Friday, April 07, 2023

Friday's podcast: The election in Wisconsin, The Afghanistan "blame Trump" report & more


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Friday's video: The election in Wisconsin, The Afghanistan "blame Trump" report & more


The election and abortion in Wisconsin......The Afghanistan "blame Trump" report.........Chicago and public sector unions…..and other stories.....


 

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Happy # 44 Adrián Beltré





The great Adrián Beltré was born in The Dominican Republic on this day in 979.   Thanks for a wonderful career and 8 great seasons in Texas.  He was a big part of the 2011 AL championship team and the 2 division titles in 2015-16.  He was also a great player on and off the field.  Beltre's influence on the young players was profound.

Beltre retires with Hall of Fame credentials:  a .286 average, 3,166 hits, 477 HR & 1,707 RBI over 2,933 games.

P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.






Chicago proves that FDR was correct about public unions


 (My new American Thinker post)

Up in Chicago, the teachers union won big and I don't mean that test scores or literacy is on the rise.  The got their man elected and who knows what happens next.  I would not be surprised if a few Chicago residents are looking at a "zip code change."   

Years ago, our family would drive down to Chicago from our early days in Wisconsin to get stuff at a Cuban "bodega." We'd listen to Larry Lujack on WLS and drive home listening to the White Sox on WMAQ.  My parents complimented the clean streets, the order everywhere, and the police were so pleasant at giving you directions when we used maps rather than GPS. Going to Chicago was great.

Well, I don't think that my parents would be complimenting Chicago today. Talk about decline.

This is from Charles Lipson:   

The corruption suffusing the latest Chicago mayoral election was perfectly legal and hiding in plain sight. Virtually all of Brandon Johnson’s funding and his legions of campaign workers came from the Chicago Teachers Union, plus several other public-sector unions. Those union friends went door-to-door singing his praises and putting up campaign signs all over town. It was a very effective strategy.    

Such assistance from public-sector unions is legal, but why is it corrupt in a larger sense? Because public-sector unions are fundamentally different from private-sector ones. They help elect the very officials who will, in turn, reward them with favorable contracts. 

So the teachers union is better at getting out the vote than graduating students?  They are great at getting the minority vote out but not at teaching their kids:  Nearly 80% of Chicago Public Schools students cannot read at grade level. Just 15% met proficiency in math.   

Once upon a time, a Democrat named President Franklin D. Roosevelt warned us about the public unions.  This is what he was thinking:   

Government workers, however, don’t generate profits. They merely negotiate for more tax money. When government unions strike, they strike against taxpayers. F.D.R. considered this “unthinkable and intolerable.”

We don't know what FDR would say today.  Maybe he'd go along with the Democrats in the pocket of public unions.  At the same time, is there a Democrat out there who can see that Chicago is falling apart and losing taxpayers?  It's an ugly future and it won't get prettier until a Democrat stands up to the public sector unions.

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