Personal Response to "Oz" + Clarification

Oz,

You are perhaps the most deplorable person on this blog. You are an instigator, provocateur and an antagonizer. You are no better than the people you accuse of being in the "tin-foil-hat-club." You have taken a situation that was bad and somewhat private to throwing grease on the fire and making any possibility of a peaceful outcome that much smaller.

Now, for me to be your best friend for only friends tell it how it is. Your actions exemplify what is exactly wrong with Northwest Indiana politics. Everyone likes to talk at each other, but no one wants to talk with each other. You owe the RLC, the Lake County Republicans and anyone who reads this blog an apology. You do a disservice to all of us.

To make clarification:

First to all readers, we whole heartedly apologize for all individuals involved and wish circumstances had dictated a less public environment for differences of opinion and real grievances, between individuals, to be aired. The actions of a few, never represent the whole and we ask that you keep that in mind when thinking of Republicans in general.

The RLC represents a wide variety of Republicans, from the Reaganesque, Mike Pence Republicans all the way to the small l, Ron Paul Republicans, including the current LCRCC Treasurer. Placing blame on an entire organization for the actions of a few of its members would be liken to placing blame on all gun owners for the actions of an irresponsible owner. Its like blaming pencils for misspelled words.

The RLC's intention is to ensure and support the stability of the Lake County
Republican Party. Because members of ours are involved, however independently of the RLC, we are an interested party in the result of a successful arbitration process. Not knowing the particulars of any single event, we feel through an airing of grievances process we hope will help identify solvable problems. Once problems arise or are identified we will be willing partners in creating sound and lasting resolutions.

We know the problems that plague Lake County will take a strong and lasting coalition to overcome. The Indiana RLC seeks to be apart of that coalition that will, in time, turn this blue county into a red county like the rest of the State. But first, we must all find a way of working together.

We feel that all parties in this disagreement will find that everyone has incredible assets that when combined, rather than fractured, will produce a vibrant and stronger LCRCC. It is in the spirit of that message that the IN-RLC strongly endorses all sides to find a way of working together.

Editors Note: Update: This clarification is now the IN-RLC board approved position, therefore editing and or retraction has not occur to the clarification content. The rest of the content is solely the opinion of the IN-RLC Chairman.

What is behind the Democrat's walkout? Vicious radicals perhaps?

It is apparent by the Democrat's going AWOL that they do not respect the process of government and have contempt for the will of the people.   It is also apparent that Obama's buddies are using anarchy and violence to try to impose their will on the American people.  See below:

Take the Bastards Down’: SEIU’s New Favorite Song Has Violent Ring to it


Posted on February 23, 2011 at 10:34am by Jonathon M. Seidl

Link takes you to The Blaze Blog article.

"First violent signs, now violent songs.

The band Dropkick Murphys wants to do its part to stand with the Wisconsin protesters. What does that look like? Actually it sounds like a new song, released on union websites including the SEIU’s, that screams such phrases as “take the bastards down!“ and ”we got to smash them to the ground!”

“As part of the band’s efforts to support the workers, they are working with SEIU and other unions and labor federations to have the song available to be played at rallies across the country,” a post on SEIU’s website says.

These are apparently the sounds of solidarity:



In a statement yesterday, the band made it clear that they are avid supporters of the unrest in Wisconsin:


[We] would like to take a moment to acknowledge the struggles of the working people of Wisconsin and to pledge our support and solidarity by releasing the song ‘Take Em Down’ from our upcoming album. We think it’s appropriate at the moment and hope you like it… The Dropkick Murphys Stand With Wisconsin!!!!! [Emphasis theirs]


The band also released a limited edition t-shirt featuring the song’s title, “Take ‘Em Down.” Proceeds will go to the Workers’ Rights Emergency Response Fund:"

(t-shirt not pictured) Wasn't it the Liberals who invented "hate speech?" What is the above, a love song??!  Meanwhile union thugs and socialist anarchists are attacking Americans all around the nation:

A Guy Just Hit Me’: Fox News Reporter Attacked at Wis. Protest During Live Broadcast


Pro-Union Protester Uses Hard Blind-Side Shove on Opponent in Atlanta



Rioting Anarchists Attack Seattle Police With Fireworks, Flares & Fire Extinguishers

‘Fascists Go Home!’: Tea Partier Injured in Assault by ‘Teamster’ at Sacramento Protest

National Socialist Worker's Party

Uhm, the liberal loonbats need to get their terminology straightened out.  You guys are the fascists, duh!

Read the historical truth including the words of Himmler himself written by journalist Lothrop Stoddard in 1940 before the world knew whether the NAZI Party and Germany would prevail or fail...

The Republican Loser Caucus (RLC)

Now that the Northwest Indiana Patriots has finally folded, I think it's worth going after the root of the problem: the Indiana chapter of the Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC). Let's face it, anyone who was initially a part of the local Tea Party group and then left will cite either the RLC or the activity of RLC members.

In theory, I sympathize with the RLC. They want to see limited government, and the Republican Party before 2010 wasn't exactly doing a great job promoting those values. In practice though, I despise the RLC. Their tactics are disgusting and their overall aims are questionable at best.

For those of you who don't know, Joel Ferguson is the current state chair of the RLC. He replaced a vile little bug that encouraged the tin-foil hat society culture that persists within the RLC today. Now, in the interest of honesty, I've heard nothing but positive things about Ferguson. He's open to reason, has a good head on his shoulders, and is genuinely supportive of the Republican Party.

That's great. If the RLC was filled with Joel Fergusons today, I wouldn't bother writing this post. The problem are the members, which appear to be acting on their own destructive desires rather than on the commands from their leadership.

Mario Martini, Joe Hero (who probably was responsible for leaking GOP information to the Democrats), and former-Congressional candidate and all around creep, Rob Pastore were among several RLC supporters in Lake County who filed frivolous and outrageously false complaints against leaders in the Lake County Republican Party. The idea behind their complaint was to oust the county's Republican leadership and fill the void with their own people... probably Martini, Hero, and Pastore. Of course, the Rules Committee flat out rejected the complaint and told the RLC where they could shove it.

They also tried to get the law involved in their political battles. Rob "Creep" Pastore is now running for mayor in Hammond, but nobody likes him. Instead, George Janiec (the Secretary of the Lake County GOP) is the front runner for the GOP nomination. Janiec also relies on a wheel chair to get around.

Normally, an underdog candidate would have to out-work the favorite to win. Well, the RLC decided it would be easier to file a false police report against Janiec for going around a restaurant parking lot and displaying a gun, threatening to kill Pastore. In addition to the police report, Pastore got a restraining order. Even though a judge issued a gag order on this whole mess, the RLC decided that the whole point of this was to publicly discredit Janiec - therefore, they ignored it.

The protective order was eventually lifted and the RLC has given the law enforcement one more reason to never trust their members.

Another RLC member and a "Republican" candidate for the Indiana House District 12, Peter Karagan, reportedly threatened to sue the Lake County GOP Chair for not supporting his candidacy. In reality, Karagan hadn't voted Republican a day in his life until the 2010 primary - he was a life long Democrat and refused to participate in common "point sharing" practice with the Lake County GOP, which would have provided campaign funds and supported the entire Republican Party.

I know Joel Ferguson reads Dalton's blog and I'm confident he'll read this:

Joel,
Everyone I've spoken to says you're a reasonable person with a reasonable message but unreasonable supporters. The RLC will never be taken seriously, let alone recognized by the Indiana Republican Party, unless you get these nut jobs under control or have them flat-out kicked out of your group.

Over the past few years, the RLC has given the Republican Parties of Lake and Porter County no reason to trust them and every reason to distrust them. I know you're taking over for that pathetic worm, but you're in charge now and being held responsible for these idiots disgusting actions.

