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Sorry, Tea Party - I'm not with you on this one

The two sides faced each other like opposing armies. In front of the Massachusetts State House, union members in hard hats and their moonbat sympathizers in knits demonstrated their opposition to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. The Governor is pushing legislation to strip Badger State public workers of their right to bargain collectively for benefits. Across Beacon Street, in front of the Boston Common, the Tea Party held a counter-rally, the yellow Gadsden flag flying proudly above them with its motto “Don’t Tread on Me”.

The responsibilities of earning a living kept me away from Beacon Hill last Tuesday. Had I been there however, I would not have been in my usual place with the Tea Party. Instead, my views on the issue would have placed me right in the middle of Beacon Street, a vantage point where I could address both sides, at least until I got hit by a car. Here’s what I would have said, both to those who were on Beacon Hill, and those who were not:

To Labor, Public and Private: You’re trying to get the best possible pay and benefits you can, in order to make a better life for yourselves and your families. Good for you.

To Management: You’re trying to give labor the lowest pay and benefits you can, in order to get a better deal for the shareholders and taxpayers you represent. I hope they recognize your efforts and reward you.

So now you in Labor and you in Management must somehow come to an agreement. Use every means at your disposal to come out ahead: negotiate, strike, picket, lock out the union, fire its members, hire scab labor, appeal to public opinion, vilify the other side. But stop short of fraud and violence.

In a free market, you would confront each other on a level playing field. Unfortunately, a level playing field is not what we have in this country. In the private sector, the 1935 Wagner Act requires employers to engage in collective bargaining, thereby tilting the playing field in favor of the unions. To Congress: Repeal the Wagner Act and restore the balance between labor and management in the private sector.

To Governor Walker: You got a rough gig. Just a few weeks in office and you’re tasked with closing a $3.6 billion dollar budget deficit. You have my sympathy. Press the public sector unions for every concession you can get at the negotiating table. But the Budget Repair Bill that you are supporting is an attempt to tilt the playing field in favor of management before you get to the negotiating table. It is every bit as egregious as the Wagner Act.

To my friends in the Tea Party: I love you all, but we got together because of our mutual interest in freedom and capitalism. That sometimes has to include freedom for people with whom we disagree. For a state to pass a law dictating to its employees how they may conduct their contract negotiations is an assault on their freedom and a distortion of the market.

To the union thug who knocked down Massachusetts Congressional Candidate Marty Lamb: see above, re: violence. You should be in jail.

To the doctors who set up a booth at the Wisconsin State Capitol to write fake sick notes excusing union supporters from work: you issued medical judgments for patients you did not examine. See above, re: fraud. I’d say you should lose your medical licenses, but I don’t believe in them.

To the pro-union protestors on Beacon Hill: 1) You need a more imaginative chant than “Union! Union! Union!”

2) You left a mess behind. Flyers, placards, and paper cups littered the capitol steps after you left. The Tea Party side of the street was spotless as usual. Follow their example and clean up after yourselves!

To Tom Meyer (I hope I got your name right), the Tea Party supporter who stayed after dark to clean up the union side of the street: thanks for making our city a better place.

To Austin Hess: Thanks for pulling together all the great video of the dueling rallies on your blog, Uncommon Sense. Next best thing to being there.