The inconvenient truth about fascism ... Since my April 2 column that compared Barack Obama's economic policies (and others) to those of Italy's Benito Mussolini, I have been denounced on the pages of the Economist, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Toronto Star, and the New York Times (less strongly denounced there than in the others, oddly enough), and by Chris Matthews (and guests Tony Blankley and Larry Sabato) on Hardball, and also had the idea made fun of by CNN morning hosts while they played a rather tame and sober interview they had done with me on the subject. Never mind that in the New York Times on April 7 , David Leonhardt went farther, comparing the policies to the economics of Hitler in the course of saying that was a good thing because Hitler's economics worked. Somehow, the rather fact-based piece I wrote was seen by the media elite as out of bounds, but Leonhardt's was acceptable analysis because it was meant to praise Obama rather than bury him. Yet Leonhardt's column is proof enough that it is not some right-wing conspiracy theory that sees fascistic leanings in the big government, corporatist approaches taken by The One in the Oval Office. Since then, the evidence has grown only stronger. As the Examiner noted yesterday, the Obama takeover of General Motors is astonishing in its scope and reach. The money quote from GM itself: "The U.S. Treasury will be able to elect all of our directors and to control the vote on substantially all matters brought for a stockholder vote."(spectator.org)
News Unionists in the tank for Obama ... Mr. Obama sought to portray the Republican definition of bipartisanship as "a situation in which basically, wherever there are philosophical differences, I have to simply go along with ideas that have been rejected by the American people in a historic election." He added: "We're probably not going to make progress," and in case the other party missed the message, he later said that "opposing our approach on every front is probably not a good political strategy." Casting blame on Mr. Bush for the economic woes, the president vowed that "even as we clear away the wreckage of this recession, I've also said that we can't go back to an economy that's built on a pile of sand." (He did not mention the loss of nearly 2 million jobs in his first 100 days, nor the $350 billion deficit the federal government incurred in the first financial quarter.) For his part, Mr. Obama gave his administration an "A," ticking off a host of initiatives and efforts he and his top aides have made since taking office Jan. 20. "So I think we're off to a good start," he said. "I'm proud of what we've achieved," he added, and also "I'm pleased with our progress." The president opened with a seven-minute statement, and even though he read his speech from a large teleprompter, he was as measured and metered as a great Broadway actor (although it was his second performance of the same piece - he had already performed a matinee in Arnold, Mo., on Wednesday for a town hall full of supporters). Like each of his other two prime-time press conferences, he had the White House press corps eating out of his hand, guffawing at his every joke, great or small.(washingtontimes.com)
President Tea Bag
Union bigs use tax-funded fraud group to harm workers ... Congress is very interested in changing the labor laws to allow unions to have more power to organize workers. The most important changes are the card checks and forced arbitration. The proposed law will force workers to join unions in order to be able to work. When unions were first organized, they did help workers to improve their work hours, their safety conditions, their hourly pay and many other conditions that they endured. Now the only things that unions want is power. The union executives are no longer interested in the rank and file members. Yes, the unions were needed in the past and still can be useful. They can still help workers; however, they have changed their objectives. Now they are seeking power by being a political arm of the Democratic party, as is ACORN.(delawareonline.com)
Glorious 100 Days
Sen. Amy Klobuchar placed on Dirty Money Watch ... WHO: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act (aka Card Check) WHAT: Klobuchar received the following dirty money: Communication Workers of America (PAC ) $1,000 in 2008 election cycle; $10,000 in 2006 election cycle. Boilermakers Union (PAC) $1,000 in 2008 election cycle; $1,500 in 2006 election cycle. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (PAC) $5,000 in 2008 election cycle; $10,000 in 2006 election cycle. American Federation of Government Employees (PAC) $10,000 in 2006 election cycle. Service Employees International Union (PAC) $2,500 in 2008 election cycle; $10,000 in 2006 election cycle. United Steelworkers of America (PAC) $10,000 in 2006 election cycle. WHY IT’S DIRTY: Multiple officers and members of these unions, including division presidents, secretary-treasurers and business managers, have been convicted since 2001 of felonies ranging from embezzlement, falsifying official reports to government, mail fraud and conspiracy. The Communication Workers of America and the American Federation of Government Employees have had eight convictions, The Service Employees International Union has had nine convictions and The Boilermakers have had 10 members convicted, while the IBEW has had 14 members convicted. The United Steelworkers of America, which includes Paper, Allied-Industrial Chemical and Energy Workers International Union (PACE), has had 30 convictions among its membership. The amounts of embezzled funds range from over $5,000 to over $100,000. WILL KLOBUCHAR GIVE IT BACK: Klobuchar did not respond to The Examiner’s request for comment. THE SCORE: Number of Democrats who have given it back: 0 • Number of Republicans who have given it back: 0 (washingtonexaminer.com)