Personally, I want there to be a voice for limited government in the GOP. I think it's a good thing if done correctly. What's happening under your watch now is not right, and I believe you know that. If you are serious about putting a stop to this madness, I think there are a lot of people who would be eager to help you.

Let me be absolutely clear, the RLC will never be successful in Indiana if these are the members you have and tactics you use.

Be a leader and take action.
-Oscar Zoroaster

Union Stands Ground...On Republican Donations?

Ok. So first, I want to say that I have been reviewing the educational reforms proposed by Governor Daniels, and the bills that have been put forth, and will very soon give my official critique of those reforms. Some I like, some I'm not crazy about, but I'll get into specifics on my next piece.

This piece doesn't concern those reforms, after all. This piece has to do with the article that the Times ran a couple of days ago regarding Local 150 and it's contributions to Republican causes. Excerpts taken from the aforementioned Times piece:

"Local No. 150 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, with local offices in Merrillville, last year gave a $5,000 contribution to the Aiming Higher Political Action Committee, according to campaign finance records at the Indiana secretary of state's website.

Aiming Higher, established by Gov. Mitch Daniels, spent $1.5 million on television ads in the last election to retake the Indiana House for Republicans, which laid the groundwork for this week's effort to try to pass right-to-work legislation.

In addition, Local 150 donated $50,000 to the Mitch for Governor Campaign in the 2008 election cycle, according to campaign finance records. The Indiana Council of Carpenters poured $20,000 into Daniels' campaign."

There are a couple of different aspects that I would like to address. The first, and primary, aspect, is that fans of Mitch go far beyond typical party lines. Yes, a lot of Republicans are fans of Mitch, and yes, he is a "blade" when it comes to slashing budgets (which moderate, libertarian, and far right Republicans can all appreciate), but he is also favored by many a different kind of voter. Many unions (including, apparently, 150) and union members like Mitch because he has helped to stem the tide when it comes to jobs disappearing in this state. I remember the last election, reading a Post-Tribune article, where several black Gary voters were announcing their support for Mitch. These all go outside the bounds of the stereotypical Republican voter, and helps to show why Mitch, as a Presidential candidate, would have a good chance of winning.

The second aspect is that, though I am personally for Indiana becoming a "right to work" state (as previously written), Mitch has been on record saying that he doesn't want that bill passed right now because, quite simply, it wasn't a campaign promise. This is important because at least SOME unions are able to recognize that the agendas of Governor Daniels and those that are in the House or Senate are not always parallel. Which means that, though some of the union big shots will certainly paint Mitch as an orchestrator of all of this, there are some that won't take the bait, and that is good, because it increases the odds if Daniels decides to run.

The fact that Democrats, instead of standing their ground and just voting no in opposition to different legislation, are instead deciding to run to Illinois is an important factor as well. I had honestly thought that this scenario would play out:

Because many people were, at the beginning of this whole conundrum, were on the sides of teachers and union members, I thought that R's would lose some seats. A handful, but enough to cause some calamity in future races. Because they decided, rather, to cut and run to a Democratic state that is consistently raising taxes and just allowed Rahm Emanual to win as mayor of Chicago, moderates and Independents have been changing their minds. On a recent poll I have seen, only 39% of those polled are in agreement with teachers unions, with 46% against. As written at the start of this post, I'll be writing soon about my own thoughts regarding education reforms, but regardless, this is a bad sign for Democrats.

Because they are overplaying their hand, and consistently adding to their demands (ranging from the killing of right to work legislation, which has been met already, to the killing of illegal immigration reform much like Arizona's), more and more people are seeing this tactic for what it really is: the hostage taking of our government by the minority.

The longer the Democrats hide out, the better it will turn out for Republicans, I think, and particularly Daniels if he makes a 2012 run. People don't have a problem with protesting, and they don't have a problem with differing opinions (I know I don't), but when it gets to this point people get fed up REAL quick.

Republicans fight for what they believe, Democrats run away

Yes, Fannie and Freddie and the mortgage bank disaster was "A tremendous job" by the Democrats, said the Democrats. Was this 2004 hearing a "lynching" or was it Republicans seeing the disaster in advance and trying to get it under control. In retrospect the Republicans were correct, the Democrats were lying and Barney Frank was in the forefront defending the process and Maxine Waters gave us flowing praise of a situation that was going to lead to massive debt for this country and the failure of financial oversight by the Democrats in charge. SOX didn't cover it all and therefore needed changing. This is just a reminder that Republicans foresaw the crisis and sought to stop it, the Democrats took the money and stepped on the gas. The result? Check out the national debt and think about what it was in 1900 versus now.



So with Republicans in control of Congress, we drive slower. If Democrats are in Congress, we drive faster. What if we had Republicans in charge of the White House and both houses in Washington, DC? I hope we find out because...With Democrats in control of the White House AND Congress, we began driving at NASCAR speeds under Obama! Can the Republican-controlled House just voted in bring the speeds back down? Actually, don't we need to turn around and go back the other way? 

Now in Indiana we have Republican lawmakers balancing the budget and trying to fix a couple of broken processes to avoid new taxes, make the State more business-friendly and thereby improve our Indiana economy. Since the Democrats are not in control, they cannot set up a dog-and-pony show like they did in 2004 and the voters have put them in the minority so they have gone AWOL.





What is happening in Wisconsin is that teachers get great pay and benefits far better than the average worker and while the State is trying to avoid bankruptcy the teachers are refusing to take any cuts in pay or benefits. Yet the Governor has shown them that the only alternative is to layoff a large number of them, thus increasing class sizes and making a Wisconsin education (lacking in ability to teach kids to read and do math already) even worse than it is now. Do teachers care about the kids or is this just unions digging in to avoid the pay cuts while the entire nation is in a recession bordering on depression? Will they all cut back just a little, or do they want the youngest of the teachers tossed into the unemployment line?

Is that what Indiana teachers want? Go ahead and layoff the people who are recent graduates, the bright young lights of the bunch, so the old fogies get to keep every nickel? In Indiana, the voters clearly and loudly voted for Republicans who ran on balancing budgets and making Indiana business-friendly. Because your job today can be offshored to Pakistan or India tomorrow or perhaps to a Right-To-Work state where someone would rather make 20 bucks an hour than be unemployed standing in line at a township food bank. Because Indiana requires a balanced budget, it is going to be either/or = teachers give back a little or students will suffer and the least-tenured teachers will be looking for new jobs. Class sizes will be larger, students will get less personal time with teachers, Indiana's children will be less likely to learn. How long before more parents then opt to home-school their kids rather than send them to overcrowded government schools?



So-called "representatives" like Shelli VanDenburgh of Crown Point, Indiana have run away to frustrate the legislative process that is America at work. They are AWOL. They are breaking the public trust.   Nobody voted for an empty chair at the table.  Republicans fight for what they believe, but Democrats run away?   Is that how it's going to be?

How to spell Coward - D E M O C R A T

Update:  Quoth Shelli VanDenburgh of Crown Point: “It’s not that we’re not working,” VanDenburgh said. “We’re not in the Statehouse working. This is the only way that we can serve the people that we represent and kill the poison bills.”


Let's all try calling off work. "Hey boss, it's not that I'm not working, I'm doing my job in the basement instead of the shop floor."
If they are "poison bills" then why did the majority vote for them and why are they sponsored by the representatives of the majority of the people? Since when do a handful of self-righteous boneheads get to decide for the entire State of Indiana above the lawful legislative process?!

