Card Check Video Briefing

Critical Card Check Video Briefing from National Right to Work on Vimeo.

“I owe those unions ... When their leaders call, I do my best to call them back right away. I don’t mind feeling obligated.”-- President Barack Obama “The Audacity of Hope”

You’ve likely heard of the “card check” battle now going on in Congress. This is one of those once-in-a-generation battles Right to Work supporters have faced in the past.

Card check organizing eliminates the secret ballot for union organizing elections and replaces it with an abuse-ridden process in which the votes of workers are made public to union organizers.

The threat of passage of card check forced unionism legislation – fraudulently named the “Employee Free Choice Act” – is becoming greater by the day.

Why are the union bosses fighting so hard for card check?

Because associating with a union -- and Big Labor’s job killing, economy crushing agenda -- has never been less popular with American workers.

The union bosses know that American workers increasingly reject union “representation” when they have a choice.

The union bosses desperately want new members. They need a massive influx of new dues revenue to pay for their financially troubled pension funds and for their ever-more-costly and ambitious political activities.

But they can’t get these workers into their ranks anymore through the less-abusive secret ballot election.

The union bosses’ only option is a dramatic expansion of their coercive power. They must force employees into union ranks.

You should also know card check legislation is only one step in the union bosses’ plan to fully exploit their new political clout. Big Labor is also pushing to...

• ... force companies to fire workers who worked during a strike – something companies have not been compelled do for 70 years.

• ... blacklist employers and employees from all federal contracts unless they unionize or agree to allow card check unionization drives.

• ... raise taxes on companies that insist on defending employees’ access to a secret ballot election.

• ... force police and firefighters across the nation to be unionized -- opening the door for strikes that hold vital public services hostage.

• ... promote the establishment of “mini-unions,” small cells of workers who don't represent a majority but who could force an employer to bargain with them over pay and benefits.

• ... repeal Section 14(b) of the Taft-Hartley Act, thereby eliminating all 22 state Right to Work laws that make union affiliation voluntary – the cornerstone of workplace freedom in America.

My Plea to Republicans: It's Time for Real Change to Avoid Real Disaster

This article is from: http://www.humanevents.com

My Plea to Republicans: It's Time for Real Change to Avoid Real Disaster
by Newt Gingrich (more by this author)
Posted 05/06/2008 ET

"The Republican loss in the special election for Louisiana's Sixth Congressional District last Saturday should be a sharp wake up call for Republicans: Either Congressional Republicans are going to chart a bold course of real change or they are going to suffer decisive losses this November.

The facts are clear and compelling.

Saturday's loss was in a district that President Bush carried by 19 percentage points in 2004 and that the Republicans have held since 1975.

This defeat follows on the loss of Speaker Hastert's seat in Illinois. That seat had been held by a Republican for 76 years with the single exception of the 1974 Watergate election when the Democrats held it for one term. That same seat had been carried by President Bush 55-44% in 2004.
Two GOP Losses That Validate a National Pattern

These two special elections validate a national polling pattern that is bad news for Republicans. According to a New York Times/CBS Poll, Americans disapprove of the President's job performance by 63 to 28 (and he has been below 40% job approval since December 2006, the longest such period for any president in the history of polling).

A separate New York Times/CBS Poll shows that a full 81 percent of Americans believe the economy is on the wrong track.

The current generic ballot for Congress according to the NY Times/CBS poll is 50 to 32 in favor of the Democrats. That is an 18-point margin, reminiscent of the depths of the Watergate disaster.
Congressional Republicans Can't Take Comfort in McCain's Poll Numbers

Senator McCain is currently running ahead of the Republican congressional ballot by about 16 percentage points. But there are two reasons that this extraordinary personal achievement should not comfort congressional Republicans.

First, McCain's lead is a sign of the gap between the McCain brand of independence and the GOP brand. No regular Republican would be tying or slightly beating the Democratic candidates in this atmosphere. It is a sign of how much McCain is a non-traditional Republican that he is sustaining his personal popularity despite his party's collapse.

