The Establishment's Rich Miller: ' People like Rauner who reside on the far right on economic issues have a lot of misconceptions about union members. '

Crain's Chicago Business has establishment columnist Rich Miller's Blue state rant:

Imagine the uproar if a governor proposed a law allowing local governments to tell their residents that paying monthly cable television bills now is purely optional.

If your county or city opted in, you could have whatever cable channels you wanted without paying a monthly fee. No repair charges either, unless you felt like chipping in.

The governor likely would be laughed out of office. If you want a private service, even a monopolized private service, you should expect to pay.

But that's pretty much what Gov. Bruce Rauner is proposing for labor unions.

It's called “right to work” by its proponents, although Rauner referred to it as “employee empowerment” during a Jan. 27 speech in Decatur.

Workers wouldn't be required to pay any union dues but would be entitled to all the advantages of membership. They would get the same pay raises, benefits and job protections.

People like Rauner who reside on the far right on economic issues have a lot of misconceptions about union members.

Millions of American live in right to work states with much higher standards of living than Illinois.