A Tipping Point In Labor Relations?
An energized Sean Hannity started Friday afternoon’s show by describing his sleepless night. “I went to bed at about one o’clock in the morning then got up at six. I just started doing my work, preparing for this show because I just couldn’t get enough of what’s happening in Wisconsin. The events in Wisconsin have profound implications on the rest of the country,” Sean explained. “I mean enormous implications. I would argue that this might be the potential tipping point for labor relations in America and a tipping point in the Obama presidency.” As it's written now, the bill would force public workers to pay half the costs of their pensions and at least 12.6 percent of their health care coverage. It's projected to save the state $300 million over the next two years to tackle a $3.6 billion budget shortfall. “As a reference point, the comparable nation-wide employee health care contribution is twenty percent for private industry. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is asking for far less than that.” President Obama has accused the Republican governor of unleashing "an assault" on unions by pressing legislation that would end collective bargaining rights for public employees and sharply increase their health care and pension payments. “Ultimately, having these public workers contribute just a little bit more, like every American has had to do over the past few years, would save the state three hundred million dollars and prevent Gov. Walker from having to lay off five thousand public employees. How many of us have had to deny ourselves from maybe a night out on the town or a day at the ball park? Every American family has had to do some belt tightening and that’s all that Gov. Walker is asking the citizens of his state to do for the common good,” Sean concluded.

Iranium
Sean spoke briefly about a new movie he was able to get a sneak preview of called, “Iranium.” The movie describes the threat Iran’s nuclear program presents to international stability and shows how both Republican and Democratic leaders have misread Iran’s intentions and actions. How dangerous is a nuclear Iran, even if it never detonates a weapon? What are the guiding principles of the Iranian leadership? To what lengths would the regime go to carry out its agenda? "Iranium" powerfully reports on the many aspects of the threat America and the world now faces using rarely-before seen footage of Iranian leaders, and interviews with 25 leading politicians, Iranian dissidents, and experts on: Middle East policy, terrorism, and nuclear proliferation. You can watch an exclusive clip from "Iranium" by clicking here.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich
U.S. state and local governments are struggling to balance their budgets after the recession decimated their finances. Some states such as Wisconsin, Texas, Arizona and Ohio are trying to make deep cuts in spending to balance the books. Others such as Minnesota and Illinois are raising taxes. The tax burdens in many of these states are already astronomical, coming up with additional money to plug these huge budget gaps is a major issue. Gov. Walker is leading a battle against public employees in Wisconsin as is Gov. John Kasich of Ohio. Kasich joined Sean on the NewsMaker Hotline to discuss this growing problem. “One of the things we’re trying to do is to give local government officials, plus the school districts, the ability to control their costs. Right now all the power is on the side of labor and management has very little. The average private sector worker in Ohio pays twenty-three percent of their health care costs. The average city worker pays nine percent. We’re about trying to create some equity between the people who get supported by the taxpayers and the people that are out there working,” Kasich explained.