Great Op-Ed in the Post About Unions and the Secret Ballot

Posted on by David Stokes

Former (as of yesterday) state Senator John Loudon has a terrific opinion piece in today’s Post-Dispatch about the need to preserve the secret ballot in union certification votes. As you probably know, there is an absolutely horrendous bill in Congress that has a terrifyingly high chance of passing now, known as the Employee Free Choice Act — which Loudon correctly identifies as a rather Orwellian title. This bill would discontinue the secret ballot for union votes.

Its only purpose is to increase union membership, by making it easier for workers who want unions to win these votes. If you think the days of On The Waterfront are over, I need only point you to the tactics employed by unions in fire districts around the St. Louis area. You can find that information here and here.

Thanks to Combest for the original link, and to South County Truth Spot for the work they do covering the field in South St. Louis County.

Budget Deficits and Speeding Tickets

Posted on by David Stokes

The Post-Dispatch had a great story yesterday about a recent study from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis that documented an increase in traffic tickets during times of government budget deficits. While study’s data came from North Carolina, the factors involved apply in Missouri just as well. If anything, they apply even more so, because everyone knows how common the practice of amending speeding tickets is in Missouri. This makes issuing more tickets even more profitable to Missouri governments, without any noticeable increases in insurance rates or driver’s license points.

While speeding tickets, and citations for other violations, should only be issued to enforce traffic and safety rules, everyone knows that they are used for other purposes. Generally, in small cities, towns, and suburbs, they are used for enhancing local revenue, as the study proves. However, we all know that they are also used to keep some people out of certain areas, such as the well-known “DWB” violation.

My dearly departed friend Sherman Parker relayed a few stories about how he would attempt to tell his bosses — senators and congressmen — about the problems his white friends would have with the cops when they would try to visit his house in North St. Louis. Of course, Sherman would be crying, he was laughing so hard, when he would relay these issues to them — as we all basically found it hysterical. (“Get rid of those fireworks” was a parting line I remember from a cop, after a team of them had searched my car up and down for drugs after I dropped Sherman off one night. Although, in that particular case, I had accidentally made an illegal turn, so the pull-over was completely legit.)

Sure, it’s funny when it’s white kids from the suburbs who don’t have drugs on them getting hassled a few times for a few minutes, and then being let go when the officers realize the car is clean and the person (me) really is just visiting a friend. But it’s not funny when it happens to people often, or when there is absolutely no legitimacy to the pull-over, or when the ticket is issued solely to raise money for the city, as is the case with red light cameras.

Missouri should lower the maximum percentage that any one government can receive from traffic violations, down from the current 50 percent (I think that’s the number, and it is a good thing we have that cap there at all) to about 10 percent. There is no excuse for filling budget deficits with traffic fines, no matter how many times you amend the tickets to muffler violations.

The Minimum Wage

Posted on by Sarah Brodsky

Thanks, Josh, for the great post on the minimum wage increase. I’d like to add a few thoughts about potential drawbacks of the minimum wage.

In an economic downturn, it will be hard to sort out the unemployment effects of the minimum wage from the job losses that would have happened anyway. And some economists believe that the unemployment effects would be minimal, because most businesses will just grin and bear it — they won’t fire anyone.

Even if that’s the case, raising the minimum wage is not the wisest labor policy. Here’s why:

  1. Some employers can’t be that flexible. The layoffs may not be widespread enough to have a big effect on unemployment, but they could cause hardship for individual workers. Interestingly, government agencies and departments with fixed budgets may have to let go of more workers than private businesses. I don’t have the link on hand, but I remember a news story a year or two ago about a state university that fired people in the wake of a minimum wage increase.

  2. Employees who get to stay on the job could still lose out. Businesses might make up for the extra labor expense by doing away with training, on-the-job learning, and whatever other practices temporarily distract from productivity. For now, the employees will happily keep their jobs at the new, higher wage. But in the future, they’ll be unprepared to advance in their careers because of all the training that didn’t take place.

  3. Minimum wage increases give citizens an unwarranted warm, fuzzy feeling. Voters are content that they’ve done their part to help the poor, despite the fact that most poor people don’t work for minimum wages. Then there’s less momentum behind proposals (earned income tax credit increases, training programs, etc.) that actually make a difference.

