the latest effort to limit unions' political power reaches the supreme court.
i understand why people who pay union dues don't want that money being used for political purposes they don't believe in, but why is this issue only about union dues? my power company regularly lobbies for positions on environmental issues that i don't agree with. why can't i deduct the portion of my electrical bill that reflects the costs of those political activities?
for that matter, my tax dollars fund all kinds of stuff that i don't approve of. why can't i deduct the percentage of the national budget that i don't like from my taxes each year? if mere payment of dues to support some policy i don't want implicates my right to free association in a union context, there's no reason why tax dollars wouldn't raise the same issue.
these perfectly reasonable arguments are always trotted out to limit the power of labor unions. but those arguments almost always could apply just as reasonably to limit the power of other entities, like corporations or the government. and yet they never are.
