Contract Negotiation the Union Way…

This should be interesting.  Governor-elect Tom Wolf will be sitting across the negotiating table with his largest campaign donors (to the tune of 2.7 million dollars).  You have to wonder who will represent the taxpayers of Pennsylvania.  We have serious challenges ahead of us — such as the underfunded Pension System — and neither Wolf or the government unions admit there is a problem.

More from TribLIVE here…

Government Unions Spent $2.7 million to get Tom Wolf Elected PA Governor…

Don’t expect any real reform (Education or Pension) out of Harrisburg anytime soon.  Newly elected Governor Tom Wolf owes a big debt to government unions, and the rest of us will pay the price.  Taxpayer dollars support the collection of union dues, which are used to buy influence in Harrisburg.  Time to end this practice by supporting Paycheck Protection.

Check out the facts from the Commonwealth Foundation here

Capitalism gets no respect…

Good commentary from Jonah Goldberg regarding NPR’s treatment of capitalism…     

Consider NPR. As a brand, it claims to be standing athwart capitalism because it’s “public.” What that means exactly is a bit unclear, since it still allows corporations to fund its programming in exchange for audio endorsements none dare call commercials and relies on the kindness of listeners to keep it afloat — listeners who, one way or another, make their money from you-know-what.

Indeed, speaking of the decade in capitalism, National Public Radio failed to mention that Joan Kroc, widow of Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald’s, left more than $200 million to NPR in 2003. Mrs. Kroc’s generosity of spirit was her own, but the wampum is all capitalism’s, baby.

Free markets and capitalism get no respect… 

Every good thing capitalism helps produce — from singing careers to cures for diseases to staggering charity —  is credited to some other sphere of our lives. Every problem with capitalism, meanwhile, is laid at her feet. Except the problems with capitalism — greed, theft, etc. — aren’t capitalism’s fault, they’re humanity’s. Socialist countries have greedy thieves, too.

Free markets are in disrepute these days, particularly by the people running Washington. For them, government is the solution and capitalism is the problem. If they have their way over the next decade, they won’t cure what allegedly ails capitalism — people will still steal and lie — but they will impede everything that makes capitalism great. And that will be bad for everyone, even NPR.

School choice is real change!

The best way to increase the general wealth and prosperity for all Americans is to improve education by supporting school choice.  It is time to end the government and labor union control of public education.  Money is not the problem.  We already spend enough on the failing public school system.  The bureaucrats always find new, innovative ways to waste our money on lucrative teacher’s contracts, excessive administration costs, unsustainable pension plans, health plans, political campaigns, ball fields with artificial turf, and of course condoms.

The teacher unions blame the government (not enough money, low salaries) and parents (no support, too poor, don’t care, not involved) for failing to educate our children.  They are wrong.  The system simply lacks consumer choice.  Most people can’t afford to send their kids to private schools.  Here’s an idea: require all elected officials to send their children to an inner-city public school.  We’d see school choice in about a week…

Democrats have controlled big city government for the last 25 years and aligned themselves with teachers unions and government bureaucrats while schools have steadily declined.  This is a national disgrace.  Sadly, only about 60% of Philadelphia high school students will ever graduate.  We can do better.

Let’s give parents more control and responsibility for the education of their children.  Introduce competition and bad schools will either improve or be forced out of business.