Posted on Pajamas Media-By Matt Patterson-On June 3, 2011:
“Americans are accustomed to thinking of themselves as the freest people on Earth. Except that according to the Heritage Foundation’s 2011 Index of Economic Freedom, the United States stands at a dismal 9th in international rankings for economic liberty, embarrassingly behind social democracies like New Zealand (4th) and Canada (6th) and well behind Asian powerhouses Hong Kong and Singapore (first and second, respectively).
It is safe to say that these depressing stats would come as no surprise to the higher-ups at Boeing, who had the temerity to act as if they were a private company operating in a free market when they decided to relocate the company’s 787 Dreamliner assembly from Washington state to a new production facility in South Carolina.This new relationship was poised to be mutually beneficial — South Carolina would get about 1,000 new jobs, Boeing a less regulated, less unionized — read: cheaper — business climate in which to operate.
But it was not to be. In April, Barack Obama’s National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) filed a complaint against Boeing to block the move and thwart the South Carolina relocation, charging that Boeing’s decision constitutes an unlawful retaliation against the unionized workers of Washington state.
Boeing contends it simply cannot afford the constant work stoppages of the Washington unions (roughly one every three years over the past decade), and no wonder: In 2008 alone, a strike instigated by the International Association of Machinists (IAM) lasted 39 days and accrued roughly 1,053,000 in lost work days for some 27,000 employees in Washington, Oregon, and Kansas. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), “Some analysts have estimated that the shutdown of jet production during the work stoppage cost Boeing more than $2 billion in profits.” Ouch. One can hardly blame the company for looking toward the warmer climes and more attractive labor market of South Carolina, one of the 22 states with so-called “right-to-work” laws forbidding the compulsory unionization of workers.
But the Obama administration has, through the NLRB, sided with the unions, in essence affirming Big Labor’s self-assumed right to blackmail and bankrupt private industry. The decision against Boeing (which the company is set to challenge in a June hearing) is indeed a dark and ominous sign: As Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore poignantly put it in the Wall Street Journal, “It’s the first time a federal agency has intervened to tell an American company where it can and cannot operate a plant within the U.S.” It’s as if a government agent blocked your way while you were fleeing a mugger and ordered you to go back and hand over your wallet.
Of course, Obama is under tremendous pressure to deliver some favors to the unions, who have spent hundreds of millions to put him and other Democrats into power. Having failed to deliver labor’s long-cherished “card check” legislation before last November’s GOP tide swept over Congress, and seeing unions withering under the assault of Republican governors like Wisconsin’s Scott Walker and New Jersey’s Chris Christie, the White House undoubtedly felt it had to give its money masters something.
So it has, and only at the expense of liberty, economic growth, and common sense. So much for land of the free.
- Matt Patterson is senior editor at the Capital Research Center and contributor to Proud to be Right: Voices of the Next Conservative Generation. His email is mpatterson.column@gmail.com.”
Source:
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/how-free-is-america/?singlepage=true
Note: These recent articles and/or blog posts relate to this disturbing issue-You Decide:
I. As Gov’t Plays ‘Father,’ ‘Black Males Have Become Dispensable’!-Posted on The Daily Caller-By Jeff Poor-The Daily Caller-On June 4, 2011:
“It’s perhaps not the most politically correct take on welfare in America’s black community, but an interesting one nonetheless.
Walter E. Williams, a George Mason economist and author of “Race and Economics: How Much Can Be Blamed on Discrimination?” is not a fan of the welfare state that exists in the country. In an appearance on Thursday night’s “Stossel” on the Fox Business Network, Williams argued that welfare has done more damage to black society than slavery or Jim Crow.
“[T]he welfare state has done to black Americans what slavery could not have done, the harshest Jim Crow laws and racism could not have done, namely break up the black family,” Williams said.
“That is, today, just slightly over 30 percent of black kids live in two parent families. Historically, from 1870s on up to about 1940s, and depending on the city, 75 to 90 percent of black kids lived in two parent families. Illegitimacy rate is 70 percent among blacks where that is unprecedented in our history.”
But this isn’t just relegated to the American welfare state, but is seen in European welfare states as well.
“Now, it’s not just a matter of a racial thing. Sweden is the mother of the welfare state and illegitimacy in Sweden is 54 percent,” he said.
Williams explained to host John Stossel that this is a natural effect of welfare policies.
“Well, because, look, if you subsidize anything, you’re going to get surpluses of it, and if you tax something you’re going to get less of it,” he said. “If you did not get welfare, then people would decide, I’m going to go out and get a job, I’m going to live more responsibly.”
And with these policies, they have taken a toll on the black family, specifically the black father.”
Source:
II. General Motors not eager to be political talking point in 2012-Posted on The Daily Caller-By Amanda Carey-On June 3, 2011:
http://dailycaller.com/2011/06/03/general-motors-not-eager-to-be-po...
III. Economy adds paltry 54K jobs, raising fears for recovery!-Posted on The Hill’s On The Money-By Ian Swanson and Bernie Becker-On June 3, 2011:
http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/801-economy/164575-may-jobs-report-meets-low-expectations
IV. Half of Last Month's New Jobs Came from a Single Employer — McDonald's!-Posted on The Weekly Standard-By MARK HEMINGWAY-On June 3, 3011:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/half-last-months-jobs-came-single-employer-mcdonalds_573220.html
V. New World Powers Move to Shove Dollar Aside!-Posted on Investment Watch-By MarketWatch-On April 18, 2011:
http://investmentwatchblog.com/new-world-powers-make-move-to-shove-dollar-aside/VI. China Has Divested 97 Percent of Its Holdings in U.S. Treasury Bills!-Posted on CNSNews.com-By Terence P. Jeffrey-On June 3, 2011:
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/china-has-divested-97-percent-its-holdin
Note: My following blog posts contain numerous articles and/or blog posts and videos that relate to this disturbing issue-You Decide:
Is the Fed’s concept of buying $600 billion of Treasuries just a smokescreen?
Is it important to understand the Marxist assault on the foundations of our system?
Note: If you have a problem viewing any of the listed blog posts, please copy web site and paste it on your browser. Sure seems like any subject matter that may be considered controversial is being censored-what happened to free speech?-You Decide.
“Food For Thought”
“God Bless & Keep Our USA Safe”
Semper Fi!
Jake
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