Archive for June, 2011

From NewsMax.com:

No big surprise here: The union financial spigots are open for Democrats running in contentious Wisconsin recall elections this summer. In fact, 97.7 percent of the $62,625 that union political action committees have donated to recall candidates has gone to Democrats, according to a nonpartisan watchdog group, reports the La Crosse Tribune.

Three Democrats and six Republicans are facing recalls in July and August, with the Democrats on the block for trying to foil Gov. Scott Walker’s yanking collective-bargaining rights in his budget plans and Republicans, for supporting the measures.

The breakdown on the contributions comes from the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a nonpartisan watchdog group that tracks contributions larger than $100.

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From Pilotonline.com:

The pivotal 2011 General Assembly elections are more than four months away, but Virginia Republicans already have one important advantage over their Democratic Party rivals.

Republicans have candidates running in at least 107 of the state’s 140 General Assembly districts. The GOP is well positioned to retain its comfortable majority in the House of Delegates and is mounting an all-out effort to grab control of the state Senate, where Democrats hold a fragile 22-18 majority.

Despite controlling the recent Senate redistricting process, Democrats so far have candidates in just 24 of 40 Senate districts and have no challengers for any Republican incumbents. The Democrats’ hopes of preserving a majority may rest largely on defending the districts they now represent.

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From the Wall Street Journal:

Republican House Speaker William O’Brien said he would call a special session of the Legislature, likely in the fall, seeking to override the veto by Democratic Gov. John Lynch. New Hampshire Republicans this spring passed the bill, which would allow private-sector workers to opt not to join a union or pay dues at unionized workplaces.

The bill is “needed because New Hampshire has to compete globally for jobs,” Mr. O’Brien said.

Naomi Walker, director of state government relations for the AFL-CIO, called the outcome “a victory for 2011” but said the labor federation expected to face similar fights in 2012.

Unions have fought off an unprecedented number of right-to-work proposals this spring. The skirmishes came amid a broad campaign largely led by Republicans, who won majorities in statehouses and governorships last fall and pushed for cost savings to address budget deficits.

Several states, including Wisconsin and Ohio, adopted measures limiting most public-sector unions from negotiating over benefits and boosting the amount public workers contribute for health and other benefits.

Lawmakers in about 18 states, including Missouri, Michigan and New Mexico, introduced right-to-work bills this year, saying they help attract businesses and create jobs. Some were introduced but never acted upon, others were assigned to legislative study groups and some died in committee.

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From Courant.com:

State workers, of whom I am one, are close to making a tragic mistake by rejecting the proposed concession agreement our union leaders negotiated. This would inflict significant damage on taxpayers, state workers and Connecticut’s economic future.

Despite charges that the agreement is a sweetheart deal, it isn’t. It is a meaningful effort to address major, long-term structural problems — the unfunded liabilities — in retiree health care costs and pensions. Failure to address those issues threatens their existence.

At the same time, it asks us to accept a two-year wage freeze and then modest salary increases — while having all employees contribute for 10 years to ensure their retirement health care benefits. The agreement also would gradually raise the retirement age for those retiring after 2022, except for employees qualifying under hazardous duty. Finally, the agreement asks us to participate in preventive medical care — common at major employers — that would improve our health and potentially save tens of millions of dollars.

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Check out the latest article written by RSLC President Chris Jankowski that appeared in the Daily Caller.

With record high unemployment and endless Democrat tax-and-spend plans, it is no wonder Democrat insiders are looking to conjure up good news. Early redistricting maps coming into focus from their favored states — particularly heavily gerrymandered Illinois, where Democrats surrendered any pretext of staking out the moral high ground — have Democrats boasting that they can spin straw into gold.

However, the raw numbers and political realities clearly demonstrate that Democrats have no path to a House majority in the near future. They have even less chance of reversing state-level Republican gains.

Thanks in part to the Republican State Leadership Committee’s REDMAP project, there are more state-level Republicans now than in nearly a century. These include many new majorities that will be drawing fair and legal Congressional and state legislative lines at a four-to-one advantage over Democrat-controlled states.

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From USA Today:

State legislatures across the country have passed a record number of laws this year requiring photo identification to vote, a controversial move pushed by Republicans and opposed by Democrats.

Proponents say the measures prevent vote fraud. Opponents say they are designed to stifle turnout among students, poor people and minorities, who are more likely to vote for Democrats but might lack government-issued IDs, such as driver’s licenses and passports.

Buoyed by big Republican gains in the 2010 elections, six states have enacted photo ID laws since January — Alabama, Kansas, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee and Wisconsin. Bills in New Hampshire and North Carolina await gubernatorial action.

The measures, all passed by Republican-controlled legislatures, could bring to 17 the number of states with photo ID requirements and come nearly 18 months before elections for Congress and the White House. Other states — including Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and West Virginia— have reduced the period for early voting.

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