Yesterday, Arizona’s Senate Government Reform Committee passed four bills that, if put into law, would make Wisconsin's and Ohio’s anti-union legislation look worker-friendly.  As reported in the Arizona Republic: 

“The four bills ... would allow taxpayers to bring a special action against a state agency or political subdivision if collective bargaining occurs, make it tougher for unions to deduct dues though members' public paychecks and ban compensation of public employees for union work while on the job.” 

This is "Union Busting" in its highest form. 

Arizona State Senator Rick Murphy (R), who introduced the bills, stated that they are needed for “balance,” and that workers shouldn’t “take on the mantle of a public servant, then group up together and use leverage on the people they claim to serve.”  In other words, according to Murphy, if you work for any public organization you lose your right to collective bargaining – simply because you work for a public organization. 

The Goldwater Institute, the libertarian think-tank that essentually wrote these bills and testified on behalf of the legislation, has taken Barry Goldwater’s conservative “Union-Reform” ideas to a new level.  Barry Goldwater wanted to modify collective bargaining procedures for public employees, not to destroy them completely. 

This is another example of how the Goldwater Institute has become “Goldwaterian in name only.”  This is the organization that brought down Arizona’s Clean Election Law last year – hardly a "Goldwater Conservative" position. 

It is also the group responsible for scuttling a deal that would have prevented the Phoenix Coyotes from moving to Canada.  Even Arizona Senator John McCain, a conservative Republican, felt that the institutes's actions were not in the “Goldwater Tradition.”  He said:  

“Not to get into details, but when an organization like the Goldwater Institute, elected by nobody, representing nobody except maybe some very wealthy donors, makes a decision like they did and it’s harmful to the economy of state of Arizona, then I do weigh in... 

I’ve never seen such arrogance and frankly, Barry Goldwater would want them to change their name because Barry Goldwater believed in the responsibility with the elected representatives of the people, not an unelected group of fat cats like who’s at the Goldwater Institute.” 

Indeed, the working agenda of the Goldwater Institute bears no resemblance to the principles of its namesake.  It is actively promoting Citizens United legislation in Arizona, and it is expanding its corporatist drive into other states through its active participation in the Koch brothers sponsored American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). 

Operating as a non-profit 501(c)(3),  the Goldwater Institute does not have to disclose its donors.  And it doesn't. 

It is clear that its members are now higher on Koch than on Goldwater.