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Home Archives for Heritage Foundation

5/22/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Big Labor Ramps Up Pro-EFCA Efforts with Biased Report, Religious Lobbyists

Update, 10:00 AM: Labor Pains' Justin Wilson has a more thorough refutation of Big Labor's new report here. In an effort to ramp up their efforts to pass the Employee Forced Choice Act (EFCA), Big Labor is touting a new report that suggests employers are rampantly breaking the law (PDF) during union organizing elections. The problem? The report's data all are based on interviews with union organizers -- hardly an unbiased source. But anything goes. While Big Labor appeals to EFCA apologists who need rational cover with impressive-sounding reports, it seems they also think they must appeal to the populist masses of religious believers. So they have sent clergy member lobbyists to Washington, DC, to insist that card-check legislation is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: advocacy, aligned, American, apologists, appeal, appointed, balance, believers, Big Labor, binding arbitration, breaking the law, card-check, chances, clergy member, coercion, Colorado, Democrat, deprive, economy, EFCA, efforts, elections, emerge, Employee Forced Choice Act, Employer Advantage, employers, expensive, George McGovern, God, Heritage Foundation, impressive-sounding, interviews, intimidation, jobs, labor law, legislation, liberal icon, lobbyists, mandatory, manufactured, masses, Michael Bennet, moral imperative, myth, nation's capital, new report, opposes, payouts, phenomenon, political desperation, populist, pro-union, procedures, protect, ramp up, rational cover, religious, Religious Left, secret ballot, skewing, social justice, source, stars, struggling, tactics, teetering, thousands, transparent, twin, U.S. Senator, unbiased, union, union organizers, union organizing, Washington DC, weak, weeks, workers, workplace

5/11/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

The Evidence Mounts Against EFCA, and Michael Bennet Still Can’t Decide

James Sherk of the Heritage Foundation (and a proud fellow Hillsdale College alumnus) breaks down the evidence to debunk the "Employer Advantage" myth at the heart of Big Labor's argument for the card-check bill before Congress:The law stacks the deck against employers in union drives. And – contrary to union assertions – the overwhelming majority of employers obey the law. Which is why unions rack up that impressive 2-1 win rate. The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace is right to say that the government should not tilt the playing field even more heavily in union organizer’s favor. That would hurt workers ability to make a free choice. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: alumnus, American jobs, argument, assertions, Big Labor, bill, binding arbitration, card-check, Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, Colorado, Congress, debunk, economic, EFCA, effective, Employee Free Choice Act, Employer Advantage, evidence, explained, free choice, George McGovern, harmful, Heritage Foundation, Hillsdale College, icon, imposition, impressive, influence, James Sherk, liberal, Michael Bennet, myth, newly-selected, opinion, playing field, political money, poorly-named, removal, represent, research, secret ballot, thousands, tilt, U.S. Senate, U.S. Senator, union organizers

4/8/2009 By Ben 2 Comments

Thanks to What?: Posing a Clear Litmus Test Between Left and Right

Blogging for the Heritage Foundation, Conn Carroll points readers to a clear litmus test between the Left and the Right. If you followed that link and said, "Hey, that's not a bad idea, why didn't I think of that?" -- it's pretty safe to say you're on the Left. On the other hand, if you laughed out loud and/or your stomach turned upon reading it, you must be on the Right. But here's my thought: If we're going to be showing our gratitude for painful certainties that show no sign of abating, why not a campaign to get people to say Thanks for this? … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, Cultural Conservatism, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, PPC, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: abating, campaign, certainty, clear, Conn Carroll, death, gratitude, Heritage Foundation, laugh, Left, link, litmus test, Right, stomach, taxes, thanks, turned

9/30/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Political Fault Lines Clearly Shifting Around Federal Bailout Bill Debate

