The New Hampshire RLC is playing kingmaker in state politics.

In addition to having a tremendous say on specific legislative measures — such as the Right to Work and the House-approved budget — they’ve also advanced the RLC’s mission by helping elect a Speaker of the House, Majority Leader, and State GOP Chair who are each friendly to the liberty message.

Recently, the New Hampshire RLC aired radio advertisements on AM stations WGIR, WNTK and WKXL urging citizens and legislators to support the $700 million in cuts passed by the House being maintained by the State Senate. The RLCNH says that citizens should urge legislators to “support the House budget” and directs listeners to a new caucus website, NHBudgetFacts.org.

Conservatives view the state Senate as more moderate than the House, whose budget is about $700 million less than the current two-year budget. Senate President Peter Bragdon, R-Milford, has said the Senate budget will probably be the same size as the House-passed budget — but with different priorities. Bragdon also said the Senate appears to be opposed to the House-passed provision to remove collective bargaining protections for public workers when their contracts expire. The Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday removed that provision from the House-passed budget.

Earlier today, with the support of the New Hampshire RLC, the New Hampshire legislature approved Right to Work for the Granite State.

“This veto-proof vote is a clear sign that the Senate is listening to the voters who sent them to Concord to attract jobs to New Hampshire,” said Andrew Hemingway, chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire.

“A Right to Work law will make New Hampshire the only employee and business friendly environment in the Northeast. Everyone knows that a law that attracts new and growing businesses will attract good paying jobs.” States with similar Right to Work laws include Iowa, Virginia, and 20 other states.

If New Hampshire passes this law, it will create a magnet for businesses that will further enhance the New Hampshire Advantage, concluded the New Hampshire RLC.

The Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire and its members have been following the Right to Work bill and consider it a high priority for job creation and protection of New Hampshire’s working families. The caucus will continue to follow this effort as it heads to a committee of conference between the Senate and the House and urges veto-proof House adoption of the compromise language.

According to the New Hampshire Union-Leader, “(Andrew) Hemingway’s profile continues to rise as the influence of the Tea Party and liberty groups also continue to rise in the state. Hemingway says he has been invited to speak at Harvard’s Institute of Politics on April 26 in a forum on the “impact of the Tea Party on the 2012 elections,” along with Jennifer Beth Martin, national coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots.

Please get involved in the New Hampshire RLC today!

New Hampshire RLC Chairman Andrew Hemingway.

While Republicans in The Badger State Have Finally Gained a Backbone,
Some Wisconsin Teachers Have Failed Their Students

by Aaron Biterman

Recent protests in Wisconsin have captured the attention of residents in that state and anyone paying attention to politics nationally. Governor Scott Walker, elected in November after many years of total Democrat control, proposed what he calls a budget repair bill to close the $3.6 billion shortfall. The legislation, which has support from large majorities of the Republican-controlled House and Senate, will significantly curb the collective bargaining rights of public employees in the state and would require most government workers to contribute to their pensions and health care premiums.

Specifically, if passed, state employee wage increases will be in conjunction with inflation such that employee pension contributions will rise to 5.8% of each employee’s salary, health insurance premiums will rise to 12.6% of their total premium, state workers could opt out of paying union dues after current contracts expire, and union dues could no longer be collected automatically.

Governor Walker says that these items are necessary to prevent furloughs while also reducing the $137 million deficit, but the Wisconsin Educational Association (WEA) and President Obama claim that Walker is using his political power to take away worker rights while reducing union power in the state. Of course, as the 2012 election moves closer, Democrats nationwide are concerned about Wisconsin – a key swing state – and rightfully so. Democrats receive 65% of union contributions while Republicans receive roughly 1%; roughly 34% is given to non-partisan causes.

The WEA and the Wisconsin Federation of Teachers have a combined annual revenue of nearly $30 million, according to the Center for Union Facts. Additionally, while nearly 10% of private school teachers are fired due to poor performance annually, less than two percent of Wisconsin teachers are let go as a result of inadequate performance. This is because Wisconsin public school teachers are virtually untouchable after three years of service, after which they receive tenure.

Now Wisconsin teachers have taken to the streets of Madison to protest the budget-balancing act of their newly elected governor. Meanwhile, the 14 Democrats who are members of the Wisconsin State Senate decided to leave their state and their constituents to block the Walker budget repair bill. By hiding out in Illinois, the Senate Democrats have blocked the 20 votes needed to obtain a quorum because Republicans only have 19 State Senate votes to pass the bill.

