in a conversation with America that seeks to remove ideological filters, addresses the realities we are confronting, and speaks to the challenges our citizens are facing.

The NCNA will bring together citizens from across the country to begin a dialogue with the American people through a series of forums, town halls, and an online effort that will engage people in a discussion to meet our common challenges and build a stronger country through common-sense ideas. The NCNA will be a dynamic, forward-looking organization that will amplify the common-sense and wisdom of our fellow citizens through a grassroots dialogue with Republican leaders.

However, this is not a Republican-only forum. While we will be guided by our principles of freedom and security, we will seek to include more than just our ideas. This forum will include a wide open policy debate that every American can feel free to participate in. We do this not just to offer an alternative point of view or to be disagreeable. Instead, we want to ask the American people what their hopes and dreams are. Since January, the President and the Democratic Majority in Congress have – rightfully so – put forward their plan for the future, now we must listen, learn and lead through an honest, open conversation with the American people that will result in building policy proposals that will yield the best results for our nation’s long-term success.

Ultimately, however, we are only launching this effort. The real drivers will have to be the American people. We invite Americans from all walks of life to speak with us as we begin anew rebuilding and reenergizing our nation. We do not pretend to have all the answers nor do we expect the NCNA to remain a static forum. Instead, this is going to be a living, breathing, expanding group that engages Americans from all walks of life. We hope to engage other national leaders, grassroots activists and citizens and invite them to work with us to solve problems with common-sense conservative solutions.

A Blueprint for our Conversation with America

Economy: Real Solutions for Economic Recovery

As the country battles through the worst economic crisis in a generation, we must remain focused on the foundations and institutions that have made us the most prosperous people in the world and the ideas that create jobs and grow our economy. At the same time, we must learn from the mistakes that led to the current crisis and to prevent similar situations from ever occurring again.

Healthcare: Building a 21st Century, Patient-Centered System

No one doubts that our nation’s health care system is in need of reform, but we must strike the right balance that builds on what works and fixes what is broken. All Americans deserve access to high-quality, affordable care. But such coverage cannot come at the expense of their ability to choose their own doctor and have access to the right care, at the right time, in the right setting without waiting in line while sick. In addition, we must continue to focus on the innovation and science that have resulted in thousands of treatments and cures for life-threatening or debilitating diseases while allowing America to remain the leader in research and development worldwide.

Education: Preparing Our Children to Succeed

A high-quality education should not be dependent upon a parent’s income or address. All of America’s children deserve an education that will prepare them for the opportunities and the challenges that await them in the global economy. Yet today, thousands of American children, especially in our inner cities, receive a substandard education or find post-secondary education unaffordable. We must return power from Washington to parents and well-paid teachers who know what’s best for our children.

Energy: Solutions for Energy Independence

American families and businesses cannot afford an energy policy where we are held hostage by foreign oil cartels and dictators. As a nation, we can no longer send billions of dollars overseas each year, often to countries that help fund our enemies. We must implement a comprehensive energy policy that includes traditional fuels, alternative energy, and conservation resulting in affordable, reliable domestic energy. Such a policy will stabilize costs for families and businesses while at the same time creating much-needed jobs here at home.

National Security: Defending American Liberty and Freedom

The threats posed to our nation are more varied and evolving more than perhaps at any other time in our history. Modern communications, technology and the proliferation of weapons of all types have empowered our enemies and those who support them. Our national security policy must reflect these realities while allowing us to maintain technological superiority, support the most well-trained and well-equipped military in the world and have the intelligence capabilities to uncover and prevent attacks before they occur.

