Elizabeth Warren Wants to Empower Unions at Workers’ Expense
Last month 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren proposed an overhaul of federal laws that make it easier for unions to recruit more members and increase union dues. Unions are a big constituency within the Democratic Party and Warren needs all the help she can get. She argued that her union reforms would help workers and raise wages.
It’s no secret that labor unions are big players in Democratic Party politics. During the last presidential election cycle, the Center for Responsive Politics reports that unions spent a hefty $219 million. 88 percent of that money was donated to Democrats or spent in support of their candidates. In contrast, a measly 12 percent of union spending benefited Republicans. Logically, Democratic contenders are already trying to court Big Labor’s support for 2020. Bernie Sanders and Beto O’Rourke(Before he ended his campaign) have presented similar legislative packages that would greatly strengthen labor unions.
Warren’s plan consists of banning right-to-work laws, which force workers to join a union or pay union dues if their workplace is unionized. On top of that, her legislative package would allow unions to organize by the coercive “card check” method, mandate that drivers for rideshare companies such as Uber and Lyft become employees instead of independent contractors, and allow graduate students to unionize.
The Massachusetts senator’s opposition to right-to-work laws makes sense due to Big Labor’s hatred of such policies, which usually result in reduced union membership and lower union dues collections. On the other hand, everyday citizens — the forgotten man — in these discussions, witness lower costs of living, better labor flexibility, and less of a tax burden thanks to the policies that make union membership voluntary.
The card-check method would compel companies to accept unions if organizers present cards that demonstrate approval from more than 50 percent of the workforce. Current law allows companies to request the federal government to hold a secret ballot election to make sure that unions actually have worker support. The elimination of the secret ballot via card check would likely create incentives for false claims of support and even subject workers to potential intimidation from union members now that their privacy rights are effectively null.
Warren also proposes a national version of a California law that mandates gig economy titans such as Uber and Lyft no longer classify their workers as contractors and instead categorize them as employees. Contractors are treated as an independent company and are not eligible for the majority of benefits and protections afforded to workers under federal law, such as minimum wage and mandatory overtime pay. Gig companies are correct in opposing these kinds of measures. The gig economy gives workers unprecedented flexibility in setting their schedules and working as much as they desire.
Additionally, Warren wants to grant more privileges to federal government workers by granting them the ability to strike. Curiously, Democratic leaders such as Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Jimmy Carter have been opposed to unionizing federal workers because of the disruption they feared that would cause. Further, public sector unionization involves taxpayers being held hostage any time negotiation disputes arise between the government and unions. More often than not, these disputes end with unions extracting hefty benefits at the taxpayer’s expense.
In short, Warren wants to use the federal government to empower unions.
If people want to support unions in their private affairs, that is their prerogative. However, the state’s involvement in labor organization does create a series of second-order effects that infringe on the freedom of association and also impact everyday citizens in the form of poorer public services, higher costs of living, and increased taxes, among other things.
A more practical approach to labor organization is to devolve power to the states and let policymakers in those jurisdictions decide how unions will be organized.
It’s no secret that labor unions are big players in Democratic Party politics. During the last presidential election cycle, the Center for Responsive Politics reports that unions spent a hefty $219 million. 88 percent of that money was donated to Democrats or spent in support of their candidates. In contrast, a measly 12 percent of union spending benefited Republicans. Logically, Democratic contenders are already trying to court Big Labor’s support for 2020. Bernie Sanders and Beto O’Rourke(Before he ended his campaign) have presented similar legislative packages that would greatly strengthen labor unions.
Warren’s plan consists of banning right-to-work laws, which force workers to join a union or pay union dues if their workplace is unionized. On top of that, her legislative package would allow unions to organize by the coercive “card check” method, mandate that drivers for rideshare companies such as Uber and Lyft become employees instead of independent contractors, and allow graduate students to unionize.
The Massachusetts senator’s opposition to right-to-work laws makes sense due to Big Labor’s hatred of such policies, which usually result in reduced union membership and lower union dues collections. On the other hand, everyday citizens — the forgotten man — in these discussions, witness lower costs of living, better labor flexibility, and less of a tax burden thanks to the policies that make union membership voluntary.
The card-check method would compel companies to accept unions if organizers present cards that demonstrate approval from more than 50 percent of the workforce. Current law allows companies to request the federal government to hold a secret ballot election to make sure that unions actually have worker support. The elimination of the secret ballot via card check would likely create incentives for false claims of support and even subject workers to potential intimidation from union members now that their privacy rights are effectively null.
Warren also proposes a national version of a California law that mandates gig economy titans such as Uber and Lyft no longer classify their workers as contractors and instead categorize them as employees. Contractors are treated as an independent company and are not eligible for the majority of benefits and protections afforded to workers under federal law, such as minimum wage and mandatory overtime pay. Gig companies are correct in opposing these kinds of measures. The gig economy gives workers unprecedented flexibility in setting their schedules and working as much as they desire.