Ironically, from 2006 to 2010, when Democrats controlled the legislature and governor’s office, the same Democrats who fled their state also spearheaded controversial legislation that Republicans were not able to block, including, but not limited to:
▪ State borrowing of nearly $1.5 billion despite an unemployment rate less than the national average;
▪ Raising taxes to the tune of $900 million on cigarettes, hospitals, oil companies, and real estate in 2007;
▪ Raising taxes with a $1.1 billion tax package in 2009 which broadened the corporate tax base, increased the top personal income tax rate, reduced the capital gains tax exclusion, and increased hospital taxes; and
▪ Each of these tax hikes was in conjunction with increases in spending.

In these examples, Republican lawmakers chose to show up and make their arguments in opposition to the Democrat majority. They did not flee to another state as the 14 Democrat State Senators have.

This brings us back to the sad truth about the Wisconsin union protests: Many teachers have left their students behind for their own self-interest.

That’s right; some teachers in Madison and Milwaukee have skipped school to enhance their own wages despite the fact that 90% of black fourth-graders in the state are not proficient readers, thereby making them last in the nation in this demographic group according to the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute. In 2009, 19% of Wisconsin high school students failed to qualify for service in the U.S. military as a result of their poor scores on the Army’s Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). Student achievement in Wisconsin is disparate with mediocre results, yet some teachers had the nerve to leave their students in the dust to picket at the Capitol for days at a time.

When it comes to teacher quality, Wisconsin’s results are even worse than its student achievement rates. The National Council on Teacher Quality gives Wisconsin a “D” (with “F” meaning a total failure) in four out of five categories from its 2009 “State Policy Yearbook.” The state fails to deliver well-prepared teachers, expand its pool of teachers, identify effective teachers, and remove ineffective teachers. Specifically, the study concluded that Wisconsin “fails to make evidence of student learning the preponderant criterion in teacher evaluations” and “lacks an efficient termination process for ineffective teachers.”

The essential truth about the budget repair bill is that teacher union bosses across the country are watching Wisconsin. They know that if a Democrat-leaning state like The Badger State reduces the special privileges of its state employees, they could lose tens of thousands of forced dues dollars, some of which are earmarked for the campaigns of politicians like President Obama. States like Alabama, Maine, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, and Virginia are considering following Governor Scott Walker’s lead on this issue to nip their budget shortfalls in the bud, too.

Freedom of association is a constitutional right and workers should be free to come together to organize. By the same token, teachers who don’t show up to class, legislators who run to another state, and doctors who write false sick notes should be held accountable. Thank you to Wisconsin’s teachers who continue to show up for work. These are the teachers that Wisconsin students can look up to as examples. Those who are not showing up have embarrassed themselves and their profession, and that’s the sadness in the Wisconsin union uprising.

Assuming the budget fix moves forward, there are some positives in the situation, too: the budget may finally balance, other states could follow the Wisconsin model, and a much-needed discussion about the special privileges that union power wields for public sector employees will have entered the public cognizance. We owe a debt of gratitude to Governor Walker and the Republicans in the Wisconsin legislature for their collective backbones.

_____________________________________________________________________________
Aaron Biterman is a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is a certified teacher in The Badger State. In 2007, he moved from Wisconsin to Virginia, where he currently resides. He is an Advisory Board member of the Northern Virginia Tea Party and is Vice-Chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus.

Wisconsin RLC Praises Governor Scott Walker’s Budget Repair Bill
State RLC Congratulates Endorsed Legislators, Governor

Yesterday, the Republican Liberty Caucus of Wisconsin, which has made state and national news as a result of several prominent events in their state over the past year, issued a statement supporting Governor Scott Walker’s budget repair bill.

Wisconsin RLC Chairman Michael S. Murphy of Milwaukee spoke in strong support of the repair bill. “The RLC-WI supports Governor Scott Walker and the Republican Legislation in their efforts to curtail runaway government spending. We also want to commend these brave lawmakers for standing strong against oppositional union forces, which have resulted in numerous threats to their safety already. The RLC-WI stands behind this effort 100% and we hope that not one Republican Legislator waivers in their decision to support this bill before it is made into law.”

