Wednesday wrap

Anti-investment agenda yields predictable results ... President Barack Obama on Tuesday declined to predict how high unemployment will climb but made clear he expects it to keep worsening for a while as hiring lags behind other signs of economic recovery. "How employment numbers are going to respond is not year clear," the president said on a day when he was headed to Michigan, home of a particularly battered economy. "My expectation is that we will probably continue to see unemployment tick up for several months." (washingtontimes.com)


Liz Cheney: Narcissist Obama flunked U.S. history ... Asked at a NATO meeting in France in April whether he believed in American exceptionalism, the president said, "I believe in American Exceptionalism just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism." In other words, not so much. The Obama administration does seem to believe in another kind of exceptionalism -- Obama exceptionalism. "We have the best brand on Earth: the Obama brand," one Obama handler has said. What they don't seem to realize is that once you're president, your brand is America, and the American people expect you to defend us against lies, not embrace or ignore them. We also expect you to know your history. (online.wsj.com)


Obama, Chávez, Zelaya: Birds of a feather ... I am quite concerned to read that President Barack Obama stands with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in asking for the reinstatement of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya. Three things stand out glaringly: Chávez is so clearly not an ally of the United States and, along with Cuba's Raul Castro, he has been advising Zalaya to take over leadership of Honduras in a nonconstitutional manner (which is the reason for his ousting in the first place). Obama taking a stand in concert with Chávez sends a message to the Honduran people who called for Zalaya's resignation that the U.S. is not in support of their right to protest Zalaya's improper methodology to attempt change of the Honduran constitution, in order to secure a longer term of office. (theledger.com)


Not the United States we used to know ... We have a president, a state department, a U.N., and an Organization of American States (OAS) that is now backing the communists, Marxists, socialists, and tyrants that want to take over Honduras. This is a case study of how a radical socialist president, backed by Congressional majorities, and a mainstream media in the tank, can do the most outrageous things and get away with them. But it is also a grim reminder that we have not only elected a radical, left-wing president with a history of questionable associates, but a president that can now be fairly labeled a socialist and communist sympathizer and supporter. Don’t try fobbing this all off. The facts are clear to anyone who wants to take the time to find them. This is light years behind incredible and outrageous and what is happening is clear as a bell to anyone who is awake: We have a president, Barack Obama; a state department headed by Hillary Clinton; and a government that is now on the side of the Communists, the Marxists, the tyrants and dictators of South America. I knew Obama was a fraud, a faker, a phony, and a fibber. I knew he was a socialist, but the new evidence suggests you have to add communist sympathizer and/or communist to that long list of Obama descriptives. (thebulletin.us)


Sotomayor: Unwise Latina didn't mean what she said ... Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor retreated from her praise of the "wise Latina," endorsed a privacy right to abortion in the Constitution and insisted she was not opposed to gun ownership during a day of questioning on a string of hot-button issues before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. In her first extended public exchanges since President Obama nominated her in May, Judge Sotomayor said her widely cited 2001 remark that a "wise Latina woman" would tend to make better judgments than a white man was a "failed rhetorical flourish that fell flat" - and not, as critics charge, evidence of racism. (washingtontimes.com)

Related video: Sotomayor throws Obama under the bus



The Obama Brand ... “We have the best brand on earth: the Obama brand,” Rogers says. “Our possibilities are endless.” Like all brands, the Obama brand has a “crown jewel,” she explains, and that crown jewel is the White House. Think of it like Unilever’s Dove, a consumer brand Rogers says she admires. Having started with a simple bar of soap, the utilitarian Dove brand now boasts such grooming products as shampoo, body wash and deodorant. In 2004, its “Campaign for Real Beauty” featuring plus-size and older models generated a flood of publicity, boosted sales and made the brand seem approachable and public-service-oriented. “You basically need to understand what your customers want and need,” Rogers says. (magazine.wsj.com)


D.C. union organizers buck public opinion ... Recently, Rasmussen did a poll on the basic concept to see what the prevailing feelings were and it looks like the union position comes out heavily on the losing end of the stats with this one. What’s more, most people agree with the Republican position that opposes the union’s. "Thirty percent (30%) of Americans say it is fair to form a union without having a secret ballot vote if a majority of a company’s workers sign a card saying they want to unionize. But a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 52% of adults do not believe it is fair to form a union without a secret vote. Eighteen percent (18%) are not sure. "Sixty-five percent (65%) of Republicans believe it’s unfair to establish a union without a secret ballot. Democrats and adults not affiliated with either party are more closely divided, although pluralities of both groups agree with the majority of Republicans." And that isn’t the only part of the EFCA that most people oppose. "Just 21% of all Americans believe the federal government should be allowed to mandate an agreement defining pay and benefits for a company’s employees if the company and their employees’ union cannot reach an agreement on a contract within 90 days. Fifty-six percent (56%) are opposed to giving the government this power which is another provision of the EFCA." (theunionlabelblog.com)