Union-backed, tax-funded fraud group remains optimistic ... The liberal activist group ACORN is trying to turn its negative publicity into a positive. The group, formally known as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, wants to double its membership to 1 million members next year, as it celebrates its 40th anniversary. The group has turned into a punching bag for Republicans over the past few years. Just this month, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele accused the Obama administration of partnering with ACORN to rig the upcoming census in favor of Democrats. In an ACORN voter registration drive during the 2008 election, 400,000, or about 30 percent, of the registrations proved to be faulty, and some were fraudulent. The activity triggered investigations in 13 states. The Obama campaign denied that ACORN was involved with its own voter registration drives. ACORN also had an embezzlement scandal last year involving the brother of ACORN founder Wade Rathke, who was dumped by the group’s board. (newsmax.com)
Obamalinsky's first 100 days ... arack Obama and his team are engaged in a long-running campaign with important milestones. What is his end goal? What should we look for in the meantime? The evidence to date suggests that President Obama is not simply formulating his own goals, but has rooted it in the tactical prescriptions of leftist godfather Saul Alinsky. Alinsky: “… taking a new step is what people fear most. Any revolutionary change must be preceded by a passive, affirmative, non-challenging attitude toward change among the mass of our people,” — according to Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals, by Saul Alinsky, 1971, Random House. Many observers praised Mr. Obama’s “change we can believe in” slogan as clever marketing, but might it be more than merely clever? His “change” mantra, combined with an almost Reaganesque appeal to “hope,” were designed to calm the fears many people have concerning radical social change so that they would more readily embrace the full range of the agenda that Mr. Obama and his allies have in mind for America. (thebulletin.us)
Si Newhouse busts another Labor-state News Union ... The reorganization plan announced two weeks ago to keep The Jersey Journal of Jersey City publishing was apparently not enough to keep its local newspaper guild office open. With the layoffs of 17 employees -- including five in the newsroom -- as part of the plan, guild leaders say they have only seven local members left, not enough to meet the $425 monthly rent on their nearby office. "Because our numbers are dwindling, we can't afford to keep the office open," said Guild president Ron Leir, who also lost his job in the cutback. "It is the shrinking of dues." The Journal also raised its single-copy price as of today, increasing it from 50 cents to 60 cents, the paper announced, noting it is the first such price increase in 15 years. Leir and other guild leaders spent last Saturday cleaning out their office on the city's west side. "At one time the local was more than 60 strong. We are consolidating down to one file cabinet. We plan to carry out the garbage and file cabinet one day next week," another guild officer who requested anonymity said in an e-mail. Guild leaders at the Advance Publications daily agreed April 13 to the cost-cutting plan that also gives the newspaper greater flexibility in assigning jobs and events to cover, a virtual tearing down of beat walls. (editorandpublisher.com)
President causes panic
Obama rekindles 1970's-style secrecy, paranoia ... Do you reject "federal authority in favor of state or local authority," or "government authority entirely"? Are you "dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration"? If so, you are a dangerous, right-wing extremist according to Obama's Department of Homeland Security, which bans the use of the word "terrorist" unless it's applied to us right-wing extremists who, for example, are so extreme as to view the grisly murder of the unborn in their mothers' wombs as cold-blooded murder. Are you a veteran returning from Iraq or Afghanistan after risking life and limb to protect your fellow Americans? If so, you are a ticking time bomb likely to be recruited by those dangerous right-wing extremists. After all, the vaunted Extremism and Radicalization Branch of the Homeland Environment Threat Analysis Division, Department of Homeland Security, warns that you "possess combat skills and experience that are attractive to right-wing extremists," and these Obama-ite loons are concerned that right-wing extremists "will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to boost their violent capabilities." Have we really come to this? Has Adolf Hitler's propaganda chief, Joseph Goebbels, been reborn and recruited by the Obama administration to scare the heck out of the American people with absurdities such as this whacked-out document? Obviously recognizing that public knowledge of the nonsense alleged in this document is very undesirable, the weirdoes who prepared it did not want you to see it. They warn: "No portion of the LES information should be released to the media, the general public, or over non-secure Internet servers." Too bad. The Washington Times got their hands on a copy and revealed it to the entire world.(linncountynews.net)