~

Democrat legislators in Wisconsin ran away rather than do their jobs and discuss, debate and vote on a school funding issue that is fundmental in the eyes of the Governor to help balance a budget deficit that is growing monstrously large.  Wisconsin students are deficient in reading skills and math, by the way.  Wisconsin teachers have a far-above average wage and are being asked to make some contributions to their pensions and benefits that are less than the national average.  The alternative is to layoff teachers and perhaps close schools.  So what happens?   The Democrats run away.

credit

Now in Indiana the Governor and the legislature are working on balancing the budget (which they must do by law in this state) which includes trying to fix the broken teacher's contract system (in which the terms of the old contract are binding until a new one is agreed upon).  One key issue is making Indiana a right-to-work state, as so elequently explained by Travis Gearhart recently here in NWI Politics.  Obviously Indiana wants to remain the state that stays in the black financially.   There is a balanced budget bill ready to voted on.  So what happens?  The Democrats run away!  (Including Shelli VanDenburgh) So the voters choose to elect representatives and the Democrats mock the people and the process?!  Is this Egypt?  Is this Greece?  If you voted for one of these morons, I hope you are embarrassed!


 See below:

"Not content with Madison, WI liberals having all the fun, Indiana House Democrats fled the state today to deny the necessary quorum to do business on the floor of the House. The issue that sparked the work stoppage was so-called right to work legislation, which passed out of committee yesterday morning.





The right to work bill would make it illegal for an employer to require an individual to join a union as a condition of employment. The Indiana Chamber of Commerce strongly backs the proposal and considers the fact that Indiana is not a right to work state an impediment to economic development. Unions, on the other hand, believe it’s a fatal blow to organized labor.




According to a report from the Indianapolis Star, House Democrats are leaving the state so the state police cannot take them into custody and return them to the statehouse. They are looking for a Democrat state, so thank goodness for Illinois and Kentucky. Interesting side-note: those states have combined budget deficits of $16 billion. If Democrats don’t return by Friday, Indiana’s budget bill – which is structurally balanced – will be dead.




The right to work bill passed out of the House Labor Committee yesterday morning on a 8-5 party line vote. The committee report must be adopted by today at midnight or the bill is dead. If Democrats do not return to the state by Friday, all bills pending on the calendar will be dead including the budget and the voucher bill.—CW"

So what about the will of the people and representative government?   Apparently Democrats only believe in those things when they are the majority.  If I were King of Indiana, I would fire every one of them, appoint temporary replacements and have all of those seats be up for election again in November of 2011.   Most of us who work for a living cannot afford to just decide to stay home because something at work isn't to our liking.   If we skip work, we can be fired, why should lawmakers be exempt?   Pitiful example for our children,  adults acting like pre-schoolers!   COWARDS!
 
Guess what happens if we don't take actions to keep Indiana in the black?   Consider Detroit:
 
State orders Detroit to close half its schools



Emergency financial manger told to balance troubled system's budget by consolidating operations; Class size could reach 60
 
AP) DETROIT - State education officials have ordered the emergency financial manager for Detroit Public Schools to immediately implement a plan that balances the district's books by closing half its schools.
The Detroit News says the financial restructuring plan will increase high school class sizes to 60 students and consolidate operations.

State superintendent of public instruction Mike Flanagan says in a Feb. 8 letter that the state plans to install another financial manager who must continue to implement Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb's plan after he leaves June 30. Flanagan's said approval of Bobb's plan means the district can't declare bankruptcy.
Bobb filed his deficit elimination plan with the state in January, saying it would wipe out the district's $327 million deficit by 2014
Bobb was hired in March 2009 by then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
 
Want to guess what party Granholm served?   Even when Obamacare was being shoved down their throats, Republicans in the US House and Senate stayed and debated and fought for their constituents legally to the end.   Republicans fight, Democrats run...sounds like a good country song to me.  Toby Keith, where are ya, man?

Wednesday update:  Mitch Daniels Nees to Grow a Backbone and Demand that Wayward Democrats Get Back to Work. Wimping Out is Not Presidential.

Mitch Daniels

I've had years of experience parenting children and grandchildren. Growing up, my kids were typical and attempted to pull various antics in an attempt to get their way. I was tempted to give in a time or two just for the sake of convenience, but I quickly learned it was a huge mistake to do so.

The worst thing a parent could do is to give into the demands of a child throwing a temper tantrum. The end result would be disastrous since the child throwing the fit would only be encouraged to do it again the next time he didn't get his way. These kids usually grow up to be school yard bullies and they become all of societies problem.

My common sense tells me that Governor Mitch Daniels made a huge mistake by wimping out when confronted with the situation of Democrats fleeing from their responsibility by going into hiding simply because they weren't getting their way at the statehouse.

Daniels' initial response was to say that Republicans should drop the right-to-work bill that caused Democrats to flee the state. He almost seemed sympathetic to Democrats' wayward actions by saying they had a right to express their views, and that it was not the right year to tackle the right-to-work issue.

Excuse me, Mitch, but that's not your call to make, and you showed yourself as a weak leader by not standing up to schoolyard bullies and by seemingly capitulating to their initial demands. You have taught them that the next time they don't get their way, they can simply run away.

Americans want leaders who will not compromise, Governor. They respect leaders like Scott Walker and Chris Christy.

Watch and learn, Mitch. Here's an example to follow. Here is Governor Chris Christy addressing some of those bullies:





Posted by Diana Vice at 8:22 AM (Welcome to My Tea Party)

Brian Bosma might have to do the heavy lifting?

Wednesday, February 23, 2011


Ind. Gov't. - More on: Ball in Bosma's court after Governor speaks

Updating yesterday' entry, WTHR last evening had this story with a list of the House Democrats' demands, including its list of the "bills of concern" to House Democrats:

Education

HB 1002 Charter School Expansion. Diverts state funding to experimental schools at a time when the state has cut funding to local schools by $600 million over the past two years.

HB 1003 School Vouchers. Allows a family of four making over $80,000 a year to receive taxpayer dollars to send their children to a private school.

HB 1479 Private Takeover of Public Schools. Allows the state of Indiana to take over poorly performing schools and for these schools to be managed by for-profit companies. It removes local decision making in schools.

HB 1584 Public School Waiver of state laws. Allows school boards to seek waivers of almost any school law or regulation.

Labor

HB 1468 Right to work. Places the government between employers and their workers. It weakens the ability of working people to bargain for fair wages and safe work environments.

HB 1216 Public Works Projects and Common Construction Wage. Weakens the ability of government to ensure that tax dollars are paid to the best and most qualified workers on public works projects, and that these tax dollars are spent at home.

HB 1203 Employee representations. Ends employee rights to join a union by secret ballot and opens employees up to retaliation and firing by an employer who finds out they are trying to use their right to bargain. This is preempted by federal law. Will require the state to use taxpayer dollars to defend this legislation.

HB 1450 Unemployment Insurance. Shifts hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes from big businesses to small business and will cut benefits for unemployed workers by 25%.

HB 1585 Right to work for Public Employees. Removes collective bargaining rights at the local level.

HB 1538 Minimum wages. Precludes a community from determining what wages are appropriate for its area.

HB 1001 Budget Bill. Allowed no public testimony on a school funding formula that cuts state support for K-12 across Indiana.

And Governor Daniels is not longer feeling so conciliatory, according to tweets this morning by Matt Tully of the Indianapolis Star:

Gov. Daniels just called. Re: Dem calls to kill other bills, particularly on education: "We're not doing that. Those are my priorities."

Daniels said he was "careless with my words yesterday." When he praised actions by critics he was referring to protesters not House Dems.

