THE BILL COMES DUE

REPUBLICANS.........



Concentrate. Keep your eye on the ball. The BIG LABOR bosses are coming to the White House to visit their guy they bought in the 2008 election and it is time for pay back!



Obamacare.
Card check.
Control over the "green revolution."
Higher taxes.
Removal of "choice" in education.
Stimulus II.



It's time to get in the game. It's time to get real . We cannot allow BIG LABOR to call the shots in America.



Bruce Ash
National Committeeman

www.AshForArizona.com

At Today's White House Meeting, What Will Unions Demand?
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View This Research Briefing At GOP.com

Vice President Biden To Labor Union: "[W]e owe you." (Michael O'Brien, "Biden To Labor Group: We Owe You," The Hill, 5/12/09)

Unions Coming To Collect? "A dozen union presidents will meet with President Obama in the White House next Monday to discuss health-care legislation as well as a bill that would make it easier to unionize ..." (Steven Greenhouse, "Union Leaders To Meet With Obama Next Week," The New York Times' "Caucus" Blog, 7/7/09)

IT'S PAYBACK TIME

SEIU President Andy Stern: "We spent a fortune to elect Barack Obama -- $60.7 million to be exact -- and we're proud of it." (Michael Mishak, "Unplugged: The SEIU Chief On The Labor Movement And The Card Check," The Las Vegas Sun, 5/10/09)

Unions Active In Pushing Obama's Agenda For Government-Run Health Care. "Gov. Howard Dean joined with hundreds of labor unions and thousands of health reform supporters in Washington, DC ..."("Howard Dean Fights For The Public Option In DC Rally," Daily Kos, 6/26/09)

Several Unions Part Of "Health Care For America Now!" National Coalition, A Group Supporting Government-Run Health Care. (Health Care For America NOW! Website,http://healthcareforamericanow.org/, Accessed 7/10/09)

Over His Political Career, President Obama Has Received At Least $818,968 From Labor. (The Center For Responsive Politics Website, www.opensecrets.org, Accessed 7/10/09)

Since 1989, Vice President Biden Has Received At Least $345,249 From Labor. (The Center For Responsive Politics Website, www.opensecrets.org, Accessed 7/10/09)

PAYBACK #1: UNIONS WANT CARD CHECK TO INCREASE STRANGLEHOLD OF POWER

"The Bill Is The Top Priority For Unions, Who See It As A Means Of Replenishing Membership. But to businesses, it's public enemy number one and a recipe for driving up costs and unemployment." (Karoun Demirjian, "'Card Check' On Hold," CQ Today, 3/11/09)

AFL-CIO Expects Card Check To Bring About 60 Million New Members. "Stewart Acuff, special assistant to AFL-CIO president John Sweeney, said the 428,000 new members last year is just a small portion of what unions could recruit if the card check bill passes. He cited union surveys showing nearly 60 million people would join a union 'if there was no fear and intimidation.'" (Sam Hananel, "Union Membership Rises For Second Straight Year," The Associated Press, 1/28/09)

Labor Specialist Says "Intimidation Would Be Rampant." "'EFCA would be a gold mine for the union right now,' said Bryan O'Keefe, an independent labor specialist. 'The intimidation would be rampant with this thing. And it's an easy way to boost union membership significantly.'" (John P. Krudy, "Trumka Voices Bid For Top Job At AFL-CIO," The Washington Times, 7/10/09)

Liberal Think Tank Says Card Check Would Expose Workers To Harassment. "A study released by the progressive Economic Policy Institute found that during the election process, 'it is standard practice for workers to be subjected to threats, interrogation, harassment, surveillance, and retaliation for union activity.'" (Liz Wolgemuth, "5 Things To Know About The Employee Free Choice Act," US News & World Report, 6/24/09)

Card Check Would Lead To Job Loss. "The precise effect on unemployment will depend on the degree to which EFCA increases union density, but for every 3 percentage points gained in union membership through card checks and mandatory arbitration, the following year's unemployment rate is predicted to increase by 1 percentage point and job creation is predicted to fall by around 1.5 million jobs." (Anne Layne-Farrar, "An Empirical Assessment of the Employee Free Choice Act: The Economic Implications," SSRN.com, 3/4/09)

PAYBACK #2: UNIONS WANT CONTROL OF SO-CALLED "GREEN ENERGY" PROJECTS

Unions Jumping On Board Dems' So-Called "Green Energy" Agenda To Increase Membership. "The confluence of lightning-rod issues highlights an alliance between unions and environmental activists to promote green jobs as a solution to both declining union membership and global warming." (Lisa Lerer, "Labor, Greens Team Up," Politico, 4/14/09)

Unions Use "Environmental Challenges" To Threaten Solar Power Plans. "But skeptics fear that union control of renewable energy projects will saddle the nascent industry with high costs and undermine its competitiveness. 'These environmental challenges are the unions' major tactic to maintain their share of industrial construction -- we call it greenmail,' said Kevin Dayton, state government affairs director for the Associated Builders and Contractors of California ... In California, project labor agreements can raise costs on a project by about 20 percent, Mr. Dayton estimated." (Todd Woody, "A Move to Put the Union Label on Solar Power Plants," The New York Times, 6/18/09)

Unions Pressure Companies Into Giving Them Renewable Energy Projects. "As California moves to license dozens of huge solar power plants to meet the state's renewable energy goals, some developers contend they are being pressured to sign agreements pledging to use union labor. If they refuse, they say, they can count on the union group to demand costly environmental studies and deliver hostile testimony at public hearings. If they commit at the outset to use union labor, they say, the environmental objections never materialize." (Todd Woody, "A Move To Put the Union Label On Solar Power Plants," The New York Times, 6/18/09)

