Posted by randydutton on 04/02/11

Most conservatives don't have a problem with union workers but with the union bosses they put into place. Unions have a valid place in the private sector.  History shows unions helping protect the health and safety of workers, and in getting them good working wages. But often, 'power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely'.

When not restrained by society or its own membership, union management has been emboldened to use the workforce under its protection for political goals separate from many of its workers' beliefs.  In non-right to work states, union management forces workers to contribute dues as a condition of employment.  This equates to a 'protection racket'. Rigid union management has caused companies to become inefficient, non-economically competitive, and unresponsive to changing technology.  Many unions, by forcing companies to adhere to inefficient practices, contributed to moving American jobs off shore.

Any economist will tell you that it is the accumulation of capital and its use, and the acceptance of risk, that creates companies and jobs.  Yet some union leaders have joined with anti-capitalist groups that openly seek the destruction of U.S. capital markets, financial institutions, corporations, private property laws, the accumulation of wealth, and meritocracy. 

We now are in an era of economic terrorism.  Action by some union leaders, as demonstrated in a video at this link http://www.glennbeck.com/2011/03/22/beck-clear-case-of-economic-terrorism/, should not be tolerated in a civil society.  The comments in the video are from Steven Lerner, Director of SEIU's banking and finance campaign.  He has a three point plan to bring down Wall Street, admittedly held in some disrepute because of its bailout by a Progressive Congress.  You may not like bankers, but taking down the banking system hurts everyone.  In today's political climate, anarchists are salivating at the opportunity to crash the US economy, and they see union uprising as the tool to achieve their goals.  And our current government has allowed the National Mediation Board to create rules by which the minority can rule over the majority in deciding union membership.

Some unions have created a political alliance with the current administration to usurp established law. For example, the UAW benefitted when the government violated established property law by taking billions of dollars of value from Chrysler bond holder and giving it to the UAW.  This is a precedence that inhibits future US business investment.   The SEIU also opposes e-Verify, which is designed to prevent illegal aliens from getting US workers' job. And, they support the DREAM act to legalize the children of illegals.  Are these your values?  Union members should consider whether endorsing such disastrous tactics is in the best interest of America or their own jobs. 

Unions don't have a place in the public sector. I'll cite FDR's own words to reflect the danger. "All government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service...Particularly, I want to emphasize my conviction that militant tactics have no place in the functions of any organization of government employees. Upon employees in the federal service, rests the obligation to serve the whole people, whose interests and welfare require orderliness and continuity in the conduct of government activities," said Roosevelt. "This obligation is paramount," he continued. "Since their own services have to do with the functioning of the government, a strike of public employees manifests nothing less than an intent on their part to prevent or obstruct the operations of government until their demands are satisfied. Such action, looking toward the paralysis of government by those who have sworn to support it, is unthinkable and intolerable."

To be clear, I am not anti-union.  I am anti-corruption and pro-freedom of association.  As one who has supervised up to 170 workers in five separate unions, I've witnessed and fought against union bosses tolerating corruption on a grand scale, trying to force employees into filing nuisance grievances, slowing down work, and intimidating workers with violence.  I've fought their defense of drug addicts and thieves.  I believe incompetence and bad behavior should not be rewarded.  And I believe workers have the inalienable right to keep their votes secret under all conditions - including the vote to unionize and elect union leaders. Any decision of theirs should be free of intimidation from both the union bosses and company executives. 

Posted by randydutton on 04/23/09

Get involved, get together.  For those who want their voices heard about local, state, and federal issues, we have created a new monthly public meeting .  It is a political forum called We The People.  For Grays Harbor County, in Washington State, the first one will be held at the Hoquiam Library, this Thursday, April 23^rd at 7pm.  Doors open at 6:30pm.  Future meetings will be the fourth Thursday of every month (except November and December). Coming on the heals of the Aberdeen Tea Party, it is an opportunity for local people to speak their minds.   We ask those who attend to keep their issues to the point, opposing viewpoints objective, and all to act with civility.  In these forums, the purpose is to identify possibilities, options, new ideas, and have some fun.  Such community forums used to be commonplace in America, but television and the Internet have isolated many from public debate.  We hope to restore a little of that spirit back into our community. 

Why not set one up in your area?

Posted 05/27/09 randydutton Montesano, WA

The meetings have been moved to the PUD Conference Room in Aberdeen and are now the third Tuesday of each month starting at 7pm.

