As we gear up for tonight’s State of the Union Address — in which the president is expected to be combative, and Republicans are expected to reject every syllable he utters — here’s a fact worth chewing on: Two decades ago, the Family Medical Leave Act passed with bipartisan support.
Yes, there was some opposition to the modest idea behind the bill: that workers should be able to recover from major illnesses, help ill relatives, or care for new babies without fear of losing their jobs. Groups like the US Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Realtors firmly predicted that American business would grind to a screeching halt.
Comments
I ran a business that employed three people for over 30 years. The loss of any one of them for a period of three months would have been a great hardship. In a small business every employee is a key employee. Obviously Ms. Weiss has nary a clue about small business.
In addition to make these benefits available for employees who have worked less than a year is at best ludicrous and for obvious reasons.
I consider myself a liberal which means one has to consider both sides of the equation. Try looking at this from the employer side Ms. Weiss and you may want to reconsider.
Remember, it takes a village.
How awful! Those miserable little pesky small employers somehow flopped out of the Feds big net. Time to roll them up and make em conform!
This is exactly how it is done folks, first ya pass a law that only effects the "big guys" who can afford it (they should pay anyway, just cause they are big), then, ya wait about 20 years and go after the small fry, cause now it is the "right" thing to do since the "big guys" have been doing it and it is not "fair" that everybody doesn't get a handout.
The FMLA is subject to abuse. People take it in small chunks and drag it out over time, creating an administrative nightmare for the employer. This piece was obviously written by someone who's never actually run a business.
time for joANNA WEISS to start & run her own small business, and then we will see what she supports. most small businesses are barely surviving through obama's presidency, his unlimited spending and rising taxes.
"But as Bravo points out, paid leave polls extremely well, across all demographics; in one 2010 poll from the University of Chicago, 86 percent of Americans supported paid sick days..."
Wow, who woulddathunkit? When asked, 86% of Americans voted that the Govnmit should force somebody else to give them 12 weeks of pay while they take time off...? Gee, the only surprising fact there is that it wasn't 100%. What relevance is it whether people vote for a benefit as to whether it is right or good policy? Take a poll on 5 years of FLMA, would a high vote make that a good idea?
One of the key element of our Bill of Rights "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is the freedom to contract, and practices like FLMA all involve the Govnmit expaning its power to limit the rights of Americans to freely contract their services. Its simply wrong and for that matter, un-American.
Now, now, Life, just clammer down. This here is Massachusetts, these folks think things are run by a majority, not by laws, not by rights or any of that other silly stuff in that worthless old piece of paper called the Constitution. Afterall, it is a living, breathing document they are busily trying to strangle the life out of.
Not to sound like a know it all, but Life, Liberty,and the Pursuit of Happiness is in the Declaration of Independence, not the Bill of Rights...but you atre right the other 14 percent must be small business owners.
Wow. You have absolutely no clue about small business Ms. Weiss. This drivel could come from Wesley Mouch himself.
Kiley