The Progressive/Liberal War Against Women, Example 1: Unionize Childcare

Dear Readers:  During this election cycle, it is becoming increasingly apparent that Team Obama will not be particularly innovative or inspiring.  For example, the unicorn-believers among the Democrats are constantly relying on some gems from Saul Alinksky’s Rules for Radicals (e.g., RULE 5: Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon) and classic Communist posters.  It seems, however, that the White House brain-trust has  forgotten ALINSKY RULE 7:  “A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.”

TODAY’S OVERBLOWN TACTIC:  THE “GOP” WAR ON WOMEN.

Fortunately, average American women throughout the country aren’t buying anything Obama’s campaign is selling.  For example, a recent poll shows that WalMart Moms care most about more about the economy than Bin Laden’s death.  I sense that the typical, hard-working female in this country realizes they are being targeted by progressive policies.

Case in point:   CT Gov Schemes With SEIU To Unionize Day Care Providers & Others Without A Vote

Connecticut’s union-bought governor, Daniel Malloy, is apparently scheming with the SEIU to unionize his state’s daycare providers and personal care attendants through a secret plan using the flawed method of card-check unionization.

Recall, that it was a few short weeks ago that an Obama-supporting Hilary Rosen (probably at the behest of Michelle Obama) basically said that being a full-time mom wasn’t real work. So if “real women” have to work, then they need to have affordable childcare to do so.  So, there must be childcare providers, who  are ripe for unionization.

How does the SEIU intend to unionize childcare providers? The above article notes:

Janowski notes that the SEIU has already created a brochure/card for daycare providers. Above the signature line, in fine print, the SEIU’s card states:

I hereby authorize the SEIU Local 2001 as my exclusive representative for the purposes of collective bargaining. I understand the SEIULocal 2001 may request recognition from the State of Connecticut or the appropriate subdivision of the state to represent me in bargaining with respect to rates, benefts, and other terms and conditions of my work as a child care provider.

So, once the SEIU collects a majority of signed cards, all of the individuals in the classification will be unionized and the SEIU can begin collecting tax-payer funded union dues.

Frankly, I don’t see how unionizing childcare will make babysitters more affordable or accessible. There is ample evidence “unions destroy every company in which they have been intimately involved”. For example, the airline and auto industry has suffered because of greedy union activity.

However, declining union membership means less dues. Less dues seems to mean less donations to Democratic Party coffers. And we can’t have that! So, the smart-set has decided to unionize the childcare that women they are supposedly serving actually need to work.

A great PJ Media piece offers further details: Meet Your SEIU Babysitter and the Left’s Scheme to Unionize Everything

It’s easy to understand why unions are taking to such tactics. It’s tough to be a union these days. Overall union membership has declined dramatically, cut nearly in half since 1983. The rise of the Tea Party, the advent of alternative media, and the increasing effectiveness of grassroots political action have undermined the unions’ political dominance. Tens of millions of dollars spent to affect elections have yielded disappointing results. States and municipalities have begun to rebel against overly generous compensation schedules and benefit packages. All said, unions are having a hard time maintaining their iron grip on the taxpayer’s throat. It’s not as easy as it used to be. They need more members to coerce into political action. They need to siphon more money from the very people whose interests they work against. And they need evermore influence in the corridors of power.

Unionizing home-based childcare providers is a great way to make that happen. It opens up an entire segment of a booming industry to political and economic exploitation.

Given that union workers in Detroit were recently busted for drinking beer and smoking pot on the job, would any sane mother be comfortable using an SEIU member as a responsible babysitter???

And, once a babysitter gets unionize, how easy would it be to fire them? The LA Times, no bastion of conservative thought, posted this chestnut: Firing teachers can be a costly and tortuous task. Such a situation tends to attract unsavory characters, from whom mothers normally wish to protect their children.

So, as with much of progressive policies, this one is chock full of unintended consequences. Unionizing childcare will force moms to chose between staying home and raising kids in a safe environment, or hiring pricey and potentially unqualified/dangerous individuals to watch their babies while they work — paying excessively high taxes while they do so. Here is a graphic answer to that question:

Drawn by 17-year old high school student, Eliza Gauger

Of course, perhaps I am over-worried about this issue. It seems that Obamanomics has actually lead to a substantial increase in WOMEN’S UNEMPLOYMENT RATES! This piece sums up the statistic’s nicely - Obama’s Hecovery.

• Since The Stimulus Was Passed, The Unemployment Rate For Women Has Increased From 7.3 Percent To 8.1 Percent. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 4/26/12)

• Since Obama Took Office, The Number Of Female Employees Has Declined By 683,000. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 4/26/12)

• Since Obama Took Office, The Number Of Women Unemployed Has Increased From 5,005,000 To 5,863,000. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 4/26/12)
• In March, The Number Of Women Employed Fell By 82,000. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 4/26/12)

• Former Department Of Labor Chief Economist Betsey Stevenson: “Declines In Labor Force Participation All Came From Women: Male Participation +14k, Female Participation -177k.” (Betsey Stevenson, Twitter Feed, 4/6/12)

• In March ,The Female Labor Force Participation Rate Fell From 57.9 Percent To 57.7 Percent. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 4/26/12)

• In March, The Number Of Women Not In The Labor Force Increased From 52.8 Million To 53.1 Million. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 4/26/12)

Ar this point, I betcha Team Obama is wondering why the FREE BIRTH CONTROL bribe isn’t working.

In conclusion, the only war on women being waged is by Team Obama and his union-backed supporters. I hope the good people of Connecticut and Minnesota, who are on the front lines of this battle, ready themselves to prevent this onslaught from succeeding.

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A little Egypt news to share: In light that the above piece features children, I thought this post would be a great place to note that a statue of Anthony’s and Cleopatra twins has been newly identified.

Cleopatra Selene ("The Moon") and Alexander Helios ("The Sun"), Antony's and Cleopatra's Twin Babies.

Cleopatra’s twin babies now have a face. An Italian Egyptologist has rediscovered a sculpture of Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene, the offspring of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII, at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Discovered in 1918 near the temple of Dendera on the west bank of the Nile, the sandstone statue was acquired by the Egyptian Museum but has remained largely overlooked.
…
“It shows two naked children, one male and one female, of identical size standing within the coils of two snakes. Each figure has an arm over the other’s shoulder,‭ ‬while the other hand grasps a serpent,” Giuseppina Capriotti, an Egyptologist at Italy’s National Research Council, told Discovery News….
Capriotti noticed that the boy has a sun-disc on his head,‭ ‬while the girl boasts a crescent and a lunar disc. The serpents, perhaps two cobras, would also be different forms of sun and moon, she said. Both discs are decorated with the udjat-eye, also called the eye of Horus, a common symbol in Egyptian art. ‭

Finally, for my history-loving fans, Word Warrior continues his awesome “Age of Arthur” series!!!