Rick Snyder's Chart Move As Told by Casey Kasem

If Casey Kasem was still doing American Top Forty this week he would tell us in his world famous voice that this weeks big mover, moving all the way to number one on the anti union charts is Michigan Governor Rick Snyder. As Casey would say Snyder jumped legends Scott Walker, John Kasich, and of course that world famous duo The Koch Brothers to take the top spot with his recent ramming through the legislature of not one but two anti union bills.

These bills deal with the collecting of union dues in both the public and private sector. What it basically does away with is the closed shop. In the past in many heavily unionized industries if one joined a union shop they had to join the union. The theory of course is that if one is enjoying the benefits that the union gains for it's members that it would be wrong to not force them contribute.

Now it is easy to blame Snyder and Republicans and certainly he is the bad guy of the moment but the truth is Republicans have not changed. They always have been and always will be anti union. The difference is that while in the past in heavily union states a Republican would be punished at the polls for such acts the fact is that this no longer is the case.

People have changed. The populace has lived through recessions and heard anecdotes of union abuse. Moreover we as a people no longer aspire to be as successful as the next guy, to gain the benefits that someone else has. Now in our culture we when seeing people with benefits and wages we do not have our first thought is to blame them and want to bring them down to our lower level. Perhaps it is easier on the ego, if you take away someone else's benefits then perhaps you do not have to feel bad if you do not attain your goals.

I simply do not understand it. So while Snyder and Walker and their brethren might be easy to hate, the real fact here is that people have changed. If unions ever want to have power again and I do not know if they can, they need to make sure that they educate the public. Moreover they need to make sure that any union member or union sympathizer who considers voting for a Republican knows what that means.

Simply put it is now out in the open. Republicans are not the power of the working man. They are the party of the rich. If you live in a union state and you vote for a Republican you are risking it all. If you belong to a union and you vote Republican you need to have your head examined.

It is paramount to self destruction.

Solidarity went underground for years before it emerged. It should be kept in mind that during the Gilded Age unions were abused and punished by the government. Or as I read today the state of Michigan and the government of China have something in common today, a strong anti union law pending.

Just do not let Republicans tell you that you are now free in Michigan and that this is pro worker. It is not any of those things.

I grew up in Maine and watched the manufacturing jobs in shoes, chicken, and textiles move South, out of union areas. The South then, even though they did not unionize eventually lost those jobs to foreign countries. The difference is now that we have people who proclaim to be against greedy corporations and executive pay craziness but then they applaud union dismemberment. This causes lower wages across the board.

I am done preaching. I need a drink. Is there a pro union brewery anymore.