The Whitman-Nurses’ Union Debate: Who’s Afraid?
The nurses’ union asks what Meg Whitman is afraid of in not agreeing to meet union members in a conference set up and controlled by the union. The question can be turned around and the union leaders can be asked why they are afraid of their own members.
The nurses union opposed Prop 75 in 2005, the paycheck protection measure, which would allow individual union members to decide it they want to give a portion of their union dues for political purposes. Union leaders opposed that measure because they were concerned about the answer they would get from individual members.
Just as Whitman’s polls show that many members of the nurses’ union support her positions, polls at the time indicated that many public union members wanted to make a choice on whether to dedicate dues for political purposes.
The ’LegisWeb Eye’ Legislative Web Portal Launches On July 1st
The
‘LegisWeb Eye’ is a new legislative information service, launching on
July 1st.
The LegisWeb Eye presents news, opinion, discussion, and the
latest official status on the policies of the State of California.
People who are interested in the developing laws of California will get
concise summaries from multiple points of view. News is gathered from
dozens of respected sources. Diverse opinions from Fox&Hounds,
other prominent bloggers and columnists, and the politicians that
represent California are presented together. Links are provided back to
the sources for the complete stories.
The site includes free basic bill tracking so that readers can follow the policies and issues as they develop.
Will Hiring Ever Return in California?
Will Hiring Ever Return in California?
That’s a question policymakers, job seekers and friends and relatives of job seekers are asking in the wake of the recent state unemployment numbers released a few weeks ago. Despite some attempts to put a positive spin on the numbers (the unemployment rate went down from 12.6% to 12.4%, the payroll jobs increased by 28,300) the numbers showed an economy that remains sluggish in terms of hiring.
The payroll job gain was the result entirely of additions in federal government employment, which were the temporary census jobs. Private sector jobs showed a net decline, as did jobs in state and local government.
Time to Dismantle the American Dream?
Cross Posted on NewGeography.com
For some time, theorists have been suggesting that it is time to
redefine the American Dream of home ownership. Households, we are told,
should live in smaller houses, in more crowded neighborhoods and more
should rent. This thinking has been heightened by the mortgage crisis
in some parts of the country, particularly in areas where prices rose
most extravagantly in the past decade. And to be sure, many of the
irrational attempts – many of them government sponsored – to expand
ownership to those not financially prepared to bear the costs need to
curbed.
But now the anti-homeowner interests have expanded beyond reigning
in dodgy practices and expanded into an argument essentially against
the very idea of widespread dispersion of property ownership. Social
theorist Richard Florida recently took on this argument, in a Wall Street Journal article entitled "Home Ownership is Overvalued."