Posted on 05/15/2011 10:02:07 AM PDT by Nachum
At a hearing held this past week by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions, it was amusing to watch the Democratic majority be thoroughly outmatched by the minority Republicans on the committee. The minority managed to divert the subject of the hearing to the National Labor Relations Board and its ridiculous job-killing complaint against Boeing.
The chairman of the committee, Tom Harkin (D-IA), called the hearing to discuss “The Endangered Middle Class: Is the American Dream Slipping Out of Reach for American Families?” Harkin called perfectly predictable witnesses who stuck to the party line, like former Clinton administration official Robert Reich. Reich couldn’t understand why we didn’t raise “taxes on the rich” so all citizens could share in the gains of our economy. We are in the terrible position we are today, according to Reich, because we “deregulated and privatized” and “slashed public goods and investment.” With record debt, Reich believes the government is still not spending enough! Forgive him: his economics are stuck in 1937, looking up at the Commanding Heights.
Another witness, Heather Boushey, is a forgettable economist from the Center for American Progress who claimed the supposed “decline in our standard of living” is due to “the decline in union membership across our nation.” Her economics were stuck in 1956 — she spent most of her time attacking our “Wal-Mart” economy. Apparently having one of the most successful retailers in the world hurts the economy in her view. (Her testimony is hardly surprising, given her father is a retired Boeing union machinist in Washington state.)
(Excerpt) Read more at pajamasmedia.com ...
Do we even need the NLRB? One man can stop a huge company like Boeing from doing business where they want? In America?
Is it huge? No.
But yes it matters. It matters that they showed spine in a Senate Hearing. It means they might show spine to the media and in front of voters. Does this hearing by itself solve anything? No, but it’s a small battle in a bigger war. They all matter.
And yet again today, your dead on correct.
Most Americans are now so disconnected from even the slightest understanding of government that they will have never even heard of the NLRB, won't know what a Senate Committee even is, nor have much idea who their own Senators are or where they stand on such issues.
Sadly, if most people hear anything about this at all it will be through the MSM's leftist lens and all they will get is something like "more pressure on Congress to raise taxes on the wealthy to save the middle class". Doubt the MSM even covers the Boeing issues.
A good example of what is happening would be 3 strikes laws and mandatory sentencing. The sheeple vote for Democrats because they want to "help people". The Democrats naturally hide much of their agenda to get elected. Once elected these Democrats put radical leftists on the bench. These radical left judges use their throne and ACLU views to let criminals walk free. The public gets angry about criminals getting a free pass. And here is the disconnect. The sheeple don't make the association between the liberal judges and the Democrats they voted for - and the MSM does its level best to conceal this cause and effect. People eventually get angry and pass laws to force judges to put criminals in prison. Liberal judges try their best to get around such laws. Cycle continues. The whole while people simply know so little about how government works that they can't understand that their votes for leftist Democrats is resulting in the very liberal judges who are letting criminals go.
truthguy is right that the smear media covered this up and minimized its impact but C. Edmund is still correct to say “But yes it matter”.
It always matters to grow spine and fight back, even when the smear media hides the fight from public view.
Especially now, with the internet making the incident at least publicly available, even if not publicized.
The MSM will alwaty try to get us to select spineless candidates. .... it's axiomtotic..... thank God Huckabee dropped out.... he has the weakest spine of the lot....btw that's why he dropped out.... no spine and he is only looking out for himself. e.g. $$$$
And if nothing else, Freepers — who are among the harshest critics of spineless Republicans - at least know they are showing some cojones on this issue. It matters for that reason if for no other.
Only a small step, but it IS in the right direction.
You are right.
Why stop there?
Sure, disinterest and inattention are the cardinal directions for way too many voters.
But that is changing...for the better. To claim that it's not is to disrespect the Tea Party movement, a substantial number of awakened American voters and the efforts of those who are working at the grassroots.
C. Edmund is right. More and more people are paying attention. And even small battles are worth winning.
In 1934, "one man" - Senator Hugo Black - relentlessly pursued Bill Boeing to destroy his United Aircraft Trust - a vertically integrated company that built airplanes, engines and flew them as an airline - oddly named United Airlines.
Why? Because a bunch of unions - including the newly formed Airline Pilots Union - were jealous of Boeing and its market power, claiming that Boeing gave itself low prices for airplanes while charging high prices to airlines that could not build their own.
How awful. A bunch of unaccomplished jerks, incapable of doing the work and unwilling to risk the money to do it decided that what they could not build, they would steal.
So Senator Black accused Boeing of doing everything except molesting children - and authored the 1934 Air Mail Act. This act dismembered Boeing, and made it ILLEGAL for them to ever own and operate an airline.
Kind of like saying that you can build cars, you just can't drive them.
This was all done at the behest of unions.
One man. Who did nothing in his life except act out his resentments at people who did more then him.
One man.
ANYTHING with POS Harkin’s name on it is dirty trash... he makes Iowa smell bad and it ain’t our hogs... he’s worse...
Well, the republicans need to totally defund the NLRB as soon as possible. It is nothing but a tool of the unions. We have a really screwed up government.
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