District Calendars

Posted on by Sarah Brodsky

Over at The Grade, Steve Giegerich blogs about districts that are holding a professional development day today. He fears this scheduling decision could irk parents who have to arrange child care for the extra day.

To me, it sounds like a pretty good idea. If a professional development day falls in the middle of a regular school week, the entire week is disrupted. Teachers have to spend extra time reviewing what they covered before the day off, and it takes away from the grading and lesson planning they might normally do on that day to prepare for the rest of the week. Scheduling professional development on the first day after a break solves the problem.

As for the child-care dilemma, parents already knew winter break was coming, and they had to plan accordingly. I imagine adding an extra day to the break would actually be easier on parents than choosing some random day in the spring semester (which would require them to make those plans all over again).

Time to Raise the Gas Tax?

Posted on by Sarah Brodsky

The Kansas City Star reports on the approbation that commentators from varying political camps are showering on a proposal to increase the gas tax. Given that the economy has been in bad shape lately, some are suggesting that the increase should be revenue-neutral, with money returned to taxpayers through a rebate or similar mechanism. Here’s a quote from one supporter:

“There are tremendous benefits for the environment, for the economy, for energy independence and national security” from that approach, said Dan Rosenblum of the Carbon Tax Center, which supports higher levies on all carbon-based energy.

Two things bother me about this reasoning. First, I don’t believe a $1 or $2 tax increase would afford tremendous benefits. Slight benefits? Maybe. People would buy less gasoline, but they would still buy gasoline. Cars would continue to pollute the environment. The U.S. would continue to buy oil from OPEC, which in fact has little or no bearing on our national security. (I don’t see any petroleum executives trying to blow up buildings, do you?) If you want to improve the economy, the environment, or foreign relations, it’s better to confront those issues head-on instead of waiting for a small change in driving habits to solve the problem.

Second, even if the benefits would be substantial, that’s a bad reason to impose a tax. The purpose of taxes is to raise money for the many worthwhile things the government does. If it’s necessary for people’s driving habits to change in order to keep us safe or whatever, then we need a new law to state that explicitly. Legislators shouldn’t use taxes as a sneaky way to trick people into doing what they want.

Let’s Get the 2009 Debates Started Off Right …

Posted on by David Stokes

A judge upholds the Kansas City public smoking ban, reports the Star. Also in KC’s newspaper of record, AmerenUE fights to be able to charge current customers during construction of future facilities (like any private business would be able to do). A St. Louis cab driver talks to the Post-Dispatch about being an entrepreneur in this highly regulated industry.

Please let me know your thoughts, especially you former interns who are now tasked with keeping our comments section flowing. You know who you are!

Will/Can/Should the Senate Seat Roland Burris?

Posted on by David Stokes

I am going to focus on the larger issue here, and avoid the scandal discussions and political debate. All I really want to do is remind people of this precedent: the denial of a seat to Pennsylvania Republican Willian S. Vare in 1929. I have heard people in the media discussing the Adam Clayton Powell rulings, but that was for the House, not the Senate. I have not heard any mention of the Vare dispute, which seems even more on point. Each body has its own rules governing membership, although clearly the Powell ruling may apply in many ways. If Roland Burris has to file a lawsuit to be seated, though, it might take him a lot longer than the two-year term for which he would be appointed. At least Adam Clayton Powell was fighting for his long-term political future, not a short-term appointment.

I am not saying whether Burris should or should not be seated by the Senate. I am just saying that Sen. Harry Reid is right when he says that sitting senators have the power to deny Burris his place in the Senate, if that is what the majority of them choose to do.

Minimum Waaaaaage! Hyah!

Posted on by Josh Smith

Missouri’s minimum wage cranked up last week, as reported in the Columbia Tribune, a welcome relief for struggling workers in our present economic turmoil.

Well, it’s a relief for some of the people who were making less than $7.05 per hour; everyone else has to make do without an automatic, state-mandated raise in pay. Moreover, if our own policy studies of minimum wage are to be believed, statewide unemployment may be even higher in 2009 than this troubling prediction indicates. The standard, simple economic argument against minimum wage can be viewed here.

(The title of this entry is a reference to the TMBG song.)

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