See this WISH TV report, headed "Rep. Ed DeLaney explains Dems' absence."
Jon Seidel of the Gary Post-Tribune reported this story from Urbana, Illinois. It begins:


URBANA, Ill. — Indiana House Democrats signed amendment proposals delivered by their staff to an Illinois hotel late Tuesday night and insisted their exodus from the Hoosier state was not prompted exclusively by Republicans’ labor bills.
Democratic Rep. Shelli VanDenburgh of Crown Point, for example, said she would also like to stop House Bill 1003, the GOP’s school voucher bill. It and many other pieces of legislation could die this week as legislative deadlines pass.

“It’s not that we’re not working,” VanDenburgh said. “We’re not in the Statehouse working. This is the only way that we can serve the people that we represent and kill the poison bills.”

Faces normally seen on the Democrats’ side of the aisle seemed to pop up around every corner in the Urbana, Ill., hotel. Northwest Indiana lawmakers said more than 100 budget amendments they helped sign will be delivered to the Statehouse Wednesday morning by their staff.



Eric Bradner of the Evansville Courier & Press has a long story headed "Indiana House Democrats flee Statehouse."



Stephanie Gattman's report for the Elkhart Truth is headed "Indiana Dems go to Illinois to strategize on 'right to work' bill."


Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 23, 2011 09:46 AM

Posted to Indiana Government

~~~~~~

Quoth Shelli VanDenburgh: “It’s not that we’re not working,” VanDenburgh said. “We’re not in the Statehouse working. This is the only way that we can serve the people that we represent and kill the poison bills.”


Let's all try calling off work.  "Hey boss, it's not that I'm not working, I'm doing my job in the basement instead of the shop floor."

If they are "poison bills" then why did the majority vote for them and why are they sponsored by the representatives of the majority of the people?   Since when do a handful of self-righteous boneheads get to decide for the entire State of Indiana above the lawful legislative process?!

"Right To Work" Legislation Ruffles Feathers

It isn't surprising that Indiana and Wisconsin are trying to pass "right to work" legislation; the benefits are immense and undermine the union leaders (not so much the union workers, but I'll get to that later).

What is right to work? At it's very core, it basically allows for a person to work at a place without being forced to join the union, which is standard practice at many mills, including my own place of work. There are other aspects, which will be covered, but that is the meat and potatoes of the legislation.

I, for one, am all for Indiana becoming a right to work state. No, I'm not "anti-union", as I've covered on at least a dozen other posts, but I am skeptical of anybody who tells me that they have my best interests at mind, and yes, this includes the union. The biggest reason that the union bosses (my own unions VP had his picture in the newspaper, hooping and hollering along with the rest of the union members there, making me oh so proud) are against this legislation is simple; it's all about the almighty dollar. Less people deciding to join the union makes for less union dues which, in turn, makes for less dollars for those in charge. Those in charge would love to tell you all day that this would bankrupt the union and that those dollars are needed for everyday funding, but my response would be that maybe they could save some money by not flying down to Mexico to try to unionize people that aren't even American citizens, let alone union members who live and work in Northwest Indiana. Just saying.

The statistics on job growth and income ratio's for right to work states tell it all.

» Twenty-two states and Guam are currently governed by Right to Work statutes.

» If Indiana had adopted Right to Work in 1977, per-capita income would have been $2,925 higher — or $11,700 higher for a family of four — by 2008. (1)

» Projecting the same growth rate in the next 10 years after adjusting for inflation, passage of a Right to Work law in 2011 would raise per capita income by $968, or $3,872 for a family of four, by 2021. (1)

» The primary goal of any Right to Work law is to safeguard employee rights by ensuring that no worker is forced to join or pay tribute to a union against his or her will. But it's nice to know that Right to Work states also enjoy faster growth and higher real purchasing power than their forced unionism counterparts.

Here's an excerpt from the National Institute for Labor Relations Research's latest fact sheet on the issue:
Percentage Growth in Real Personal Income (1999-2009)

§ Right to Work States: 28.3 percent

§ Forced-Unionism States: 14.7 percent

§ National Average: 19.5 percent

Cost of Living-Adjusted Per Capita Disposable Personal Income (2009)

§ Right to Work States: $35,543

§ Forced-Unionism States: $33,389

§ National Average: $34,256 (2)

» As of 2008, according to economists Barry Hirsch and David Macpherson, 8.4 percent of private-sector employees nationwide were under "exclusive" union representation. But in 15 states — Alaska, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin — 10.0 percent or more of private-sector workers were unionized.

» In 2008, cost of living-adjusted average weekly earnings in the states with 10.0 percent or more of private-sector employees subject to union monopoly bargaining were $770. That’s $48 less than the average in the states with private-sector unionization of 5.0 percent or less. (These low-union density states are: Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia.)

That comes to a roughly $2500-a-year disadvantage for full-time workers in states with high monopoly-bargaining density.

» Aggregate cost of living-adjusted weekly earnings for states with private-sector union density of 5.1 percent to 9.9 percent were $783, or, for full-time workers, nearly $700 a year more than in the highest-union-density states, but more than $1,800 a year less than in the lowest-union-density states. (3)

(1) Dr. Richard Vedder, Ohio University, Feb. 1, 2011
(2) Will Collins, National Institute for Labor Relations Research, Nov. 15, 2010
(3) NILRR, Aug. 28, 2009

Of course, this doesn't matter much to those that have a vested interest in keeping states like Wisconsin (where the yellow belly's that call themselves elected officials have decided to cut and run to avoid moving forward; you know, it's times like these I think of the bull crap that Republicans had to endure with the ramming of health care legislation down our throats from DC and I remind myself of the dignity and respect that we had, for the most part, compared to those that would just up and run like weasels) and Indiana away from the successful right to work formula and retained in the union boss's grips.

I actually first heard about the formation of these recent rallies about a month ago. I was able to get my hands on the talking points list handed out to those that are attending, and I read it in disbelief. Let's start by outlining how this paper is worded. The very first sentence tells it all: Dangerous, anti-middle class legislation is at our doorstep. Really?! Another excerpt, from the center of the pamphlet: Who are "they"? The right wing, the rich, the powerful, the same companies and people who have tried to take our jobs overseas and turn us into a service-sector economy (sorry, had to jump in here to mention that Clinton DID sign NAFTA, and the biggest reason we are turning INTO a service-sector economy is for two reasons. One, that companies are being waged out of business by rising legacy costs and retirement/wage deals struck, and two, more and more kids are going to college, and those that aren't don't have the balls to work in a mill, they'd rather work at McDonald's) where a few get very rich and everyone else is left to fight for the scraps. This is, of course, rhetoric meant to rile up the base (which, by reading through, they apparently think their base is stupid).

The pamphlet continues on to note the "myths" and "facts" of right to work legislation. I'd write it all out word for word, but it would take forever, so I'll paraphrase much of it. The pamphlet refutes the claim that workers can be forced to join the union, noting that one can become a "Beck Objector". By becoming a "Beck Objector", you choose not to become a member of the union, meaning you have no membership right what so ever. Ok, I thought, let's take a look at how this would work. The pamphlet seems to make a valid point. However, this is where right to work would still become necessary. After review, I found some instances of people that had tried that method, and ended up getting the screw. Almost all places of business have at least a thirty day review process where the union decides whether or not they are to be admitted. It's actually pretty simple; they vote no, the company fires them. Sure, the company doesn't HAVE to fire them, but it keeps a balance and keeps work flow from slowing down (which, if we're talking about loop holes here, is a sure fire way for the unions to get what they want. While it's technically against contract to do so, it's hard to actually PROVE that a slow down in work is happening).

The pamphlet continues, claiming the most backwards economics I've ever read in my life. Supposedly, and I quote, a right to work law will "create a climate in which businesses will increase profits because of lower wages (which is wrong, right to work does not lower wages, in fact it creates more opportunity for good workers to have increased wages, but I digress) but that's not good for the state or it's workers. When wages fall, state revenues from income tax and sales tax fall as well." Yeah, ok, so let's ignore the fact that right to work states don't lower wages, but actually increase them, as noted earlier in this article. Also, let's ignore the fact that increase profits in businesses is never bad, because it means increases in job growth. So, what they are telling me,is that while they are downstate protesting cuts in unemployment (which has been cited in the local paper) they are also protesting increase in business profits are, there fore, increases in jobs, which would help to negate the need for decreases in unemployment, because unemployment would begin to go down, which would mean the state wouldn't have to cut things nearly as much as they currently are doing. That, to me, makes no sense at all.

One of the last points on the pamphlet states that no union dues are used for political activities, that members have to elect to allow their dues to be used. Sure, this might mean that my dollar doesn't go directly towards, say, President Obama's re-election campaign, but it was used to make that pamphlet, wasn't it? It was used to send people down to Indy in a bus, wasn't it? Don't tell me that my dues don't help out with politics that I don't agree with, because just me reading this load of garbage on a pamphlet not suitable to wipe my ass with is enough to make me want every dollar I've had to give to them back in my wallet, with interest.