Second, there is a grave danger for the McCain campaign that if the generic ballot stays at only 32 % for the GOP it will ultimately outweigh McCain's personal appeal and drag his candidacy into defeat.
The Anti-Obama, Anti-Wright, and Anti-Clinton GOP Model Has Been Tested -- And It Failed

The Republican brand has been so badly damaged that if Republicans try to run an anti-Obama, anti- Reverend Wright, or (if Senator Clinton wins), anti-Clinton campaign, they are simply going to fail.

This model has already been tested with disastrous results.

In 2006, there were six incumbent Republican Senators who had plenty of money, the advantage of incumbency, and traditionally successful consultants.

But the voters in all six states had adopted a simple position: "Not you." No matter what the GOP Senators attacked their opponents with, the voters shrugged off the attacks and returned to, "Not you."

The danger for House and Senate Republicans in 2008 is that the voters will say, "Not the Republicans."
Republicans Have Lost the Advantage on Every Single-Issue Poll

A February Washington Post poll shows that Republicans have lost the advantage to the Democrats on which party can handle an issue better -- on every single topic.

Americans now believe that Democrats can handle the deficit better (52 to 31), taxes better (48 to 40) and even terrorism better (44 to 37).

This is a catastrophic collapse of trust in Republicans built up over three generations on the deficit, two generations on taxes, and two generations on national security.
House Republicans Should Call an Emergency, Members-Only Conference

Faced with these election results, the House Republicans should hold an emergency members-only meeting. At the meeting, they should pose this stark choice: Real change or certain defeat.

If a majority of the House Republicans vote for real change, they should instruct Republican Leader John Boehner and his team to come back with a new plan by the Wednesday before the Memorial Day recess. This plan should involve real change in legislative, communications, and campaign strategy and involve immediate, real action, including a complete overhaul of the Congressional Campaign Committee. The House Republican Conference would then vote for the plan or insist on its revision.

If a majority of the House Republicans are opposed to acting then the minority who are activists should establish a parallel organization dedicated to real change. This group should focus its energies on creating the changes necessary to survive despite a conference with a minority mindset that accepts defeat rather than fights for real change (which is what we had when I entered Congress in 1978).
Nine Acts of Real Change That Could Restore the GOP Brand

Here are nine acts of real change that would begin to rebuild the American people's confidence that Republicans share their values, understand their worries, and are prepared to act instead of just talk. The Republicans in Congress could get a start on all nine this week if they had the will to do so.

1. Repeal the gas tax for the summer, and pay for the repeal by cutting domestic discretionary spending so that the transportation infrastructure trust fund would not be hurt. At a time when, according to The Hill newspaper, Senator Clinton is asking for $2.3billion in earmarks, it should be possible for Republicans to establish a "government spending versus your pocketbook" fight over cutting the gas tax that would resonate with most Americans. Lower taxes and less government spending should be a battle cry most taxpayers and all conservatives could rally behind.


2. Redirect the oil being put into the national petroleum reserve onto the open market. That oil would lower the price of gasoline an extra 5 to 6 cents per gallon, and its sale would lower the deficit.


3. Introduce a "more energy at lower cost with less environmental damage and greater national security bill" as a replacement for the Warner-Lieberman "tax and trade" bill which is coming to the floor of the Senate in the next few weeks (see my newsletter next week for an outline of a solid pro-economy, pro-national security, pro-environment energy bill). When the American people realize how much the current energy prices are actually a "politicians' energy crisis" they will demand real change in our policies.


4. Establish an earmark moratorium for one year and pledge to uphold the presidential veto of bills with earmarks through the end of 2009. The American people are fed up with politicians spending their money. They currently believe both parties are equally bad. This is a real opportunity to show the difference.