Murphy continued, “We are especially proud of the seven RLC-WI endorsed State Representatives, who recently took office after winning their respective elections in November. They are truly upholding the RLC standard and keeping their committed promises to reduce government spending.” (Note: Wisconsin RLC Vice Chair Terri McCormick, who recently spoke at the RLC National Convention in DC, is herself a former three-term State Representative.)

The Wisconsin RLC continues to be the only voice for limited government and individual liberty in the Republican Party in Wisconsin. Governor Scott Walker has exceeded the Wisconsin RLC’s expectations and wishes the Governor well in the coming weeks.

Photo above: Wisconsin RLC members gathered in 2009 to form their state chapter.

Florida RLC Applauds Governor Rick Scott’s High Speed Rail Decision
State RLC Issues Press Release and Congratulatory Letter

Florida Governor Rick Scott’s decision not to accept a $2.4 billion federal grant for a high speed rail project was a “courageous choice”, according to a congratulatory letter sent today from the Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida.

In the letter, Florida RLC Chairman Matthew Nye told the governor, “When you spoke an RLC event back in September, you promised you would be making the tough decisions to get Florida back in fiscal order. With this decision, you are doing just that — and we commend you.”

The letter cites the recent Reason Foundation study titled “The Tampa to Orlando High Speed Rail Project: A Florida Taxpayer Risk Assessment,” which suggests the ultimate cost of the project could exceed expectations by $3 billion and these overruns would be borne by Florida taxpayers.

As noted by Florida RLC Vice Chairman John Stevens, the other issue at stake is our responsibility to demand fiscal responsibility at the federal level of government. “With a $13 trillion dollar national debt and deficits as far as the eye can see, state governors and legislators must send an unequivocal message to Washington DC that spending beyond our means — even if it would benefit their state — is no longer acceptable.”

A thank you letter was also mailed to Senate President Mike Haridopolos, who announced today he would stand by the governor’s decision. The press release was sent to about 90 media outlets across the state.

To let your legislators know how you feel on this issue, go here.

Florida RLC members gathered in 2009 to protest tax-increasing High Speed Rail. They just obtained a victory when Governor Rick Scott, an ally of the Florida RLC, blocked the rail plan.

In New York City, the Department of Sanitation, aka “New York’s Strongest,” are tasked with clearing the streets of snow. The sixth most powerful storm in city history pounded New York on December 26, leaving as much as twenty inches of snow covering the Big Apple. Three days later, hundreds of streets remained completely unplowed. New Yorkers, true to their reputation, complained loudly and long, with anecdotal information suggesting that something was amiss with the normal street cleaning operations.

On December 29, Mayor Mike Bloomberg visited a Hunt’s Point hardware store where he expressed his “disappointment” in the snow clearing efforts. ”We did not do as good a job as we wanted to do or as the city has a right to expect,” the Mayor said. ”I cannot tell you for sure why it was a lot worse this time than at other times.”

Harry Nespoli, president of the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association (USA), apparently had the answer which eluded the Mayor. Nespoli blamed the recent cuts to the Sanitation Department’s workforce, directly tied to New York’s budget woes, for the city’s “sluggish” response. ”The city currently has 2,400 men and women working 12-hour shifts following a series of cuts, he said.

RLC member and City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Queens) reported that three plow workers from the Sanitation Department, and two Department of Transportation supervisors who were on loan to Sanitation as part of the cleanup effort, came to his office and confessed that the inept response to the storm was a “shameless job action” perpetrated by Sanitation Department bosses in response to a “raft of demotions, attrition and budget cuts” necessitated by the city’s budget crunch.

”They sent a message to the rest of the city that these particular labor issues are more important,” said Halloran . “(Sanitation workers) were told (by supervisors) to take off routes (and) not do the plowing of some of the major arteries in a timely manner. They were told to make the mayor pay for the layoffs, the reductions in rank for the supervisors, (and) shrinking the rolls of the rank-and-file.”

Listen to Dan on FOX News.

While New York City sanitation workers worked to tow a front-end loader after it got stuck, they also destroyed a parked Ford Expedition in the process.

Senate Democrats are planning a vote on the “Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act” (S. 3628) – the “Disclose Act”, for short — THIS AFTERNOON.

This legislation has already passed the House, so it’s urgent you contact your Senators today.

The bill is a direct assault on participation in the political process.

