Right-To-Work Fallacy

When reading up on the Taft-Hartley act and its creation of the Right-to-work state I began to wonder, where do the states that are right-to-work fall in a list of the poverty rate? I also wanted to know where high union membership states fell on the poverty list.  

Before you continue reading I will say I'm not mathematician or statistician so I tried to keep the numbers simple. I know numbers can be picked and choosed to match one's argument but I tried to keep it to within the scope of the above question. 

There are 24 right-to-work states today. 15 are in the bottom half of states by poverty rate. Even worse, in the bottom 11 states by poverty rate, 9 are RTW. Of the bottom 10 states by poverty rate, only West Virginia and New Mexico are not RTW states, but are 18 and 35 in union membership respectively. 5 states have right-to-work in their state constitution, 4 of them are in the bottom 10 by poverty rate.  The average place on the poverty list for a RTW state is 30.85.

Now I acknowledge this isn't a perfect argument. Michigan just joined the RTW list in 2012, so the true effects of RTW haven't set in yet. 3 of the top 10 states by union membership are in the bottom 25 by poverty rate. Not one top 10 union membership states are in the bottom 10 for poverty rate. The average place on the poverty list for a top 10 union state is 18.5. 

By contrast the lowest 10 states by union membership have 5 states in the bottom 10 for poverty rate and are an average 33.8 on the poverty list. 

Right to Work States
State	Number by Poverty %	Bottom 10 Union %?	Poverty %
Utah	7	41	9.2
Virginia	8	47	9.2
Nebraska	10		9.5
Idaho	12		9.9
Nevada	17		10.6
Wyoming	18		10.6
Florida*	19		11.1
North Dakota	20		11.2
Iowa	22		11.3
South Dakota	26	44	11.8
Michigan	27		12
Kansas	31		12.5
Indiana	32		12.6
North Carolina	34	50	13.2
Gerogia	37	49	14.4
Tennessee	40	42	15
South Carolina	41	48	15
Arizona*	42		15.2
Oklahoma*	44		15.6
Arkansas*	45		15.9
Texas	46	46	16.2
Alabama	47		16.7
Louisiana	49	45	18.3
Mississippi*	50	43	20.1
Average	30.58		13.2

*Constitutional Amendment for Right-to-Work                                                            Poverty rate is 0.6% above national average.

Lowest 10 States in Union Membership
State	# by union %	# by poverty %	Poverty rate
Utah	41	7	9.2
Tennessee	42	40	15.0
Mississippi	43	50	20.1
South Dakota	44	26	11.8
Louisiana	45	49	18.3
Texas	46	46	16.2
South Carolina	47	41	15.0
Virginia	48	8	9.2
Georiga	49	37	14.4
North Carolina	50	34	13.1
Average		33.8	14.2%

Poverty rate is 1.6% above national average.

Top 10 States in Union Membership
State	# by union %	# by poverty %	Poverty rate
New York	1	38	14.5
Hawaii	2	5	8.6
Alaska	3	13	10.0
Washington	4	15	10.2
Michigan	5	27	12.0
California	6	35	13.2
New Jersey	7	2	6.8
Connecticut	8	9	9.7
Nevada	9	17	10.6
Illinois	10	24	11.5
Average		18.5	10.7%

Poverty rate is 1.9 % below the national average.

References

“Right to Work Law” Retrieved on November 24, 2013 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-to-work_law (November 20, 2013)

“Union Affiliation by US State” Retrieved on November 24, 2013 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_affiliation_by_U.S._state (June 20, 2013)

“List of US States by Poverty Rate” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_poverty_rate (July 12, 2013) 

School

I started this night very stressed about my workload for school. I was beginning to think that taking 4 classes was WAY too much. After a few hours of hard work, I handed a paper in and reviewed my course schedules. I'm feeling much more confident in my ability to handle this. It still won't be easy, but I'm feeling better now. I just need to keep at it and I'll get through this.

New Sabres third jersey

First of all what I like. I like the colors. I don't mind that the front is yellow and back is blue. I like that the primary logo is front and center. I like the number font and the loof of the back.  

What bothers me are the vertical white stripes on the sleeves and collar and the grey ends of the sleeves. The Buffalo word mark on the front is unnecessary. The combination of the word mark, blue/yellow line and multicolored collar make the chest area of the jersey look crowded. 

My biggest problem with the jersey design is the lack of hockey jersey stripes (horizontal waist and sleeve stripes). To me, a hockey jersey should ALWAYS  have horizontal waist stripes. 