There is one area that I have to agree with the unions. Part of the legislation states that those that choose to opt out of the union would still be afforded union protection; that needs to go. Right to work is all about fairness and choice for the workers, and it isn't fair for those that pay their monetary dues if a person that doesn't pay is afforded those that exact same protection. It would be like forcing all lawyers to represent clients, even if they can't pay. It's not right. But, even if that isn't taken out of the bill, I still have my support behind it, because realistically, just because a union official is forced to represent a person doesn't guarantee that that representation will be worth a damn. Heck, that already happens, so it wouldn't be a leap from normality.

All in all, right to work legislation is a winner, and I think that once it passes and the dust settles, and the actual union workers are looking around, realizing that they still have their jobs and haven't had their pay reduced, that it will be highly beneficial to this state and will reap rewards both for the workers AND the business owners.

WRITERS EDIT:

This aspect of right to work is written from the private sector point of view only. I hadn't realized until later on that I had not clarified that, and I apologize. This does not take into account other aspects of pending legislation, particularly dealing with possible education reforms. The main reason for that is simple; I don't write about what I'm not sure of, and I have yet to form a concrete opinion on the educational reforms proposed. Also, as a couple of emails have noted, though my use of the word "retarded" was of a literal sense, the word has connotations associated with it that may offend and take away from the piece itself. I have since changed that wording, and apologize if you were offended; no offense or ridicule was meant from the use of that word. Thank you.

Education funding reforms - By law and not by mob rule!!!

Can Indiana learn from Wisconsin?   It is time to take control of the schools before it is too late.   The deadly mixture of Democrats, Unions and big money turns ugly in Madison, Wisconsin:

Democratic Rep.  Joe Parisi eggs on the strikers as they take over the Statehouse in Wisconsin.  Meanwhile, a dozen of his fellow Democrats hide out across the state line to avoid voting, a cowardly act in keeping with the teachers who have abandoned their students and doctors who have abandoned their ethics!

Doctors engaged in widespread medical fraud at Madison protests with fake doctor's notes

Sunday, February 20, 2011
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com

(NaturalNews) If you're an eighth grader and you show up to school with a fake doctor's note excusing your suspicious absence the day before, you would probably face detention or some other punishment, including a possible investigation for truancy. But if you're a teacher and you call in "sick" with a fake doctor's note handed to you at a protest in Madison, Wisconsin, then that's apparently okay... because that's what countless public school teachers have been doing the past week.

Masterminding the effort are rogue medical doctors committing medical fraud by carrying out obviously contrived conversations with protestors then writing them doctors' notes to excuse them from work for such things as "fatigue" or "emotional stress."

What we have, then, is a tag team of fraud: The teachers who have abandoned their public duties and abandoned their students by calling in "sick," and the medical doctors who are promoting the whole charade by pretending to diagnose these teachers with some sort of ailment that gets them off the hook.

This sends a really powerful message back home to all the students in the Madison public school system: "Do as we say, not as we do."

Revoke the medical licenses of these fraudulent doctors

It's really just a bunch of adults acting like children, of course. Madison public system schoolteachers are already among the best paid in the country, taking home an average of $56,000 a year in salary, plus other benefits that bring the total to over $100,000 in compensation (http://maciverinstitute.com/2010/03...).

That's a pretty lucrative deal for schoolteachers. You'd think that for a six-figure compensation, they might have some loyalty to actually showing up at work and teaching the schoolchildren. There's a lesson in social studies for ya.

For the doctors, there should obviously be an investigation and an effort to strip their medical licenses for practicing what can only be called "quack medicine." Can you imagine the outcry if a bunch of herbalists or alternative medicine practitioners showed up and started writing excuse notes for these protestors? That would be rightly called "quackery." But somehow it seems to be okay when medical doctors engage in that same quackery.

One YouTube video features an especially arrogant medical doctor claiming he is engaging in "private conversations" with patients and that his conversations are protected by state law (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pDy...). Of course, he fails to mention he is engaging in these conversations in a public place, in the context of what is essentially a political protest, absent any context of a hospital, clinic or emergency room.

Another video shows a medical doctor providing an excuse note with the diagnosis of "Sick of the whole thing." (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q65X...)

A third video shows Madison doctors handing out a fake excuse note to none other than Andrew Breitbart (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQRc...).

It is doctors like these, with their flimsy and fraudulent diagnoses, who are probably the same ones engaged in widespread Medicare and Medicaid fraud. For all we know, these medical consultations taking place at Madison might actually be billed to Wisconsin state Medicaid for reimbursement!

What's clear from this fiasco is that both teachers and doctors in Madison will commit fraud when it serves their purposes.

Do teachers have a legitimate gripe?

This is all separate from the question of whether their grievance has legitimate standing. The political issue at hand is the attempt by the Wisconsin legislature to eliminate specific collective bargaining rights from unionized state workers. Clearly, this is a highly contentious issue, but Wisconsin, like dozens of other U.S. states, is facing a financial catastrophe if it cannot find ways to reduce the annual growth of salaries and benefits to state workers. If these efforts fail, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has already explained the state would be forced to fire 10,000 or more state workers.

The issue isn't whether Wisconsin wants to pay more money to state workers, but the far harsher reality of whether Wisconsin has any money left to pay state workers. This is a question that will be increasingly facing lawmakers in California, Texas, Illinois and many other states that are on the brink of financial disaster.

That's why you can expect more rallies, more protests and perhaps even economic riots to begin breaking out across the USA over the next few years. People get angry when their salaries or benefits are cut, or when they are threatened with a loss of bargaining rights. Yet if there's one thing that unions have never quite grasped, it's economic reality. You can't pay out what you don't have. And unlike the federal government with its private Fed counterfeit money presses, the states can't print their own counterfeit money to pay people off.

Will the protests turn violent?

What we're looking at here, folks, is a collision between state workers and economic reality. That collision is going to get increasingly nasty -- and perhaps even violent -- in the coming months and years. If things continue to heat up, all the fraudulent medical doctors currently handing out notes at these protests will soon find themselves doing actual medical work by treating riot wounds in a medical triage scenario.

Wisconsin has already invoked the National Guard to track down and retrieve the missing Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to avoid holding a vote. It doesn't take much of an imagination to see where this whole thing could escalate into violence at some point.

Now, for the bigger question: Do government workers deserve more money? Of course they do. Everybody does. We should all live in a world where money rains down from Heaven and nobody has to work at all. Curiously, that imaginary realm does not exist. And it's a good thing, too, because if it did, nothing would ever get done because nobody would have any incentive to work at all. You think schoolteachers actually enjoy their jobs? If so, you don't know enough schoolteachers.

We live in a world with limited resources, and cities, states and entire nations are now finding themselves with their financial backs against the wall, forced to make extremely unpopular decisions to prevents their states from going bankrupt.

It is those decisions that are going to lead to sheer desperation among some ex-government workers. The phrase "going postal" comes to mind as one possible response we may have to deal with as these payroll cuts go even deeper.

When will the medical doctors call in sick?

I find it especially fascinating that medical doctors are actually encouraging these protests by committing medical fraud, right in broad daylight (and on video!), seemingly without any concern that their actions violate not only their Hippocratic Oath but quite possibly state law, too.

What we really need to see is all the doctors going on strike and refusing to show up for work. Because that's where we would actually see a decrease in mortality due to pharmaceuticals, chemotherapy and dangerous surgical procedures.

After all, we need schoolteachers in society, but we don't really need most conventional doctors (except the ones in the emergency rooms). And all these striking doctors can spend their days writing each other fraudulent excuse notes to make sure they still get "sick pay" from their employers.

And, truth be told, if Wisconsin really wants to save money, it should be ending its financial support of Big Pharma and the whole "sick care" industry. That would save the state so much money that it could readily afford to preserve the collective bargaining rights of schoolteachers, firemen and police officers.

Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/031425_Madison_protests.html#ixzz1EXYOKahO

While liberals bussed in people from all over to help the teachers create a scene and Jesse Jackson did his typical self-promoting speeches,  supporters of the Governor and the bill in question formed huge crowds outside the Statehouse and called for the AWOL legislators to come back and do their jobs.