5. Overhaul the census and cut its budget radically. The recent announcement that the Census Bureau could not build an effective hand-held computer for $1.3 billion and is turning instead to 600,000 temporary workers to do a paper and pencil census in 2010 is an opportunity to slash its budget, shrink its bureaucracy, and turn to entrepreneurial internet-based companies to build an information-age census. This is an absurdity that cries out for bold, decisive reform (see my YouTube video "FedEx versus federal bureaucracy" for an example of what I mean).


6. Implement a space-based, GPS-style air traffic control system. The problems of the Federal Aviation Administration are symptoms of a union-dominated bureaucracy resisting change. If we implemented a space-based GPS-style air traffic system we would get 40% more air travel with one-half the bureaucrats. The union has stopped 200,000,000 passengers from enjoying more reliable air travel to protect 7,000 obsolete jobs. This real change would allow the millions of frustrated travelers to have champions in congress trying to help them get places better, safer, faster.


7. Declare English the official language of government. This real change is supported by 87% of the American people including a majority of Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and Latinos. It is an issue of national unity that brings Americans together in a red, white, and blue majority.


8. Protect the workers' right to a secret ballot. The vast majority (around 81%) of Americans believe that American workers have a right to have a secret ballot election before they are forced to join a union. Last year the House Democrats passed a bill that would strip American workers of the secret ballot. A new bill should be introduced reaffirming that right, and it should be brought up again and again until marginal Democrats are forced to vote with the American people against the union power structure.


9. Remind Americans that judges matter. Senate Republicans should mount an ongoing fight (including a filibuster of other activities if necessary) to get the American people to realize that liberals want to block all current judicial appointments in order to maximize the number of left wing radical judges they can appoint if they win the White House. This issue has three advantages. It reminds people that judges matter and that a leftwing radical Supreme Court would be bad for the values of most (70 to 90 percent, depending on the issue) Americans. It shows the Democrats are not engaged in fair play. It arouses the activism of those who have been disappointed by Republicans and have forgotten how bad a liberal Democratic Presidency would be.

What Is at Stake

No Republicans should kid themselves. It's time to face up to a stark choice.

Without change we could face a catastrophic election this fall.

Without change the Republican Party in the House could revert to the permanent minority status it had from 1930 to 1994.

Without change, the majorities of Americans who support the Republican principle of smaller, more efficient, smarter and fairer government will be in for a rude awakening.

It's time for real change to avoid a real disaster.
The "May Day Massacre": Can Liberals Govern in a Global Economy?

Despite the poor outlook for conservatives in our elections this November, there is encouraging news from across the Atlantic. The conservative wave sweeping Europe hit England last week when the liberal Labor Party suffered its worst local election results in 40 years.

Boris Johnson became the first Conservative Party member elected mayor of London when he defeated Labour candidate "Red" Ken Livingstone. In contests for more than 4,000 local seats across England, Conservatives captured 44 percent of the vote, compared to 25 percent for the Liberal Democrats and just 24 percent for Labour.

This Conservative victory in England comes on the heels of a history-making rout of the Communists and the Greens in parliamentary elections Italy two weeks ago. And the Italian results follow center-right victories in France (Sarkozy) and Germany (Merkel). The countries of so-called "old" Europe are turning away from the liberal high tax, big government policies that have crippled their economies and are turning toward pro-growth, pro-competitive center-right solutions.

All of which raises the question: Can the Left successfully govern in a modern, global economy? The voters of Europe seem to be saying no.

Your friend,

Newt Gingrich"

The Reid-Pelosi-Obama (RePO) Team Vs. The Rest of America

The letter below is from: http://www.humanevents.com/

The Reid-Pelosi-Obama (RePO) Team Vs. The Rest of America
by Newt Gingrich (more by this author)
Posted 10/15/2008 ET

"First, this summer's economic bailout bill put the taxpayers on the line for $152 billion.

Then the housing bailout added $300 billion.

The Paulson bailout cost us another $700 billion.

