Have you ever heard of the case of Friedrichs v. California Teachers' Assn? Most likely, the answer is no, but that case which was argued this morning at the Supreme Court could cause a political earthquake across the country. The issue before the Court was whether or not public employees can be compelled to pay dues or equivalent amounts to the public employee unions. In this case, some teachers in California objected to being forced to make payments to a union since much of the funds was used for political purposes to promote causes with which the teachers did not agree. The teachers argued that the payments forced them to support "speech" with which they did not agree and that the result was a violation of their First Amendment rights.
If the Court agrees with the teachers, the entire method of campaign finance across America will change in drastic fashion. For at least the last fifty years, the Democrat party has relied to a great extent on funding received directly or indirectly from public employee unions. The hidden bargain has been that the government forces the public employees to contribute to the union. The union recycles a big chunk of that money back into the campaign coffers of the Democrats. The Democrats then take pro-union positions, and the cycle continues on and on.
This is no minor issue for the Democrats or the unions. Just look at what happened in Wisconsin a few years back. The Wisconsin legislature and governor Scott Walker changed the law so that certain items like healthcare benefits would no longer be subject to collective bargaining. At the same time, Wisconsin stopped collecting union dues by deducting them from paychecks and, more important, removed the requirements that public employees had to pay such dues whether or not they were union members. In the space of two years, union member ship went from over 90% of state employees to less than 40%. That is exactly what would happen on a nationwide scale if the Supreme Court rules for the teachers in Friedrichs.
Just imagine what will happen if the Democrats can no longer count on massive donations of time and money from the public employee unions. No longer would public employees be force to give their cash to promote causes with which they do not agree. Oh, those who do support the positions of the union can still be members, but it will be up to the individuals to decide.
The oral argument this morning sounded like the Court is lining up for a 5-4 decision in favor of the teachers. Of course, no one can really tell from an argument where the Court will ultimately come down. We shall have to wait and see.
If the Court agrees with the teachers, the entire method of campaign finance across America will change in drastic fashion. For at least the last fifty years, the Democrat party has relied to a great extent on funding received directly or indirectly from public employee unions. The hidden bargain has been that the government forces the public employees to contribute to the union. The union recycles a big chunk of that money back into the campaign coffers of the Democrats. The Democrats then take pro-union positions, and the cycle continues on and on.
This is no minor issue for the Democrats or the unions. Just look at what happened in Wisconsin a few years back. The Wisconsin legislature and governor Scott Walker changed the law so that certain items like healthcare benefits would no longer be subject to collective bargaining. At the same time, Wisconsin stopped collecting union dues by deducting them from paychecks and, more important, removed the requirements that public employees had to pay such dues whether or not they were union members. In the space of two years, union member ship went from over 90% of state employees to less than 40%. That is exactly what would happen on a nationwide scale if the Supreme Court rules for the teachers in Friedrichs.
Just imagine what will happen if the Democrats can no longer count on massive donations of time and money from the public employee unions. No longer would public employees be force to give their cash to promote causes with which they do not agree. Oh, those who do support the positions of the union can still be members, but it will be up to the individuals to decide.
The oral argument this morning sounded like the Court is lining up for a 5-4 decision in favor of the teachers. Of course, no one can really tell from an argument where the Court will ultimately come down. We shall have to wait and see.
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