Vice President Biden, Call Your Office

To celebrate Labor Day, Vice President Biden will be rallying the troops at a Cincinnati union event this afternoon. Between explaining in traditional Bidenesque fashion why we should spend money we don’t have on Obamacare and “stimulus” projects, Joe is expected to opine on Senate Bill 5.

Here are some facts the veep might want to skim during his limo / bus / jet ride!

Crazed Union Boss Rhetoric; Even Crazier Compensation

Union bosses make a living turning public employees against the public, and they don’t like it when taxpayers complain about footing the bill.

Quote sources are available in my August 1 post Union Sermons… and Salaries. Salary figures are from the US Department of Labor, and political contribution info is from the Ohio Secretary of State.

We Are Ohio Funding

“We Are Ohio” is a friendly team of non-partisan Ohioans with the public’s best interests at heart. Unless you believe your lyin’ eyes.

(Click for full size image)

 When I describe We Are Ohio as a union front group, I am not exaggerating: We Are Ohio is a union front group, primarily funded by union bosses in Washington, D.C. Learn more, and see the numbers behind this chart.

Unions Mean Solidarity! Disregard Everything OEA Employees Say…

According to We Are Ohio, only the cooperation experts of the Ohio Education Association (OEA) can make our school districts work. That’s why OEA needs enormous negotiating power, whatever the cost! Never mind that OEA’s management is so incompetent, the union’s employees went on strike just last summer.

Here’s a sampling of the photos from the strike outside OEA headquarters in Columbus:


In connection with the 2010 strike, OEA employees had all sorts of things to say that belie We Are Ohio’s cynical rhetoric. Read all about it!

Union Talking Points, Dulled to Nothing

If the past few resources aren’t enough to convince you, don’t worry. We Are Ohio and their leftist enablers have been repeating the same hacky lines since winter, and I’ve enjoyed stepping on all of them!

Here’s a (relatively) serious list, from an early August post:

Issue 2 will devastate Ohio’s economy by stealing pay from government workers!

Senate Bill 5 doesn’t take away bargaining for wages, and this argument relies on a complete ignorance of economics. Do you believe money can be spent or invested without first being taken from taxpayers? If so, you’re too smart for the union bosses, and their chief talking point crumbles.

Issue 2 will make police and firefighters less safe!

This shameless scare tactic suddenly became popular when polling indicated most of Senate Bill 5 resonates with Ohio voters despite months of union distortion. It remains entirely untrue, as Senate Bill 5 does not affect bargaining over safety equipment.

Issue 2 is an attack on the middle class by greedy special interests!

Wrong in so many ways. Senate Bill 5 protects the jobs of government workers – a slim portion of Ohio’s workforce – by freeing school districts and local governments from unsustainable health and pension costs. If you think the unions actually care about workers, think again.

Issue 2 is fueled by envy! Why not increase everyone’s benefits instead of robbing government workers?!

More proof leftists can’t comprehend the word “growth,” and view the economy as a static pie from which government should dole out slices as politicians see fit. Senate Bill 5 will allow local leaders to focus on sustainable budgets instead of unaffordable union demands. This, in turn, will prevent tax hikes, making it easier for businesses to create more jobs and more wealth.

Issue 2 will drive the best teachers and government workers out of Ohio!

This one’s actually funny, if you remember the unions also insist merit pay is a terrible idea because teachers and government workers aren’t motivated by compensation like everyone else on the planet. Given unemployment rates throughout Ohio and the nation, no one really expects mass turnover based on a slight adjustment in health and pension benefits – especially when compared to benefits in private industry.

And more, from a post at the end of May:

• Reducing public employee pay will cripple the economy, but taking more from taxpayers will have no such effect.
• Corporations employing hundreds of thousands shouldn’t pay their CEOs seven-figure salaries from earnings, but union bosses employing a couple hundred activists deserve six-figure salaries from member dues.
• Public union members are the middle class, even though they make up a tiny percentage of the working population.
• Government employees are more educated than the average worker, so they deserve better pay – regardless of how much benefit they provide to the public.
• Government unions create good jobs… by demanding unsustainable pay which leads to higher taxes and fewer jobs.
• Public union members love paying dues, but making payment of union dues optional is a political attack.
• Government union reps speak for all their members, even when preaching far-left politics and financing far-left politicians.
• Government union employees are paid six figures even as dues-paying members are axed, but government unions are selfless organizations in command of the moral high ground.
• Unions and the Democratic Party are attached at the hip, but forced unionization for government workers keeps politics out of the workplace.
• Union members are wonderful, underpaid, unappreciated – and incapable of emailing a local newspaper or TV station if there’s a problem at work their supervisors won’t address.
• Government unions are effective and innovative, but expecting public worker compensation to be based on merit is madness!
• Wealthy CEOs should be punished for their greed, but wealthy union bosses and the wealthy politicians they fund are heroes of the middle class.

What Sort of Wall Street Fraudster Am I, Anyway?

I live in Ohio, as I have since birth. I’m a Miami University alum, an Ohio State University employee, and a Franklin County taxpayer.

I’ve never been paid, offered, or promised any compensation for my work here. I caught the government union reform bug during the 2010 election campaign, after I stumbled across abuses in the Franklin County Clerk of Courts office. I’ve been following the Ohio General Assembly’s efforts since then.

For Issue 2 updates, watch this space or follow me on Twitter – @jasonahart.

Cross-posted at that hero.