Our National Panel of Experts:

Governor Haley Barbour
Governor Jeb Bush
Governor Bobby Jindal
Senator John McCain
Governor Mitt Romney

These are not the only issue areas where we will engage America, but they form a starting point in our revitalization effort. In the coming months, the NCNA will focus our attention outside of Washington where American families are living and raising their children, working toward the promise of a better tomorrow, and where common-sense ideals are valued over pundits and the political winds. We know America’s best days are ahead, but we need to work hard to ensure that promise. We also know that the American people want choices and alternatives – that there is no one right solution for what America and its people need. This is what our country was founded on, this is what we stand for, this is what we hope the National Council for a New America will provide and we ask our fellow citizens to join with us.

Sincerely,

John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Mike Pence, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, John Carter, Pete Sessions, David Dreier, Kevin McCarthy, Roy Blunt

Mitch McConnell, Jon Kyl, Lamar Alexander, John Cornyn, John Thune

Brad Dayspring
Press Secretary
Office of the Republican Whip
Congressman Eric Cantor
(202) 226-5249
AIM: BDDACE2

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OK, why did the corruption plagued Association for Community Activists for Reform Now (ACORN) suddenly and quietly delete from its website its ties with the corruption plagued Service Employees International Union (SEIU)?

The American Spectator's Matthew Vadum found the strange deletion of a photo showing SEIU president Andy Stern standing in support of ACORN from February of 2002. The ACORN site was also scrubbed of any mention of two SEIU locals that used to have a prominent place on the ACORN site.

The two SEIU locals, Local 880 and Local 100, have been a part of ACORN's site for years, but as of this month were scrubbed. Speculation is that the unions don't want ties to ACORN too well advertised as the unions fight to get the Employee Free Choice Act passed through Congress.

With all the many and varied legal troubles, embezzlement charges and convictions on voter fraud that the community organizer has been plagued with of late, it is thought that the unions want to distance themselves from ACORN to avoid that birds-of-a-feather sort of accusation that would be such a natural during this delicate political time for the unions.

But, regardless of the scrubbing, there is no denying that the SEIU has intimate and on-going ties to the corrupt ACORN organization. They can try to hide the proof and re-write history in Stalinesque fashion, but the truth is the truth.

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Barack Obama's new way socialism is really just as no way as it's always been. But, regardless of the central American spirit that Obamaism attempts to defeat, it is proclaimed that he is only interested in fixing America. So, because he is only here to help, Obama is deemed a savior by his acolytes.

Another of Obama's false fronts is his claim to be "just like" Abraham Lincoln, a facade he wears with relish. The claim is, after all, a perfect cover for his essentially anti-American agenda. What could be more American than the fulfillment of Lincoln's efforts to free the slaves but a black man being elected to the presidency? The mere fact of his election seems to affirm the better angels of our nature.

But, here I'd like to report a quote that tends to show that Lincoln would not have approved of a president Barack Obama. Not because Obama is a black man, but because he is a socialist.

In his last address to the crowds of Alton, Illinois during his famous Lincoln/Douglas debates of 1858 Lincoln uttered a few lines that would tend to argue against Obama's socialist policies. Lincoln chose the subject of the eternal war between right and wrong as the platform for his attack on the very principle of socialism.

The one is the common right of humanity, and the other the divine right of kings. It is the same principle in whatever shape it develops itself. It is the same spirit that says, "You work and toil and earn bread, and I'll eat it." No matter in what shape it comes, whether from the mouth of a king who seeks to bestride the people of his own nation and live by the fruit of their labor, or from one race of men as an apology for enslaving another race, it is the same tyrannical principle.

Lincoln was, of course, arguing against slavery in those debates. Arguably he won that debate and were it not for the rampant Democrat vote fraud then holding sway in the Illinois of 1858 (how things have stayed the same) he would have entered the Senate instead of becoming president two years on.

But, regardless that he was arguing the case against slavery, the nugget of truth in his words can properly be applied to Obama's socialist agenda. Obama essentially wants to enslave the segment of America that works hard for its bread and wants to take that bread away and give that it to those of his supporters that would rather not work so hard -- or, those that would like to use that stolen money to find their own left-wing political agendas.