Mission Accomplished: Obama completes Europeanization of U.S. economy ... Economic policy, which became startling when Washington began buying automobile companies, has become surreal now that disappointment with the results of the second stimulus is stirring talk about the need for a . . . second stimulus. Elsewhere, it requires centuries to bleach mankind's memory; in Washington, 17 months suffice: In February 2008, President George W. Bush and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who normally were at daggers drawn, agreed that a $168 billion stimulus — this was Stimulus I — would be the "booster shot" the economy needed. Unemployment then was 4.8%. In January, the administration, shiny as a new dime and bursting with brains, said that unless another stimulus — Stimulus II wound up involving $787 billion — was passed immediately, unemployment, which then was 7.6%, would reach 9% by 2010. But halfway through 2009, the rate is 9.5%. For the first time since the now 16-nation Eurozone was established in 1999, the unemployment rate in America is as high as it is in that region, which Americans once considered a cautionary lesson in the wages of sin, understood as excessive taxation and regulation. (ibdeditorials.com)


Poor management blamed on extra-constitutional Czar creep ... President Obama gave his so-called "czars" responsibilities that might have been divided among different Cabinet secretaries in past administrations. But by some accounts, Obama has nearly three dozen czars in his administration, managing everything from closing the Guantanamo Bay detention facility to ending the genocide in Darfur. Obama has pledged his full support to all of them. But when you add his 15 Cabinet secretaries to his policy and political advisors and his chief of staff and throw in his military advisors and a couple dozen selected other officials, that equals a lot of officials who have Oval Office walk-in rights. "I think the number probably is getting closer to a 100," said James Bailey, a leadership professor at George Washington University, who noted that's not the norm at most Fortune 500 companies. "Most CEOs have about seven to 10 people reporting to them," he said, adding that Obama has perhaps 100 people reporting to him. "Can they reasonably and responsibly state up with all of the elements that are required to execute their job responsibly," he said. (foxnews.com)


Unionist Czar to rule over U.S. auto industry ... The Obama administration’s efforts to revive the auto industry will now have a union member at its helm. Ron Bloom, a senior adviser in the U.S. Treasury Department for auto industry restructuring, has been named to head the administration’s auto task force. Bloom succeeds Steven Rattner, a former investment banker, who resigned after less than six months on the job. Before moving to Treasury, Bloom served as an assistant to United Steelworkers (USW) President Leo Gerard. As USW’s director of corporate research, he helped revive and restructure 50 companies in bankruptcy. Bloom began his career negotiating union contracts for low-wage workers under AFL-CIO President John Sweeney when he was president of SEIU. (blog.aflcio.org)


What is Card-Check? Play the Game. ... Learn about the effect of Card-Check and the so-called "Employee Free Choice Act" on small business in America while trying to keep your job. The so-called Employee Free Choice Act, aka “Card Check”, would take away numerous rights and protections currently afforded to workers employed at companies where unions are actively seeking to organize. The bill would remove workers’ rights to a federally supervised private ballot election. Instead, workers would be asked to sign cards in front of organizers and colleagues, potentially subjecting them to harassment or intimidation. Once a majority of employees have signed cards, the union is immediately recognized. (whatiscardcheck.com)


Obamanistas H8 Worker-Choice ... Card Check legislation is something clever the unions and Democrats came up with as a way to overrule the secret ballot majority needed in order for a place of business to be required to unionize. The unions call it the Employee Free Choice Act to make it sound like employees have a choice, but there isn't choice when there is no secret ballot. The protection of free choice is dependent on the secret ballot and the unions want that last protection taken away. Workers rights are not the goal of unions--widespread forced unionization is the goal of unions because that means money and power for the unions and for the left. Texas is a right to work state, which means that no employees are forced to join or financially support a union unless they choose to do so. Teachers are a good example. In Texas, a teacher can decide to belong to none or any of three recognized teachers unions: Texas State Teachers Association (an affiliate of the National Education Association), American Federation of Teachers (an affiliate of the AFL-CIO), or the Texas Federation of Teachers. Union dues vary by the teaching area and the types of insurance, but they are generally not over $200 per year. On the other hand, consider a state like California, which is not a right to work state. All teachers are required to be members and to pay dues to the California Teachers Union (which is affiliated with the NEA)—there is no choice in California. Union dues are usually around $900 a year depending on where you teach in the state. Employees in non-right to work states must pay an equivalent of dues even if they decide to opt out (which can be a harrowing process and usually is only allowed under strict religious grounds, so it is hardly ever allowed). Forced payments of union dues are used to promote left-leaning politicians and policies. (examiner.com)


Job-Killer Act: It's all about the 'O' ... Congress should help to remove barriers that stand in the way of business opportunities instead of advancing costly measures like the Employee Free Choice Act (also known as Card Check), according to Jonathan Johnson, president of Overstock.com. Under Card Check the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) would be required to certify a union without a secret ballot election, if labor representatives obtained signatures from 51 percent of a company’s workforce. The arbitration provision of the proposal requires that labor and management have just 120 days to reach an agreement before a two year contract is imposed by a federal mediator in a compulsory process. “The government should make it easier for people to get hired, not harder,” Johnson said. “Binding arbitration says to me we are going to have federal agents come in and determine what the labor contracts are going to be.” The end result of binding arbitration would be the “nationalization of small businesses by the federal government,” he said. (washingtonexaminer.com)


