Daniel Howe has written a powerful piece in the Detroit News that should serve as a lesson for America…I hope President Obama reads it.

“Back when Michigan’s economy was merely troubled — before $4-a-gallon gas
and frozen credit markets pushed the auto industry into free-fall — Gov.
Jennifer Granholm warned the Big Mitten’s deepening economic problems could
presage what lay ahead for the nation.

I and other skeptics chortled, figuring the collective denial of economic
reality, anti-business rhetoric in Lansing, rote acceptance of labor’s
influence in policy-making, and higher tax loads on individuals and
companies here couldn’t possibly go national. The combination was too toxic,
too self-defeating, too steeped in a last-century worldview that had been
discredited by events and chronic failure.

But I was wrong.

Less than two months into a new administration in Washington, much of the
tone and substance coming from the Obama White House and its allies in a
Democratic-controlled Congress sound eerily familiar to weary Michigan ears.
At least they should.

There’s money for education, health care and alternative technology. There’s
the prospect of higher tax loads for some individuals and higher energy
prices for all. There’s a push to increase the influence of the labor lobby
by making organizing easier. There are rhetorical shots at business, some
undeserved. There’s even a Harvard Law-educated CEO who gives a great
speech.

Been there, done that.”

It sounds so familiar that it’s truly scary.  American can and SHOULD see Michigan as a model.  As I said rhetorically during the campaign, if you like what Jennifer Granholm has done to Michigan, you’re going to love what Barack Obama is going to do to America.  More truth than not?!?

Come to Michigan, America, to see where some of this could lead if a) it’s
not accompanied by plain recognition that business is the most effective
creator of jobs and b) the boss slow-walks remedies to serious problems, as
Obama is doing on the banking crisis.

We have a state capital whose strongest leaders aren’t the governor, the
speaker of the House or the Senate majority leader. They’re the heads of the
United Auto Workers and the Michigan Education Association, the two biggest
obstacles to the structural reform of state and local government despite
steadily declining tax revenues, population and per capita incomes.

Most of all, we have a penchant for addressing the symptoms of problems
because attacking the root causes is too hard. It doesn’t work.

This is a very powerful article that every policy should read and take into consideration as America slips down the same road Michigan has been on!

Manny Lopez writes a strong opinion column in today’s Detroit News…

“The act, which takes away the secret ballot process in union organizing, makes it possible for unions to establish themselves in a workplace with card signatures alone. It also provides for binding arbitration and makes decertification nearly impossible.

That may sound good to some here who have prospered thanks to the United Auto Workers, Teamsters or other labor groups. But when you take away the emotion and obvious political payoff for which the act was established, it’s clear that fairness and workers rights aren’t really at issue.

Increased union membership, and with it the associated dues to be used for political purposes, are at the core…

…With the nation’s highest unemployment rate, an industry that needs government loans to stay afloat and little hope of a turnaround, there’s no justification for scaring away or shutting down auto companies that still exist in this state.

Unions already have the right to organize. It should stay that way.”

See the full column here:

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090311/OPINION03/903110367

NOW OVER 100,000+

90,000 Americans Sign ‘Freedom Not Fear’ Petition While Congress Introduces Destructive ‘Card Check’ Bill

Card Check will cost the economy 600,000 jobs

WASHINGTON, DC—American Solutions announced today that more than 90,000 Americans have signed the “Freedom Not Fear” petition urging Congress to protect a worker’s right to a secret ballot election when deciding whether to join a union.   This comes on the day that the U.S. House and Senate introduced the so-called Employee Free Choice Act, also known as “Card Check,” which would strip workers’ of their private ballot rights.

The petition reads:

We, therefore, petition the U.S. Congress to ensure that every worker has the right to a secret ballot when deciding whether to organize a union, as well as the right to ratify the contract terms of their employment, rather than be forced to accept a contract through binding arbitration.

“Congress is stunningly out of touch with reality if they think the American people will support this destructive, job-killing bill.  It is a deliberate attempt by big labor bosses to undermine one of our most fundamental first principles – the right to vote freely without coercion,” said Saul Anuzis, Chairman of American Solutions’ Save American Jobs Project.  “These 90,000 Americans are the first of many more we will recruit on a state-by-state basis to bring constituent pressure to bear on their elected officials to defeat Card Check.”