Now Washington Democrats - already counting on complete, filibuster-proof control of the nation's purse-strings come November - are talking about spending another $300 billion on a "stimulus package."

That comes to a grand total of $1.45 trillion the taxpayers are being asked to provide for Washington's ideas on how to save the economy.

But here's the thing: Has anyone ever asked the people who are footing the bill - the taxpayers - how we'd like this money spent?

How would you spend $1.45 trillion to make America better? Today I'm going to give you an opportunity to tell America how you'd spend this money.

But first some news, with Halloween just around the corner, that should scare us all.

The Reid-Pelosi-Obama (RePO) Team Announces the Era of "Harsh Decisions"
They've been working hard to show us their happy face, but the mask of the Reid-Pelosi-Obama (RePO) team slipped a bit last week.

The Senate Majority Leader, the House Speaker and the Democratic Presidential nominee are already planning on a total Democratic takeover of Washington following the election, but here's the really frightening news: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that Congress may convene after the election to make "harsh decisions."

"Harsh decisions." Sounds scary.

Will RePO Make the "Harsh Decision" to Raise Taxes? Reward ACORN?
We should take Speaker Pelosi at her word. What "harsh decisions" does the San Francisco Democrat have in mind for America? Will they be tricks or treats?

Will the RePO Team make the "harsh decision" to raise confiscatory taxes on American businesses, the engine of jobs and economic growth?

Will they make the harsh choice to strip American voters of their right to a secret ballot when deciding whether or not to unionize a workplace?

Will they choose to send hundreds of millions of new taxpayer dollars to the radical leftwing group ACORN (on top of the hundreds of millions in this summer's housing bailout bill that went to radical groups including ACORN) in exchange for getting out the leftwing vote in the November election?

Will Reid-Pelosi-Obama rewrite deadbeat mortgages to steal from lenders and reward irresponsible behavior?

Just exactly who is going to find their decisions "harsh?"

In this Present Crisis, Government Isn't the Solution to our Problem
With just 21 days to go until the election, it's becoming clearer and clearer that the choice for Americans in 2008 is a choice between the kind of pro-special interest, pro-bureaucracy, "harsh" decisions the RePo Team isn't even waiting for the voters to ratify, or the sensible, center-right values of the rest of America.

In his first inaugural address, Ronald Reagan memorably said, "In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem."

A new Rasmussen Poll shows that a solid majority of Americans - 59%-28% - still agree with Reagan's statement.

Americans from across all age and income groups - including a majority who consider themselves politically moderate - believe that government, taxes and regulation and Fannie and Freddie-style government-backed corruption are what got us into this economic mess in the first place.

It is important to keep in mind that Reagan was not anti-government. As he said in that first inaugural, "Now, so there will be no misunderstanding, it is not my intention to do away with government. It is, rather, to make it work - work with us, not over us; to stand by our side, not ride on our back. Government can and must provide opportunity, not smother it; foster productivity, not stifle it."

It is as true today as it was when Reagan first said it in January 1981: in the present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem.

The "Harsh Decisions" Of One-Party Washington Vs. the Rest of America
And so the decision we face in November is whether we're going to pursue more of the same heavy-handed government policies that got us into this economic mess, or whether we are going to put government on the side of fostering the private sector creativity, ingenuity and entrepreneurialism that made this country great.

But Speaker Pelosi is right about one thing: Congress should return to Washington in a special session to address the ongoing economic crisis.

But instead of making the "harsh decisions" advocated by the RePo Team, Congress should pass a package of reforms that will address the immediate economic crisis while creating jobs, keeping America's energy dollars at home, and addressing the long-term health of our economy.

A Pro-Growth, Pro-Jobs, Pro-Energy Independence Agenda For Congress
Instead of $300 billion in new liabilities for the American taxpayers, Congress should take action on the following:

1. Zero capital gains tax - Countries without taxes on capital gains, such as China, Singapore, and Taiwan, are magnets for global investment. Economists like Alan Greenspan have called for removing capital gains in order to see increased economic growth and American competitiveness in attracting foreign direct investment and international corporations.