Labor-state GOP Gov. gets up in Obama's face ... Gov. Linda Lingle vetoed a controversial bill Tuesday that would have allowed Hawaii labor unions to more easily organize workers by having them sign authorization cards. House Bill 952, the so-called card-check bill, would have taken away the right of workers to vote by secret ballot on whether or not they would want to join a union, replacing it with authorization cards. If a majority of a company’s workers signed the cards, the union would automatically be recognized and free to bargain with management. Lingle included it with four other bills she said would discourage job creation. (bizjournals.com)


Sending out an SOS for Worker-Choice ... Unions have challenged the language of a ballot initiative that would amend the Colorado Constitution to guarantee employees' right to a secret ballot in unionization elections. Meanwhile, legislation is pending before Congress that would remove that requirement from federal law. “The purpose for this amendment is to guarantee the fundamental right of an individual to vote by secret ballot,” said Patrick Davis, a Colorado Springs political consultant backing the measure. The Employee Free Choice Act would repeal federal requirements for private voting and clear the way for a method called “card check.” Workers would still have a choice to opt for a secret ballot election, but unions are unlikely to back such a move. Since signature cards may be filled out anywhere and may take various forms, critics are concerned the process is more susceptible to fraud and intimidation. The 39-word proposal reads, “The right of individuals to vote by secret ballot is fundamental. Where state or federal law requires or permits elections or designations or authorizations of employee representation, the right of individuals to vote by secret ballot shall be guaranteed.” A state board has approved a title for the initiative, which is now being challenged by organized labor. (facethestate.com)


Scandal could test vaunted Obama transparency ... "We're not there yet," one Democratic source on Capitol Hill said last week, when asked about the prospect for hearings on the Obama administration's firing of AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin. Congressional investigators are still conducting interviews in the case, so the question of whether to "pull the trigger" on a full-blown inquiry -- with subpoenas for witnesses to testify under oath at committee hearings -- has yet to be decided. The fact that both Democrats and Republicans are involved in investigating the Walpin dismissal is, however, highly significant. With Democrats controlling both houses of Congress, bipartisanship is absolutely necessary to getting the truth about the AmeriCorps case, as with the other cases in the smoldering "IG Gate" scandal. Sensitive political considerations are involved, given the potential fallout from investigations into whether the Obama administration -- which promised to be the most "transparent" in history -- is trying to muzzle the independent watchdogs tasked with preventing waste, fraud and abuse in federal agencies. In the span of barely a week, beginning with the White House's quit-or-be-fired ultimatum to Walpin on June 10, two other inspectors general left their posts in what appears to be a pattern of administration pressure against IGs: (spectator.org)


Update: Obama-related, union-backed marketing scam exposed in Palmetto State ... The Smosska company has created an official website, which features more detailed information about the company and its products. According to the website, http://www.Smosska.com, “Smosska e-health was founded in 2001 by President and CEO, Michelle Adams to save money and make healthcare records management easier.“ The website goes on to say, “We offer an affordable electronic healthcare card that links a patient to their medical records from anywhere in the world, any time of the day or night.“ Smosska recently held a job fair in Florence in which they charged applicants a $40 assessment fee. That charge, along with the fact that the company has no current building to house potential employees, a lack of a solid business history, and the fact that company officials said they would increase their workforce from about 10 people to 3,000, prompted concerns from the Better Business Bureau. Smosska company officials are now saying on the website, “We expect to employ 1500 to 3000 people by the end of 2009 and 50,000 within 5 years.“ Previously, the company did not have a website and there were limited references to the company on the internet. The B.B.B. still has an open investigation into Smosska, and says the results of the investigation are contingent upon whether or not applicants hear back from the company about potential positions. (scnow.com)


Shame on The Washington Post ... The Washington Post’s ill-fated plan to sell sponsorships of off-the-record “salons” was an ethical lapse of monumental proportions. Publisher Katharine Weymouth and Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli have now taken full responsibility for what was envisioned as a series of 11 intimate dinners to discuss public policy issues. For a fee of up to $25,000, underwriters were guaranteed a seat at the table with lawmakers, administration officials, think tank experts, business leaders and the heads of associations. Promotional materials said Weymouth, Brauchli and at least one Post reporter would serve as “Hosts and Discussion Leaders” for an evening of spirited but civil dialogue. While Brauchli and Weymouth say they should have realized long ago that the plan was flawed, internal e-mails and interviews show questions about ethics were raised with both of them months ago. They also show that blame runs deeper. Beneath Brauchli and Weymouth, three of the most senior newsroom managers received an e-mail with details of the plan. (delawareonline.com)


Reversal: SEIU discards failed policy of the past, organizes in favor of term limits ... A local union wants term limits imposed on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. KPBS reporter Katie Orr says a union member filed paperwork today that begins the process of putting term limits on the ballot. The current Board of Supervisors hasn’t changed since 1995. But the Service Employees International Union Local 221 thinks it’s time for new representation. Union member and long time county employee Margaret Johnson has filed paperwork that would let voters decide if the supervisors should be subject to term limits. “This country was built on the principle that monarchies are not okay. The President of the United States can only serve two terms, yet the Board of Supervisors have the ability to serve for life,” she says. (kpbs.org)


