Governor Rick Scott of Florida (left) signed SB 736 into law in March, which requires merit pay for teachers and ends tenure for newly hired school teachers. The Florida Education Association has sued Florida alleging that the legislation is unconstitutional and that it denies teachers their right to collective bargaining.

When Congresswoman Maxine Waters says that the Tea Party can “go to Hell” and Jimmy Hoffa, of the notoriously violent Teamsters Union says of Obama's political opponents, “Let’s take the sons of bitches out,” the lofty calls by the President for more civility is seen as a double standard intended to hobble those who oppose his administration's socialist agenda.

Votes in a republic must be counted honorably or elections are worse than useless. Political machines after the Civil War learned the tools for stealing votes en masse. Immigrants not conversant in English, and leaning upon the largesse of local governments for a wide range of help, could be instructed how to vote and be trusted to do so. The rise of voter blocs, in which certain groups of Americans could be reliably expected to vote for certain political parties, made the legitimate function of elections weak — creating uncertainty about who would hold office.

Florida Governor Rick Scott has looked at the 20,000 administrative rules in the Florida Administrative Code, and is asking the state legislature to repeal in one fell swoop 1,000 of those rules and to change another 1,200 of them.

Republican Governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina spoke on September 1 with reporters via a conference call. The Governor accused President Obama, who will give a “jobs speech” to a joint session of Congress next week, of being “cowardly” when it came to jobs for South Carolinians. The National Labor Relations Board in April filed a complaint against the Boeing Corporation for planning to transfer an airline production plant for the 787 Dreamliner to South Carolina.

There are an estimated 500,000 public school buses in America, which will carry America's school children back and forth about 4.2 billion miles this school year. The Center for Auto Safety and the National Coalition for School Bus Safety had requested that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) mandate that all these buses install seatbelts; however, the federal agency has rejected that petition.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's nationally known political victory over the powerful labor unions in his state has inspired yet another state to tackle its public-employee unions. Michigan, where organized labor is perhaps more entrenched than anywhere else, is on the verge of enacting a law that would require local governments to cap healthcare spending or lose state aid. The legislation would have the practical effect of requiring school system employees to pay more of their healthcare costs.

Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee has signed into law a bill requiring voters to show some form of identification — such as a Social Security card or a birth certificate — before casting a ballot in 2012, and a photo identification card in 2014. If an individual does not have such a card, but qualifies for a photo ID, the state will provide this at no cost.

The State of Washington is a Democrat stronghold. It has been decades since Democrats have lost a senatorial or gubernatorial race. Washington is also blessed with abundant natural beauty, excellent harbors, and an agreeable (if rather wet) climate. There are plenty of reasons why a company suc has Boeing would want to operate in Washington. But there are also plenty of reasons why Boeing and other aeronautical companies might want to operate in other places.

Although much of the nation�s attention has lately been focused on the struggle between President Obama and Republicans on the federal budget, many of the battles against big government and its assorted allies are being waged at the state level by the new Republican muscle.