The new GOP-dominated state congress here in Ohio is feeling frisky. Some of the Tea Party tyros want to throw the entire arch-conservative wish list up against the wall and see if they can get some of it to stick. So, suddenly, the whipping boy of the moment is that old standby, organized labor.
Gov. Kasich made a lot of noise on the campaign trail about getting rid of one union or another, and eliminating collective bargaining for some State workers. Now newcomer Rep. Kristina Roegner (R, Hudson) has said that, because of Ohio labor unions, new businesses are "flocking to other states. Why would they come to [Ohio] where their plant could unionize and put them at a competitive disadvantage?" She'd like Ohio to become a "right to work" state, which would essentially gut our labor laws, weaken our unions, and reduce wages.
She cites an Ohio University study done on behalf of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce which found better economic results in right-to-work states than in Commie Pinko states like Ohio. Ooh, big surprise! A study for the Chamber of Commerce draws an anti-union conclusion. That's like a study on behalf of the KKK concluding that black people are holding us back. Or a study on behalf of Pat Robertson finding that pro-choice homosexual non-Christians are the root of all societal problems. The OU study was bought and paid for. It is, as an Oregon professor correctly put it, "junk science."
Rep. Roegner sounds like a graduate of the Michelle Bachmann School of economics. Mad Michelle once advocated the elimination of the minimum wage. In her mind, this would loosen pent-up demand and create untold millions of jobs paying, in her words, "whatever." Like maybe 50 cents an hour.
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