Employer fights back v. oppressive, corrupt union ... Supermarket chain Bashas' is fighting back against the United Food and Commercial Workers union with a mailer of its own. "We felt it was time for us to set the record straight," said Bashas' spokeswoman Kristy Nied. The mailing, which arrived over the weekend in mailboxes throughout metro Phoenix, accuses the union of trying to destroy the Chandler-based food chain. Union spokesman Corey Owens disagreed. "The union is not interested in any way in destroying Bashas'," he said in an interview. "We just think they have a responsibility to their workers." The union has sent out four mailings, criticizing the company for the way it treats workers and contending there are health and safety issues in stores. The union represents employees at eight stores that were unionized when Bashas' bought them. The supermarket chain has at least 153 stores. Bashas' took issue with the claims in the union mailers. "Employees work hard to ensure that you have a safe and healthy environment to shop in," the grocer's mailer said. (azcentral.com)
Shameful ACORN socialists in life-threatening protest ... Protesters disrupted several foreclosure auctions Tuesday on the Sacramento County Courthouse steps, winning a temporary cancellation of one and sending an unidentified auctioneer to the hospital with chest pains. Bidders on dozens of foreclosed Sacramento-area homes, all declining to provide their names, called the ACORN protest the first major disruption of an established auction schedule that plays out every weekday at the courthouse following 37,000 foreclosures in the capital region since January 2007. The chants, whistles and bullhorns created a commotion that made it difficult to hear and conduct the auction. Then the auctioneer began to collapse and was later taken to a local hospital. Other auctioneers, who said they were associates of the man at LPS Financial Services of Sacramento, said he had a pacemaker. "I think it's a shame he had a medical condition and that happened," said ACORN spokeswoman Christina Livingston. "That was not our intention by any means."(sacbee.com)
Obama spends money we don't have on union-only organizing, politics ... I am contacting you to alert you to a wasteful executive order that President Barack Obama has signed that will cost American taxpayers billions of dollars in wasted spending. Obama's order, signed Feb. 6, authorizes and encourages government contracting agencies to use union-only project labor agreement (PLA) on federal construction contracts. A union-only PLA requires contractors recognize unions as the representatives of their employees on that job site; use the union hiring hall to obtain workers; obtain apprentices through union apprenticeship programs; and to obey the union's work rules and job classifications. PLAs needlessly increase the cost of construction by limiting the competition for such projects, and they also discriminate against people who are exercising their right to not join a union. Our employees at Chico Electric deserve the right to work on federal construction projects that are funded by their own tax dollars, and America deserves the right to know its hard-earned tax dollars are being spent effectively. (chicoer.com)
United Auto Warriors
SEIU to remain on strike v. oppressive Red Cross ... Dozens of home-care workers employed by the Canadian Red Cross in Sudbury hit the picket line for the second time in as many months -- just hours before their union and their employer were to resume contract negotiations. The workers are all members of Local 1 of the Service Employees International Union, which was to sit down to negotiate with Red Cross officials at 6 p. m. Monday. If those talks showed any promise, rotating strikes would be halted while contract talks aid Dave Cheslock, staff representative with SEIU Local 1 in northeastern Ontario. (thesudburystar.com)
Andy Stern's SEIU business plan smacked down
Labor-state Teamster militants slapped with defamation lawsuit ... Times Supermarkets filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Hawaii Teamsters and its president for libel and defamation, claiming the union’s boisterous boycott campaign is based on lies and distortions. Times and the Hawaii Teamsters and Allied Workers Local 996 have been at war since a brief strike in December 2008 set off by failed contract talks over wages and benefits. Times president and CEO John Quinn said the company was taking the unusual step of suing the union “to put an end to this ugly and malicious campaign.” The lawsuit, filed in First Circuit Court in Honolulu, names the union and its president, Ron Kozuma, and accuses them of publishing and broadcasting false and defamatory claims that have hurt the store’s business. The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages but didn’t set an amount. “The union has carried on a campaign of negative, untrue and unlawful attacks against us and our customers in an effort to smear Times Supermarkets’ name and extort concessions from the company,” said Quinn, president and chief executive officer of QSI Inc., which does business as Times Supermarkets. “We did not make this decision lightly, but the union’s effort to lie and mislead our customers is defamatory, and this is a first step toward clearing our company’s good name.” Kozuma did not immediately respond to a message left at the Teamsters office. (bizjournals.com)
Union Bullsh*t #4: Piggish and Shameless: SEIU Flings Swine Flu GOP’s Way ... Yes. You read the above right ... The absolutely shameless SEIU is tying the GOP to the swine flu panic. According to Politico: "The Service Employees International Union has launched an online petition criticizing Republicans for delaying the confirmation of a Health and Human Services secretary in the face of a swine flu outbreak. The union accuses Senate Republicans of delaying the confirmation of nominee Kathleen Sebelius to “curry favor with extremist outside groups” and depriving the department of leadership as the nation confronts a potential flu pandemic. “This is simply unacceptable,” the union says on its website. “This disease is spreading as we speak, but right now, a Bush-appointed accountant is running the department. We need an HHS secretary NOW. Sign the petition telling the Senate to vote immediately to confirm Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. If we don’t act, the swine flu might just turn into another Hurricane Katrina.”" Hopefully, someone else sees the SEIU’s boarish [sic] behavior for what it is and call them out on it. (laborunionreport.com)