2. Repeal Sarbanes-Oxley - After the devastating crash of Enron and WorldCom, Congress rushed to pass a law to alleviate panic. Instead of enacting reform measures that would reasonably prevent fraud, they passed a burdensome, accounting mess. Sarbanes-Oxley is a disproportionate burden for small businesses and start-ups, and has forced many companies to move from New York to London.


3. Allow 100% annual expensing for small businesses - Small businesses create 7 out of 10 new jobs in America and account for more than half of the output of our economy. One hundred percent annual expensing would give small business more money to invest in new technologies, like computers and machinery, to improve worker productivity. Likewise, it would allow business to hire more employees.


4. Move to break up and privatize Freddie and Fannie - Corporate greed at Freddie and Fannie fueled subprime mortgage loans. Because subprime mortgages carried higher risk, they also offered a higher interest yield that gave executives an increased profit share. Given the government sponsored enterprise, they had lower capital requirements, and were implicitly backed by taxpayer dollars in the case that these assets should crumble. These institutions should be prevented from offering more subprime mortgages, and we should move towards privatizing them.


5. Provide a comprehensive plan to keep Americans in their homes - The summer's housing bailout bill gave $300 billion to renegotiate mortgages with homeowners, but forced lending institutions to take an immediate 10% cut in profit, giving little incentive for lending institutions to participate. The government could instead offer a no-interest loan to homeowners who are current on their mortgage payments and work with their lending institution to renegotiate their mortgages into a 6% fixed interest, 30-year loan. We should help those homeowners who have acted in good faith keep the keys to their homes.


6. Move towards long term investment strategies - Congress should look to investing in the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation to foster innovation and make America the most competitive market for research and development.


7. Develop an all-of-the-above energy policy - Imagine if we invested a fraction of the billion dollar bailout into developing, for example, more nuclear power and coal-to-synthetic natural gas technologies and infrastructure. We should continue to advance clean coal, biofuels, wind, solar, hydrogen, and natural gas technologies. Further, we should increase exploration and development of our own resources offshore and in oil shale, so that we are not defenseless against any energy cartels.


8. We should repeal all congressional money given to ACORN - ACORN is under investigation in a dozen states for voter fraud. We cannot afford to be subsidizing an organization that operates under the façade of providing community development and low-income housing, while it has a record of fraudulent activity. See this CNN report about ACORN voter registration fraud in Indiana, where ACORN provided 5,000 new voter registration cards. Indiana authorities started reviewing them and found that the first 2,100 were all fraudulent.


How Would You Spend $1.45 Trillion to Make America Better?
You've heard a few of my ideas, and you've no doubt read plenty about what the Washington establishment thinks we need to do to rescue our economy. But when was the last time someone asked you - the American taxpayer - how we should use the $1.45 trillion of your money Washington has generously offered to spend?

My organization, American Solutions, is interested in what you have to say.

Do you think we should use the money to invest in technology to make us energy independent? Click here and tell us how and why.

Do you think we should use the $1.45 trillion to transform our health system? Click here and let us know?

Or should we just give the $1.45 trillion back to the American taxpayers? Log on to our website and say so. My bet is you'll be the most popular person on the site.

Your friend,

Newt Gingrich"

"P.S. -- Three Ideas to Transform the Health Care Debate: So far, the presidential debates have raised more questions than answers on how healthcare must be overhauled in 2009. Both during and since my time in Congress, I've been striving to change our ailing system. Regardless of who wins the election, a new administration and Congress brings an opportunity for the United States to shift to a 21st Century Intelligent Health System. It means gritty work and long hours, beyond bureaucracy, with a focus on proven solutions. At the Center for Health Transformation website, we have put forward three proposals that must lead the debate into 2009. I encourage you to be an empowered patient and join our YouTube channel "HealthTransformation."