Posted by randydutton on 04/23/09

Tea Party attendees are being trashed by the media. It is time we fought back. We should demand advertisers to immediately drop its advertising on MSNBC and to publicly decry the hate discussion so promoted by them. I ask you to view this YouTube video taken from the Keith Olbermann show http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IeRxVMpyDg and see if you too believe MSNBC does not deserve their advertising dollars, or our support of those companies. I and many other conservatives find the discussion about tea party attending conservatives being racists, and mentally disabled, totally disgusting, and I refuse to stand by and be denigrated by a network that eschews such hate. This link already is being passed around veteran groups and other conservatives. We should ensure this issue, and its financial backers, gets much more coverage through the Tea Party network. The best defense is a strong offence. Here is a partial list of advertisers: creditreport.com; match.com; GMC; Scottrade; Progressive Insurance; NatureResV; and many more.

Posted by randydutton on 04/03/09
Last updated 04/03/09

Online public education now is proven in studies to be equal to or better than most classroom instruction. I recommend anyone interested in education trends to watch the Technology Counts 2009: Breaking Away From Tradition: E-Education Expands Opportunities for Raising Achievement webinar archived at www edweek.org. It is interesting and informative.

Having homeschooled my two boys, I recognize the great benefits of homeschooling, but note that it does take more personal time. Online public school does nearly as well but frees up much of the parents’ time. While the webinar focuses on how online programs are equal or better than classroom instruction in most every category, and how online program provides much more curriculum choices to parents and students no matter how small or rural, or how urban the student's location, there are many benefits not discussed.

Online public schools reduce student exposure to drugs, alcohol, sexual predation, bullying, and violence. Online public schools increase graduation rates, and bring back students who dropped out of traditional schools. Online public schools have over twice the available curriculum of many small districts, and give every student access to advance placement and honors classes. Online public schools give students the ability to work at their own pace whether slower or faster, thus lowering the boredom factor, and it allows kids to get more sleep because they don't have a bus to catch.

For students not having a parent at home, blended schools can be created that allow students to go to a school and log-on and do some or all their coursework on the computer.

Teachers also benefit. Online teachers are state certified, and most in our WAVA school have Masters Degrees. They get to work from home! Talk about environmental benefits.

There is reduced cost of infrastructure and transportation. The teachers I have spoken with love the program and they believe they have MORE interaction with students, not less.

Students love the online public schools and have given it a 95% approval poll. Would you find that with a brick and mortar school?

Who then doesn’t like online schools? Teachers unions, some education funding benefactors, politicians wanting to use schools as indoctrination centers, and other vested interests. Online education allows for dramatically reduced education infrastructure and administration, and those who benefit from building new schools and union dues don’t want a loss of revenue.

Online public education is the great equalizer. All students have equal opportunity without regard to economics, race, creed, color, sexual orientation, gender, fashion choices, physical abilities, transportation means, or residence permanence. And did I mention online public education costs LESS than traditional school? It is one way to reduce our budget, while getting better results. Harvard predicts that by 2019 half of all US HS students will get part or all their education online. Already 1 million do but most schools won't even tell parents its an option, and some states don't have it. Speak Up Now!

Posted 04/03/09 Haystacks Calhoun NEW YORK, NY

I think the web can be a great educational tool for a lot of people; this is one of the reasons we have to preserve net neutrality.

Posted 04/03/09 rightsman Las Vegas,, NV

randydutton, Thank you for the information. How widespread is the internet use for education? Last year over 8,000,000 children were home educated. And a very well done on being a home educator! Those of us who did not educate at home, missed a great deal of our children's growing. Home educated children consistently score higher on standardized tests than those who attended public school. But, most important is the bad society of the public school system. In Boulder City, Nevada today a public school teacher was arrested on 29 counts of pornography with children. Mow many members of the school system in your city were arrested last year on sex charges? That situation alone is enough to keep your children at home and safe. Thank you, Robert Walker

Posted by randydutton on 04/03/09
Last updated 04/03/09

Impeachment proceedings against all the local, state, and federal politicians who are guilty of malpractice is the best way to get our country back.  Not one legislator who approved the stimulus bill read it beforehand.  If you had an attorney who signed a contract obligating you, and he hadn't read it, he would be fired, disbarred, and liable for punitive damages.  Why should our legislators be held to a lower standard?

I call on anyone with the means to initiate such action to step forward before it is too late.  Let's get our country back.