Sen. Mark Begich placed on Dirty Money Watch ... WHO: Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska), a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act (aka Card Check). WHAT: Begich received the following dirty money: Communication Workers of America (PAC) $5,000 in 2008 cycle. Boilermakers Union (PAC) $5,000 in 2008 election cycle. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (PAC) $10,000 in 2008 election cycle. American Federation of Government Employees (PAC) $7,500 in 2008 election cycle. Service Employees International Union (PAC) $10,000 in 2008 election cycle. United Steelworkers of America (PAC) $5,000 in 2008 election cycle. WHY IT’S DIRTY: Multiple officers and members of these unions, including division presidents, secretary-treasurers and business managers, have been convicted since 2001 of felonies ranging from embezzlement, falsifying official reports to government, mail fraud and conspiracy. The Communication Workers of America and the American Federation of Government Employees have had eight convictions, The Service Employees International Union has had nine convictions and The Boilermakers have had 10 members convicted, while the IBEW has had 14 members convicted. The United Steelworkers of America, which includes Paper, Allied-Industrial Chemical and Energy Workers International Union (PACE), has had 30 convictions among its membership. The amounts of embezzled funds range from over $5,000 to over $100,000. WILL BEGICH GIVE IT BACK: Begich did not respond to The Examiner’s request for comment. THE SCORE: Number of Democrats who have given it back: 0 • Number of Republicans who have given it back: 0. (washingtonexaminer.com)
Obama-Chávez reminiscent of Obama-Wright ... During his campaign, President Obama took a lot of heat over his inaction regarding outrageous statements made by his old friend and mentor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Wright was busy damning America while Obama passively remained part of the congregation. The national feelings on the issue eventually forced candidate Obama to break his relationship with Wright. After that, one might expect the president to have learned a lesson about passivity - obviously, those who thought so were wrong. At the recent Fifth Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, the president was subjected to anti-U.S. tirades from two sworn enemies of the United States, Venezuela's Hugo Chávez and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega. Unfortunately, all the president did was smile. While diplomatic niceties may prevent him from taking a poke at those who heap insults on the nation and people he represents, there is no requirement to glad-hand and backslap those doing the insulting. (hollisterfreelance.com)
International Collectivism
Obama salutes success of Latin leftists ... The United States on Tuesday congratulated Ecuador's leftist President Rafael Correa on his election victory and voiced hope for cooperation after a rocky patch between the two countries. Correa, an ally of US nemesis President Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, claimed a second term in office as exit polls showed him ahead, although his main rival refused to accept defeat. "We salute the people of Ecuador for conducting peaceful and transparent elections (on Monday) and congratulate President Correa on his victory," said State Department spokesman Robert Wood. "The United States will continue to build on our cooperation with Ecuador, consistent with our commitment to supporting Ecuadorian democracy, prosperity and security."(google.com)
Mideast Progs take to privatization ... “Real privatization is the way to salvage the country,” Rafsanjani said in a meeting with representatives of labor unions. According to the Article 44 of the Constitution most state-run companies must be privatized. The former president went on say that if the number of job opportunities exceeds the number of job seekers, then workers can gain their full rights. He also said creating a “feeling of contentment” among workers increases “productivity”. Rafsanjani also said labor union protests were very influential in the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. He also praised the role of workers in the Sacred Defense (the 1980-88 Iraqi war against Iran) and their contributions to reconstruction efforts which started after the war. (tehrantimes.com)
'Guardian of Worker Freedom' gets nitpicked, frozen, personalized, polarized ... Democrats just can’t get enough of Rep. Michele Bachmann, the always controversial, always quotable Minnesota Republican. In fact, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has built a website — www.bachmannwatch.com — devoted entirely to Bachmann’s rhetoric, slamming what they believe are overstatements or exaggerations about everything from ACORN to the stimulus. “The same woman who once said Congress should be investigated for those with anti-American leanings and once argued that she couldn’t support the economic recovery act because America was ‘running out of rich people,’” the site blares. But if the DCCC couldn’t knock off Bachmann in the wildly successful Democratic congressional campaign of 2008, it may have a tough time in 2010. Bachmann’s office seems more amused than upset about the attention. “When you can’t defend your policies and you’re so far out of touch with the American people, I guess there’s nothing more you can do than nitpick your opposition,” said Bachmann spokesman Dave Dziok.(politico.com)
