Pennsylvania House Approves Forced-Unionism Amendment

Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives this week passed a measure to enshrine forced unionism in the state Constitution. 

The proposed law is identical to an Illinois Constitutional Amendment enacted last year. It would prevent lawmakers from adopting a “right-to-work” policy protecting nonunion workers from being forced to pay union dues. It would also counteract any state statute that checks labor organizations’ power, thereby vastly increasing public-sector unions’ bargaining clout. 

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Pennsylvania House Committee Passes Forced-Unionism Amendment

A bill to enshrine union coercion in the Pennsylvania Constitution passed the state House Labor and Industry Committee 12-9 on Monday. 

The measure, identical to an Illinois constitutional amendment that Prairie State voters narrowly ratified last autumn, would prevent adoption of a “right-to-work” law saying nonunion workers can’t be forced to pay union dues. More broadly, the amendment would counteract statutes that check the power of labor organizations and, opponents fear, give public-sector union contracts primacy over state law. 

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Commentary: The Libertarian-Socialist Axis

On the surface, it might seem ridiculous to suggest libertarians and socialists work to further the same political agenda. Their ideologies are diametrically opposed. The extreme version of a socialist system is for all property to be owned and controlled by the government. The extreme version of a libertarian system is for all property to be privately owned. And yet the extremes meet. 

The unwitting consequence of socialist and libertarian movements in the United States has been to assist in the formation of an unprecedented concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a corporatist elite that has perfected its ability to manipulate both movements.

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Far-Left Congresswomen Rally Behind Tennessee Congressional Candidate Odessa Kelly

Odessa Kelly, who is challenging incumbent U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-7) for reelection, is touting the backing of three of Congress’s most left-wing members. 

Representatives Ilhan Omar (D-MN-5), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA-7) and Cori Bush (D-MO-1) issued the endorsements on Monday. The congresswomen are members of what many observers call “The Squad,” a six-member coalition of far-left U.S. House members who advocate for such causes as police defunding, Medicare for All and the Green New Deal.

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Schumer Endorses Socialist in Buffalo Mayoral Race

India Walton and Chuck Schumer

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday endorsed India Walton, a democratic socialist, to be the next mayor of Buffalo.

“As Buffalo voters start to head to the polls this weekend, I urge them to cast their ballot for India Walton as the next mayor of Buffalo,” Schumer told The Buffalo News. “India is an inspiring community leader, mother, nurse and a lifelong Buffalonian with a clear progressive vision for her hometown.”

Schumer’s endorsement is the most high-profile one Walton has received. Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, another democratic socialist, called Walton’s nomination an “important step forward for the working people of Buffalo” in June, but other New York Democrats, including Gov. Kathy Hochul and Rep. Brian Higgins, who represents Buffalo in the House, have stayed silent.

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Commentary: Biden’s Desperate Race to the Lying Bottom

On Monday, Joe Biden uncorked the largest lie of a 50-year political career overstuffed with them.

“My Build Back Better Agenda costs zero dollars,” he tweeted. “Instead of wasting money on tax breaks, loopholes, and tax evasion for big corporations and the wealthy, we can make a once-in-a-generation investment in working America. And it adds zero dollars to the national debt.”

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Commentary: So, About That Che T-Shirt…

Let’s say that all you knew about Adolf Hitler was that he painted scenic pictures, postcards, and houses in Vienna, loved dogs and named his adorable German Shepard “Blondie,” and frequently expressed solidarity with “the people.” You might sport a T-shirt adorned with his image if you thought such a charismatic chap was also good-looking in a beret. But your education would be widely regarded as incomplete.

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Commentary: Soros, Steyer Are Not the Only Billionaires Working to ‘Change the Country’

You might not have heard of them, but billionaires John and Laura Arnold have given millions of dollars to liberal politicians and causes in recent years. Several years ago, Laura Arnold told a Houston newspaper that “at the most basic level, the mission is to change the country… So we ask in what areas…can we make the biggest impact? We’re open to doing anything.” She went on to say, “We think of ourselves as sort of R&D for the country… A kind of laboratory for the country. We pick the idea up, whatever it is, and make it happen by whatever means necessary.” Just who is this power couple, and what have they been funding?

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Commentary: Bernie Sanders Oppressor of the Working Class

by CHQ Staff   Presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders has pledged to American workers that he would institute a $15-per-hour minimum wage if he wins the White House in 2020. But, reports Dom Calicchio of Fox News, unionized workers on Sanders’ own campaign say they wish he would start now — by paying a higher wage to them. In a letter to Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir, Mr. Calicchio reports the campaign staffers claim they “cannot be expected to build the largest grassroots organizing program in American history while making poverty wages.” “Given our campaign’s commitment to fighting for a living wage of at least $15.00 an hour,” the letter continued, “we believe it is only fair that the campaign would carry through this commitment to its own field team.” The field organizers claim that their long hours working on behalf of Sanders drop their actual pay to about $13 per hour. “Many field staffers are barely managing to survive financially,” the union letter says, “which is severely impacting our team’s productivity and morale. Some field organizers have already left the campaign as a result.” Sanders’ campaign manager Shakir seemed to paint a different picture Mr. Calicchio reported, “We know…

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Commentary: The ‘Linda Problem’ and Why Democratic Socialists Flunk Logic 101

by Barry Brownstein   Consider the following facts: Venezuela is a country with vast natural resources. Once it was one of the wealthiest countries in South America. Venezuela nationalized many vital industries such as oil. Price controls were instituted, and hyperinflation destroyed savings. Supermarket shelves emptied, and some even killed zoo animals for food. Malnutrition, even starvation, is common. Essential medicines, such as antibiotics, are unavailable. The ruthless despot who runs the country has stolen billions. He gives long speeches filled with socialist slogans and claims American interference, not socialism, has caused the failures of his regime. Which alternative is most likely? Venezuela is a failed socialist regime. Venezuela is a failed socialist regime, and the US caused its failure. No matter how you feel about US foreign policy, this is a question in pure logic. The question I posed is a variation on Nobel laureate in economics Daniel Kahneman’s famous Linda problem. Despite what many think, it is impossible for a conjunction of two events to be more likely than one event alone. The Linda Problem in Venezuela Democratic socialist-leaning Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is sure that if Venezuela has failed, it is not the fault of socialism. Appearing on the television…

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Bernie and Biden Are Leading the Field in Iowa by Enormous Margins

by Chris White   Former Vice President Joe Biden and self-avowed socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders are leading the polls in Iowa, according to a poll published Sunday. The two septuagenarians are so far besting their younger, female Democratic opponents in the race to unseat President Donald Trump. Nearly 27 percent of likely Democratic caucus attendees say Biden is their first choice for president, according to a new Des Moines Register poll. His numbers are down slightly from the 32 percent who said the same in December, but it still tops every other Democrat vying for the top spot. Biden is leading the pack even though he has not yet entered the race. Biden has a 2-percentage-point advantage over Sanders, a Vermont Democrat who runs to the left of the former VP. The poll of 401 likely Democratic caucus attendees was conducted March 3 through 6 and contains a 4.9 percent margin of error. Analysts argue the poll should put some wind in Biden’s sails as he considering an announcement. “If I’m Joe Biden sitting on the fence and I see this poll, this might make me want to jump in,” J. Ann Selzer, president of the Des Moines-based Selzer & Co., which conducted the poll,…

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What Sherrod Brown Refusing to Run Means for 2020 and the Future of Ohio

Ohio’s only potential 2020 contender announced Thursday that he wouldn’t run for president. After taking a three-month tour of key battleground states, dubbed the “Dignity of Work” Tour, Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown’s decision shocked many who saw him as one of the best chances to defeat President Trump. No one can say for certain why he chose not to run, but a great deal can be said about what his not running means. As previously reported, Sherrod Brown’s entire campaign strategy revolved around him being able to harmonize a message that would appeal to the blue-collar working class that turned away from Democrats in 2016, with the recent Democratic-Socialist philosophy that currently dominates that 2020 Democratic political conversation. His plan was to reach out to blue-collar workers across America and declared; “dignity of work means hard work should pay off for everyone, no matter who you are or what kind of work you do.” That having a job wasn’t enough; one must have security and prosperity. From here, he inferred that he would tack into Democratic-socialist programs like major healthcare expansions, free college tuition, and a $15 minimum wage. This would give him a cross-base advantage as he would be able to appeal to…

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Move Over, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – Conservative Morgan Murtaugh Will Be The Youngest Woman Elected To Congress If She Wins

Morgan Murtaugh

by Jessica Kramer   Morgan Murtaugh is a 25-year-old running for Congress in San Diego, and if she wins the race, she would be the youngest female ever elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is “poised to become the youngest woman in Congress,”according to news outlets like CNBC, Teen Vogue and Pacific Standard. Murtaugh, however, is younger and headed to the November general election as well after coming in second to the Democratic nominee in California’s jungle primary, where candidates from all parties run against each other. “There are no reliable counts of candidate ages by year … so amid this record-breaking year of women candidates, it’s hard to know exactly how big the wave of young women candidates is,” said Deborah Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, NPR reported Monday. “But like Ocasio-Cortez, there are multiple congressional candidates under 30, meaning multiple women could break that record for the youngest woman Congress member.” All of these women are first-time candidates. In addition to Murtaugh and Cortez, there are other women who are all 29 years old, vying for the record of being the youngest in Congress. In California, Sara Jacobs won her primary and is headed to the general, as did Mallory Hagan in…

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Illegal Immigrants Will Receive Free Health Care Under Bernie’s Single Payer Bill

Illegal immigrants will seemingly be eligible to receive Medicare benefits under Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ single payer health care bill, released Wednesday. The bill, dubbed “Medicare For All Act of 2017,” extends an enhanced version of Medicare coverage, absent virtually all out of pocket costs, to every U.S. resident, regardless of age or immigration status. “IN…

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