PAtownhall.com
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
PAtownhall.com
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Right to Work states gain 13 seats under 2010 census
by Susan Staub,
President, PA Right to Work
"There can be no liberty unless there is economic liberty." ~Margaret Thatcher
The latest government census data of population estimates is the clearest sign of the effects economic freedom laws can have on a states national power shift. According to the report, whereas Pennsylvania could lose one seat down to 18, 13 out of 14 of the fast-growing states are Right to Work states and could gain nine congressional seats largely at the expense of northern states, which are on track to lose 14 seats. Oregon is the only non-Right to Work state that might gain one seat. (Iowa is the only Right to Work state down one.)
With the current presidential election hype re-awaking citizens to government policy at all levels, the make-up of Congress looms on the horizon with the possible power shift. The latest estimates predicted that could influence the partisan construct going into effect in the 2012 election are a clear indication of the power state-by-state policy on economic freedom will have at all levels.
In a January 3, 2008 Policy Brief by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy, the issues are clear:
"Over the last seven years…Pennsylvania's total private jobs has grown
a scant 1.9 percent. During the same period, national private sector
employment climbed more than 4 percent and well over twice as fast as
Pennsylvania…Enacting Right-to-Work legislation, eliminating
prevailing wage requirements, cutting government spending at the
state and local levels, and reducing taxes will do more for increasing
jobs than any of the 'spend our way to prosperity' nostrums currently
being used by the state." (…Frank Gamrat, Sr. Research Associate
and Dr. Jake Haulk, President and CEO)
Additional evidence of Pennsylvania's failure to address the substantive issue of individual liberty in economic policy, the "2007 Index of Worker Freedom: A National Report Card" (published by the Alliance for Worker Freedom – www.workerfreedom.org) has given the Commonwealth an "F" grade with the comment:
"With nowhere to go but up, Pennsylvania has some serious strides
to make in protecting worker freedom. Overall, any policy or
legislation recommended in this index would be ideal for Pennsylvania
to move toward an environment where worker freedom is protected.
from right to work laws to paycheck protection, the employees in
this state would benefit from improvements on any of the ten
variables examined in this index."
Included among the variables referenced above are Right to Work (RTW), union density (UD), paycheck protection (PP), prevailing wage (PW), collective bargaining rights (CB), and public sector union membership (UM), all of which need serious discussion and adjustment in the Commonwealth.
According to the Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc., polls conducted and published by Chairman and CEO Lowman Henry, there is no question that Pennsylvanians want the Right to Work.
"The poll of 750 registered voters conducted in early October [2007]
found 56% of those surveyed support a Right to Work law, whereby
a worker cannot be compelled to join or pay fees to a labor union as a
condition of employment. Of the 56% who said they support a Right
to Work law, 35% said they 'strongly' supported such a law and 21%
'somewhat' support it. A total of 30% of the voters in the sample
said they oppose enactment…while 14% were undecided. Demographic
results of the Lincoln Institute show efforts to pass a Right to Work law
should gather momentum in coming years as support for such a law is
strongest among the youngest voters. Sixty-eight percent of voters
aged 18 to 24 favor enactment…while a plurality of 49% of voters over
the age of 65 indicated their support."
These studies and polls make it clear that our Commonwealth has the opportunity – with the appropriate choices – to renew the heritage of liberty promised by our forefathers to once again declare that Pennsylvanians cherish the individual liberty provided by economic liberty. With that, we can turn job loss, financial despair, and population loss around.
What it takes is a determined belief that it can be done and the will to do it. We are not giving up and we are not giving in.
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Contact Mrs. Staub at SStaub@PARightToWork.org for more information or to arrange a speaking engagement for your group or organization. Or visit their website at www.PARightToWork.org.
Pennsylvanians for Right to Work is not affiliated with any other Right to Work organization.