Barack Obama is not the sort of president that Lincoln worked to promote. Obama's "tyrannical principle" is anathema to the very legacy of the man Obama pretends at admiring.

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Because I love to send the lefty trolls of TheNextRight.com into paroxysms of vitriol. Here is another word about Obama's union thug pals and how he is paying them off for supporting him...

Well, we can't say no one saw this one coming, but Obama has turned back rules that had been put in place to force unions to be more transparent in their financial reporting. These rules were meant to stop union fraud, theft, and embezzlement but in an effort to pay back his supporters, Obama has turned these rules back so that unions can find it easier to hide illicit financial transactions.

Naturally, one of the chief opponents to union transparency that fought the Bush administration, Deborah Greenfield, is now in the Obama administration. It was Greenfield that fought the financial reporting rules when she was a lawyer for the AFL-CIO. She was against forcing unions to account for all their illicit cash and secret accounts then. Now that she is in charge of implementing such rules she has been a major part of eliminating them so that unions could more easily hide their financial dealings from union members and the government.

The Washington Times reports this expected turning back of transparency rules.

So, what we see here is the Obama administration making more efforts to payback his supporters from the campaign. What could be a better gift than eliminating rules that keeps union criminality at a minimum?

Apparently Ross Douthat's buddy Reihan Salam doesn't like former VP Dick Cheney. Salam's recent TheDailyBeast.com column calls Cheney "America's surliest pundit," and moans that the ex-vp hasn't "graciously kept his mouth shut" in retirement like Bush has. Like many of these circular firing squad leaders (think Douthat, Kathleen Parker, the McCain clan or David Frum) Salam is far more interested in shooting at folks on his own side than in trying to move ahead for the future of the conservative movement. It's obviously some sick bid to be "liked" by the Old Media establishment.

Salam charges that Cheney is too busy "mugging for the camera" and attacking Obama with his "macho snarl" to see that he should just go away. Blah, blah, blah, and such and so forth. In truth, Salam offers nothing worth debating and nearly everything he says in this screed is simply erroneous, so I won't bother with his self-hating blather against Cheney whose information is a must hear for any conservative looking to see where Obama is going wrong on homeland security and foreign policy.

But, the one issue that moves me to discuss Salam's carping is simply this: why should a former president or vice-president go off into the night never to talk in public again? Even more to the point, how often has it happened, anyway?

First of all let's dispense with Salam's idiotic contention that former vice presidents necessarily just fade away to the quite dignity of retirement. Of course, many VPs have subsequently gone on to run for president, so their keeping their mouths shut about policy past and present was simply not an option. But, we don't even have to wade through hundreds of years of history to look for outspoken VPs. We have one of recent vintage, the one just prior to Cheney, that has been taking global warming creating private jets all across the world to denounce those that took office after him. Everyone's favorite global warming snake-oil salesman, Al Core, has never shut his mouth from the second he steeped down. In fact, at an appearance in Tennessee in 2004 Gore unleashed one of his most famous tirades of all by screaming at the top of his lungs, "He betrayed this country, he played on our fears!!" (Click here for that hard to find audio)

Gore was and continues to be seen working up a faux lather in loud denouncements of Bush and Cheney. So I am wondering why Salam didn't seem to remember this wild-eyed version of "gracious silence" perpetrated by Al Gore when he was excoriating Cheney for his post-office punditry?

Secondly, this supposed ungraciousness on the part of Cheney is an outright untruth. Cheney has not once been seen bellowing like a gored oxen at campaign rallies. He has not been waving his arms like a lunatic spewing hot air like some former vps we could mention (and just did). In reality, he has been engaged in calm, serious and logical discussions of policy. Cheney has been the very model of dignity and seriousness. Yet, here is Salam, slamming Cheney as if he has somehow been untoward while giving an unhinged nut like Gore a complete pass.

So, why is Salam attacking Cheney? What possible reason would a conservative have to attack Cheney instead of Obama?

