Republicans Push National Race to the Bottom

[kpete]

March 02, 2011 08:00 AM
Republicans Push National Race to the Bottom
By Jon Perr

Just days after his sneering "so be it" at the prospect of massive job losses which could result from GOP budget policies, House Speaker John Boehner declared public employees have a "machine gun" pointed "at the heads of local officials." That makes Boehner just the latest Republican leader respond to a $175 billion shortfall in state budgets that could trigger up to 900,000 layoffs by calling for an end to collective bargain rights for government workers they slander as "overpaid", "freeloaders" and a "new privileged class in America."

But in their all-out war to crush union - and Democratic - power, Republicans are pushing the states into a headlong race to the bottom. Because as the numbers show, incomes, working conditions and educational performance are worst where union protections are weakest and Republicans poll best.

To make their case during the current stand-off in Madison, conservatives have taken aim at Wisconsin's teachers. Unfortunately for their GOP echo chamber, the right-wing blogosphere made the mistake of complaining that Wisconsin received millions of dollars in federal education aid when solidly Republican red states get much, much more. Then, the would-be Republican union busters are whining that Badger state students can't read. As it turns out, Wisconsin students outperform their counterparts in those reddest of states where collective bargaining rights are few - or non-existent.
Sadly for the right-wing commentariat, the data show that Wisconsin schoolchildren out-read the kids in states where Republicans do best and where the federal government most heavily subsidizes the local education systems. Even more telling, those know-nothing red states also happen to be public workers have the fewest collective bargaining rights.






more:
http://crooksandliars.com/jon-perr/republicans-push-national-race-to-the-bottom