This is not the United States we used to know ... Anyone who reads my blog will know that I did not support Barack Obama in last year’s election, but that I was gracious in defeat and more restrained in my criticism than many conservative voices online. I was willing to give him his hundred days. Now he’s had them. Fiscally, the Obama presidency has been a disaster, but that’s only partially Mr. Obama’s fault. He could not have spent those ungodly sums of taxpayer money without Congress, after all. It took Harry and Nancy and Barney and all the other big spenders on Capitol Hill to pass the spending bills, but President Obama signed them all too gladly, and so he bears part of the blame. And then there’s Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was so unprepared for her visit to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City that she asked who did the painting of the Virgin, and who recently replied to a question about U.S. policy toward Venezuela and other Latin American countries hostile to the U.S.: "Let’s put ideology aside; that is so yesterday."(newmexicoindependent.com)
Obama P2P: Union operatives tapped for labor-management slots ... On Monday, President Barack Obama announced two nominations – both with extensive backgrounds as Big Labor lawyers – to the National Labor Relations Board, the quasi-judicial body which administers federal labor law. Craig Becker, one of the nominees, is the Associate General Counsel to both the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). Sources indicate he was a key player in Obama’s early executive order aimed at blacklisting non-union contractors and keeping employees in the dark about their right to refrain from supporting union political activities. Worse, and perhaps more tellingly, Becker wrote in a "labor studies" journal in 1998 that employees should not have to "petition the NLRB" or "cast an affirmative vote simply to establish a 'representative process' in the workplace" (see page 15 of this PDF). In other words, Becker has indicated he would be fine with installing a union monopoly even if mere "majority support" had not been established, through either a secret ballot or the more abusive "card check" process. These appointments are just thelatestpayoffs by President Obama to Big Labor for spending well over one billion dollars electing him and other pro-forced unionism politicians nationwide in 2008.(nrtw.org)
Related video: SEIU P2P bagman Balanoff sounds off
Obama anti-Democracy Czar exposed ... Barack Obama's nominee for "regulatory czar" has advocated a "Fairness Doctrine" for the Internet that would require opposing opinions be linked and also has suggested angry e-mails should be prevented from being sent by technology that would require a 24-hour cooling off period. The revelations about Cass Sunstein, Obama's friend from the University of Chicago Law School and nominee to head the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, come in a new book by Brad O'Leary, "Shut Up, America! The End of Free Speech." OIRA will oversee regulation throughout the U.S. government. Sunstein also has argued in his prolific literary works that the Internet is anti-democratic because of the way users can filter out information of their own choosing. "A system of limitless individual choices, with respect to communications, is not necessarily in the interest of citizenship and self-government," he wrote. "Democratic efforts to reduce the resulting problems ought not be rejected in freedom's name." (worldnetdaily.com)
New Prog Perestroika: We don't need no stinkin' separation of Church and State ... A Jacksonville blogger filed a lawsuit Monday claiming police and state prosecutors violated his constitutional rights to anonymity and free speech in a 2008 criminal case “fabricated” solely to uncover his identity for First Baptist Church. The lawsuit also claims the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and State Attorney’s Office violated the First Amendment’s establishment clause by disclosing the blogger’s name to the downtown megachurch. Doing so amounted to taking sides in a religious dispute between the blogger, Thomas Rich, and the church, according the suit. Rich launched his blog in August 2007. In it, Rich chastised Pastor Mac Brunson and other First Baptist Church leaders on everything from salary and housing to fundraising priorities and ministry objectives. The investigation, which lasted from Sept. 29 to Nov. 13, ended with no criminal findings. Sheriff’s spokeswoman Lauri-Ellen Smith had no comment on the suit. Assistant State Attorney Stephen Siegel is named as a defendant because he approved Hinson’s requests for subpoenas to Google and Comcast for all information related to the blogger. State Attorney Angela Corey, who was not in office at the time of the investigation, said she hadn’t seen the lawsuit but added she believes proper procedures were followed in issuing the subpoenas. She said she plans to look into the matter. (jacksonville.com)