International Collectivism

NPR smacks down Hugo Chávez' socialist experiment ... In Venezuela, President Hugo Chávez's government has made the expropriation of farmland — taking land from big landholders and giving it to the poor — central to his so-called revolution. The idea is to spur production and end dependence on food imports. But the results have fallen short, making the country more dependent on foreign food than ever before. (npr.org)


Chávez orders workers to join Socialist Party ... Venezuela's oil workers will be suspected of conspiring against President Hugo Chávez's socialist revolution if they do not join socialist workplace groups in the OPEC nation, the oil minister said on Tuesday. Ramirez, who told oil workers to support Chávez ahead of his 2006 reelection, has long headed the president's drive to bring politics into Venezuela's main industry. "By now, there should not be a single counter-revolutionary in the heart of our company, our industry," Ramirez said at a rally with workers taken on by state-oil company PDVSA after it nationalized dozens of oil service companies earlier this year. "There cannot be a single PDVSA installation where socialist committees do not exist," he said. "Whoever is not in a committee will be suspected of conspiring against the revolution." (reuters.com)


U.S. backs global war on democracy ... A war is being waged on the democratic process around the world, a war which poses ultimately a greater peril than the bombs and bullets from militant Islam. The two, however, are closely allied, at least for now. The pattern of attack is similar around the world: a popularly elected leader uses his office to ensure that he remains perpetually in office and establish a socialist/communist regime allied with similar governments; freedom of the press is muted, freedom of expression is suppressed through militant youth gangs, and all meaningful opposition is criminalized. The most obvious example of this perversion of the democratic process is the bumptious Latin American communist, Hugo Chávez, president of oil-rich Venezuela. A self-described follower of the long-dead Bolshevik revolution leader Leon Trotsky, Chávez used his election victory in 1998 to install a neo-communist dictatorship. Chávez controls most major media outlets, and uses a youth gang called the Bolivarian Circle to intimidate those protesting his regime. Chávez has criminalized his opposition and forced politicians, military officers, business leaders, and oil executives to seek asylum outside Venezuela. (canadafreepress.com)

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Summary only ...

Tuesday wrap

Architects of U.S. Job Freeze celebrate at White House ... In a meeting with President Obama today at the White House, top labor leaders pushed for a second stimulus package to create more jobs. “Since the onset of the recession, this country has lost an astounding 6.5 million jobs and $14 trillion in wealth. "We support the President's recovery and reinvestment program, and we believe it should be substantially reinforced with more stimulus, creating millions of good jobs that cannot be outsourced," the National Labor Coordinating Committee (NLCC) said in a statement after the meeting. A labor official said Obama did not commit to any future stimulus package. The president met for approximately an hour this afternoon with more than a dozen labor leaders, including AFL-CIO president John Sweeney, SEIU President Andy Stern and Change to Win Chair Anna Burger. (blogs.abcnews.com)


Trojan Horse diverts critics of Obama-Dem dis-investment agenda ... A top aid to one of the union leaders present at a White House meeting with President Obama today said the president remains firmly committed to passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, the bill that would make it easier to unionize. “He told the leaders that his administration is firmly committed to the bill but as of now there is no formal timeline on when it would get to his desk,” the aid said. (pww.org)


And that's a good thing ... President Barack Obama's honeymoon with the American electorate is over, judging by his dropping poll numbers. And if it ever existed, Obama's honeymoon with Congressional Democrats has likewise suffered a messy, complicated demise. But the honeymoon's end is a good thing for the President, because, of course, once the honeymoon has run its course, the newly married begin their hard slog to building a durable marriage. (usliberals.about.com)


P2P alive & well: Obama officially cedes Auto Industry to UAW big ... Steve Rattner, the former New York investment banker who had overseen President Obama’s auto task force, is leaving his post and will be replaced by Ron Bloom, a former union official. An administration official said Rattner was leaving on his own. “He determined that this was the right decision for him and his family at this time,” said the administration official. (politico.com)


Obama credits Russia for ending Cold War ... Speaking to a group of students, our president explained it this way: "The American and Soviet armies were still massed in Europe, trained and ready to fight. The ideological trenches of the last century were roughly in place. Competition in everything from astrophysics to athletics was treated as a zero-sum game. If one person won, then the other person had to lose. And then within a few short years, the world as it was ceased to be. Make no mistake: This change did not come from any one nation. The Cold War reached a conclusion because of the actions of many nations over many years, and because the people of Russia and Eastern Europe stood up and decided that its end would be peaceful." The truth, of course, is that the Soviets ran a brutal, authoritarian regime. The KGB killed their opponents or dragged them off to the Gulag. There was no free press, no freedom of speech, no freedom of worship, no freedom of any kind. The basis of the Cold War was not "competition in astrophysics and athletics." It was a global battle between tyranny and freedom. The Soviet "sphere of influence" was delineated by walls and barbed wire and tanks and secret police to prevent people from escaping. America was an unmatched force for good in the world during the Cold War. The Soviets were not. The Cold War ended not because the Soviets decided it should but because they were no match for the forces of freedom and the commitment of free nations to defend liberty and defeat Communism. (online.wsj.com)