Introduction of the Card Check legislation comes at a particularly unstable economic time when we can’t afford to lose more jobs.  In fact, according to the new study by noted economist Dr. Anne Layne-Farrar, An Empirical Assessment of the Employee Free Choice Act: The Economic Implications, an increase of 1.5 million union members in year one would lead to the loss of 600,000 jobs by the following year. 

“Small business owners are struggling to keep their doors open, and the last thing we need is more federally imposed work rules which will reduce competitiveness and kill more jobs,” Anuzis said.  “Instead of trying to pass this destructive bill, Congress should focus on positive solutions to create jobs and get our economy back on the right track.”

To learn more about the “Freedom Not Fear” petition drive, visit www.AmericanSolutions.com/FreedomNotFear. 

About American Solutions
American Solutions is a tri-partisan citizen action network founded by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.  American Solutions’ goal is to create the next generation of solutions that will ensure that the United States remains the safest, freest, and most prosperous country in the world and that will enjoy the support of a tri-partisan majority of Americans (Democrats, Republicans, independents).

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http://www.americansolutions.com/ResourceCenter/Read.aspx?guid=c7fa57b1-658f-462f-9e2d-7c07bec482c7

See the economic analysis by University of Chicago Professor on the potential job losses in our economy here.

Sign our online petition to help stop EFCA/Card Check legislation here, we need your support and efforts!

Go to AmericanSolutions.com/FreedomNotFear and sign.

Freedom Not Fear in the Workplace!

With the Democrats in control of both chambers of Congress, union bosses have pushed for the introduction the so called “Employee Free Choice Act”, better known as Card Check. With wide majorities in both the House and Senate, many believe this could pass fairly easily and be on President Obama’s desk sooner rather than later.

The Wall Street Journal reports that several moderate Democrats and the lone Republican supporter of the EFCA legislation are having second thoughts of the economic impact of such legislation.

A recently released study by University of Chicago economist Prof. Anne Layne-Farrar points out that if the union bosses estimates are correct, we could lose some 600,000 jobs the first year EFCA takes effect nationwide?!?

President Obama’s key economic advisor and business leader Warren Buffett came out on CNBC’s Squawk Box and said he opposed “card check”.  Adding the “Oracles” voice to those concerned about this legislation should carry some weight with Democrats. Not to mention Democrat Presidential candidate and former U.S. Senator George McGovern!

I have joined Newt Gingrich in organizing a nationwide, new media campaign to help stop EFCA in Congress.  We are collecting thousands of signatures online to turn into members of Congress and to encourage voters/activists to let their members of Congress know they oppose this reckless legislation, particularly during these tough economic times.  Our goal is to protect freedom in the workforce and not encourage fear through intimidation.

The key vote will be the vote for “cloture” in the Senate, which will call off debate and force a final vote on the bill.  The vote for “cloture” is “the vote” for the bill, therefore ALL eyes are on the U.S. Senate.  So sign our petition, encourage your U.S. Senators to oppose the “cloture vote on EFCA” and protect workers rights to a secret ballot and prevent government bureaucrats from setting the terms of their work conditions.

Go to American Solutions and sign our petition to help save American jobs and stop the union bosses and Democrats from playing these games.

AmericanSolutions.com/FreedomNotFear

“I think the secret ballot’s pretty important in the country.  I’m against card check to make a perfectly flat statement.”

“I understand the reasons for unionization…I think card check is a mistake.”

Warren Buffett on CNBC’s Squawk Box, 3-9-09

Join Newt Gingrich and sign our online petition to help stop this unprecedented power grab…and please, share this link with your friends:

http://www.AmericanSolutions.com/FreedomNotFear

INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY
http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=321237008223090

EDITORIALS & OPINION

End The Spending

INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY

Posted 3/6/2009

Leadership: In times like these, what’s another $500 billion between
friends? Or so it seems. The administration seeks another bailout, this one
for the FDIC, and warns of peril otherwise. Where will it end?

