Big Labor, Stimulus Money, and the Census
Washingtonian magazine interviews union president Andy Stern.
The Mercatus Center publishes a study on how the $800 billion stimulus package was distributed.
Daily Kos reports that GOP conspiracy theories about the census may hurt conservatives causes in the long run.
1. LABOR
Washingtonian magazine interviews union president Andy Stern.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Editorial Director Ivan Osorio on why Stern is getting his way in Washington.
“And while he and others on the left who wanted to see a ‘public option’ health insurer directly run by government didn’t get everything they wanted, they still got plenty in the way of government expansion. That should be seen as part of an even bigger strategy of creating more opportunities for the Service Employees International Union (and organized labor in general) to recruit new members, because government is the one sector of the American economy where unions’ organizing prospects look brightest.”
2. ECONOMY
The Mercatus Center publishes a study on how the $800 billion stimulus package was distributed.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Counsel Hans Bader on the results of the study.
“Districts where people are struggling and unemployment is high are not receiving any more money than those in which unemployment is low, even though a stated purpose of the $800 billion stimulus package was to help the unemployed. But politics mattered in doling out federal funds. And ‘Democratic districts also received two-and-a-half times more stimulus dollars than Republican districts.’”
3. GOVERNMENT
Daily Kos reports that GOP conspiracy theories about the census may hurt conservatives causes in the long run.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Counsel Hans Bader on why they have a point.
“The number of congressional districts a state gets is based on how many of its citizens return completed Census forms. Because voters in conservative states are completing and returning Census forms at lower rates than voters in liberal states, conservative states will lose many seats in the House of Representatives that they would otherwise gain due to increases in their population.”