Demise: Wisconsin’s third-largest school district says no thanks to union representation

What happens when teachers don’t have to join a union?

Today, teachers in Kenosha, Wis., voted to decertify their union, the Kenosha Education Association, by a margin of nearly two to one. Only 37 percent of the teachers opted to retain the union in an election made possible by the labor reforms enacted under Gov. Scott Walker (R). The result goes to show that when workers have a choice on whether to join a union instead of being forced into one by law, they often choose to vote down the union.

The Kenosha Education Association is the biggest one in the state to lose certification in the era of Gov. Scott Walker’s Act 10:

Under Act 10, public employee unions must be recertified every year by an affirmative vote of at least 50 percent of the employees. The Kenosha vote means the union is not legally authorized to represent Kenosha teachers on any matter, including bargaining for wages.

Teachers can still voluntarily make contributions to the decertified union and it can represent individual teachers if they wish. The union, however, no longer has any official status in Kenosha schools. It is the largest teachers union in Wisconsin to go under since Act 10 became law.

And, now for the downplaying:

Christina Brey, speaking for the Wisconsin Education Association Council, downplayed recertification, calling it just another hoop for local unions to jump through.

“It seems like the majority of our affiliates in the state aren’t seeking re-certification, so I don’t think the KEA is an outlier or unique in this,” she said.

Brey said the union still exists with or without the recertification vote.

“They just can’t negotiate over a small portion of what they want a voice in,” she said.

Via: Hot Air

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The Colorado recall was about more than gun control

There was much more going on in Tuesday's recall elections Colorado than an up and down vote on Second Amendment Issues. We may be looking at a bipartisan rebellion against a problem that afflicts both parties: lawmakers passing laws that make them feel virtuous but which are either ineffectual or actually make life worse for the voters. It was arrogance and overreaching that deposed the leader of the Colorado State Senate and a female Hispanic Democrat from a district where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by 24 percent.

As Glenn Reynolds noted after the Newtown mass shooting, what we really need is a waiting period for laws.

After every tragedy, legislation gets rushed through that's typically just a bunch of stuff that various folks had long wanted all along, but couldn't pass before. Then it's hustled through as a "solution" to the tragedy, even though close inspection usually reveals that the changes wouldn't have prevented the tragedy, and don't even have much to do with it.

Legislators like news stories that praise them for responding to the media's cry to Do Something! They also know there are seldom stories about how the media' preferred solution had unintended consequences because the media shares the political class's bias that all problems need a government solution-preferably the federal government, but state governments will do. Perhaps on Tuesday in two Democrat leaning districts voters rejected this approach. 

Could this be possible?  Consider how Public Policy Polling got burned in this recall election. 

Via: American Thinker

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Obama and Putin Tag Team no match for American Patriotism

Arrogant, but completely Marxist that two of the world’s top egos would turn around and blame American exceptionalism

Other than in their own ego-inspired imaginations, neither Barack Obama nor Vladimir Putin is too big to fail,  especially when braggadocio notwithstanding, they fall backwards into their own propaganda trap.

Both preside as presidents over soft tyrannies, one ruling what is left of a country that ruled with the brutal fist of Communism for 70 long years; the other who sees forced Marxism on an unwilling Republic as the fastest ticket to malcontent retribution and lifetime power.

Don’t fall into the trap that Obama and Putin are sworn enemies,  or that the more ‘manly’ Putin has trumped Obama and is on America’s side.  Both Obama and Putin work toward the same end: the elimination of America as world super power and the last place for freedom lovers to run to on Mother Earth.

Even the most cunning of Marxists politicians leave telltale signs for the masses they regard as dumbed down and asleep.  In this case, you don’t need a Colombo to see the giveaway signs.  Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin both use the same descriptions in deliberately undermining the USA.  It’s all that “American exceptionalism”, don’t ya’ know.

How arrogant, but completely Marxist that two of the world’s top egos would turn around and blame American exceptionalism for the ills they attribute to the USA.

Via: Canada Free Press

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Obama picks former acting budget chief Zients as economic adviser

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama has chosen former acting budget chief Jeffrey Zients to replace Gene Sperling as his top economic adviser, marking a shakeup in his advisory team while the White House struggles to gain traction for its economic agenda.

Sperling, a longtime economic adviser to Obama and to former President Bill Clinton, will stay through the fall to help with what are expected to be contentious talks with Congress about the budget and the U.S. debt ceiling. Sperling steps down on January 1.

Zients, a familiar figure at the White House, served two stints as acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, but was passed over for the top job.

"I am certain that in Jeff's hands we will continue to have strong leadership of our economic policy team and his advice will be critical as we keep moving this country forward and building an economy where everyone who works hard can get ahead," Obama said in a statement on Friday.

The president has tried to boost his public emphasis on jobs and the economy with tours this summer focused on housing policy and making higher education more affordable, but his message has been eclipsed largely by the attention in Washington on potential U.S. military strikes againstSyria.

Sperling, who worked on tax reform and job creation measures during his White House tenure, was "was central to designing policies to help support the housing recovery and was a driving force behind our manufacturing agenda and our efforts to attract jobs and investment to the United States," Obama said.

Via: Reuters

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California lawmakers approve measure to allow driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants

In the waning hours of the 2013 legislative session, the Assembly on Thursday sent Gov. Jerry Brown a bill allowing undocumented immigrants to receive driver’s licenses.

The surprise 55-19 vote moved California a signature away from putting into law a measure that immigrant advocates have sought fruitlessly for years, with past attempts thwarted by legislative vote and gubernatorial veto.

“This is a moment, members,” sponsor Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville, said in closing remarks on the Assembly floor, “that years from now you’re going to look back on.”

In a statement released shortly after the vote, Brown signaled he will sign the bill.

“This bill will enable millions of people to get to work safely and legally,” Brown said in the statement. “Hopefully, it will send a message to Washington that immigration reform is long past due.”

Earlier Thursday, the state Senate resuscitated the left-for-dead bill on a 28-8 vote and returned it to the Assembly, marking an apparent reversal: Alejo had said Wednesday that he would defer action on the measure until January.

Via: Sacramento Bee

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Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/09/13/5732492/california-lawmakers-approve-measure.html#storylink=cpy