PAYBACK #3: HIGHER TAXES TO PAY FOR GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE (EXCEPT FOR UNIONS)

Unions Attacked Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) For Wanting To Tax Health Benefits. "Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) continues to catch flak from organized labor for considering new taxes on workplace health benefits. The Laborers International Union of North America (LiUNA) is pushing its memb ers to contact Baucus ... to protest the proposal, which would subject the value of some workers' health insurance to income taxes for the first time." ("Union Targets Baucus Over Health Taxes," The Hill, 6/24/09)

So Baucus Proposed Exempting Unions From Tax Increase. "The U.S. Senate proposal to impose taxes for the first time on 'gold-plated' health plans may bypass generous employee benefits negotiated by unions. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, the chief congressional advocate of taxing some employer-provided benefits to help pay for an overhaul of the U.S. health system, says any change should exempt perks secured in existing collective- bargaining agreements, which can be in place for as long as five years." (Ryan J. Donmoyer and Holly Rosenkrantz, "Unions' Health Benefits May Avoid Tax Under Senate Proposal," Bloomberg, 6/26/09)

But Under Pressure, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Killed Tax Proposal Entirely. "A tax on generous employer-provided health plans is favored by Republicans and several centrist Democrats ... [S]everal senators up for re-election in 2010, including the majority leader, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, have said they oppose it. On Tuesday, Mr. Reid and other Democratic leaders asked Mr. Baucus, the chairman of the Finance Committee, to explore other options ..." (David M. Herzenhorn, "Democrats Divide Over A Proposal To Tax Health Benefits," The New York Times, 7/8/09)

PAYBACK #4: UNIONS OPPOSE CHOICE IN EDUCATION

With Union Support, Congressional Democrats Slashed Funding For DC Opportunity Scholarship Program. "Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) ... is pushing for reauthorization of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, which provides up to $7,500 a year in federally funded tuition to 1,700 D.C. children from low-income families to attend private schools. Congressional Democrats, supported by teachers unionsand other liberal education groups that generally oppose using public money for private education, included language in the recent omnibus spending bill that would end the program in 2010." (Bill Turque, "With Critics Quiet, Hearing Praises D.C. School Voucher Program," The Washi ngton Post, 5/14/09)

Even Though Majority Of D.C.'s City Council Supports School Choice. "A majority of the D.C. Council has petitioned Education Secretary Arne Duncan to reverse his decision to deny private school vouchers to families counting on them for this fall. We hope that Mr. Duncan agrees to help these needy families who want only a quality education for their children." (Editorial, "A Plea to Mr. Duncan," The Washington Post, 7/10/09)

Teacher Union Official Admitted Promoting Union Is More Important Than Improving Education."This is not to say that the concern of NEA and its affiliates with closing achievement gaps, reducing dropout rates, improving teacher quality, and the like are unimportant or inappropriate. To the contrary, these are the goals that guide the work we do. But they need not and must not be achieved at the expense of due process, employee rights, and collective bargaining. That simply is too high a price to pay. When all is said and done, NEA and its affiliates must never lose sight of the fact that they are unions, and what unions do first and foremost is represent their members." (NEA General Counsel Bob Chanin, Farewell Address to the National Education Association's annual Representative Assembly, 7/6/09)

NO SURPRISE: UNIONS GOT THEIR WAY IN OBAMA'S STIMULUS

Stimulus Funds Must Comply With Rules Where Washington Bureaucrats and Union Bosses Set Wages. "'This is huge,' said Ross Eisenbray, vice president of the Economic Policy Institute, a pro-labor think tank in Washington. 'The only uses of Davis-Bacon comparable to the stimulus bill are the Defense Highway Act of 1956 which created the interstate highway system and the New Deal programs of the 1930s.' Davis-Bacon relies on government-issued tables that tells employers in each of the 50 states, plus Washington, exactly what they must pay workers in four categories of federally funded construction-'building,' 'heavy,' 'highway' and 'residential'--that are also carefully defined. The Wage and Hour Division of the Labor Department, determines who gets what. The standards also include benefits in its definition of 'prevailing wages,' giving local unions indirect influence over non-union pay. In Washington, for example, residential electricians on federal projects must be paid at least $16.10 per hour plus $3.10 an hour in benefits, according to the law."(Jefferson Morley, "Labor Wins 'Prevailing Wages' in Stimulus," The Washington Independent, 3/31/09)

Projects Couldn't Be Funded Because Of Union-Backed Restrictions. "Among other factors that prevented the project from making the list, Carpenter said, were that it uses state wage-rate rules rather than the higher federal 'Davis-Bacon' wage rules, and that project planners could not guarantee all the parts and materials for the project are American-made." (Julie Ann Grimm, "No Stimulus Funds for Buckman Project," The Santa Fe New Mexican, 5/21/09)

Local Governments Withdrew Requests For Stimulus Funds Because Of Union Requirements. "Clay Center's new water plant is an ideal project for federal stimulus funding, but may be too shovel-ready, officials say. With the new water plant ready to begin construction this month, the Public Utilities Commission decided Monday not to pursue funding under the stimulus program. Rules and regulations that would delay the project and increase the cost made the program impractical. The commission had originally applied for $12.8 million. 'There's so many strings attached that the program just isn't worth doing,' Bill Callaway, Clay Center utilities superintendent told those gathered at the weekly Chamber coffee this morning. Federal rules requiring that the city pay 'Davis-Bacon' prevailing union wages would increase the cost of the project by 20 to 30 percent, Callaway said." (Ned Valentine, "PU Commission withdraws stimulus fund request," Clay Center Dispatch [Kansas], 3/4/09)


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