Organizer-in-Chief turns blind eye to anti-worker corruption ... In August of 2008, the president of the largest SEIU local in the country, former-Los Angeles local member Tyrone Freeman, resigned after the Los Angeles Times revealed that Freeman fleeced his fellow union members — who make about $9 an hour caring for the infirm and disabled — of over $1 million in 2006 and 2007 alone. When Freeman was first faced with the charges, he sent out “lieutenants” to force other union members to sign loyalty oaths supporting his continued presidency. Now President Barack Obama has made it easier for future Freemans to get away with their crime. What did union officials do to protect the union dues of its members? Nothing. According to the Los Angeles Times, SEIU national president Andy Stern had been repeatedly made aware of Freeman’s nefarious activities since 2001 but declined to do anything about them. His spokeswoman told the LAT: “Until we read these allegations in the L.A. Times, nobody ever brought before us serious credible evidence of wrongdoing.” If it had not been for the Los Angeles Times, this story never would have broke and Freeman would still be stealing from hospital workers. How did the LAT break this story? By examining LM2 reporting forms that, thanks to Bush administration regulations, increased union transparency. Now the Obama administration has moved to gut those transparency rules.(blog.heritage.org)
SEIU militants continue strike v. oppressive Red Cross ... SEIU's 104 members in Sault Ste. Marie joined peers across northeastern Ontario in staging a one-day strike, a month after talks broke down and rotating strikes started across the province. A hiatus ended Monday after Toronto's Community Access Care Centre threatened to fire 350 workers for picketing. PSWs provide care in patients' homes such as hygiene, meal preparation and housekeeping. (saultstar.com)
Sen. Tim Johnson placed on Dirty Money Watch ... WHO: Sen. Tim Johnson, D-SD, a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act (aka Card Check). WHAT: Johnson received the following dirty money: Communication Workers of America (PAC) $10,000 in 2008 election cycle. Boilermakers Union (PAC) $5,000 in 2008 election cycle. American Federation of Government Employees (PAC) $6,000 in 2008 election cycle. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (PAC) $5,000 in 2008 election cycle; $5,000 in 2006 election cycle. United Steelworkers of America (PAC) $10,000 in 2008 election cycle. The Service Employees International Union (PAC) $1,000 in 2008 election cycle. WHY IT’S DIRTY: Multiple officers and members of these unions, including division presidents, secretary-treasurers and business managers, have been convicted since 2001 of felonies ranging from embezzlement, falsifying official reports to government, mail fraud and conspiracy. The Communication Workers of America and the American Federation of Government Employees have each had at least eight convictions, while the Service Employees International Union has had at least nine, the Boilermakers at least 10, and the IBEW at least 14. The United Steelworkers of America, which includes Paper, Allied-Industrial Chemical and Energy Workers International Union (PACE), has had at least 30 convictions among its membership. The amounts of embezzled funds range from over $5,000 to over $100,000. WILL JOHNSON GIVE IT BACK: Johnson did not respond to The Washington Examiner’s request for comment. THE SCORE: Number of Democrats who have given it back: 0 • Number of Republicans who have given it back: 0 (washingtonexaminer.com)
Update: Collectivist News Unions tighten death grip on Tree-Killers ... Some of journalism’s most prestigious brands took it on the chin in the new round of circulation figures released this morning by the Audit Bureau of Control. Collectively, the 395 newspapers reporting numbers experienced a 7% year-over-year decline, with some of the worst declines occurred at big-city titles in the Northeast. There was little good news, except for The Wall Street Journal’s continued gravity-defiance. The paper squeaked out a .61% circulation gain and is now more than twice as large as The New York Times. Some other troubled papers, like the Chicago Sun-Times and the Minneapolis Star Tribune, also showed only minor declines in the most recent six months. USA Today, which has managed to maintain relative stability in previous reports, fell with a thud, dropping almost 7.5%. Marriott Corp.’s recent decision to stop delivering the paper to hotel guest rooms won’t affect the numbers until the next reporting period (newspaperdeathwatch.com)
Government Motors update: Would you buy a car from a bankrupt union? ... It seems that Chrysler could eventually end up under the majority ownership of the UAW, its main union, with Fiat holding a minority stake. It sounds awfully like the revisiting of a past era. In the 1980s, there was a rash of employee-owned companies emerging out of troubled private ownership. In 1994, United Airlines became majority owned by its employees after all had failed. The employee share ownership movement was popular as an alternative to bankruptcy for unionised companies in financial trouble. It was supposed to cement the commitment of workers. But it did not deliver the goods. United Airlines went bankrupt in 2002, despite hopes that co-operation between management and the unions would solve previously intractable problems. Now, the UAW apparently stands to gain a 55 per cent stake in return for giving up contract entitlements. This is intended to head off the threat of Chrysler’s going into Chapter 11 bankruptcy.(blogs.ft.com)
Union Bullsh*t Watch #3: If Unions are as American as Apple Pie, EFCA is the worm that spoiled the whole bushel ... Are unions taking to baking, or are their minds just cooked? In yet another union stunt to convince lawmakers to pass the hallucinogenically-named Employee Free Choice Act, unions are running around claiming that unions are as American as apple pie while handing out slices of the English-origined pastry. According to one AFL-CIO post, APWU activist Tony McKinnon stated: "We believe that the Employee Free Choice Act and a workers right to bargain for better wages is as American as apple pie." Tony said many people have the wrong idea about unions. “Unions don’t want to destroy a company. We want companies to prosper…” Oh really, Tony? It’s too bad your record doesn’t match your words. Unfortunately, with their parasitic pushing of the unpalatable EFCA, today’s union bosses and their disciples of doom seem to want to turn America into the industrial wasteland that Detroit has become.(laborunionreport.com)
