Right to Work: Be Honest Mr. President...

Earlier this week in Toledo, Ohio President Obama said the following about Right to Work legislation being passed across the country:

So, Toledo, what you need to know is this: When they’re trying to take your collective bargaining rights away, when they’re trying to pass so-called “right to work” laws that really mean right to work for less and less, you should know this isn’t about economics. This is about politics. ~ Barack Obama

From 1990-2010 Right to Work states (non-union) experienced better economic growth than union states. The President is not being honest again on this issue. These states like Georgia keep adding population and growing influence with new Congressional seats while union states keep seeing a net loss in people living there. Americans are voting with their feet and moving to states with MORE opportunity. The National Right to Work Committee posted these statistics about young people in right to work states:

In the Right to Work states as a group, the number of 25-34 year-olds increased by 20.0% — more than double the national average — between 1999 and 2009. (Oklahoma, which adopted its Right to Work law in 2001, is counted here as a Right to Work state for the entire period.) 

Meanwhile, the 28 states without Right to Work laws collectively saw their 25-34 year-old population grow by just 3.3% — barely over a third of the national average.

The clear indication is that right to work states have performed much better than the states that pander to union interests.  The President has proven once again that propping up his Big Labor base is more important than being honest with the American people.  We have seen the influx of people here in Georgia as they flee anti-competitive states from other parts of the country.  

The President was right about one thing...It is about politics and he is letting his disdain of our market economy color his rhetoric.  The only way to climb out of this economic downturn is to embrace American Exceptionalism and let our entrepreneurship society once again lead the world in innovation education and job creation. We must have a leader who believes more in the spirit of individual opportunity than group think collectivism.  Our country must always be a place where freedom is celebrated and opportunity available to anyone willing to work for it.

Here are some additional links:

http://www.nrtwc.org/young-employees-thrive-in-right-to-work-states/

http://www.demint.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=JimsBlog&ContentRecord_id=c21045dc-6672-45ba-9475-92814eabd9fe

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/feb/28/bill-oreilly/bill-oreilly-says-unemployment-lower-right-work-st/

http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/frederick-douglass-model-ages/2012/may/2/did-president-obama-malign-right-work-laws/