Additionally, Warren wants to grant more privileges to federal government workers by granting them the ability to strike. Curiously, Democratic leaders such as Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Jimmy Carter have been opposed to unionizing federal workers because of the disruption they feared that would cause. Further, public sector unionization involves taxpayers being held hostage any time negotiation disputes arise between the government and unions. More often than not, these disputes end with unions extracting hefty benefits at the taxpayer’s expense.
In short, Warren wants to use the federal government to empower unions.
If people want to support unions in their private affairs, that is their prerogative. However, the state’s involvement in labor organization does create a series of second-order effects that infringe on the freedom of association and also impact everyday citizens in the form of poorer public services, higher costs of living, and increased taxes, among other things.
A more practical approach to labor organization is to devolve power to the states and let policymakers in those jurisdictions decide how unions will be organized.
Nationwide, 7.3 percent of American adults have concealed carry permits. Ten percent of adults in 13 states have permits, with Alabama having the highest concealed carry rate at 26.3 percent, Indiana coming in second at 17.9 percent, and South Dakota rounding off in third place at 16.02 percent. In terms of total concealed carry permit holders, Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Texas have the highest number of people carrying concealed. Florida became the first state to cross the 2 million permit mark in 2018.
Americans recognize the value of the right to carry unlike the political class and the media priesthood. Most Americans can’t afford the luxury of private security services and instead rely on police who are often minutes away when seconds count in active shooter situations. Concealed carry offers a more reliable and cost-effective form of self-defense.
What we’re witnessing now in the form of increased concealed carry is the product of decades of policy work to reform gun laws in a way that empowers law-abiding citizens. The 
When we cut through the media sensationalism and Trump’s unconventional antics, we see one of the boldest attempts in the past few decades to scale back the administrative state. Trump’s 
The two companies have been under the 
This same poll also found that 50 percent of millennials — those between 23 and 38 years of age, and 51 percent of Generation Z — those aged 16 to 22, have somewhat or very unfavorable views of capitalism. This represented an increase of 8 and 6 percent, respectively, from the previous year. In comparison, 44 percent of Generation X, 33 percent of Baby Boomers, and 33 percent of the Silent Generation responded that they were somewhat or extremely likely to vote for a socialist candidate.
Overall, capitalism is still viewed more positively than any other system. Pollsters found that 61 percent of people viewed it favorably in 
Simon was rather frank in his view on current drug policy:
“We have a government that, despite the growing volume of evidence that would support such a move, sticks with the war on drugs, the avoidable criminalisation of people, often young people, and the hypocrisy of cabinet ministers who admit to drug use themselves and yet they’re happy to lock others up.”
Simon’s suggestion might not be so far-fetched. Economists like Peter Boetke and Chris Coyne have demonstrated that drug prohibitionist tactics of launching 
More families are starting to break the mold by homeschooling their kids. The report from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) detailed educational trends in America over the last decade. The NCES is mostly known for running the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), which is better known as the “Nation’s Report Card.” The last time the NCES released a similar report was back in 2007. So, an update to the state of education in America was long overdue.
The data reveals that public school enrollment dropped from 74 percent in 1999 to 69 percent in 2016. Although this is not a dramatic shift, it does highlight that there is a growing segment of the population that has lost confidence in government schools. Importantly, the homeschooling data are quite intriguing. The key takeaway from this study is that unprecedented numbers of American students are being homeschooled, going from 850,000 in 1999 to 1.7 million in 2016.
In addition, the NCES questioned parents about their reasons for opting for home education. The principal reason they cited was the school environment, which covers a host of issues such as safety, drugs, and peer pressure that parents feel would be detrimental to their children’s well-being. Thirty-three percent indicated that the school environment was their principal reason for homeschooling. The other two reasons that parents reported for getting their children out of the government school system was their dissatisfaction with the quality of instruction at public schools (17 percent) and their desire to provide religious instruction (15 percent).
Education has become a sacrament in our political religion of mass democracy. Treated as a 
Such claims would belong in an online conspiracy forum in a saner political era, however today they pass as talking points for mainstream Democrats and the journalistic class who support them. What we’re witnessing now is a push to stoke a new Cold War when it’s clear that Russia has abandoned the expansionist foreign policy and totalitarian domestic policy of its Soviet Union predecessor.
Former U.S. ambassador to Russia, Jon Huntsman, offered some interesting insights about U.S.-Russia relations in an 
Student debt is one of the biggest issues facing millennials and other young voters based on the magnitude of the burden. Take, for example, the total cost of outstanding student loans in America. In 2009 they sat at a whopping 
Los Angeles and Chicago have also witnessed similar trends, with 201 and 161 people fleeing these two cities in 2019, respectively. Of the top ten cities that had the largest number of arrivals, Seattle was the only cold-weather city that made the list
People like to think this development is a coincidence and a product of people just casually moving to warmer climates. However, there’s more to this story. States like California and New York are notorious for policies that increase the cost of living for working-class families to live in and complicate business operations.
According to the Cato Institute’s Freedom in the 50 States 
Under right-to-work, workers cannot be forced to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. It restores some semblance of the 
