The Real Right-Wing Revolution Is Happening at the State Level

[marmar]

via truthdig:


The Real Right-Wing Revolution Is Happening at the State Level
Posted on Nov 4, 2013


A wave of tea party-driven Republican political victories at the state level has spawned broad and draconian cuts in worker rights, workplace protections, and wages as part of a concerted effort by the business lobby to use public policy initiatives to shore up its own profits, a new report has found.

The attacks on public employees and their unions have been well chronicled—hello, Wisconsin. But as The Washington Post points out at its Wonkblog, less attention has been paid to the assaults on nonunion private-sector workers, those very people the right wing says it’s trying to protect as it scraps “closed shop” labor laws in places such as Michigan and Indiana. And even less attention has been paid to how coordinated these attacks have been.

So what should people draw from these actions? What extends across specific states to a general, nationwide, ideological agenda?

First, this isn’t just about public-sector workers, a subject that has long sparked political battles. These recent efforts are actually focused just as much, if not much more, on private-sector workers who aren’t in a union. Efforts to roll back everything from minimum wage laws to unemployment insurance affects everyone who works for a wage, and this is where the coordination across states has been particularly intense.

It’s also not just a matter of tighter state budgets. This is crucial to understanding the situation. For instance: 2011 saw the largest one-year decline in the number of state-level public-sector workers since records start in 1955. But the Republican-governed states that were most aggressive in laying off state workers had some of the smallest budget deficits.

The EPI report spells out how the tea party-backed state legislative leaders have thrown private-sector workers under the Big Business bus. Laws have been enacted cutting workers’ sick leave, removing overtime and workplace safety protections, and making it harder to sue for workplace discrimination, among others. They also have killed “project labor agreements,” or PLAs, used on massive construction projects to streamline the contracting process and provide the same protections for all workers involved in the project. ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/the_real_right-wing_revolution_is_happening_at_the_state_level

[VanillaRhapsody]

1. I have been screaming at the top of my lungs for about 15 yrs about the Fundies

taking over on the local level...they will run someone in every race no matter how small...even Dog Catcher.

For years it fell on deaf ears...

[BlueCaliDem]

2. This article comes at the exact right time. Koch Bros are now focused on spending millions

to win at the local level. I couldn't see why the would want that, but now thanks to truthdig, I do.

Thanks for the find, marmar.

[gopiscrap]

3. as Democratics we need to pay more attention