Thursday wrap

Obama: Sucks too, hearts wrong crowd, unaffordable, is The Law. Mismanagement: SEIU fail, Wade Rathke fail, ACORN fail, labor operates Hotel California, Steelworker strike violence, Pandora's Box opened. International: Hugo's big mouth, The Communist State Building.

Obama: We suck, but I'm OK ... It outrages me, a lot, that Obama "sees in our history a greater source of regret than of pride." With his every vacuous and leftist word-that is, essentially all that the speaks-Barack Hussein Obama, that man of "putative brilliance" who evinces no signs of such, continues to reveal that he knows nothing of America's heart and character. He also reveals, as I heard recently from an elderly Jewish woman who escaped Nazi Germany just before World War II officially began, that he hates not just Israel and the Jews, but also America. Narcissist Obama's smugness, arrogance and condescension to Americans and apparently everyone else grows daily more intolerable and loathsome. This feckless, pusillanimous, divisive man is a clear and present danger to our country and the world-even to those who think, as he does, that America should become weak and broken. (spectator.org)


Obama hearts the wrong crowd ... At the United Nations last week, Libyan strongman Muammar al-Qaddafi showered U.S. President Barack Obama with unexpected praise, telling the heads of state and dignitaries assembled that he hoped Obama could “stay forever as the president.” This was hardly a flattering endorsement for Obama. Qaddafi has been tied to countless acts of terrorism including the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988 and the bombing of a German nightclub packed with U.S. servicemen in 1986. The endorsement from the “mad clown of Tripoli,” as President Ronald Reagan called him, is not an isolated incident. Scores of other dangerous despots, terrorists, and anti-American mouthpieces have come out in support of Obama’s foreign policies, which include ambivalence about the U.S. presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, wavering support for Israel, and a diminished sense of American exceptionalism. (newmajority.com)


Can we afford the Obamas? ... President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are both traveling to Copenhagen this week to promote Chicago's bid to host to the 2016 Olympic Games--and they will be making the 3,979-mile trip on separate airplanes. The first lady left on Tuesday night, while the president will leave for Denmark on Thursday night. Taxpayers will pick up the tab for both jets ferrying the president and first lady separately to Europe. “Everything they do, whether it’s signing pieces of legislation or flying around the world, everything is costing the taxpayer,” David Williams, vice president of policy for Citizens Against Government Waste, told CNSNews.com. “The taxpayer is picking up the tab for everything.” (cnsnews.com)


Obama Is The Law ... While most presidents enter the White House and begin to engage in the business of executing the laws faithfully, President Obama has seized the massive power of the Oval Office to launch an unceasing, relentless campaign for his own re-election. He has used taxpayer money to pay off his friends and allies, ensuring that they remain in his camp. He has used the weight of the federal government to quash his private sector foes. And he has used the might of his office illegally, encouraging federal agencies to coordinate with “community organizations” in working with private actors to push the Obama agenda. (cnsnews.com)


SEIU-ACORN relationship probed ... On Wednesday, the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency (example #12,567 that government’s solution to any problem is more government.) Appearing on a panel of self-appointed ‘consumer advocates’ was Anna Burger, political director for SEIU, a.k.a ACORN’s big brother. Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) used his question time to ask Ms. Burger about ACORN. She drops a stunner, “SEIU has cut all ties to ACORN.” Watch the video below: (biggovernment.com)

Related video: ACORN too big to fit under the SEIU bus



SEIU to select new BofA CEO ... The president of one of the country's largest unions is hardly sparing a tear for embattled Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis, who announced on Wednesday he would resign his post at the end of the year. Rather, Andy Stern, the chief of Service Employees International Union, expressed satisfaction with the news in his most recent tweet: "Ken Lewis leaving Bank of America after SEIU coalition led effort to highlight Bank's poor credit card, financial management, and CEO pay". Stern and Lewis have long been at odds. Their relationship grew most tenuous earlier this year, after SEIU leaders learned that Bank of America was spearheading a campaign to defeat the Employee Free Choice Act, one of SEIU's top policy priorities. (thehill.com)


Can SEIU be trusted? ... As far as is currently known and according to spoken and written assertions of Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) the Chicago branch has not been tainted by the most recent scandal whose revelation was set in motion by Conservative activists, James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles. There are suggestions that ACORN may have a financial connection to Service Employees International Union (SEIU), an organization that contributed $538,963.00 to the former, ousted Illinois Governor Blagojevich. (examiner.com)


SEIU in Houston: Will commit anti-capitalism for dues ... Most people know that unions haven’t done as well in the South as in industrialized (and economically troubled) Northern states such as Illinois and Michigan. So, in 2006 SEIU decided it would bring its brand of “justice for janitors” to Houston to set up a new foothold in the South. First, SEIU set up a swank new office in a bank building and budgeted $1 million to organize Houston janitors. Then it took to the city streets, disrupting traffic and drawing the ire of Houstonians. A local judge even sentenced out-of-state SEIU protesters for their actions. Eventually, they got several big janitorial companies to cave to a card check organizing campaign. But one man, Brent Southwell of Professional Janitorial Services, said it wasn’t his choice of whether his employees joined the union– it was his employees’ choice. That’s when the union turned goonion. In addition to setting up the notorious inflatable union rat that unions love, SEIU took to contacting Southwell’s clients and protesting outside buildings. (biggovernment.com)