We all know the answer to that, of course. Likely his goal is to spur CNN to invite him on TV instead of to advance the conservative cause. Like his fellows on the mushy, moderate side, our cause is secondary to his hoped for TV career. After all, just look at the venue in which Salam chose to attack Cheney. Does this guy think TheDailyBeast.com is the place to help conservatives rebuild? Of course it isn't. Salam's choice of this venue to attack what is supposed to be folks on his own side was chosen specifically to show off to the left that he could be the next Kathleen Parkeresque pundit. He wants lefties to know that he can be a self-immolator, too.

Well, Salam, old fellow, mission accomplished. I am sure that CNN's bookers are rushing to their PDAs to note your name for the next time they need a conservative that is more interested in slamming his own than those on the other side. I'm sure congratulatory fruit baskets from The New York Times and MSNBC are winding their way to your door as we speak. Hooray for you.

But please don't imagine you have any legitimate criticism of Dick Cheney. Your delusional self-aggrandizement does not equate to salient analysis.

(Al Gore audio file link fixed.)

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On April 22, the Associated Press published a short report about the fact that the Department of Homeland Security has decided to stop paying for employee subscriptions to newspapers and magazines "to save money."

Upon reading this, some may initially shake their heads in hearty agreement and congratulate Obama's DHS for trying to save money. I, on the other hand, see this as a perfect example of a typical waste of the taxpayer's money, though one finally rectified.

After all, what does this cancellation of subscriptions mean? It means government employees were getting FREE personal subscriptions to their favorite entertainment publications... well, free to themselves, anyway. We must realize that we the people have been saddled with the bill all along for who knows how many thousands of magazine and newspaper subscriptions for who knows how many years?

No one pays for any of my subscriptions but me. Why should I have to pay for the entertainment of some government perfunctory? If government placemen, jobbers, and seatfillers want subscriptions to their favorite newspaper or magazine, why shouldn't they pay for the thing themselves? Why should these greedy public employees expect the taxpayers to pay for their luxuries? They already get better retirement plans and health benefits than anyone in the private sector. Are we expected to pay these people's entertainment costs, too?

If the government wants to really save money, how about eliminating useless employees right along with those unnecessary, expensive, and over-indulgent subscriptions.

So, if DHS expects a pat on the back for saving money, I say they need a kick in the rear for paying for those subscriptions in the first place!

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The New York Times is attempting to spin gold from straw, telling us unicorns are real, expecting the Tooth Fairy to bring a windfall. At least, that is what it seems if we are to believe the Times' fantasy card check union story from April 20. You see, the Times believes that an overwhelming anti-union vote held via secret ballot is proof that card check is necessary.

This pretzel logic insists that the employer in question was so underhanded that even a secret ballot was corrupted by the efforts by the employer to scare off employees from supporting the union. But, here is the thing that makes no sense: if the ballot is secret, since no employee's name was connected to the vote, and if the employer was that mean to the workers, WHY did they still vote against the union?

Ed Morrissey of HotAir.com had the most logical take on the outcome of the vote and employer's moves to undermine the union.

What lesson are we to take from this story? Is it that management intimidated the nurses so badly that they somehow forced the nurses to vote against unionization in secret, even though they had publicly signed cards supporting the organizing effort? Does that make any sense at all? The obvious explanation is that the act of getting signed cards does not accurately reflect the wishes of the workers, and that any intimidation that occurred would have impacted the card-check process -- where people are public about their positions -- rather than in the secret ballot that followed.

Spot on. Rather than a better reflection of what workers want, we will see card check forcing unions on employees that don't want the union even IF they harbor some hard feelings against the employer.

Why are unions so headstrong on denying the workers the right to chose for themselves in the proper, traditionally democratic way? It can only be that unions are more interested in power than in the worker's needs. And the card check feature of the woefully misnamed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) will lead them to that end.

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