Daily Topics - Tuesday January 17th, 2012

Occupy the Courts this Friday for the 2nd anniversary of Citizens United! Join Thom outside the U.S. Supreme Court in DC at 12 noon or find an action in your city...click here for details!
Hour One: Who's afraid of The Tempest? Arizona is banning books...no, really! Jeff Biggers
Hour Two: Why the Employee Rights Act is so wrong! Mark Williams
Hour Three: SOPA & PIPA...the end of the internet as we know it? Garlin Gilchrist II, MoveOn.org
Comments

Nothing offends my sensibilities quite like anti-union (or even anti-union-shop) union members. Whenever anyone has a complaint with any other aspect of the workplace, they're the first to parrot the "libertarian" slogan "nobody's holding a gun to your head." Good union jobs are wasted on such people. Ironically, they're also the first to tell me "there's legions of people who'd give their left arm to have your job."
I wonder if Mitt Romney is resistant to releasing his tax returns not because of what the public would think but rather because he has not been tithing to the Church of Latter Day Saints. I believe tithing is a requirement of the followers of the Church of LDS. I have Mormons in my family and they tithe. If he is ripping off his church he would not look too good to the country at large.

"Right to Work" actually means the "right" to step into a workplace, accept a wage and benefit package that was negotiated by the union, and have union representation in disciplinary proceedings, all without paying any dues to the union.
This is an "entitlement" mentality (that one should enjoy what others sacrificed for, without being willing to make a like sacrifice).
That said, it is illegal in every state to force an employee to join a union against their will. Folks who do not wish to join the union should not receive the wage/benefit package negotiated by the union, which may include vacation, health insurance, and sick leave, but they are welcome to work in union shops...
I am an active member of the Ohio Education Association, National Education Association, and my local teachers' association. And I teach history. Here in Ohio we have shown the true strength of unity among all the unions in the state in handing John Kasich a resounding defeat on his attack on workers' rights. We are also "blessed" to have had as one of our senators in the distant past a Mr. Robert Taft, the Taft of the Taft Hartley Act of 1948 that makes it completely illegal to compel anyone to join a union. In appreciation for accuracy, I hope that your show will include this in the continuing argument with the Tea Party Twits who are seekking to emasculate the unions with cries of being forced to join unions. NO ONE IN THE UNITED STATES IS FORCED TO JOIN A UNION. Paying a service fee for gaining the benefits of the union's work is allowed, and should be. After all, if one wishes to swim in the pool, so to speak, one must first buy a ticket.
Thank you for your time, and please keep the pressure on these bozos as they try to mislead the public with their lies.



Any place that Howard Zinn's, A Peoples History Of The United States isn't allowed to be taught, is exactly where it SHOULD be taught!