Meet the best community organizer in America: Alinskyite Wade Rathke ... "Some of you may have heard of ACORN recently," said Busboys and Poets' Don Allen last night as he introduced ACORN founder Wade Rathke. It was a safe bet on Allen's part. After all, half of the two dozen people in attendance at the beginning of the author talk were members of the media who wanted to discuss the very bad month ACORN has had. Writers for The Nation, The National Review and The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune, as well journalism students from American and George Washington universities and a blogger for biggovernment.com, were present at the restaurant and bookstore's 14th St. location. Rathke divided the room in two: reporters and "civilians." (voices.washingtonpost.com)

Bonus links:
• Summary of Saul Alinsky's 'Rules for Radicals'
• More Saul Alinsky stories: here
• 'Rules for Radicals' at amazon.com


Can Wade Rathke be trusted? ... The conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch has filed two Freedom of Information lawsuits, one of which could re-open the strange case of alleged embezzlement in which ACORN's founder and former chief organizer kept an embezzlement scandal "in the family." Ten years ago, Dale Rathke, the brother of ACORN founder Wade Rathke, embezzled nearly $950,000 from the ACORN affiliate that he headed, Citizen's Consulting Incorporated. When the theft was discovered, his brother Wade and a handful of other ACORN officials kept the matter secret not only from authorities but even from members of ACORN's board. According to The New York Times, they treated the money that Dale stole as a loan to be paid back gradually. He paid back about $215,000 until last year, when the embezzlement was finally made public by whistleblowers, creating a scandal. The rest of Rathke's debt was finally covered by a major donor [N.B. Tides Foundation big Drummond Pike], but many of those involved in the coverup continue to work for ACORN and its affiliates. (Wade Rathke justified the secrecy at the time by saying the scandal could have discredited the group's mission.) (washingtonexaminer.com)


Union-backed political fraud group finally gains attention ... The Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN) has a rather sordid past. While on its face it appears to be an organization determined to help the downtrodden, but once you dig a little you find that underneath their facade is a corrupt and criminal organization. ACORN has been involved in election fraud through registering phony individuals such as Mickey Mouse. Reports in 2008 had ACORN workers signing up the deceased, signing up the same individuals numerous times (Cleveland, Ohio), paying people to register to vote, and accepting the registration of someone even if they clearly weren't of age. In August eleven ACORN workers in Florida were arrested for election fraud. The President has tried to distance himself from this group, but he can't. There's plenty of evidence to show his connections to ACORN, and as a lawyer he has represented them on more than one occasion. If people think that this is the worst that ACORN has to offer, think again. They have engaged in thuggish tactics and shakedowns of banks refusing to be more lenient on their lending guidelines. But all of this wasn't enough to crack this nut. No, it fell to two intrepid youngsters with a plan to expose just how dirty ACORN really is. (commonconservative.com)


ACORN was warned ... ACORN's lawyer warned ACORN 15 months ago to begin fixing its massive internal problems or face certain catastrophe. ACORN didn't listen. It let the problems fester. The advice from Elizabeth Kingsley of Harmon, Curran, Spielberg Eisenberg LLP came in the form of an eerily prophetic legal memo to ACORN dated June 19, 2008, the day before ACORN's national board fired disgraced founder Wade Rathke. The memo is a kind of Holy Grail for ACORN researchers. One source of mine keeps a copy in a safety deposit box. (spectator.org)


Union-backed fraud group on trial in Sin City ... The political advocacy group ACORN and a former supervisor were ordered Wednesday to stand trial on charges that they illegally paid canvassers to register Nevada voters during last year's presidential campaign. Evidence heard during more than six hours of testimony left "a lot of issues that have to be answered" before trial, Las Vegas Justice of the Peace William Jansen said. He set arraignment for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now and former regional supervisor Amy Busefink for Oct. 14 in Clark County District Court. "I think the statute is clear," Jansen said. "It's unlawful to provide compensation for the registration of voters that is based on the total number of voters that a person registers." The judge referred to testimony that ACORN wanted to register 1.7 million new voters nationwide for the 2008 presidential election. "To me, that is a quota," the judge said. (google.com)


ACORN abandons evidence to forensic investigators ... Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City, said Wednesday he combed through documents from an abandoned local ACORN office because of reports of impropriety at other organization chapters. Oklahoma City-based news and investigative website Red Dirt Report discovered documents in an abandoned local office of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now in south Oklahoma City’s “Little Mexico” neighborhood. Investigators found computers, hard drives, documents, registration forms, I-9 employment information and boxes with return addresses to ACORN’s New Orleans home office, as well as a regional IRS office last October. Oklahoma Watchdog now has many of the documents and will reveal them here. (oklahoma.watchdog.org)


