How are the mighty fallen

Grey Fedora examines the Obama win.

Permalink: http://progressives.blogspo t.com/2008/11/how-are-might y-fallen.html
Comments: You should check out the comments at this link and offer your opinion on Unions and whether we should have them.

It wasn't so very long ago that the pundits were predicting the durable Republican majority. Democrats were to be reduced to a beleaguered, regional minority. How are the mighty fallen!

But lest we boast too much; regardless of electoral college totals, Obama won only 52% of popular vote. George Bush, with a slightly slimmer majority went on to govern with impunity, pretending there was no opposition. From the beginning, he shut out any dissenting voices. The energy policy was written with input from oil companies only. Labor found itself completely disenfranchised. Even moderates within the Republican Party were routinely shouted down. Soon, they began to believe the echo chamber, with disastrous results. Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Even though many Democrats (me included) remember the swaggering Republican arrogance of the last eight years, the fear-mongering, the pandering to the lunatic fringe, the attempted politicization of the Justice Department, the thousand insults and questions about our patriotism from right-wing radio; and are in no mood to be magnanimous in victory, for our sake, Obama needs to be. So far, he shows every indication that he will follow this course. I think his cabinet choices will also confirm this.

While holding fast that arrogance, racism, and bigotry have no place in his administration, there needs to be room at the table for dissent. Otherwise, Congress is liable to revert to Republican control next election, and we will be back to gridlock.

I think one of the first issues where we will see this played out is the Employee Free Choice Act, which was a great sleeper issue in this election. The EFCA is the Roe vs. Wade issue of the Labor Movement.

The Dems owe Labor big time on this, but it is vehemently opposed by business groups. Without a filibuster proof Senate majority, I doubt EFCA will pass.

Instead, as a union member, I hope to see the replacement of Bush appointees on the NLRB with more labor friendly faces, a crack down on labor law violations by companies, stiffer penalties, and speedier resolutions of grievances.

This is the spirit of compromise that I hope to see in Washington during an Obama Administration. I don't expect Republicans to roll over and let every Democratic initiative become law of the land. The eagle needs both the left wing and the right wing to fly, so here's to our opposition. Long may they live, for they keep us honest.

< Anything -- well almost anything -- is now possible | The Blue Man Cometh! - Plus, I endorse Sarah Palin for 2012! >

Poll

Are Unions Good for American Business?
Yes 16%
Yes, but there needs to be reform 41%
Not Sure 0%
No 41%

Votes: 12
Results | Other Polls
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This is one area where Obama's economic policy and political expediancy will actually reinforce each other.

One of the overlooked parts of the famous "Joe the Plumber" encounter was what Obama said about how Joe's hypothetical plumber business would benifit from having customers that could afford to hire him. This is fundamental to the narrative that Obama will build about economic recovery following on from FDR. It is no accident that the last time income disparity was this wide between CEOs and workers was 1929. The right never understands this but for the rich to get richer the companies they own need customers. In the absence of union pressure there is no "free market" pressure to increase wages in line with productivity and inevitably you get "gilded age" disparity. What happens in the cycle is that a new technology or resource opens up a middle class. In the first part of the last century it was mass production. Henry Ford (evil bastard though he was) recognized that he could not sell his cars if nobody could afford them. He calculated the price of the model T and the wages he paid based on how many months work it would take for one of his workers to be able to  buy one as well as feeding and rent. He then calculated back to define the fastest growth achievable for each rate of pay including the calculation of union pressure on other employers based on the rate of pay he was paying.

This calculation led to the middle class. THEN the CEOs began to agitate against union power and gradually via cartells and other pressure bust the unions. Wages started to fall fast. To maintain growth credit was made cheap and easy and so the growth contiued for a while despite falling real wages due to debt. Then in 1929 the bubble burst just as it did this time for the same reasons. FDR re built the middle class with the help of unions.

Obama will teach this lesson to the American public again and will start with the first principle laid out in his agenda  (See change.org) By increasing the minimum wage and indexing it. (in fact indexing the MW is actually potentially going too far but I suspect the plan is to negotiate indexed MW against EFCA and so pass a minimum wage with anual but unidexed review with the passing of the EFCA. Pump money to the middle class and so grow the economy the only way that actually works via increasing earnings of the middle class. 

by Scotty12 on 11/07/2008 05:03:01 PM EST

Great stuff bro...I have posted your response at this post's original location.

Click Here: The Progressive Movement

by redwingsm on 11/07/2008 05:08:56 PM EST

[ Parent ]
The main problem with the Employee Free Choice Act is the card check provision. This prevents workers from casting a private ballot, and allows union organizing thugs to twist arms, break legs, and intimidate employees. EFCA also repeals the “Right To Work” designation under Taft-Hartley.
It’s no mere coincidence that Right To Work states are the fastest growing states in terms of business growth and population growth.
right to work
This article from the New York Times provides an overview of the trend without going after the underlying problem, a union mentality that is pervasive in the Northern states. This is what is driving the remaining manufacturing market south. When Ohio or Michigan lose a car plant job, they also lose about 20 allied industry jobs such as car part manufacturing.

The general migration trend from the Rust Belt to the Sun Belt is beyond dispute. Young people are moving from north to south/southwest, and leaving the old people behind to die. That’s why deaths are surpassing births in the northeast.

“Much of the increase in the populations of the fastest growing states was due to migration of residents from elsewhere.”

There is a dramatic population shift from north to south/southwest, and the shift in political power of the regions is an excellent barometer of the trend. In the future, we will see Georgia with more congressmen than Ohio, and Florida with more congressmen than New York, and North Carolina with more congressmen than Pennsylvania.

by KenTX on 11/07/2008 06:42:59 PM EST

....there won't be a business or military base in texas....maybe just a couple of tumbleweeds and groundhogs....

by sfinneganus on 11/08/2008 11:50:24 AM EST

[ Parent ]
you spent time at Fort Hood and Fort Bliss.

Those guys see tumbleweeds and prairie dogs.

by KenTX on 11/08/2008 12:01:00 PM EST

[ Parent ]
All of the new car plants are being constructed down south. The reason is the anti-union, anti-Democrat, anti-taxes attitude.

Nissan in Canton, MS
nissan 

Hyundai in Montgomery, AL
hyundai
 
Honda in Lincoln, AL
honda

Mercedes in Tuscaloosa, AL
mercedes
Toyota Tundra  in San Antonio
toyota
 
Saturn in Spring Hill, TN
saturn
BMW in Spartanburg, SC
bmw

by KenTX on 11/08/2008 12:14:42 PM EST

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