American Republic Online

Recently, meat processing facilities were raided by immigration officials.  They took over 1200 illegal immigrants (undocumented workers for the easily offended) into custody.  Many, including our President, have made the claim that we need these workers to fill jobs that Americans will not do.  

Well, apparently, people are lining up out the door trying to fill the jobs recently "vacated" by illegal immigrants.   Guess the politicians need some new rhetoric for their amnesty program?

The president of Iran has declared that they have joined the nuclear power club.  Not surprising, but disconcerting nonetheless.  I believe it was Pat Robertson who claimed Iran would be the biggest story this year.  Although Robertson has some unique ideas, this was pretty dead-on.  2006 was certainly Iran's year.  They successfully swung events in Iraq to their favor: the US must openly include them in discussions in order to bring Iraq to something of a resolution.  They instigated and supported Hezbollah for a month against one of the premier militaries inthe world, changing the psychology of the region.  Now they have nuclear capabilities.  Iran is poised as the premier regional power.  The question now is, what will 2007 hold?

Killing some time today, I came across CSPAN2.  (Alright, alright, I watch CSPAN.)  I was bombarded by the president of the NEA yelling about a bill he wanted to pass.  (NEA is the biggest teacher's union.)  He was at a rally put on by the AFL-CIO regarding the Employee Free Choice Act.  The proposed legislation would require employers to recognize unions if a majority of workers authorize union representation. 

After listening for a minute, I was struck by a resounded contradiction: free choice.  You see, the NEA is one of the strongest opponents of school voucher initiatives.  Here we have the president of a teacher's union screaming for "free choice" for teachers regarding employment, and at the same time screaming against free choice for parents regarding education.  It makes my stomach turn.

However, the contradiction is easy to understand.  You see, both positions produce the same result: a stronger union.  Forcing employers to recognize unions is obvious in its aide to unions.  But how does opposing vouchers help unions?  Easy: accountability.  I agree with others (e.g. Neal Boortz) who have concluded that teachers unions are the biggest threat to our educational system.  We all know teachers that shouldn't be allowed to teach people how to put the lid back on a jar of peanut butter, let alone teach addition.  Why are they still teaching? Unions. Unions make their jobs guaranteed, make it difficult to fire them, and remove any performance measures.  Run that one by your boss tomorrow, and see if s/he goes for it.

Vouchers, on the other hand, allow education consumers the ability to choose where their children are educated.  If the school isn't teaching kids adequately, kids start disappearing and soon the school has to either start educating or close its doors.  Vouchers require accountability of teachers and administrators.  Because of this, vouchers are the only way (that I know of) that we can break the union's hold on education.  

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From John Mauldin's most recent analysis:

Lennar, the #3 homebuilding firm, said the cancellation rates for home sales were running about 30% last quarter. KB Homes said the number was 43%. A lot of anecdotal stories suggest the numbers could get worse. So that would add homes back into the Homes for Sale statistics that the Commerce Department (Census Bureau) tracks, wouldn't it?