Another Example of Why Politics Sucks ... The Tyranny of the Present ... Freedom, Unions, Politicians and Right-to-Work in Ohio

The tyranny of the present means that we tend to accept the way things are instead of correcting previous mistakes and making things the way they should be.

In that vein, compulsory union dues are a great example of why politics sucks and why our so-called experiment in self governance, aka representative democracy, often doesn't work that way at all.

We live in an individual freedom based self governing society where our elected officials act as representatives of We the People. Or at least that's the way it's supposed to be. Our U.S. Constitution so provides.

Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness are ours as Americans. They're natural rights and not given by government officials. Our Declaration of Independence so stated.

Among other things, freedom means having the right and oportunity to make our own choices about becoming members of labor union at our places of employment.

The individual right to keep MOM for ourselves or turn it over to unions to provide representation that we don't want is exactly what right-to-work legislation is all about.

So if all that is true, and it is, what are the Ohio politicians doing in not allowing Ohio's workers their freedoms? Ohio's Right to Work has the story:

"The Republican-controlled Ohio Senate has shelved legislation that would make Ohio the 25th right-to-work state. That's unfortunate, as are the reasons offered by Senate President Keith Faber.

 

Ohio Gov. John Kasich

"We have an ambitious agenda focused on job creation and economic recovery, and right-to-work legislation is not on that list," said Mr. Faber, according to a report Thursday in the Toledo Blade. But the experience of states that have passed right-to-work laws, which forbid requiring someone to join a union, is that these laws are conducive to economic growth. . . .

The real reason that Mr. Faber and other GOP leaders in the state are backing off of right-to-work is because they—and Republican Gov. John Kasich, who is up for re-election next year—are afraid that Democrats will use the issue to paint the GOP as anti-worker. And to be sure, union leaders in the state have already compared Republicans to Nazis simply for proposing right-to-work legislation.

"The only purpose this discussion serves right now is to generate a bunch of breathless fund-raising appeals from the Ohio Democratic Party," said Mr. Faber. So this is really about a lack of political will. It's about taking an issue off of the table that Republicans believe might hurt them in an election year. Fine. But don't suggest to voters that right-to-work laws are incompatible with "job creation" when the opposite is true. And when the reality is that states neighboring Ohio have adopted these laws and subsequently made themselves more attractive to businesses."

Summing Up

Whatever happened to the fundamental idea that free Americans enjoy the right to choose to join or not join groups, including labor unions?

Brazen politics and being called Nazis by union leaders for proposing right-to-work legislation have scared off the Republicans from doing the right thing in Ohio. Score another victory for big government and big unions, and another loss for individual freedom, competitiveness and We the People in the Buckeye state.

The term 'self serving' is often an all too accurate description of politicians belonging to both political parties. Sometimes the choice between electing Democrats and Republicans is no choice at all. Politics sucks.

As a result, Americans are denied both freedoms and the opportunity for economic growth in order that the game of politics can continue uninterrupted in the Buckeye state and many others as well.

That's my take.

Thanks. Bob.