The march toward communism continues…

I don’t know what the deal is lately, but it sure seems that I’m getting under peoples skin. Maybe it’s being confined to the Krusty Konservative World Headquarters during these winter months, or maybe it’s because I believe there are some things worth fighting for. As many of you know, I’m a passionate person and I tend to drone on and on certain issues that I care deeply about or don’t want to see screwed up.

So for those people who get a little angry with me, just remember I do what I do because I care. I want to see the gas tax defeated, I want to see those Republicans who support raising it find other ways to pay for our roads. I want to see Bob Vander Plaats become a better candidate for Governor than he’s been in the past, and I want to see a strong unified effort to defeat the four bills the Labor Unions are trying to pass through the legislature.

You know I learned a lot from my coaches in high school. To this day I still live by some of the things they said to me. Sayings like, “if it was easy everyone would do it,” or “you’ve got to want it.” The other thing that I learned is that when the coach yells at you at half time, it’s because they know you can do better. If they didn’t think so they would spend the time coaching up your backup instead of trying to motivate you. I have not called for anyone to be benched; I just want to see some better play out on the court.

Speaking of better play on the court, the Association of Business and Industry is out with a new media campaign fighting back against the Labor Unions. I’m told ABI’s grassroots media campaign will include radio, web, and direct mail. ABI’s message is a simple one:

“Only a small percentage of Iowans belong to unions, but these bills force the union agenda on all Iowans. It’s a fairy tale if they believe that these measures won't drive up property taxes, health care costs, and decrease the paychecks of working families,” said Mike Ralston, ABI President. "We want to encourage all Iowans to share their views with legislators on these controversial proposals that will cause real damage to our job climate,” he added.

I couldn’t agree more.

Chet Culver and the Democrats increased spending by a billion dollars in just two years. This reckless spending has now caused a budget crisis that is now affecting every service that state government provides. Culver’s lazy approach to the problem will force local governments to increase property taxes. If they hadn’t done enough damage to the state, they now want to absolutely ruin Iowa’s business climate, or what’s left of it by passing these labor bills.

So why should you care about these four bills? Maybe this will help motivate you:

You will be forced to pay union dues even if you're not a member.

Your health care costs will skyrocket because they want to turn Iowa's well-respected worker's compensation system on its head.

Your property taxes will immediately go higher, as school boards will lose their authority to control contract costs, and municipalities will be forced to pay construction costs that are set by union wage levels, not competitive bidding.

The story the labor unions are telling the people of Iowa is a fairy tale as ABI says.

The unions say they speak for average, hard working Iowans. WRONG, they speak for only about 12% of Iowa workers

The unions also say that this really won't cost us anything. WRONG, it’s going to drive up costs, and force local communities to increase property taxes.

The unions want to cut competition, raise construction prices, raise wage levels for union bosses, cut deeper into non-union worker's paychecks, and put increased pressure on the highest property tax structure in the country as well as our health care system that is already teetering on the abyss.

The union agenda doesn’t sound like the American Dream which was instilled in me as a young child. You know the idea that if you work hard and take care of yourself you can accomplish anything. Instead the union dream sure sounds like it came straight for the Communist Manifesto, something which I encourage all of you to read, because it sure seems like that’s where we are heading.