It will force groups like the Republican Liberty Caucus to report our members to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC).

As a grassroots, all-volunteer organization, we don’t have the staff to prepare such reports.

By requiring us to spend time on reporting to the FEC, they are holding us hostage to federal regulations and reporting requirements. The result: The RLC will spend LESS time on our mission and more time complying with federal regulations that stifle free speech.

“The Disclose Act” will create a list of all people who donate to all organizations in support of political campaigns, to be posted on the Federal Elections Commission website.

This attack on free speech will particularly hit the groups in the liberty movement hard. They and everyone else will have unfettered access to our donors.

Please contact your  Senator today and ask them to VOTE NO on S. 3628.

As highlighted in the RLC’s latest press release, the House and Senate are considering versions of the Employee Free Choice Act, also known as “card check,” legislation that would place “an unreasonable burden on small and mid-sized businesses and would be a disaster for America’s already troubled economy,” warned RLC Chairman Dave Nalle. The House version of the bill is sponsored by George Miller (D) and already has 233 co-sponsors. The Senate version is sponsored by Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and has 46 co-sponsors.

“With such strong partisan support,” warns Nalle, “this ironically misnamed bill, which would take free choice away from workers, stands a very real chance of passing.” Under the current rules laid out by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), unions organize workers through a private election system with secret balloting and then bargain collectively with employers.

Under EFCA, American workers will lose the protection of the secret ballot which is a cornerstone of democracy. “If card check passes, workers will be coerced into joining unions against their will, swelling union treasuries with billions of dollars that will go to support the same Democrat politicians who have been promoting this bill,” said Dave Nalle.

According to statistics compiled by the National Institute for Labor Relations Research, over the five years from 2002 to 2007, private-sector jobs in Right to Work states increased from 40.92 million to 44.85 million, or 9.6%. Over this period, states which forced unionization on private-sector employers saw much smaller job increases, from 67.27 million to 69.72 million, a gain of just 3.6%. “At a time when we’re losing hundreds of thousands of jobs a month, placing roadblocks in the way of private employers is pure madness,” noted Nalle.

“EFCA is almost certain to pass the House, so the best hope for stopping it is in the Senate,” said Nalle. He suggests that concerned citizens write to Democrat Senators Baucus of Montana, Begich of Alaska, Bennet of Colorado, Dorgan of North Dakota, Lincoln of Arkansas, Pryor of Arkansas, and both Republican Senators from Maine. Nalle believes these Senators will play a deciding role in whether card check will pass and impose forced unionism on businesses and workers nationwide in 2009. “We have fought to ensure that we would have an economy based on free labor. Workers who are forced to join a union are not free,” concluded Nalle.

Founded in 1991, the Republican Liberty Caucus exists to promote individual liberty, limited government, and free enterprise within the Republican Party by: (a) promoting these ideals among Party officials and its various organizations, (b) identifying and supporting candidates sympathetic with these ideals, and (c) promoting Caucus membership among Republican Party registrants, officials, and officeholders.

When the Republican Party was founded, it formed around a nucleus of anti-slavery activists and northern labor reformers. They saw that the larger economic and political issue of the time, of which the abolition of slavery was only a part, was the idea of free labor. Slave labor was not free, and neither were workers in the industrial towns of the northeast who were in debt bondage to their employers. These 19th century liberals believed in free markets for the products of agriculture and industry and in a free market for labor, where workers were free to choose where they worked and to negotiate fair terms of employment based on market wages.

Abraham Lincoln was willing to go to war over this principle and hundreds of thousands fought and died to secure the right to live and work in an environment of freedom. In that era there was an understanding that labor and capital worked hand in hand for mutual benefit. This relationship was recognized in the Republican Party Platform of 1872:

Among the questions which press for attention is that which concerns the relations of capital and labor, and the Republican party recognizes the duty of so shaping legislation as to secure full protection and the amplest field for capital, and for labor — the creator of capital — the largest opportunities and a just share of the mutual profits of these two great servants of civilization.

Today there are those who would upset the balance between labor and capital and who would love to see an end to free labor and a return to a closed and controlled labor market where workers no longer have access to a free market of wages and opportunities. At the urging of labor unions who seek to establish monopolistic control over the workforce, Congressional Democrats led by Rep. George Miller (D-CA) have introduced a bill ironically titled the Employee Free Choice Act (HR1409). This act would take free choice away from workers and force unionization on workers in businesses nationwide without consideration of their best interests or preferences.

