Unions. Joan Bauer supports and is supported by organized labor. I, on the other hand, believe unions are a bad idea and always have been. I blame unions for the destruction of manufacturing in Michigan. Since mid-2000, 400,000 jobs have been lost in Michigan, 70 percent of them in manufacturing (U. of M. News Service, 11/16/07). Michigan has the nation's highest unemployment rate at 7.6%. The national rate is 5.0%
With the threat of strike, unions force employers to pay wages and benefits much higher than is necessary to attract qualified workers. This forces the company to raise prices on its product, putting it at a disadvantage with competitors and taking money out of the pockets of loyal customers.
Without unions, workers would be paid at a lower rate - the market rate - allowing companies to lower prices. Production would have to be increased to keep up with increased sales. More workers would have to be hired. More people working means more people paying taxes and less receiving unemployment compensation and welfare. Tax rates would go down along with prices. The average disposable income for Michigan residents would go up.
Production and income are two ways of looking at the same thing: when production increases, income increases.
I realize that Democrats aren't supposed to be against unions, but I'm too liberal to be a Republican, the party that has given us 8 years of George W. Bush. I think Democrats are wrong on the union issue, their ability to reason weakened by the money unions contribute to Democratic candidates. Being against unions and for a free, open labor market is the proper liberal position. An open labor market provides the most good for the most people.
In her 2006 campaign, Joan Bauer received contributions from a wide variety of organizations, but the UAW and the MEA were among the top five at $2500 and $2000 respectively. Other union contributors were the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 333 of Lansing at $1000, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers/IBEW-COPE of Washington D.C. at $500, and the Michigan Professional Firefighters Union at $300. Her campaign website boasts of union endorsements and quotes Paul Hufnagel, President of the Greater Lansing Labor Council, as saying Bauer "has the experience and vision to continue fighting for labor-friendly policies.
More power for unions in Michigan is exactly what we do not need.
He attacks tax breaks for seniors - a most interesting political position (as if attacking unions wasn't enough to take on).