Why Progressives heart Hugo Chávez ... Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is undoubtedly one of Latin America’s most recognizable political figures for his provincial code of behavior—from incendiary statements against George W. Bush to a failed attempt to hug Queen Elizabeth II—and for his “Bolivarian Revolution,” a political agenda that, he claims, resembles the ideals of Simón Bolivar, one of the iconic leaders who contributed to the independence of several South American nations from the Spanish monarchy in the early 1800s. (americanprogress.org)


Sotomayor in a nutshell



Terrorists for Obama confer in Chicago ... Honduras? The president is on the wrong side of this one, too. As Hondurans have demanded adherence to their Constitution, the Obama administration has sided with a protege of Hugo Chávez and the Castro brothers who tried to obliterate it. Terrorists in waiting mostly remained in the shadows during the Bush administration, but now think they can meet openly to plot the downfall of the United States. Hizb ut-Tahrir, an international movement that wants to re-establish a Caliphate and indoctrinate Muslims into supporting jihad, will step up its recruitment efforts at a planned meeting July 19 in a Chicago suburb, reports the Investigative Project on Terrorism. "The group, whose alumni include 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and suicide bombers, will hold a conference entitled 'The Fall of Capitalism and the Rise of Islam.'" Why should they fear a president who still wants to negotiate with the Iranian nuclear bomb builder Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? There is nothing worse for the world than to have a president of the United States who is perceived as weak. Weakness can result in the deaths of innocent people, a wrecked economy (again) and new attacks on American allies and interests around the world. This perception of weakness may be contributing to the drop in President Obama's approval ratings. (townhall.com)


U.S. aligns with LatAm DINOs ... In some countries, this ferment has created an opening for populist leaders who trade in radical solutions and the politics of grievance. Politicians like President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, President Evo Morales of Bolivia, President Rafael Correa of Ecuador, and President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua promise to put the poor first. But they have done so via policies that are economically unsustainable, socially polarizing, and destructive to democracy. (worldpoliticsreview.com)


WaPo shines a light on officials' LatAm hypocrisy ... The Organization of American States is applying a "double standard" because their members rushed to reinstate in power the ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya without addressing the threats to democracy from Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, said an op-ed published on Monday by the Washington Post. The opinion article, signed by Jackson Diehl, the Deputy Editorial Page Editor of the US newspaper, highlights the hunger strike staged by Caracas mayor Antonio Ledezma, an opposition leader who was elected metropolitan mayor of Caracas in elections held last November but has been illegally driven from office as the Administration of Chávez has stripped him of power and funding. Ledezma "has embarked on a lonely effort to draw attention to the double standard that has lately governed violations of political and human rights in the region," the article said, as reported by AP. (english.eluniversal.com)


Obama-related, union-backed community organizers test innovative tactic ... So, how does a company that doesn’t seem to have any employees, no place of business, and no actual product for sale find the ability to promise that it can create 3,000 employees practically overnight? It appears as if the answer to that is when ACORN is backing you amazing financial arrangements can be made. The links between Smosska and the troubled community group weren’t openly admitted, to be sure. The Florence Better Business Bureau looked into the company after questions were raised about its odd characteristics. The BBB found that Smosska is being backed by a group called Organizers for America, which itself is a subsidiary of the National Organizers Alliance, which itself is affiliated with ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, the nationally troubled group associated with massive voter fraud, financial irregularities. Of course, all were heavy Obama campaign backers. NOA is also heavily engaged with unions via training their employees for “community activism.” So, what does Smosska do? Its website claims that the company makes electronically readable ID cards with a patient’s medical history imprinted upon them. But there is no indication that a single card has ever been made since the company was incorporated in 2001. (theunionlabelblog.com)


Dem Gov: Worker-choice is not an option ... Gov. Gregoire recently commented there is no legislative solution to a “no-strike” agreement between the Machinists union and Boeing. That is not the case. The Legislature can vote to change Washington to a “right-to-work” state. Four strikes in 20 years in heavy aviation manufacturing is the equivalent of regional economic epilepsy. Washington has clear advantage over South Carolina in experienced labor, plus mature infrastructure and supplier bases. These advantages are moot because Boeing can’t make guarantees to customers. “Right-to-work” tips the scale in South Carolina’s favor. Correcting this costs taxpayers nothing. Employees voluntarily pay for representation without being coerced by law. It’s true in South Carolina, where the Machinists union recently negotiated its current deal with Vought. (heraldnet.com)


SEIU in typical labor-state human chain ... More than 1,000 members of a union that represents janitors, social workers, nurses and other county employees will join hands today to form a human chain around Riverside County's Administrative Center to protest plans to cut wages and benefits. With only two weeks remaining before a county-threatened negotiation deadline, Service Employees International Union Local 721 and the county have been at odds over a new three-year collective bargaining agreement. (mydesert.com)


