Like most lefties, I'm generally in favor of labor unions. But their history in this country is somewhat checkered, by everything from Stalinist communism in the '30s to overt racism, particularly before, when some unions were formed with an explicit goal being to preserve jobs for whites and keep out the negroes who were starting to migrate from the South.

It seems to some folks on Long Island, those were the good old days:

Immigrants arrived in droves in relatively small communities, making it impossible for residents to ignore their new neighbors. Some 80 percent of Long Islanders own their homes, and there are few rental apartments, so laborers are often crammed into single-family homes.

And thanks to the island's relatively weak labor unions, they can find work by standing on street corners, [Republican County rep Paul] Tonna said.

It's nice to know Republicans finally see the value of labor unions...