After a string of federal spending packages, the American Institute for
Economic Research now estimates new federal bailout and spending commitments
at $8 trillion. The list includes bank bailouts, auto bailouts, Freddie Mac
and Fannie Mae cleanups, the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility and
other “rescues” of troubled sectors.

It doesn’t even include a “stimulus plan” filled to the gills with earmarks
for such can’t-do-without projects as a mob museum in Las Vegas. No project,
it seems, is too small for a bailout or an earmark. All of it extends the
hand of government across the economy.

Take a look at some of the bombshells released recently:

. $500 billion in loans to shore up the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation, which guarantees bank deposits.

. An ill-defined $1 trillion bank bailout proposed by Treasury Secretary
Timothy Geithner, who doesn’t seem sure what he would use it for, only that
he has to have the money.

. A fat-laden $787 billion stimulus package that includes mortgage bailouts,
rewritten contracts and judges repricing bad debts from those who bought
more house than they could afford.

. An even porkier $410 billion omnibus bill to fulfill nondirect federal
spending with 8,570 earmarks for pet projects not even remotely connected to
any economic recovery.

Federal money is pouring out so fast you’d think the economy had been hit by
a nuclear bomb instead of battered by a housing downturn and weak corporate
balance sheets.

The economy can recover on its own, and there are signs it’s doing just
that. Cost-cutting, debt-repayment and productivity gains all restore the
economy without government help.

But that’s the opposite of what Congress is doing. In this time of supposed
emergency where belt-tightening is expected, the big spenders in Congress
are instead throwing themselves a party.

Perhaps the economy will survive this spending bacchanalia, but the stock
market isn’t encouraged. As Obama and Congress fiddle, some $3 trillion in
stock market wealth has been burned up in the space of just four months. Not
hard to figure why: All of the trillions spent now will have to be repaid in
the future.

The cash will come from Americans’ pockets, through tax hikes and higher
inflation. We’ll also put out a “for sale” sign for China, which will have
to finance our profligacy by buying our bonds.

What will be lost is money – money Americans could have spent themselves,
invested, or just saved for the uncertainties of the future or for
retirement. Color it gone.

This lavish government spending will add neither to our wealth nor to our
standards of living. It won’t contribute to productivity gains that lower
costs and truly spread the wealth to the poor. It won’t encourage savings or
lift anyone out of poverty. It won’t create new goods and services. And it
will never bring progress.

Washington’s spendathon offers nothing of value. It will calcify and
institutionalize a government-directed economy, costing us decades of the
private-sector advances we’ve grown to expect.

It’s got to stop, not only because the repeated splurges have caused
Congress to lose all sense of what money’s worth, but because it’s likely to
continue. In that spirit, we support House Minority Leader John Boehner’s
call for a spending freeze on Friday.

More uncontrolled spending will mean a weaker recovery, and our children and
grandchildren will get stuck with the bill. Thanks to this Congress, they’ll
have the sad distinction of being the first generation ever without hope of
doing better than their parents.

http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=321237008223090

Newt Gingrich asked me to Chair a national effort to protect workers rights and support “Freedom Not Fear” in the workplace.

In a closed-door meeting Tuesday, President Obama told over 100 top union officials that “we will pass the Employee Free Choice Act.” It’s now clear that President Obama, Big Labor, and their left-wing allies in Congress, will attempt an unprecedented power grab that is a mortal threat to our economy and our democratic values.

This is being done in a stealth manner because its backers know that this bill will not pass if the American people understand its destructive nature.

To expose and stop this effort, I’ve joined American Solutions as National Chairman of our “Freedom Not Fear” campaign, and you can join us by signing our petition here.

The Employee Free Choice Act, or “Card Check,” would eliminate the right to vote by private ballot when deciding whether to join a union, and it would undermine the right to freely negotiate contracts.

We can’t tolerate this. We must stand for freedom, not fear in the workplace. We cannot afford to be intimidated. Please stand with us now. This is about protecting our fundamental right to vote privately without coercion. It’s about protecting the right of employers and employees to negotiate freely. It’s about allowing businessmen and women, not bureaucrats and union bosses, to run our businesses. And in the end, it’s about saving and protecting American jobs.

Please sign the petition now.

http://www.AmericanSolutions.com/FreedomNotFear