UFCW organizers drive grocer to ruin ... Arizona hometown grocer Bashas' Supermarkets Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late Sunday, hoping to buy time and money to ride out the recession. Executives at the Chandler-based string of 158 Bashas', Food City and AJ's Fine Foods markets (156 in Arizona) say the company has been squeezed to the breaking point by tight credit conditions, aggressive competitors and by increasingly cost-conscious consumers who are buying beans and pasta instead of steak. Edward "Trey" Basha, company senior vice president, attributed the decision to seek bankruptcy protection to lower sales, a shortage of capital and ongoing battles with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. (azcentral.com)


Maine seeks to rebuild Middle Class ... When legislators return to Augusta in January, there is one bill that proposes to eliminate the right to a secret ballot election. LD 934, "An Act to Clarify Public Sector Employee Fair Choice in Collective Bargaining" introduced by Sen. Troy Jackson of Fort Kent is on the list of carry-over bills. Here's what the bill's summary says: "Under current law, if a state employee organization or public employee organization files a request with a public employer alleging that a majority of the employees in an appropriate bargaining unit wish to be represented for the purpose of collective bargaining, the public employer may request an election to determine whether there exists majority support among the employees for such representation. This bill provides instead that the public employer may request an inspection of the evidence of written majority authorization on the part of the employees." This bill eliminates the right of any public sector employer in Maine (towns, counties, government agencies, etc.) to call for an election. The bill strikes the word "election" and substitutes it with the word "inspection". Worse yet, the bill exposes our state, county and municipal workers to potential coercion - just like the federal card check bill that also is known as the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). What's also troubling with this bill is there is no evidence that the system is broken. Employers in both the public and private sectors should be concerned with this attempt to circumvent the secret ballot. The right of workers to organize for purposes of collective bargaining is an important backstop to employer practices that are unfair or unsafe. This measure, however, is simply an invitation to abuse a system that currently serves the interests of employers, employees and the taxpayers. (exceptionmag.com)


SEIU goes to war v. working class ... Q: Where did you get the idea of the war room you’ve set up in SEIU’s Washington headquarters and what are you doing with it? Denis Rivera: In one of the conversations with [SEIU President Andy Stern] I suggested we have [a war room] like we did in New York, on our seventh floor. We are running it like it is a presidential campaign, but as I told other people, our 'candidate' is basically health care reform. We have folks who are doing constant research about what the opposition is doing. We have a media response team and we have research of what those people are doing. At the same time our lobbying team is keeping track of all of the members in the committees of jurisdiction and what positions they’re taking on the issues that are important to us as they relate to health care reform. We and our coalition partners are close to assembling, in our own respective organizations, close to 100 million Americans by name, address, phone number, and e-mail address. In SEIU alone we have 32 million of them. Just the other day, we sent 600,000 e-mails with a message. From soup to nuts we’re trying to manage this process in a more efficient way, as opposed to what happened in ’93 and ’94, when we didn’t have any of this technology. (kaiserhealthnews.org)


Steelworker strikers err on timing ... As thousands of miners hit the picket lines at Vale Inco’s nickel operations in Sudbury, Ont., Monday demanding a better labour contract, analysts said the strike might work in the company’s favour, at least in the near term. The mine was shut for two months on June 1 in an attempt to handle oversupply of the metal, which means the labour stoppage won’t have an impact until at least early August. "End-user demand for stainless steel remains quite weak, and because of that I suspect the company may not feel very obliged to very quickly bring the strike to an end because it’s going to tighten the market," said Patricia Mohr, commodity market specialist at Scotiabank. (thechronicleherald.ca)


Strikebreakers plague tourists ... A spokeswoman for IBEW Local 1547 said Monday that 17 workers at Denali National Park and Preserve remain on strike. The bus mechanics, radio technicians and warehouse workers have been negotiating for better pay and benefits since January. Temporary workers have been brought in by Doyon/ARAMARK J.V., which is responsible for bus service at the popular tourist destination. (newsminer.com)

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Summary only ...

Monday wrap

Officials, authorities licensed to steal ... It is time to treat the bloated pensions of public employees for what they really are, a criminal conspiracy to steal from the public. Any official who approves or facilitates these giveaways should be tried under the RICO racketeering law as should the workers who receive them. The same logic should be applied to corporate boards of directors, compensation committees and the multimillion dollar CEOs. (contracostatimes.com)

In case you missed it: The Union News weekend
Sunday: Americas: Thieving tyrants are wearing thin
Saturday: Team Obama refuses to admit mistakes