~~~~~~~~~

Now consider what we read from the ISTA Exposed website:  Excerpt

Hoosier Report Card

February 16, 2011  Is an illegal, statewide teachers strike brewing?It would provide the perfect example of why education reform is necessary By Victor Skinner EAG Communications         INDIANAPOLIS – Last week, Indiana State Teachers Association members abandoned their classrooms in droves for a failed lobbying day at the Capitol to protest a bill that would give parents more public school choices through charter schools.      We estimate that the union rally cost Indiana taxpayers more than $260,000, based on the average Indiana teacher salary of $49,971 for the roughly 1,000 educators in attendance – whom we assume used a paid sick or personal day to trek to Indianapolis.      But the full cost of the unions’ opposition to education reforms could be much higher by the end of the legislative session.        There are rumblings that Indiana educators may walk out on their students and communities to protestSenate Bill 575 – legislation designed to loosen restrictions on school leaders by limiting the union’s collective bargaining to wages and benefits.       Despite the illegality of a teachers strike, ISTA President Nate Schnellenberger and Indiana Federation of Teachers President Rick Muir made it clear that it’s a real possibility, although they both took the politically savvy position of formally opposing the idea.      Muir told the Northwest Indiana Times that a strike has not yet been planned, “but with the frustration level as high as it is and if teachers start defending what they believe in, it’s not out of the question.”      We believe that a statewide strike or any other labor action would be a very bad idea for a number of reasons. Aside from the obvious logistical problems it would create for parents, it would send a very ominous message to Hoosiers: the state’s teachers unions and their members value employment contracts and special perks more than providing quality, uninterrupted education.      Ironically, a statewide teachers strike would serve as the perfect example of how Indiana’s collective bargaining laws are hurting students.    Why SB 575 is important      In a recent online ISTA article, the union argues that SB  575 erodes teacher’s voices in the school system by limiting contract negotiations to wages and wage-related benefits.

The ISTA is concerned that SB 575 would give school corporations leverage at the bargaining table because “Under the proposed language, if the parties do not come to an agreement when the contract expires, the school board can, with 30 days notice, unilaterally invoke one of the school board’s prior offers to constitute the new (collective bargaining agreement).”      What is glaringly missing from the ISTA’s article, however, is any reference to the current collective bargaining process, which we feel is deeply flawed in favor of union negotiators.       As it stands now, Indiana’s public school systems are forced to submit to the conditions and expenses of expired union contracts until a new agreement is crafted. It’s a sweet deal for the unions because they can happily survive under the expensive terms of the expired contract, and have little incentive to negotiate a new one. It’s a bad deal for schools because they continue to struggle under the financial weight of expired contracts... Read the rest here.  You ought to read it all and understand context and circumstance. If you read that entire article it may well make your blood boil!  I know lots of teachers who teach in Indiana and I know plenty of them who would not agree with the actions of their union leadership.  The best teachers work hard to help their students learn and appreciate the benefits of a summer "vacation" that the rest of us don't get.  Ungrateful overpaid protesters ought to take a look around...the country is in a depression, the Federal Government is growing and spending money like it was worthless (this is a self-fulfilling concept) and lots of people have lost jobs or had severely reduced incomes.   You work nine months per year, make more than the average full-year workers and you want to STRIKE???  Chutzpah! One thing should be very clear - The days of big government and big unions have brought us to a time of big debts and big problems.  Only a strong will to cut budgets and government and waste and battle corruption can withstand the organizing power of the big-government liberals and the big-giverment unions!  Not all teachers and union workers are selfish nincompoops but the leadership is making them all look bad. Sunshine Review is a great website. If you care about local politics, use it to check out your local government's website to find out just how forthcoming your officials are about what they are up to...go take a look! By the way, the last time I checked out Sunshine Review ?  The State gets an A+ but Lake County had a D (up from a D-) and Porter County had a big, fat F!  You want good government?  Better start with honesty and transparency and go from there...

Porter County Politics

As many of you know this site was originally called Porter County Politics, that's where I live and that was my topic and niche of choice. As we added authors the topics widened to include Presidential campaigns and Statewide, but a lot of content on other region counties. I decided then to change the name to Northwest Indiana Politics so that we could have a wider readership.

Today though, for my own small part, I wanted to touch on a few Porter County issues and stories that we should all be watching:

The Porter County Assessor, Auditor and Treasurer are going jointly to the County Council on Tuesday to request $249,000 in additional funds. I know all the guys and like them, have endorsed all three personally in their elections. (some edits here as I did some research today) it appears the biggest issue in all three offices is the relative mess they inherited from the Dems that were in control last year.

More filings in Porter County for races, I'll try to get a complete list from the election office and post this week, only real surprises were 5 Republicans running for 2 at-large spots on Valpo council. A loony democrat kid and a rumored independent run by Bob McCasland the only people willing to try their hand at Mayor Costas. Watch for the loony kid to be asked to step down so Dems can appoint someone willing to lose this time and run again in 2015 when Costas is gone. So the only real fun race to watch will be this at-large race with some new faces.

School Funding Fairness - Ghosting Be Gone

Quite a few years ago, when I started my first blog (International Affairs from Daltons perspective) my expressed goal was to take the news of the day, and write my perspective. There was a feeling that local newspapers and media were doing a poor job of reporting and that in some cases they were misleading readers. Today I was reminded of that original intent.

I was talking to my 17 year old this morning about the way that the news media can be manipulated, quite easily actually, by political groups. For example, the teachers union lobby is attempting to manipulate the entire state into continuing to pay for poor performance in failing school systems. I don't even understand why rank and file teachers, the good ones that want to work all day and teach kids, support their own union anymore. Didn't their own leadership lose a ton of their pension money and run into legal troubles?

Here was the headline the Times decided to assign: Committee approves state budget that cuts funds to many local schools.

On the surface it's not a lie. In short, we in NW Indiana host many of the poorest performing school systems in the entire state. But there is quite a bit of political spin in the headline.

First, the budget wasn't cut. Actually education spending in Indiana is being held at current levels and all have agreed to do so. But so few readers know that Chesterton schools may get $5,000 to educate a student per year, while Gary may get $12,000 to educate a student. Why? The bill that made it through committee begins the process of leveling that inequity.