Missouri union bigs throw secret-ballot democracy under the bus ... Workers seeking to form a union would have a constitutional right to a secret ballot election under a resolution the Missouri House endorsed on Monday. The proposed constitutional amendment is aimed at the federal Employee Free Choice Act, legislation currently being considered in Congress that would make it easier to form a union by bypassing secret ballot elections. Under the resolution, individuals would be guaranteed the right to a secret ballot election for all public offices, ballot initiatives and referendums and authorizing the creation or dismantling of a labor union. "Everyone should be entitled to a secret ballot," said Rep. Mike Cunningham, R-Rogersville, who sponsored the resolution. The Employee Free Choice Act, also know as card check, if approved by Congress, would make it easier to form a union by getting a simple majority of workers to sign a card and avoid a contentious vote. Democrats opposed the resolution on the House floor, saying it is nothing short of a legislative attempt to bust up unions, which typically support Democratic Party candidates. "What this is about is union busting," said Rep. Tim Meadows, a Jefferson County Democrat and card-carrying member of the Teamsters union. Meadows said the secret ballot is an unnecessary step in the process of forming a union.(news-leader.com)
Reliably Leftstream media ignores anti-Card Check protest ... Free-marketers have momentarily staunched organized labor’s effort against using secret ballots in unionization elections, making it clear their desire to keep it that way, yesterday at the Capitol Rotunda. Commonly known as “card check,” the federal legislation would automatically certify a union for any workplace with more than 50 percent of employees signing organization petitions. Current law gives the employer the option of recognizing a union that gets that level of support. Alternatively, the company can allow the union to proceed with a secret-ballot election after 30 percent of workers have signed the cards. Card-check opponents worry that allowing unions to bypass the secret-ballot process will permit intimidation on the part of labor organizers who accost workers to gain support for unionization. They also argue it will, in turn, put too much pressure on businesses and stunt economic growth. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey last month found 61 percent of Americans support secret ballots in the organizing process while 18 percent do not. President Barack Obama and most Democratic public officials support the legislation, but it appears to have too few votes in the U.S. Senate to pass. In case the resistance to card check ever thaws, some state legislators are voicing a critical take on the legislation. State Rep. Curt Schroder, R-155th, of Chester County, and state Sen. Mike Folmer, R-48th, of Berks, Chester, Dauphin, Lancaster and Lebanon counties, are each sponsoring resolutions asking Congress to reject the measure. (thebulletin.us)
International Collectivism
Getting to know Barack's new Best Friend ... In December 2007, a group of paramilitary fighters armed with machine guns ransacked and vandalized a farm in northwest Venezuela. It was not the first time that government-backed thugs had paid a visit to this property. The owner of the farm, Diego Arria, is a prominent opponent of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez, the radical leftist. “It was a strong message,” Arria says of the December 2007 attack. (He was not at the farm when it occurred.) “The government has a lot of groups like that. “I know they are tapping my phones,” Arria says of Venezuelan authorities. “There is a climate of intimidation.” Government intimidation was especially fierce during the weeks prior to a February 15 referendum on political term limits. That referendum was a big triumph for Chávez: Voters cleared the way for him to seek reelection in 2012 and beyond. Chávez, a former paratrooper, has now been in office for a decade. As Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports, two hallmarks of the Chávez presidency have been political discrimination and “an open disregard for the principle of separation of powers enshrined in the 1999 constitution — and, specifically, the notion that an independent judiciary is indispensable for protecting fundamental rights.” (Implementing a new constitution in 1999 — to replace the 1961 constitution — represented Chávez’s “first major achievement.”) (article.nationalreview.com)
Communist human rights violations no longer of concern to restructured U.S. ... A senior U.S. diplomat met Monday with Cuba's top Washington representative, but a State Department spokesman cautioned that the session did not signal a renewed U.S. push to improve relations. Spokesman Robert A. Wood said Thomas A. Shannon Jr., the assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, met in an undisclosed location with the head of the Cuban interests section, Jorge Bolanos. Wood told reporters ahead of the session that the two men, who also met April 13, would discuss a range of issues related to President Barack Obama's decision April 14 to lift a ban on Americans visiting relatives in Cuba and easing restrictions on money transfers to relatives there. "I'm sure that there will be a discussion of the president's steps that he announced recently. But beyond that, I don't have much of an agenda."(google.com)