This bill, also known as “Card Check,” would take away the right which workers currently have under the National Labor Relations Act to decide whether or not to join a union under the protection of a secret ballot. The EFCA would instead allow a public vote with no protection for the rights of workers and do so using deceptively worded authorization cards where the mere action of agreeing to hold a vote may obligate workers to accept unionization. If a vote is held, the public nature of the vote will subject workers to intimidation, peer-pressure and coercion from union operatives, making it easy to bully them into joining. If card check passes, workers will be coerced into joining unions against their will, swelling union treasuries with billions of dollars that will go to support the same Democrat politicians who have been promoting this bill.

A study from the National Institute for Labor Relations Research found that forced unionization hurts businesses, workers and the economy by slowing employment growth. Over the five years from 2002 to 2007, private-sector jobs in Right to Work states increased from 40.92 million to 44.85 million, or 9.6%. In this same period, states which forced unionization on private-sector employers saw much smaller job growth, from 67.27 million to 69.72 million, a gain of just 3.6%. At a time when we’re losing hundreds of thousands of jobs a month, placing roadblocks in the way of private employers is pure madness.

It’s vitally important that government protect the right of workers to organize and form unions and negotiate freely for better wages and working conditions. But this does not mean allowing workers to be forced into unions against their will and when it is not in their best interests. Protecting the rights of workers includes protecting their right to privacy and to decide whether to join a union on their own terms without intimidation or interference. Card Check is designed to unbalance the relationship between unions and employers, between labor and capital and impose union membership whether it is needed or not, doing particular harm to smaller businesses where it is unnecessary and often causes prohibitive costs and job cuts.

With 224 co-sponsors, EFCA is almost certain to pass the House, so the best hope for stopping it is in the Senate where it does have 46 sponsors, but where Republicans and some responsible Democrats could still block passage. Key Democratic Senators who might vote against Card Check include Baucus (MT), Begich (AK), Bennet (CO), Dorgan (ND), Lincoln (AR) and Pryor (AR). Republicna Senators Snowe and Collins from Maine could also play a deciding role. You can contact these Senators and let them know that you believe in a free market for labor where government protects workers rights, not the ambitions of union bosses. We fought a Civil War to ensure that we would have an economy based on free labor. Workers who are forced to join a union are not free.

Be wary of the elected Congress, Labor Secretary nominee Hilda Solis, the President-elect, and numerous pro-union lobbying organizations once Congress takes session and the President-elect is sworn in.

An organization called Change to Win “intends to help President Obama pass the Employee Free Choice Act” within the first 100 days of Congress. The dangerous legislation (H.R. 800, S. 1041) would amend the National Labor Relations Act to give workers the option to form a union through a National Labor Relations Board check of authorization cards signed by a majority of employees.

In March 2007, the House passed the Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 800) by a vote of 241-185, but in June 2007, supporters of the bill in the Senate (S. 1041) fell nine votes short of the 60 needed to limit Senate debate and proceed to final consideration of the bill.

Be sure that Obama and the Democrats in Congress will have to pay back Big Labor for their elections: the forces of organized labor spent $1 billion to elect the President-elect and strong majorities in both the House and the Senate.

Other priorities for Big Labor in 2009 include:

1. Repeal of every Right to Work law in the country by federal fiat. This can be accomplished with repeal of section 14(b) of the the Taft-Hartley Act. State Right to Work laws, currently enforced in 22 states, secure the principle that no worker should be compelled to join or pay tribute to a union to get or keep a job. The states that have right to work have far outperformed forced-unionism states in numerous measures of economic growth and vitality.

2. Union lobbyists have another bill in mind — one which will force unionization on hundreds of thousands of public safety workers across America. The bill, dubbed the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act, would federally impose forced unionism on all first responders in America. According to the National Right to Work Committee, almost half of all states either do not permit union monopoly bargaining over police, firefighters, and EMTs or grant more limited forms of “exclusive representation.” Additionally, in the last twelve years, 16 state legislatures have rejected legislation that would force police, firefighters, and paramedics into union collectives.

Please do everything you can to oppose this anti-freedom legislation from passing. Big Labor’s agenda is at the top of the Democrats’ priority list once Congress starts its session.