One thing that's clear is the Congressional bailout debates have shifted political fault lines in unusual ways. The Denver Post highlights the odd split in Colorado's Congressional delegation: Mark Udall, John Salazar, Doug Lamborn, and Marilyn Musgrave against the bill vs. Tom Tancredo, Diana Degette, and Ed Perlmutter for it. Then, there's my two favorite fiscally conservative national think tanks. Co-authoring an issue brief for the Heritage Foundation, former Attorney General Ed Meese says the bailout bill was "vital and acceptable," while Cato Institute scholar Jagadeesh Ghokale notes:Overall, it's not a pretty picture--but score one for supporters of the free market who insist on allowing market reorganization of the financial … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, My Life, National Politics Tagged With: Attorney General, bad debt, bailout, billions, Cato Institute, Colorado, Congress, courage, debate, Democrat, Denver Post, Diana Degette, Doug Lamborn, Ed Meese, Ed Perlmutter, financial sector, free market, freedom, Heritage Foundation, Jagadeesh Ghokale, John Salazar, lesser of two evils, libertarian, Marilyn Musgrave, Mark Udall, policy, political fault lines, Republican, scholar, taxpayers, Tom Tancredo

9/25/2008 By Ben 2 Comments

Passing Thoughts on “Bailout” Debate

Passing thoughts on the "bailout" debate.... John Hawkins at Right Wing News:If the history of government intervention in this country has taught us anything, it's that we should be much more afraid of the long term ramifications of the government rushing through an emergency "solution" to a problem than the actual problem the government is trying to "solve" in the first place. Agreed. In that spirit, the Heritage Foundation has an excellent piece urging Congress to live up to its "deliberative" role in this debate. Meanwhile, Rossputin has recanted his initial tentative support of the administration's $700 billion bailout plan, writing:[Federal Reserve Chairman Ben] Bernanke is warning us that doing nothing poses serious risks to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics, property rights Tagged With: administration, bailout, Ben Bernanke, Congress, debate, deliberative role, emergency solution, Federal Reserve, government intervention, Heritage Foundation, insurance prices, John Hawkins, lawmakers, lender of last resort, market liquidity, market risk, moral hazard, Paulson Plan, price supports, recanted, Right Wing News, Rossputin, socialism, special interest goodies, taxpayer exposure, temporary, tentative support

8/4/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

The “Guerrilla Congress” Continues: A Reason to be Proud of GOP

From the Heritage Foundation blog: How refreshing ... I haven't had reason to truly be proud of Republicans in Congress in a long time. Just want to let the "guerrilla Congress" know that we're watching you out here in Colorado and cheering you on - ready to do what we can to help get the word out. Does it involve political posturing? Is it somewhat theatrical? Yes - but it makes the point: Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats don't even want to debate about a comprehensive energy policy. They aren't listening to the American people. Call Nancy Pelosi at 202-225-0100 - and your own Representative, too - to urge them to come back and debate the American Energy Act. Maybe, just maybe, the Republicans finally are listening … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, General, National Politics Tagged With: broken promise, Colorado, day off, Democrats, Energy policy, Guerrilla Congress, Heritage Foundation, Mark Udall, Nancy Pelosi, political posturing, YouTube

5/13/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Congressional Democrat Payback of Big Labor Marches On: Public Safety Edition

Update, Part Deux: Sources have contacted me to correct my update. The Act hasn't officially passed the Senate yet. The final vote will be later this week. The first vote was a procedural motion that appears to be a strong indicator of a final vote. Anyway, there is hope for this bad legislation to die yet. Update: Just as I was publishing this post, it looks like the Act has passed the Senate, with a lot of so-called Republicans also enabling the legislation. So goes the world... Unsurprisingly, the Democrats in Congress haven't accomplished much since they took over. Most notably, Nancy Pelosi's 2006 "plan" to bring down gas prices is still in the works. One special interest group to which Democrats have been busy pandering is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, General, Labor, My Life, National Politics Tagged With: Alliance for Worker Freedom, Big Labor, Congressional Democrats, Employee Free Choice Act, Heritage Foundation, Independence Institute, iVoices podcast, James Sherk, John Cooke, Nancy Pelosi, Public employee unions, union coercion, Wall Street Journal, Weld County Sheriff

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Ben DeGrow
Grateful and growing Christian, devoted husband and father of 3, public policy analyst, returned to Michigan by way of Colorado, conservative writer, lifelong learner, Detroit Tigers fan.

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