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Public Sector Unions Must See Beyond Their Own Interests to Survive
Tweet Share on Facebook June 29, 2010 Comment (11)The history of labor unions forms a tragic circle. Labor unions have become what they once loathed. Once the exploited, they are now the exploiters. Organized to fight the long hours, low pay, and poor working conditions of early industrial employers, they have taken their battle too far. Unfortunately, employers are no longer the sole victim of unions’ success; taxpayers are now having to foot the bill.
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America Will Be the Next Greece if Washington Doesn't Fix the Debt
Tweet Share on Facebook June 18, 2010 Comment (12)By Brandon Greife, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Every college student dreads the screech of the alarm clock. The high-pitched beep-beep-beep clangs around our heads, demanding that we get up and face the day. Many of us ignore its call. With our eyes still closed, we grope for the sleep button to put off reality for another 10 minutes. Eventually we must wake up, often rushed, sometimes frantic, in order to make up the time we traded for those wonderful few moments of sleep. Like college students, Washington has proven a little too trigger-happy with their snooze button. But our nation cannot sleep through its debt and deficit problem. It’s time to wake up and face the harsh reality of the day.
Greece should have been the alarm clock.
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Washington Could Learn From Perfect Game Fiasco
Tweet Share on Facebook June 8, 2010 Comment (2)By Brandon Greife, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Armando Galarraga squeezed the ball in his mitt. His right foot touched first base. He had done it. The Detroit pitcher had made history--the 21st perfect game in Major League Baseball history. Until umpire Jim Joyce yelled, "Safe!" his hands making an emphatic sweeping motion away from his body.
It was an unbelievable call. So bad that Galarraga could do nothing but smile as history was swept out from under him. It was a surprising response in a sport known for tirades. Throw a glove, punch a water-cooler, kick dirt over home plate. Nope. None of that. It was the perfect response to the imperfect game, trumped only by Jim Joyce’s humbling apology.
After the game Joyce watched the replay. He then walked into the Tiger’s locker room and apologized to Galarraga. “I just cost that kid a perfect game,” Joyce said. “It was the biggest call of my career and I kicked the [stuffing] out of it.” The next game Joyce was back, shedding tears in the pre-game and patting Galarraga on the back, before taking his place behind the plate.
Washington should be quick to study each of those men’s responses. An awful call, a quick apology, and even quicker forgiveness. Politicians seem to have forgotten such candor.
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Obama, Democrats Will Feel the Squeeze on Poor Jobs Report
Tweet Share on Facebook June 5, 2010 Comment (27)By Brandon Greife, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Graduation season is wrapping up. Millions of college graduates have walked across the stage to accept their diploma, shaken hands with their dean, and sat through endless rounds of pictures with mom and dad. In good years many of those graduates trade their robes and mortarboard for a suit and a briefcase. As May’s job numbers show, this is not one of those good years.
