How the Unions Were Bought

Conn Carroll / June 03, 2008

Even under very conservative assumptions, Lieberman-Warner will cost the US economy 500,000 jobs by 2030. Traditionally union heavy sectors like manufacturing and energy production are the hardest hit. So how did environmental activists get unions like the United Association of Journeymen of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry to support carbon capping? The answer hearkens back to the world’s oldest profession: cold hard cash.

Unions are signing on the the Lieberman-Warner bill because it is the largest tax increase in the history of mankind and liberals in Congress can’t wait to give away all that money to their favorite special interests. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) predicts the bill will allow her direct $3.32 trillionby 2050 to whoever she wants. To get unions to sign off on a bill that will kill their existing jobs, liberals in Congress are promising to use US taxpayer dollars to create new jobs just for unions. The Hill reports:

To draw in more labor support, Democratic leaders sweetened the pot. As revised by Senate Environment and Public Works panel Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), the bill now includes language that applies Davis-Bacon, which requires workers be paid a prevailing local wage, to certain projects funded by the bill.

It also would direct millions of dollars to “green-collar” training programs run by unions.