1. Separating the Men from the Boys

2. #WI IAFF: This Independence Day, it’s union first, American second…

3. Teamsters’ Vegas Convention Calls for CEO Prosecutions & Union Pension Bailout

4. It’s Not Easy Going Green

1. Separating the Men from the Boys

It is my distinct pleasure to welcome Heritage Action for America as a sponsor of the Morning Briefing. As I have written repeatedly on RedState, there are five organizations in America that have my unwavering support and should have yours too. Put another way, there are many, many outstanding organizations in America that I truly respect and like. But there are only five I love like my own children. Heritage Action is on that list.Why do I like them? Because Republicans in Congress fear them. Look, I know a lot of Republicans get tired of me knocking Republicans, but I strongly believe if we don’t hold our own side accountable, the result will be devastation at the hands of voters.Heritage Action for America holds Republicans accountable. When Republicans call themselves “conservative,” Heritage Action sets the bench mark on what that actually means. The result is that a lot of Republicans who call themselves “conservative” are really just pro-life statists ruining the country at only a slower clip than the Democrats. Heritage Action separates the men from the boys.The Heritage Foundation provides the intellectual leadership for conservatives in Washington. It’s sister organization, Heritage Action for America, provides the muscle to move Washington right. Now you may think you support Heritage Action for America because you support the Heritage Foundation. You would be wrong. They are separate entities. It’s all a muddled mess thanks to American campaign finance rules, but in a nutshell, Heritage and Heritage Action have separate membership lists. So you need go support Heritage Action in addition to the Heritage Foundation.You won’t regret it.Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. #WI IAFF: This Independence Day, it’s union first, American second…

On September 11, 2001, 2,977 people were killed by terrorists. The terrorists were indiscriminate in their slaughter of lives—while the attacks were an attack on America, the terrorists did not care whether those they killed were exclusively American or not, nor did they care whether or not the victims were carrying a union card.In New York, there were first responders killed on September 11th, 343 of them from the FDNY, many of them who happened to be members of a union, the IAFF.To most Americans, it is the bravery and heroism of those first responders, including the 343 from the FDNY, that is remembered with honor—along with the tragedy of all those who perished—regardless of their union membership.Yet, in Racine, Wisconsin, the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 321 has made this Independence Day more about union loyalties than America when they voted to refuse support of a float built to honor the public safety workers killed on September 11th in Racine’s Independence Day Parade.Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. Teamsters’ Vegas Convention Calls for CEO Prosecutions & Union Pension Bailout

Despite the bribery scandals, the dancers, and the jokes about the millions of their members’ dues that Teamster bosses spent in Las Vegas last week at the union’s 28th international convention, delegates did accomplish one thing of note: The delegates passed a resolution that, among other things, calls for a “financial rescue package for struggling union pensions” (also known as the $165 billion union pension bailout).Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. It’s Not Easy Going Green

It sounded like such a good idea.Back in 2009, NRG Energy Inc. hatched a plan to “go green” using switchgrass and sorghum as boiler fuel supplement. It was hoped that it might replace up to 10% of the coal which fires its Big Cajun II power plant in New Roads, LA.All the elements were in place: land near the plant (up to 30,000 acres of fertile Mississippi River floodplain — you can’t afford to transport biomass very far), plus the help of California-based Ceres Inc., a recently-IPO’d specialist in switchgrasses.The project was to start up this year.Please click here for the rest of the post.