The Democrats have blocked the Coronavirus Response Bill twice now as the American people wonder what will be left of their jobs, their businesses,  or their economy. Just as the Senate was about to pass the bill, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi blew up the negotiations in order to craft her own bill in the House.

Majority Whip James Clyburn wants the coronavirus relief bill to be about a Democrat wish list. “This is a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision.”

Ostensibly, the Senate bill does not offer enough protection for “workers” among other things. The Democrats say “workers” need more protections, which is just code for “the unions need more power.”

The Democrats, are nothing if they are not loyal to the unions, which donated more than $1.1 billion dollars to Democrats in 2018.  Now those same unions want to hold up much-needed stimulus in the form of loans for businesses until they get their pound of flesh, more power in the name of the “worker.”

Via senior GOP aide, Schumer/Pelosi now pushing these demands amid pandemic-fueled economic collapse:

1) Unprecedented collective bargaining powers for unions
2) Increased fuel emissions standards for airlines
3) Expansion of wind and solar tax credits

— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) March 23, 2020

Republicans fall into a trap

Republicans and President Trump have fallen into the trap of using Democrat terms, calling Americans “workers.” They think they are talking about all Americans that work, including small businessmen, tradespeople, independent contractors, and employees, but that is not what Democrats mean.

They only consider union members as “workers,” which represent 1  in 10 Americans. The federal government needs to consider all the people that power the largest economy in the world, and Republicans need to stop calling Americans “workers.”

88% percent of the American workforce is not unionized.  36% of those unionized “workers” are government employees such as teachers, police officers, firefighters, and others. Only 6.4% of the private sector is unionized.

Except among government agencies, union membership is in decline, yet unions like the AFL-CIO and SEIU wield a disproportionate amount of power in places like California, New York and Washington DC. Government employee unions make up a whopping 36% of all unionized workers.

Government agencies are particularly suited to meet union demands in “collective bargaining” because they have an endless supply of tax revenue. The private sector just doesn’t have as much money to meet union demands.

Union-backed bill harms Californians

Sadly, policy that is crafted for the “worker” often harms small businesses and their employees, and independent contractors which can include bookkeepers, stylists, exotic dancers, authors, artists, dancers, musicians, consultants, translators, and many more.

Indeed, California is just realizing the full effect of an AFL-CIO crafted bill since it went into effect in January. The bill was sold to Californians as legislation to protect Uber and Lyft drivers and provide them with employee status.

But, in reality, the bill has hurt upwards of 16% of the workforce in California, which amounts to thousands and thousands of independent contractors. Many of them are women needing the flexibility of working for themselves to manage their work and family time.

They are losing their livelihoods due to the draconian penalties included in the bill. Sponsors of the bill simply don’t consider the people working outside of unions and big companies as “workers,” and therefore they believe they can’t have hurt anyone because they simply don’t exist. You can listen to some of the justifications here.

This video explains the harm done by such legislation.

This is America

This is America. If someone wants to work for a company he should be free to make that choice. If someone wants to work for herself, she should be able to. Americans do not need politicians to take care of them. People should be able to make their livings as they please without government passing legislation that destroys their livelihoods.

Independent contractors enjoy working for themselves, setting their own schedules, and taking responsibility for their own healthcare and taxes. But people like the AFL-CIO think that they know better how to manage “workers.” They condescendingly believe the “workers” can’t take care of themselves, they need a government “safety net.” This is a slap in the face to all the many Americans that have managed their own work lives.

No Americans are safe with Democrats in power

If you think you are safe from such destructive legislation, think again. Now that labor legislation has been implemented in California, the Democrats in Congress want to force the same kind of law on the rest entire country in the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. The only thing saving the rest of the country from such destructive legislation is a Republican majority in the Senate.

Tucker Carlson excoriates the Democrats for delaying passage of the Coronavirus Response Bill: