I’ve covered the “Right to Work” ground pretty thoroughly in the recent past, so I won’t go on about it too much here. I just want to note for posterity that it has been declared the top legislative priority by Republicans in the General Assembly.
To recap: “right to work” does not give workers any rights. It impairs the right of a union and an employer to enter into a particular kind of collective bargaining agreement and the right of an employer to set union membership (or dues equivalent) as a condition of employment.
Having this as a “top” priority reminds me of back in the day (2004, if memory serves) when banning marriage equality was the “top” priority. It’s probably a bad sign when one side’s top legislative priority is poking the other side in the eye.
You got that right, Doug.
Is it safe to assume that the marriage ban is priority #2 this session? Some things never change. Can’t have gay marriage killing all those jobs created by “right to work”.
Once again, conservatives display their utter hatred for freedom and capitalism.
In 2004, they were apparently displaying their utter hatred for Christianity and strong families.
I don’t see how this can be the top legislative priority this session. How are the going to keep the D’s from walking again?
My strategery was to abandon RTW until the next session, when the R’s have a walkout-proof majority in the House and Senate, as well as the governor’s mansion.
You have to think that the R’s want the D’s to walk out.
I agree that the R’s want the D’s to walk out. If the D’s don’t walk and allow RTW to pass, the D’s own base will eat them alive for being too wimpy. If the D’s do walk, then the R’s will moan that they couldn’t do anything because they didn’t have enough R’s and they will bludgeon the D’s in the fall elections with that stick saying that we should elect more R’s. It’s a win-win for the R’s in that case. Only chance for the D’s is to let the R’s pass RTW while standing united against it and then blast the R’s next fall about how they have damaged Indiana and how more elected D’s could have stopped them.
One major point on wanting to make RTW a law by the Rs–is this consistent with the continuing ranting of need for less regulation of businesses? If a business wishes to enter into an agreement with any party (including a union) why should the state make it illegal–somehow does not seem consistent.
Because conservatives, in fact, hate freedom and capitalism, as they are demonstrating quite clearly here.
@Jacl: You’re doing one thing wrong: seeking consistency from conservatives. They want freedom of religion, but want [Christian] prayer in schools as a federal law (and most are completely blind to the fact that there might be OTHER religions present in any given public school, LET ALONE the fact that differing sects of Christianity can’t agree on it either; not to mention the outright ignorance of schools and how ‘freedom to opt out’ doesn’t mean the same thing to a 7 year old as it does to a 47 year old when it means getting shunned, taunted, and/or abused by your classmates for sitting out the daily prayer).
They want freedom of press so they can go on Fox news and say whatever ill begotten facts they choose, but are fine with Journalists being denied access to protest camps when the cops are in knocking heads.
They want freedom to bear arms, but want to ignore the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and any other amendments they choose, whenever it is inconvenient to their goals, like a “War on Terror” (which to paraphrase David Cross, is about as effective as a War on Jealousy).
They rail against a public healthcare system meant to ensure the health and safety of every citizen, or at the very least reform our currently-screwed-up-beyond-any-belief insurance system, saying it will infringe upon the freedoms of every citizen; but they are completely fine with spending BILLIONS hunting down and incarcerating drug users and dealers, who are only in business because WE MAKE DRUGS ILLEGAL.
Looking for consistency in a conservative’s arguments is going down the rabbit hole to a far scarier Wonderland of opposites and skewed reality.