Rush Limbaugh's Morning Update: Scam

Rush Limbaugh: In 2006, Michigan's Department of Human Services signed an agreement with a community college in Flint to create a government agency: the Michigan Home-Based Child-Care Council. The council's mission was to "recommend" good child-care practices. Even though the new agency didn't have a large staff or control of state dollars, the agency became a "public employer."

Now follow me here.

At the same time, the United Auto Workers and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees joined forces. They wanted to unionize private day-care services. So they came up with a new identity -- "the Michigan Employment Relations Committee" -- and conducted a union certification election. By mail. Only 6,000 day-care providers voted. The other 40,000 day-care providers in the state weren't even aware of the election. But -- shazaam! Suddenly, all the state's private day-care workers were in the union.

Here's where this all comes together. Since some low-income parents using private day-care get state subsidies, the new union claimed all its private day care workers are "public employees." And that new government agency designed to simply "recommend good child-care practices" is now the employer.

The result? In Michigan, private day-care providers are forced to pay union dues. And the Department of Human Services gives almost $4 million a year to the new union. It's a perfect scam set up by the Democrats who run Michigan, the community college, and the unions.

And you wonder why Michigan (and soon the rest of us) is broke?

Read the Background Material on the Morning Update...
• Mackinac Center for Public Policy: The Michigan Zombie Child Care Council
• Wall Street Journal: Michigan Forces Business Owners Into Public Sector Unions