| Obama Administration war against investment: Is there a connection between private investment and jobs? Yes. When will the employment market regain its functionality? Like other markets i.e. energy, insurance -- when avaricious regulators back-off their so-called 'public option' agenda which is really a thinly-disguised, angry hostility. It is increasingly obvious that a policy 'reset' is in order. Sole-source, no-bid gov't contracting and "Pay-to-Play": Revelations about the vaunted Obama Stimulus and the suspension of Colorado's innovative anti-corruption law. Insiders belly up to the trough. Can there be a more fascistic unionization reform than switching from private secret balloting to public or mail-in voting? Probably. EFCA is being carved into pieces, like HillaryCare after 1993, allowing the forced-labor unionism agenda to work-around the nation's continued fondness for Democracy. Consider it a triumph of 'Progressive' revolutionaries over their 'Radical' brethren. LatAm leftist thuggery: Chavistas over-run local police, Chávez-Zelaya cocaine connection exposed, gov't seizes private property in Ecuador. |
Plagiarist flunked economics, too ... "And folks look, AARP knows and the people with me here today know, the president knows, and I know, that the status quo is simply not acceptable," Biden said at the event on Thursday in Alexandria, Va. "It's totally unacceptable. And it's completely unsustainable. Even if we wanted to keep it the way we have it now. It can't do it financially. We’re going to go bankrupt as a nation." Biden said. "Now, people when I say that look at me and say, 'What are you talking about, Joe? You’re telling me we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt?'" Biden said. "The answer is yes, that's what I'm telling you." (cryptogon.com)
Obama: I do solemnly swear to preserve, protect, and defend my anti-investment agenda ... With their health care and economic programs far from settled, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday took a sharp detour from policy back to electoral politics. Obama was in New Jersey, stumping for embattled Gov. Jon Corzine, while Biden headed to Richmond to raise money for gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds. Their absence from Washington at a crucial time underscores acute Democratic worries about 2009 races and beyond — and also the administration’s continued dedication to the endless campaign. (washingtonexaminer.com)Prescribed by Congress ...
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Obama Stimulus relies on Pay-to-Play incentive ... The Defense Department frequently awards no-bid work to small contractors for repairs at military bases under the new economic stimulus law, costing taxpayers millions of dollars more than when businesses compete for the work, according to an Associated Press analysis of 570 such contracts. The Pentagon saves more than three times as much money when companies compete, the AP analysis showed. Yet more than $242 million in federal contracts -- representing more than one-fourth of the military's stimulus contract spending so far -- has been awarded under the recovery program through no-bid contracts for repairs and maintenance. President Barack Obama promised last month to save money through competition. (cnsnews.com)
Niagra Falls: Disgraced UNITE-HERE big adopts shameful SEIU tactics ... Bruce Raynor, international president of the Workers United union, leads about 40 activists in chants after they took over the lobby of the Courtyard by Marriott hotel Thursday afternoon. The union accuses hotel management of stalling in negotiating a first contract after 60 employees formed a union in December. A union protest created havoc for guests checking into the Courtyard by Marriott Thursday and the union leader behind it warned of more disruptions if the hotel’s management doesn’t return to the bargaining table. “Since we’re coming into the busy season, we’re planning stepped-up protests in the coming weeks,” said Bruce Raynor president of the Workers United union. Nearly 40 executive members of the Workers United union took over the Victoria Avenue hotel’s lobby in a bid to get management’s attention and to temporarily disrupt the hotel’s business. They walked in at about 5:15 p.m., a time many guests were checking in. (niagarafallsreview.ca)Related video: Gents Without Cents
Anti-corruption law suspended: We don't need no stinkin' elections ... The 2010 election is still 18 months away but new quarterly fundraising reports, released this week, offer an early indication of which candidates are winning the money game -- building the war chest needed to sustain campaigns and sending an early signal to would-be opponents and their backers. "Money has become the early primary of politics," said political analyst Eric Sondermann. "And so far, not surprisingly, the incumbents are winning." "To raise $400,000 dollars in these challenging times, after Amendment 54 really limited our ability to raise money for the first part of the quarter, it shows that maybe the Governor isn't as vulnerable as some people would like to think." (kdvr.com)