The inconvenient truth about fascism ... Since my April 2 column that compared Barack Obama's economic policies (and others) to those of Italy's Benito Mussolini, I have been denounced on the pages of the Economist, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Toronto Star, and the New York Times (less strongly denounced there than in the others, oddly enough), and by Chris Matthews (and guests Tony Blankley and Larry Sabato) on Hardball, and also had the idea made fun of by CNN morning hosts while they played a rather tame and sober interview they had done with me on the subject. Never mind that in the New York Times on April 7 , David Leonhardt went farther, comparing the policies to the economics of Hitler in the course of saying that was a good thing because Hitler's economics worked. Somehow, the rather fact-based piece I wrote was seen by the media elite as out of bounds, but Leonhardt's was acceptable analysis because it was meant to praise Obama rather than bury him. Yet Leonhardt's column is proof enough that it is not some right-wing conspiracy theory that sees fascistic leanings in the big government, corporatist approaches taken by The One in the Oval Office. Since then, the evidence has grown only stronger. As the Examiner noted yesterday, the Obama takeover of General Motors is astonishing in its scope and reach. The money quote from GM itself: "The U.S. Treasury will be able to elect all of our directors and to control the vote on substantially all matters brought for a stockholder vote." (spectator.org)
News Unionists in the tank for Obama ... Mr. Obama sought to portray the Republican definition of bipartisanship as "a situation in which basically, wherever there are philosophical differences, I have to simply go along with ideas that have been rejected by the American people in a historic election." He added: "We're probably not going to make progress," and in case the other party missed the message, he later said that "opposing our approach on every front is probably not a good political strategy." Casting blame on Mr. Bush for the economic woes, the president vowed that "even as we clear away the wreckage of this recession, I've also said that we can't go back to an economy that's built on a pile of sand." (He did not mention the loss of nearly 2 million jobs in his first 100 days, nor the $350 billion deficit the federal government incurred in the first financial quarter.) For his part, Mr. Obama gave his administration an "A," ticking off a host of initiatives and efforts he and his top aides have made since taking office Jan. 20. "So I think we're off to a good start," he said. "I'm proud of what we've achieved," he added, and also "I'm pleased with our progress." The president opened with a seven-minute statement, and even though he read his speech from a large teleprompter, he was as measured and metered as a great Broadway actor (although it was his second performance of the same piece - he had already performed a matinee in Arnold, Mo., on Wednesday for a town hall full of supporters). Like each of his other two prime-time press conferences, he had the White House press corps eating out of his hand, guffawing at his every joke, great or small. (washingtontimes.com)
Union bigs use tax-funded fraud group to harm workers ... Congress is very interested in changing the labor laws to allow unions to have more power to organize workers. The most important changes are the card checks and forced arbitration. The proposed law will force workers to join unions in order to be able to work. When unions were first organized, they did help workers to improve their work hours, their safety conditions, their hourly pay and many other conditions that they endured. Now the only things that unions want is power. The union executives are no longer interested in the rank and file members. Yes, the unions were needed in the past and still can be useful. They can still help workers; however, they have changed their objectives. Now they are seeking power by being a political arm of the Democratic party, as is ACORN. (delawareonline.com)
Sen. Amy Klobuchar placed on Dirty Money Watch ... WHO: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act (aka Card Check) WHAT: Klobuchar received the following dirty money: Communication Workers of America (PAC ) $1,000 in 2008 election cycle; $10,000 in 2006 election cycle. Boilermakers Union (PAC) $1,000 in 2008 election cycle; $1,500 in 2006 election cycle. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (PAC) $5,000 in 2008 election cycle; $10,000 in 2006 election cycle. American Federation of Government Employees (PAC) $10,000 in 2006 election cycle. Service Employees International Union (PAC) $2,500 in 2008 election cycle; $10,000 in 2006 election cycle. United Steelworkers of America (PAC) $10,000 in 2006 election cycle. WHY IT’S DIRTY: Multiple officers and members of these unions, including division presidents, secretary-treasurers and business managers, have been convicted since 2001 of felonies ranging from embezzlement, falsifying official reports to government, mail fraud and conspiracy. The Communication Workers of America and the American Federation of Government Employees have had eight convictions, The Service Employees International Union has had nine convictions and The Boilermakers have had 10 members convicted, while the IBEW has had 14 members convicted. The United Steelworkers of America, which includes Paper, Allied-Industrial Chemical and Energy Workers International Union (PACE), has had 30 convictions among its membership. The amounts of embezzled funds range from over $5,000 to over $100,000. WILL KLOBUCHAR GIVE IT BACK: Klobuchar did not respond to The Examiner’s request for comment. THE SCORE: Number of Democrats who have given it back: 0 • Number of Republicans who have given it back: 0 (washingtonexaminer.com)