Second, the only schools getting slashed are those that are doing such a terrible job, that their students are leaving to go elsewhere. They have the hubris to want three extra years of tuition payments from the state for kids that already left! Did you read that? Thus the reason for the image above ... the long standing funding formula that allows this is called "ghosting." It's time that ghosting be eliminated entirely.

Third, you have to love the Democrat legislator that wants to stop the big bad Governor from cutting the budget in the event of a recession. He actually intimated that the Governor shouldn't be able to slow spending, that once the legislature decides to spend there shouldn't be a check or balance against their bad decisions. Hmmmm, do we even remember our history classes anymore?

Education reform which isn't referred to in this article, is pretty minor in Indiana this year. But watch for the news to try and exaggerate our minor changes which put teachers back in the place of employees, school boards back in the place of responsible for hard decisions, and the state and county in the place of accountability partners ... watch for this type of reform to be pitched to us as "massive changes and reduction of the rights of teachers to bargain." (Read the education reform bills - they say a lot of things that teachers are "conveniently" forgetting to tell kids and parents on their current fear campaign). President Obama sees the Wisconsin union rallies as the beginning of his push back for 2012 and against the tea party revolt.

So what do we really have for NW Indiana schools? A challenge by the state. Focus on teaching, producing educated kids ready to go to work ... or, get less money and due to free flowing vouchers your kids and families will have the right to attend somewhere else. Heck, the State is paying for education now anyway ... what kind of society says you are stuck at a bad school because you happen to have been born in a bad neighborhood? (Hint ... North Korea)

Political Peon mentioned that she had some opinions on education reform, I await the results of those thoughts as well.

Northwest Indiana Supporting Mourdock?

in what could become a major story later this year - rumors leaked yesterday and richard mourdock will indeed challenge richard lugar for united states senate. and the news yesterday increased when howey politics reported that upwards of 75 percent of county chairs will be endorsing conservative mourdock over moderate lugar.

i asked all the county chairs in the region, and only one got back to me on condition of anonymity, and confirmed that they are supporting mourdock because he's invested in northwest indiana with his time and energy.

this is ominous news for lugar, who may want to think twice about even running.

Is a right a right? When false "rights" are established it all goes wrong!

Oddly enough, the names of the political parties of the United States have morphed into a truth.   Democrats push for a democracy and their push is leading us towards an oligarchy. Republicans are seeking to restore us to the status of a republic.

Republicans were losing their way, but with the emergence of the Tea Party movement many Republicans have realized that we are a republic rather than a democracy and it is high time we acted like it!  The big government Democrats have gone spend-crazy under the Obama Administration and grown government tremendously in size and scope. 

We can all be thankful individual states are challenging Obamacare in court, because if that monster is released upon us then yet another of our Constitutional freedoms has been abrogated.  We should have the right NOT to buy health care insurance and we definitely will NOT benefit from adding layers of bureaucracy to health care.   Regulations and frivolous lawsuits have already driven up health care costs.   Once health care became a allez allez alls-in-free then long lines of people suffering from hangnail to heart attack will bring us to our knees financially and drive doctors out of the profession.   I can foresee a future with the best doctors moving off-shore away from regulations and the wealthy jetting to their clinics to receive care while the rest of us die off waiting for treatment that might never come.   Preventative medicine would be a joke, individual-focused treatment would disappear under a mound of regulations.

Democrats are blocking oil drilling offshore and blocking new atomic energy plants as if they wanted the country to go into a depression.   Could it be that they are already planning to head up the new oligarchy after a depression sends us into panic?   Can you imagine the USA turning into Egypt?

From a guy who calls himself JohnGalt originally posted in September of 2009.

"I Love Oil

(And why everyone else should too.)

JK recently heralded America's Petrosesquicentennial, the 150th anniversary of the first American oil well. We are quite enamored of the "black gold" on these pages. And why not? 3.8 gallons of oil derived gasoline (you may have heard of it - it's been used as a primary motor fuel for nearly a hundred years) which can be purchased on any street corner for about ten bucks, produce as much energy as an average lightning bolt (about 500 megajoules.)

And the safety of this miracle fuel is such that anti-industrial zealots like those on Dateline NBC have had to use remotely detonated explosives to recreate accidental fuel tank explosions.

But there's more to oil than gasoline. Much more. Modern necessities made from oil include jet fuel, propane gas, plastics, asphalt, and dozens of petrochemicals essential to hundreds of industries we could hardly imagine living without. (Paints, fertilizers and textiles to name just a few.)

I went searching for the historical significance of the Petrosesquicentennial and found the following graph of world population and income since 1500. It shows a precipitous rise in population around the time of the Industrial Revolution. But the per capita world GDP rose only 31 percent in the early decades of the Industrial Revolution (1820 to about 1870). In the next 30 years however, inflation-adjusted individual incomes went up another 45%, and 20 years later nearly doubled from there. Finally, by the end of the 20th century, individuals earned a whopping SEVEN TIMES what their ancestors did at the time commercial oil production began.

(Click on graph to enlarge)


While the Industrial Revolution began in the early 1800's without oil it "centered on improvement in coal, iron and steam technologies." The truly modern developments "steel, electricity and chemicals" were hallmarks of the Second Industrial Revolution which, though not clearly delineated from the first, roughly coincided with the commercialization of oil in America.

So if you love iPods, cell phones, jet planes, mass transit, modern medicines, supermarkets, artificial light, white collar jobs ... and the income to pay for all of these and more ... you'd best come to grips with your closet love affair with oil.

UPDATE [10:43a EDT]: As often happens, I omitted a key argument in the thread. The point of all this was to set up the assertion that the advent of cheap and abundant oil was not only coincident with the Second Industrial Revolution, but catalyzed it. Try to imagine the course of the industrial age without it. Certainly a gallon of gas could have been replaced, say with 121 cubic feet of natural gas or 9 pounds of coal, but extracting and using a liquid fuel proved far more practical and economical than those gaseous or solid ones, at least for some uses. And I contend those uses were - and remain - important. Add to this the less obvious fact that many chemical uses of oil may be irreplaceable.

Oil has clearly fueled prosperity. Not only that, it did so for everyone."

The youtube below doesn't take into account the value of fossil fuels but clearly their availability has been a key factor in the world's transformation.   Only green technologies that work can help, however.   If a green technology is efficient, it will take the place of something else, just as kerosene replaced whale oil and then gas lighting replaced kerosene lamps and then electric lights replaced oil lamps.  If we let green technologies compete on a level playing field with oil and natural gas and atomic energy plants then everyone will be benefitted.  If nations artificially demand that green technologies be boosted above more efficient products, only the big and wealthy purveyors of the green technology will benefit while the common man will be artificially taxed for somebody else's ideology.  

Nations have prospered as technology is allowed to have free rein in the market place, the market place of both ideas and innovation.   Windmills work in some places.  Hydroelectric power is vital to much of our nation.  But we are importing much oil from overseas instead of harvesting our own, thus enriching other countries at our expense.  Why do you suppose the Obama Administration hindered the cleanup efforts in the Gulf?  They wanted pictures of oil-drenched birds in every front room in America to make the case against oil drilling.   Yet it is the idiotic regulatory agencies that force us to drill far offshore so that the drilling process is much more costly and dangerous and harder to manage...and yet usually even the biggest storms fail to produce a disaster.   This recent Gulf oil disaster could have been alleviated if only the government had allowed cleanup plans and bacteria to do their work unhindered.   I lay the blame squarely at Obama's feet.  I imagine that the eventual work of oil-munching bacteria surprised the President as he hoped the crisis would go on and on and on...