Dems: Forced-unionism too big to swallow in one bite ... Though some details remain to be worked out, under the expected revisions, union elections would have to be held within five or 10 days after 30 percent of workers signed cards favoring having a union. Currently, the campaigns often run two months. To further address labor’s concerns that the election process is tilted in favor of employers, key senators are considering several measures. One would require employers to give union organizers access to company property. Another would bar employers from requiring workers to attend anti-union sessions that labor supporters deride as “captive audience meetings.” (nytimes.com)
Union-backed Dem: Kill secret ballots ... Organizers sought backing in terms of people and money on Thursday in a Joplin stop to stump for a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at requiring a secret ballot in union elections. The goal of the effort is to derail the federal Employee Free Choice Act before Congress that, if adopted, would make it easier for employees to organize for union representation. “We’ve got to kill the bad idea, not just the bill,” Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder said to a gathering of more than 50 people at Granny Shaffer’s restaurant. (joplinglobe.com)
D.C.'s police union big disgraced ... The District police department has pulled the badge and gun of police union chief Kristopher Baumann while in the midst of a labor-management struggle, saying the Fraternal Order of Police head failed to complete annual mandatory training, officials confirmed to The Examiner. Baumann was informed that his police powers had been taken away Monday, less than 48 hours after a federal judge denied his motion to stop an internal police investigation. Late last month, Baumann was hauled in for questioning regarding the release of recorded transmissions between top police brass and officers on the scene of a barricade situation. Police officials had declared the tapes confidential, and they started an investigation after The Examiner made inquiries about them. (washingtonexaminer.com)
Venezuela advances the New Progressive Era ... Dozens of National Guard troops seized control of a police station controlled by a leading opponent of President Hugo Chávez yesterday, adding to tensions between Venezuela's government and elected opposition officials. About 40 National Guard troops tossed tear gas at a police precinct post in the town of Curiepe shortly before dawn, said Elisio Guzman, director of the Miranda state police. He said the officers inside were forced to leave and the National Guard occupied the building. Guzman said the motive behind the takeover was unclear and government officials could not be reached for comment. "They started launching tear gas without mediating, without speaking with anyone," Guzman said in a telephone interview. He said he ordered officers under his command to stand down, telling them to "avoid any conflict." At least six people were hurt, including two who were wounded and four who required treatment after inhaling tear gas, Guzman told the Venezuelan television station Globovision. Troops shot plastic bullets at demonstrators who protested the takeover, said Adriana D'Elia, a representative of Miranda's state government. (intelligencer.ca)
Obama asks allies to 'buck up' ... Venezuela is fast becoming a major hub for cocaine trafficking in the Western Hemisphere, according to a report written by the investigative arm of the U.S. Congress. The report from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office is sure to raise tensions between Venezuela and the U.S. at a delicate moment in the two countries' often testy relations. The report, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, blames widespread government corruption for increases in cocaine transshipments through Venezuela. Such shipments have soared more than fourfold to 260 metric tons in 2007 from 60 metric tons in 2004 as the government of President Hugo Chávez has systematically slashed its antinarcotics cooperation efforts with the U.S., according to the report. (online.wsj.com)
Rafael Correa hearts Hugo Chávez ... Ecuador's state-run oil company Petroecuador said on Thursday that it took control of Perenco's oil operations because the French company ordered a temporary suspension of production. Petroecuador said in a statement that the Ecuadorean government is now running Perenco's two oil blocks located in the South American country. Perenco, which had decided to stop producing oil from Thursday, said the Ecuadorean government had confiscated its fields over a tax dispute. "What they did was to take control of the installations, the fields, and the operations ... that's called expropriation," Perenco's Latin American manager Rodrigo Marquez told Reuters. (in.reuters.com)
