Marathon Pundit

Friday, June 28, 2013

(Video) Rep. Capito talks about "unrecoverable blow" Obama's global warming agenda will deal to West Virginia

This morning on Fox and Friends, Rep. Shelley Capito (D-WV) talks about the "unrecoverable blow" to West Virginia his global warming plan will deal to her state, while Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) replies with Obama alarmist talking points.

Capito says President Obama is picking energy "winners and losers."

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democrats

Politics

green
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ILL-inois unable to celebrate National Employee Freedom Week

Writing for The Hill, Paul Kersey of the Illinois Policy Institute tells us that Illinois is unable to celebrate National Employee Freedom Week.

This week marks National Employee Freedom Week, a national campaign that celebrates individual freedoms regarding union membership. Sadly, many states, including my home state of Illinois, don’t have much to celebrate as far as employee freedom goes—we have long barred our citizens from exercising the right not to be in a union.

We should not do so any longer. If the 26 non-right-to-work states like Illinois are serious about expanding employee freedom—as well as economic opportunities and jobs—we should enact a right-to-work law. Right-to-work creates opportunities and spurs economic growth. According to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, between 2002 to 2011, the economy of the average right-to-work state grew 18.1 percent, compared to just 10.6 percent in states without right-to-work laws.

With that growth comes much-needed jobs. Data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that employment in right-to-work states increased by 4.5 percent during the same period, while the number of jobs dropped 1.2 percent in other states. This has been particularly hard in Illinois, where unemployment stands at a staggering 9.3 percent.

Jobs aren't the only thing growing in right-to-work states. Disposable incomes grew faster in over the same period. In fact, if you account for cost of living using an index provided by the Council for Community and Economic Research, disposable incomes in 2011 were more than $2,500 higher in states with right-to-work laws than in states with forced unionization.

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law

business

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Thursday, June 27, 2013

(Photo) Leaning Tower of Niles at dusk with a reflecting pool

There are two Leaning Towers on the planet. The one in Pisa, Italy and this one in Niles, Illinois. About an hour ago I captured this image from the parking lot of a onetime car dealership, appropriately named Landmark Ford.. The recent heavy rains have created a reflecting pool for the Niles icon, which is half of the size of Pisa's..

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Chicago

(Video) Baghdad Jim says IRS still needs be-on-the-lookout lists

New IRS commissioner Danny Werfel testified in front of Congress today. He said he would dump the "BOLO," that is, be-on-the-lookout lists that were used to target Tea Party groups until recently.

But über-liberal Rep. James McDermott (D-WA), also known as "Baghdad Jim," thinks the IRS still needs them and all but compares the Tea Party movement to those on terror lists kept by the airlines.

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tea party

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(Photos) Flooding in downtown Des Plaines

Once again there is some flooding along the Des Plaines River in the eponymous suburb of Chicago. Here are a couple of pictures I took this morning when I was running some errands.