Beware typical leftwing ACORN whitewash ... The fact is ACORN will not go away quietly. It’s too big, too powerful, and too important to the progressive movement and the Democratic Party. Power concedes nothing without a fight, so it’s not at all surprising that the group is already trying to whitewash its deep-seated, systemic problems. The supposedly independent investigatory panel that ACORN boss Bertha Lewis announced is being set up after stunning videos surfaced showing ACORN’s willingness in offices across the country to help undercover reporters establish an illegal alien sex slave ring is a fairy tale. Among its members are left-wing political hacks including Clinton White House Chief of Staff John Podesta, super-liberal Service Employees International Union (SEIU) President Andy Stern, and the much-investigated former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros. Former Massachusetts Atty. Gen. Scott Harshbarger will lead the investigation. He’s a former president of the left-leaning group Common Cause. (humanevents.com)


Welcome to the Hotel California ... If I'm forced into a union, it becomes nothing but a parasitic deduction on my paycheck. The dynamic I face with my union is that of paycheck docking, and them not doing anything for me, and they don't need to because they're still getting paid regardless. For instance, my 401K matching was abolished without any resistance at the negotiating table in the past year. So it's quite difficult for me to say, "Well, at least they're protecting my employee benefits" at the end of the day knowing I'm forced into the deal. And though we're in what's called a Right to Work state, it doesn't necessarily make any difference since I work for an airline covered under the Railway Labor Act, which is basically a loophole that supersedes our state law. I can't get out of being in a union. (dakotastudent.com)


Steelworkers strike fail ... Production is expected to resume this week at Vale Inco's Clarabelle Mill, which will be staffed by management, staff and non-striking union employees. Striking United Steelworkers were told Friday the mining giant was ready to start partial production at some of its plants this week, using some USW Local 2020 members to do the work. More than 50 members of USW's office and technical union are deemed to have the skills necessary to do the work of Local 6500 production and maintenance workers, who have been on strike since July 13. (media-newswire.com)


Steelworkers in typical picket line violence ... Three striking Steelworkers have been fired as a result of threats of physical violence and bodily harm on the picket line, says Vale Inco Ltd. Cory McPhee, vice-president of corporate affairs for Vale Inco, said the employees were terminated after several incidents on the picket lines. In a separate incident, a blocking device was placed on Vale Inco's rail line "with the intent to derail a train." The block was discovered and removed without incident, said McPhee, "but the consequences could have been life-threatening." (sudburystar.com)


Pandora's Box: Arcane U.S. labor laws exposed ... Imagine two competing pizza delivery companies that are identical in every way except their delivery methods. Pizza Company A delivers its pizza by car and Pizza Company B delivers its pizza by bike. Now imagine that the government has completely different labor laws for pizza parlors with cars and pizza parlors with bicycles. The result is much larger labor costs for Company B than Company A. Is that fair? Should the government care? A similar situation underlies a vicious fight between United Parcel Service (UPS) and its main private competitor in the delivery business, FedEx, over archaic labor rules that classify the companies based on their favored forms of transportation. Because 85 percent of FedEx deliveries go by air and 85 percent of UPS deliveries go by truck, the two companies are obliged to obey different labor laws. (reason.com)


Not that there's anything wrong with that ... The September 28 issue of the Cleveland Plain Dealer has this interesting story about Rick Nagin, who is in a run-off for one of Cleveland’s city council seats. The election is non-partisan, but the public and the press are still fascinated by the fact that this particular council race is between a member of the Communist Party (Nagin) and Brian Cummins, who is a member of both the Democratic and Green Parties. Nagin does not disavow the organization, but says that he wishes the party had another name, because “Communist” has become such an emotionally charged word. (ballot-access.org)


International Collectivism

Chávez big mouth costs Trotskyite Lula ... There are now two men in the capital insisting that they're the legitimate Honduran president, and the question remains how Zelaya got back in the country and ended up at the Brazilian embassy, from which he has tried to rouse his supporters to return him to power. The answer appears to be that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez - a U.S. critic and strong supporter of Zelaya - may have inadvertently sabotaged his ally's plan to seek refuge at the U.N. Mission. "Chávez once again shot his mouth off," said Jorge Castaneda, a former Mexican foreign minister and respected writer on the Latin American left. Castaneda, speaking at the Nixon Center in Washington on Wednesday, said that Zelaya apparently was on his way to the U.N. Mission in Tegucigalpa when Chávez took to the airwaves and urged Hondurans to greet their returning president. After Chávez's broadcasts, Zelaya was unable to get there, and in the heat of the moment fled to the Brazilian embassy, Castaneda said. (miamiherald.com)


The Communist State Building
(netrightnation.com)