One question I have is what will the back of the jersey look like when there are two numbers on it? The Ott jersey doesn't look like it will have enough room. If the edges of the numbers break onto the yellow I don't think I'll like it. Same with the Captain and Alternate letters on the front. If they are over the blue/yellow border I think that will look awkward and messy. I don't see how they'll fit otherwise, especially now that the letters have crossed swords under them.

I'll hold final judgment until I see it on the ice. I doubt I'll ever hate it, but neither will I love it. I wasn't a huge fan of the 40th anniversary jerseys either. 

For me the perfect Sabres jersey would be their current home and away with the primary logo on each side of the shoulder yoke. Want a third jersey? Wear the white Winter Classic jersey. 

Ron Rolston

So Pegula is still the owner. Darcy is still the GM. Rolston is still the coach.

I don't really know how to feel about the team. I understand how you can come to almost any conclusion. What I do know is Darcy inherited a good team that had a lot of problems. He put the finishing touches on them fell 2 wins short of The Cup. Then he totally rebuilt the team from scratch and fell 4 wins short with what some call the greatest Sabres team ever. He did it with an owner who said the team had to make money.

Now the financial restrictions are gone and the team is in free fall! A majority of the fan base wants him fired. I could understand why. To some not firing Darcy makes Pegula look wishy-washy.

At this point I think it's best if we all just chill. None of us is going to make Terry Pegula fire Darcy Regier. Not Bucky Gleason. Not Mike Harrington. And certainly not a fan or a blogger. Just take a deep breath. Enjoy the beautiful summer weather. See what move Darcy pulls off on Draft Day and hope for the best.

For me right now I'm emotionally uninvested. I care, but not that much. I'll renew my mini-pack next year. I'll watch all their games. I'll root for them to win every game and make the playoffs. I'm still a fan but I'll need to see where things go before I really get excited for the team.

Good going America

Gun control heats up as Congress heads home | MSNBCMSNBC

Senate Republicans threaten to filibuster all gun control legislation. Even if it does pass the Senate, good luck in the House. The  NRA says no legislation will pass.

So even with no assault weapons ban and no mention of high capacity magazines Congress is still going to pass no gun legislation. So no tracking of sales. No expanded background checks.

We all live in the Wild West. We are all savages, ruled by paranoia and irrational fear.

Public mass shootings are the cost of freedom. We're only as free as we are badass.  Liberty requires that you be always be prepared to defend it with lethal force. The Bible was wrong. The meek shall inherit a violent death.

Good going America.

They say "knives kill people. Should we make them illegal?" There are 5 knives that are illegal in New York State. They are gravity knife, switchblade knife, pilum ballistic knife, metal knuckle knife and cane sword. Also any knife or dagger with intent to commit a crime is illegal.

They say "cars can be used to kill people. Should cars be illegal?" You have to get a license to operate a car. You have to register the car and get insurance. Cars are used to transport people. Knives are used to prepare food. 

Guns are used to kill things. Plain and simple.

Why can't we pass more stict gun control laws?

Guns

27 dead. 18 Children and 9 adults gunned down in Connecticut school massacre 

If we can't talk about gun control on a day like today, when can we? We are a nation of children. We are told you can't talk about it during or immediately after tragedies. Then no one does in between. The NRA rule the debate meanwhile there are over 12,000 gun murders in this country every year. Four 9/11's every year and we do nothing about it.

And where do the guns come from? They're stolen them from legal fun owners. If less guns are legally owned, then less guns are stolen. If you want to own a shotgun for hunting and home protection, fine with me. You want anything else? Join a militia or shooting club and they should remain there, locked in a secure armory vault. 

Mental health is a HUGE problem. As long as there are hundreds of millions of legal and illegal guns in this country, no amount of legislation is going to prevent insane people from obtaining and committing masacres with guns. That's why I tend towards less guns. It's impossible to know in each and every person weather or not they have the potential for a mass murder in them. So let's err on the side of caution.
 
I'm a realist though. We can't wave a wand and get rid of them all. So we should slowly close the spigot and aggressively bring in illegal guns. Let's aim for 20 years and 90% of all guns. As guns on the street both legal and illegal begin to dwindle then institute the actual Second Amendment. It says:

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

It mentions militia and state before arms and doesn't say anything about personal or home protection. I think the government absolutely has the right and duty to strongly regulate who can and cannot possess guns and what type should be allowed. I would argue for less and very few respectively. I also think anything not used for hunting should be kept locked in a gun club or militia armory vault.

NRA talking points are tired, logically flawed and easily defeated. But because of money the NRA can ruin a politicians career and make any talk of gun control political suicide. And there is nothing a politician values higher than his own skin other than easy money.