Page 6 — THE CONWAY DAILY SUN, Thursday, March 31, 2011
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Law’s intent is to destroy employee unions To the editor: There is an insidious plan to place all power in the hands of an elite few. This transfer of power would also transfer the wealth of the country from the middle-class to these wealthy elite. The methodology of this takeover is to convince the lower and middle-classes that such a transfer of wealth and power is in their own best interest. The mechanism to create this illusion is through propaganda. OK, OK ... sounds like a conspiracy theory, and I’ve never considered myself to be a conspiracy theorist. But ... Somehow, many of you have become convinced that the wealthiest Americans should not pay one more dime in taxes, because they will use that money to create jobs for you; but your public employees, who are desperately clinging to a middle-class lifestyle, should be reduced to the level of the “average” New Hampshire service-worker. After all, what right do they have to a living wage; or decent health care? Well, I haven’t seen Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, or the Koch Brothers recently in the Eaton Store, shopping at Aubchon’s, or eating at Bea’s or Banner’s. In all honesty though, since losing many of my retirement benefits, I probably haven’t frequented those establishments as often, so maybe I missed them. One of the mainstays of the middle-class has been the unions. Sure, there are bad unions, but overall through the last half of the 20th Century, the unions have fought for the benefits that many of us currently enjoy. The 40-hour workweek, job protection, and health benefits to name only a few. People are essentially greedy, and the few who employ the many, long ago
realized that any benefit they had to pay to their workers, meant less for themselves. So the question became how to eliminate the unions? Your representatives in Concord have figured out a way. Employee unions come about when a majority of the workers vote to be represented by a such a union. The union is then required to negotiate “All cost items and terms and conditions of employment affecting state employees ...” So how do you break such a union. Well, the legitimate method is for a majority of the union members to vote to decertify, or dissolve, the union. But if the union members don’t want to decertify, the legislature has other ways to accomplish the demise of the union system. House Bill 474, is the answer. The bill essentially says that although the majority of public workers voted for a union, employees cannot be made to join, and can avoid having union dues taken out of their pay. So workers can become what’s referred to as “tag-along” employees. They receive the benefits negotiated for the union workers, but don’t have to pay union dues. In essence, the law de-funds the unions in order to destroy them. Sure, it’s more complicated than that, but that is the sole intent, destroy the employee union. I support the union system, even with it’s flaws. I don’t want any more taken from the middle-class, who spend their money locally. There will be a vigil at the State House in Concord all day on March 31, in opposition to HB 474, and I intend on being there. So if I miss Bill Gates at Bea’s Cafe that morning, please say hello for me. Kenneth McKenzie Eaton
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Tom McLaughlin
In Dubious Battle There’s a war in Libya and we’re in it. the worst of the liberal baby-boomer world Obama Administration officials don’t want view. He’s a reflection of the people who to call it a war and they don’t want to call it a elected him. Baby boomers blame their parbattle either. They prefer to call it a “kinetic ents for the evils of the world; Obama blames military action.” President Obama ordered George Bush. He believes the world would our military to protect civilians in Libya who be a better place if it were not for capitalism were being killed by Colonel Kaddafi as he and U.S. foreign policy. Rather than believtries to wipe out rebels there who want to ing that America is an exceptional country overthrow him. It’s much more complicated in the history of the world, he sees America than that though, as as a problem. He’s a utowars always are. We’re pian who thinks people Until last week when he intervened, around the world would taking the side of the rebels in a civil war. Arab Muslim terrorists were killing each get along fine if they They’re going to ben“exploited.” The other in Libya and we didn’t have to weren’t efit as we restrict Kadworld would be all smildafi’s forces, but who do anything but watch. What could be ing happy people holdare these rebels we’re ing hands if it weren’t better than that? helping? If and when for U.S. imperialism. they take over Libya, Obama admires a will they be better than Kaddafi ? Let’s hope. Europe that has spent two generations Might they be worse? Evidence exists that apologizing and flailing itself for colonizing they could be worse, both for Libya and for Africa and Asia and then expanding socialus. We don’t know, and that’s the problem ist welfare programs for everyone, includwith what President Obama is doing. ing illegal immigrants. Now it looks like Does our president have a long-term policy he’s earnestly trying to copy those policies in the Middle East or is he just reacting to here in the United States. That both Europe events as they occur? Is he operating under and America are going bankrupt as a result the auspices of the United Nations? NATO? seems not to bother him. Is the United States leading this operation or As for dealing with the Middle East, Presifollowing? Who is with us and who is against dent Obama’s actions so far indicate that us? None of that is clear. If we’re protecting his plan has been to make nice speeches in civilians from a dictator, why are we doing Muslim countries apologizing for American that in Libya and not Syria, Yemen, Sudan, “arrogance” and all will be well there, but it Bahrain, or Iran in which civilians are sufisn’t working. They’re burning him in effigy fering fully as much as they are in Libya? just as they did George Bush. That the rebel Obama’s Secretary of Defense, Robert commander we’re helping in Libya fought Gates, advised him that Libya was not a against the United States in Afghanistan, threat to America and we had no strategic that he recruits al Qaida terrorists to his interests there. Several weeks ago, his Secside doesn’t seem to trouble our president. retary of State, Hillary Clinton, advised That they’re murdering black immigrants him that we needed to establish a “no-fly from sub-Saharan Africa doesn’t trouble him zone” in the country as soon as possible and either. so did Senator John Kerry but Obama did Until last week when he intervened, Arab nothing for two weeks. He claims to have Muslim terrorists were killing each other been a professor of Constitutional law, but in Libya and we didn’t have to do anything then he acted without consulting Congress, but watch. What could be better than that? which is constitutionally dubious and which Why mess that up? I just don’t understand the rationale and neither, it seems, does our prompted Ohio Democrat Dennis Kucinich president. I listened to his speech Monday to call for his impeachment. night, but came away still not understanding We have a commander-in-chief who can why we’re going further into debt and furread a speech from a teleprompter very ther committing our already overstretched well. While campaigning, he can appear military to install a government in Libya confident and smart to voters, 52 percent that shows all signs of being worse than terof whom elected him. Reading from a telerorist, transvestite, mentally-disturbed Coloprompter isn’t enough anymore, but it’s nel Kaddafi. increasingly evident that he isn’t good at If our commander-in-chief is going to much of anything else. He’s president now commit our soldiers anywhere, he has to though, and he has to make tough deciknow what the goal is, then use maximum sions. He can’t just vote “present” the way force to achieve it as quickly as possible. Or, he was accustomed to in the Illinois legdon’t go in at all. islature, but he’s avoiding decisions until he’s absolutely forced to make them — and Tom McLaughlin lives in Lovell, Maine. Libya is the result. He can be reached on his website at tomIs there some other way to make sense of mclaughlin.blogspot.com. all this? It looks to me like Obama epitomizes
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