We just don't get it ... Obama is an even bigger trickster; it's part of his show-off narcissism. He's Playing the Dozens with us, except that the voters don't get it. So here's the question. If Obama the Trickster just loves to stick it to middle class America -- why do you think he nominated Sonia Sotomayor? That's a serious question. This administration is just filled with racial anger. So why would Sotomayor be its first Supreme Court nominee? The Trickster's at it again. Sotomayor believes in the US Constitution like Obama does: not at all. But Sotomayor is not nearly as good as Obama at this double game, seeming rather dim-witted. She's given away her Hispanic Victimhood at least half a dozen times in public, not exactly what you expect from a Justice of the Supreme Court. She would be a living embarrassment to the US Constitution. Conservatives -- meaning the squares: normal, decent, honest people -- will want to give Sotomayor a fair hearing. Well, Stuart Taylor has done it for us in the National Journal, focusing on the reverse discrimination case by white firefighters in Connecticut. Taylor is a legal analyst, and plays it with scrupulous fairness. He writes: (americanthinker.com)


Narcissism defines our "Quid Pro Quo" President ... Barack Obama is a narcissist, which is never to be confused with a socialist. Obama cares not for the proletariat...his contempt towards average Americans is boundless. Rather, the Obama administration exists to benefit Obama. While the president is closer philosophically to Che Guevara than to Thomas Jefferson, it is not philosophy that dictates his policies. Obama governs using the Chicago model on which he was politically weaned: “You scratch my back, or I break yours.” While most Americans are suffering financially, Obama’s major contributors are enjoying taxpayer-provided prosperity. Some of his accomplices are corporate, while others are anti-corporate. The common denominator is that all have pledged fealty to Dear Leader. The diplomatic term is “reciprocity”, which sounds so much better than “pay for play”. It should come as little surprise that a Chicago machine politician governs like a mafioso. While the lofty rhetoric is that Obama seeks to redistribute wealth from greedy to needy, the putrid reality is that he redistributes wealth from foe to friend. (canadafreepress.com)


Sotomayor-Obama reflect our long-raging, racist civil war ... Sonia Sotomayor is waging war on “racism.” If you don’t believe me, just ask her. Why do blacks and Hispanics not do as well as whites on standardized tests? “Racism.” (Never mind about the Asians.) Why are more blacks and Hispanics in jail than whites? “Racism.” We can’t have capital punishment, either. As The Urban Grind observes, “Judge Sotomayor also believes that capital punishment is racist.” The Urban Grind observes, as well, that Judge Sotomayor “believes that denying felons the right to vote while they’re still in prison is racist.” The sophistry of “disparate impact” is central to the racial profiling myth. If it is declared unthinkable, the facts be damned, that blacks and Hispanics could commit crime at higher rates than whites, and whites are blamed for every social ill, higher rates of black and Hispanic imprisonment must necessarily be the fault of white racism. These are the logical consequences of disparate impact dogma, which Sonia Sotomayor and “Barack Obama” both embrace. If we accept disparate impact’s backwards theory of the law, whereby the law’s legitimacy is determined after the fact, based on whether its enforcement results in parity of imprisonment between minorities and whites, there can be no criminal law. It must be jettisoned, while anti-white civil rights laws must be retained. “Disparate impact” dogma demands that the worse blacks and Hispanics conduct themselves, the more whites and Asians must be punished, especially when the original black and Hispanic misconduct entailed victimizing whites and Asians! And there must be ever more blacks and Hispanics, and ever fewer whites and Asians. “Disparate impact” is a weapon of ultimately genocidal race war. “Disparate impact” is incompatible with science or any rational, fair, system of law. For Sonia Sotomayor, as for the man who nominated her, there is no law or science; there is only race war. (webcommentary.com)


Obama refuses to admit foreign policy blunders ... The Obama administration seems to have gotten just about everything wrong about the ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya. Wrong on the law. Wrong on the politics. Wrong on the foreign policy. On the law, Miguel Estrada, the brilliant attorney whose nomination to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals was blocked by those who abhor a truly wise Latino conservative, actually has read the Honduran constitution. He finds that it specifies that it cannot be amended to change the limit on a single four-year term for the president. And it further provides that trying to amend the constitution "constitutes treason." As Estrada reminds us, "The rules are so tight because these are terribly serious issues for Honduras, which lived under decades of military rule." But Zelaya, who fancies himself the next Hugo Chávez, ordered himself up a referendum earlier this year with the clear purpose to amend the constitution to do what is prohibited and indeed treasonous. After all, such a gambit is precisely the mechanism his role model Chávez used in order to extend his rule in Venezuela. (realclearpolitics.com)


Will disgraced, U.S.-backed LatAm power-tripper face the music? ... Honduran interim leader Roberto Micheletti said on Sunday the ousted president, Manuel Zelaya, would not be allowed to return to power under any conditions but could be granted an amnesty if he were to come home quietly to face justice. "If he comes peacefully first to appear before the authorities ... I don't have any problem (with an amnesty for him)," Micheletti told Reuters in an interview at the presidential palace in Tegucigalpa. (reuters.com)


Good riddance to Chavismo ... The belligerent Manuel Zelaya calls the new government of Honduras a "repressive regime." Yet he is a pal of Raul Castro and Hugo Chávez, the two worst regimes in the Western Hemisphere. How can he complain and then have his arms around the Venezuelan dictator and sit next to Raul Castro? Mr. Zelaya deserved what he got by violating all Honduras laws. He wanted to remain in power a la Chávez. Good riddance. (sun-sentinel.com)