I live in an area where Democratic Machines have embedded themselves into the government animal like so many fat ticks.   In Chicago there is no chance for a Republican to win and there is little likelihood of a Republican winning in Gary, Indiana.   A similar situation exists in Detroit, Michigan.   Chicago, they figured out how to parasitically rob that government beast just enough to let it prosper but in the two most liberal cities in America, Detroit and Gary, they're turning the animal into carrion. A tip of the hat to Thomas S. for pointing out this video!



A rarely understood postscript. Back in the 1970's and 80's the foreign carmakers were utilizing advanced quality control processes to ensure that all parts that went into their automobiles were standardized and predictable. US Automakers ignored "Kaizen" and QPC practices that were standard in Japan. The Detroiters were cranking out millions of cars and kowtowed to unions to avoid strikes, thus building more cost into every car. By the end of the 1980's the foreign cars like Toyota and Nissan made less expensive, more reliable automobiles while junk like the Chrysler "K" car was offered by domestic brands.


Detroit had short-sighted management in place in the auto industry, allowing unions to gain the upper hand. When market share slipped, they belatedly began demanding that their suppliers utilize modern Quality Process Control standards and meet audit standards like the ISO 9000 series. They pressed for cost cuts from suppliers, thus causing some suppliers to go out of business in order to get out from under union contracts or to negotiate contracts giving normal wages and benefits to incumbent workers but cutting the pay and benefits of future hires. Naturally this led to people being pressed into early retirements and being fired unfairly, with the union bosses being paid off to allow for it.


In Detroit the Big Three have been begging the government for subsidies but no one dares touch the union contracts. The few union workers with seniority continue to be paid in full while subsidiary jobs pay far less and are much harder to get since Detroit has lost market share on the grounds of both price and quality. They may have restored the quality by now, but much reputation and customer loyalty is gone forever.


I have been a union guy. Unions were formed to keep company bosses from being unfair and allow a guy to make a living, but they got too big and now the companies almost need a union to deal with the unions! If Detroit's auto workers gave back one-third of their pay and benefits, then Detroit could double production and thereby increase the paid labor force in Detroit amongst autoworkers by 100 per cent! What is .67 times two? 1.34. So in that scenario a one-third increase in wages amongst the working class would be likely and perhaps better than that. American workers are the most productive in the world. If auto wages rose in total to 134% of what they are today, then businesses around the area would see a rise in business and they could hire more people. Subsidiaries to Detroit could recall laid-off workers. Ford and Chevy and even Chrysler could thrive if they had union contracts like those of the workers of Subaru here in America! Why do foreign automakers move their businesses here? American labor is the best, and when they come here now they don't kowtow to the UAW and pay reasonable wages and benefits, not ludicrous ones.


If you buy a Subaru today it was very likely made in Indiana. You drive south on 1-65 and you will pass by that big Subaru factory (that also makes Toyota Camrys!). You think they pay out $130,000 a year per worker?! No. But they do pay well and families there are pretty happy there is a Subaru. It could have been a Ford plant. But the Fords of this world had their heads buried in the sand for far too long.


Learn from history. Like Detroit automakers, this US government is far too big and inefficient. The entrenched Democrats are used to passing out earmarks and getting automatically voted back into office. Has anyone ousted Pete Viscloskey? Last election cycle all you had to do was go to one of his town meetings to realize he was clueless about Obamacare other than the fact that he was for it! Where Democrats have long reigned, there is always corruption and usually disaster. Go ahead, take a long drive through the neighborhoods of Gary. See all the abandoned houses and buildings, things crumbling and partly demolished and splashed with gang graffiti. See all the bars like those of a prison, bars put on windows and doors by business and home owners seeking to keep the crime out. Because both in government and on the streets the crime runs rampant!

We are not a democracy, we are a republic!  

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all! 

If we would live by those words, we would vote and live accordingly.  Even so, let it be!

You Have The Right To Remain...Talkative and High?

Ok. Let's go through the list of things that qualify as a "right". A "right", as defined in the Dictionary, has many different meaning, but the one that we are covering today is:

Something that is due to a person or governmental body by law, tradition, or nature.

The problem that I always have with the left is that EVERYTHING ends up being a right. We have the right to health care, according to the left (even if others are being forced to pay for it). We have a right to a job, according to many on the left (even if it means hiring those that are unqualified over those that are). And now, we, apparently, through governmental assistance, have a right to a cell phone.

I received some junk mail a few weeks ago from Assurance Wireless, in connection to Virgin Mobile. I didn't give it too much of a hard look until the other day, when I started to scroll through exactly what the paper was. It was an application to qualify for a FREE cell phone and FREE wireless service. In order to qualify for this? I would have to prove that I am either on Medicaid, Food Stamps, Supplemental Security Income, or one of the other programs on the extensive list.

Now, Virgin Mobile isn't in the business of handing out free crap, so you know they are being reimbursed in full from the government. The only thing is, I can't remember ever hearing about this, and this is something that should have perked my ears, because it essentially puts "cell phone rights" into the same category as, oh, I don't know, liberty? The pursuit of happiness? Where, oh where, does the government get off thinking that everyone is in NEED of a cell phone? And before you yammer off the "in case of emergencies" talking points, realize that every cell phone, even if it isn't activated, will call 911 from it. It's a fact. So that still doesn't explain the need for:

*250 FREE minutes, each month, for nationwide Local and Long-distance!

*FREE voice mail account!

*Caller ID!

*Not to mention the FREE Assurance Wireless Phone! All with no long term contracts, bills, activation fees, recurring fees, or surcharges!

This is so perplexing to me. How is this company applying for their federal assistance? Does this essentially mean that people can use food stamps to pay for a cell phone? Since WHEN has a cell phone been a right, and where does that end?

People wonder why I'm weary of welfare programs. Welfare programs are supposed to be for the ESSENTIALS. I understand food stamps, and unemployment benefits, and the like, as long as they are put at a low level. These programs aren't supposed to make you live COMFORTABLY, just LIVE. It's supposed to be enough to keep food in your mouths, roofs over your head, and a diaper on your baby. That's it. But, alas, it never seems to be enough for those that feel that they are entitled to minutes, paid for with OUR tax dollars, on their cell phones. Not just minutes, mind you, but a FREE CELL PHONE. This is ridiculous. The fact that such a program exists helps to prove my point that welfare is a defunct system.

This brings me to my second point that has been proposed in the past and should certainly be a requirement to qualify for any kind of welfare: drug tests. If I have to pass a drug test in order to work, somebody that is receiving government assistance should have to pass one to receive their benefits. Would it be a costly endeavor? I suppose so, if you did it to every single person who applies. The nurses would have to be paid, the labs would have to paid to process the urine, etc., etc. However, just like my work has done in the past (and lots of other employers), random drug tests work as a good deter-ant. If the government took a handful of random welfare recipients each month and called them in for drug tests, this would keep a good majority of them from spending our tax money on drugs.

No matter what ones view on drug use is, whether it be complete outlawing or decriminalization or flat out legalization, the common thread that should bind these three groups together should be, I hope, that no outside person should have to pay for another person to get high. Most people don't have a problem forking over some tax dollars here and there to ensure that those that can't help themselves are able to put food on their kids' plates and a roof over their families heads. But a line is crossed when people use those funds wrongly. Don't tell me that it doesn't happen, either. I've heard people at work brag about selling food stamps in exchange for cash. After the bad flooding that happened a couple of years back, over half the people in the locker room were bragging about waiting in line to receive free food stamps from FEMA. They didn't have to show ANY proof, what so ever, that they had had any flood damage. It was, and is, a disgusting abuse of the system, and these abuses should be shut down whenever possible. We can start by not paying for peoples cell phones and their drugs and go from there.