U.S. awakens to Post-Constitutional Era ... Republican Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama said today that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's judicial philosophy, as articulated in her speeches, marks "a blow, I think, at the very ideal of American justice." "In a number of her speeches, for example, she has advocated a view that suggests that your personal experiences, even prejudices — she uses that word — it's expected that they would influence a decision you make," he told "Face The Nation" host Bob Schieffer. Sessions is the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sotomayor's confirmation hearings begin Monday. "Every judge must be committed every day to not let their personal politics, their ethnic background, their biases, sympathies, influence the nature of their decision-making process," Sessions said. "When you show empathy for one party, Bob, you necessarily show a bias against another group." He told Schieffer that Sotomayor has "criticized the idea that a woman and a man would reach the same result," something he said is "philosophically incompatible with the American system." "I am really flabbergasted by the depth and consistency of her philosophical critique of the ideal of impartial justice," he said. Schieffer asked Sessions if he would really try to stop Sotomayor's nomination (which is widely thought to be likely to succeed), or if he would simply use it as a so-called "educational moment." "I hope it is an educational moment because I think we are moving at a crossroads in American jurisprudence," Sessions said. "Are we going to adhere to the classical view of the role of a judge as a neutral arbitrator not out to promote an agenda or an ideology, or are we going to have a restrained judge who follows the law in case after case?" (cbsnews.com)

Related video: Extremely troubling Sotomayor



The Obama Doctrine finally comes into focus ... It's been hard to glean its form because for so long it seemed the president's most obvious guiding principle was "not Bush," particularly when it came to the Iraq war. Indeed, his anti-Bush stance has led him to stubbornly refuse to say the war has been won or to admit that he was wrong to oppose the surge. In the past, this unthinking reflex has caused Obama to take some truly repugnant positions. In July of 2007, Obama said that he would order U.S. forces out of Iraq as quickly as possible, even if he knew it would lead to an Iraqi genocide. This makes Obama the first president in modern memory to have suggested that causing a genocide would be in America's national interest. Obama himself insists that he's guided by nothing other than a cool-headed pragmatism. Indeed, Obama has a grating habit of describing any position not his own as "ideological," as if his is the only sober, practical understanding of the problems we face. Just days before he was inaugurated, he gave a speech in Baltimore in which he proclaimed, "What is required is a new declaration of independence, not just in our nation, but in our own lives — from ideology and small thinking, prejudice and bigotry — an appeal not to our easy instincts but to our better angels." So ideologues — i.e. millions of Americans who disagree with his policies on principle — belong in a list along with bigots and dim bulbs. At home, this attitude has allowed him to dismiss opponents of socialized medicine and the government takeover of various industries as "ideologues," and critics of trillions in debt-fueled spending as small-minded cranks. (kansas.com)


Fenton picks at Axelrod's scraps ... People who like the Ecuadoran President, Rafael Correa, describe him this way: environmentalist, speaker of five languages, Ph.D. (in economics) from the University of Illinois, solidifier of a once unstable country, writer of a new constitution, corruption fighter, canceller of debt, a “young, handsome, and shrewd” reformer who—as Fenton Communications, the Washington, D.C., P.R. firm that the government of Ecuador has hired to help Correa polish his profile in America, pointed out recently—has been called “the Obama of Latin America.” People who don’t like him have their own ideas: Chávez crony, wild card, antagonist of America, whom the Wall Street Journal has likened to Fidel Castro, and under whose rule, the paper said, “liberty has been evaporating faster than you can say bolivariano.” (newyorker.com)


Strike drags on v. oppressive capitalist icon ... More than a month after unionized workers hit the picket line at Saskatoon's Coca-Cola distribution centre, new talks between the two parties have yet to take place. Rocky Luchsinger, staff representative with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), said Friday there has been no movement on talks between the union representing the 53 striking workers and the international beverage company. (thestarphoenix.com)


UAW girds for long strike v. oppressive Texas helicopter maker ... UAW Local 218 had this to say: Your Bargaining Committee met with the Company today in an effort to bargain a fair and equitable agreement. This Company has strongly taken a position that they have no more to offer to this membership. Your Bargaining Committee has taken a stronger position that it is not enough. Brothers and Sisters we are fighting for not only ourselves but for each other's family and for quality of life for our future. In order to do this we must stay together as one. Your Bargaining Committee remains available to bargain seven days a week, twenty four hours a day. We will keep you informed on all actions as they happen, via this website. (aviationblog.dallasnews.com)


LatAm update: State-run media cheers foreign community organizers ... In the past, government officials have accused Telesur, which is financed by the government of Venezuela, of producing biased coverage that incited violence. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has been one of Zelaya's biggest supporters. This is the second time that journalists from Telesur have been detained since the crisis began. García said that most of the company's foreign staff will be leaving the country Sunday, but local reporters would continue working. Early in the crisis, the government shut down pro-Zelaya stations. While coverage has since resumed, many broadcasters, including CNN en español, have their signals interrupted when the topic turns to Honduras. (miamiherald.com)

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