| Obama: Fundamentalist, hearts disgraced thugs, H8s Korea, ignores ACORN-Gate, hearts inferiority, enrages Firefighters, ObamaCare fail, tranfers terrorists to U.S., Jarrett scandal-in-waiting, P2P 24/7. Mismanagement: SEIU ACORN'd, jumbo teachers union hearts ACORN, Bertha Lewis fail, Working Families Fraud, GOP fail, leftwing fail, typical union corruption, LIUNA strike fail, shutdown labor-states, Hotel California fail. International: VeneProgs snigger. |
Obama sticks to Dem fundamentals ... There are multiple examples of how President Barack Obama has reneged on his promise to bring “transparency and accountability” to Washington, D.C., but fewer are more egregious than his cow-towing to labor leaders on the issue of union financial disclosure. By rescinding Bush-era disclosure requirements for labor union leaders, Obama is swinging the door wide open to rampant corruption and systemic abuse. This decision represents a dangerous shift in federal policy – one that will no doubt be exacerbated by Obama’s appointment of top labor leaders to key enforcement positions within the federal government. Instead of fulfilling his promise of “accountability,” Obama has now put the fox in charge of guarding the hen house with respect to U.S. labor policy. And instead of honoring his pledge of “transparency,” Obama has decided to strip away one of the few tools the public had at its disposal to hold union leaders accountable. Why are these latest Obama hypocrisies worth noting? First, they represent “pay-to-play” corruption on a sweeping, fundamental level. (race42008.com)Bonus links:
• Summary of Saul Alinsky's 'Rules for Radicals'
• More Saul Alinsky stories: here
• 'Rules for Radicals' at amazon.com
LAT: Obama kowtows to disgraced union thugs ... President Obama says the big problem in Washington is that politicians focus on pleasing special interests at the expense of the general public. But his curious definition of "special interests" exempts one key political force: organized labor. Even during a recession, the public is ambivalent toward organized labor. In September, a Gallup poll found that 48% of Americans approved of unions. This was an 11-point drop from the previous year's approval rating and the lowest recorded since Gallup started asking the question in 1936. In 2008, just 12% of all workers belonged to unions, and the number of unionized private-sector employees was even smaller, at 7.6%. (latimes.com)
Korea sets U.S. jobs raid ... Labor Minister Yim Tae-hee said Thursday that the government will enact a law that would ban full-time union officials from collecting pay checks from firms, and would also permit several labor unions to operate at a single company. The government revised two clauses of the Union Law, which was passed in 1996, in an effort to improve labor-management relations. Due to strong resistance from union groups, the government decided to suspend the implementation of the two clauses until Dec. 31. Minister Yim said that employees shouldn't get paid if they work fulltime for a union while not being involved in corporate activities and that labor unions should be financially self-sufficient. (shortnews.com)
Obama can't ignore ACORN-Gate ... The ranking Republican member of the House Judiciary Committee is calling on the Justice Department to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate ACORN. It's a good call, given the circumstances. A Justice inspector general already is reviewing the department's relationship with the liberal activist group now embroiled in allegations of everything from voter registration fraud in dozens of states to promoting child prostitution and tax evasion in federally subsidized housing. Specifically, the IG wants to hear what, if any, Justice grants have been requested by or gone to ACORN and how the government has overseen, or "underseen," the use of such money. But Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas says a special prosecutor would be best suited for the overall probe because of President Obama's past advocacy on behalf of ACORN and the group's support of Mr. Obama for election. (pittsburghlive.com)
Obama's inferiority complex inflicted on once-proud nation ... It's okay to admit it: you thought you were voting for a more benevolent and wiser version of Tiger Woods when all you got was a smoother version of Chicago-style, brass knuckle politics. It isn't so much that you voted for the wrong guy; you were lied to by the media. But you should have known better. Chicago has a long and storied run of thoroughly corrupt political bosses giving envy to any third-world dictator. Barack Obama also ran around with loony-tune communists and wild-eyed radicals including his pastor, Jeremiah Wright, who makes the loosest of cannons seem laser-guided. Then he tells us absolutely nothing about himself other than what is in his -- not one but two -- autobiographies. If you scratch below the surface -- not too hard since there isn't much there -- you find a different human being, one entirely at variance with what you find in the media or his autobiographies. It is a man driven not to overcoming obstacles but stuck on them, still living in his past. The case of Barack Obama is one of a deep, deep inferiority complex from his childhood and he just seems unable to rise from it. (americanthinker.com)
Obama-ACORN P2P infuriates firefighters ... ACORN has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately including members of the group offering advice on prostitution. However, in what amounts to a severe slap in the face to the fire service the group was awarded $1 million dollars in funding normally allocated to fire departments from the federal government. The Homeland Security Grant has no business being given to the group. They are currently under investigation for embezzlement and are turning into a national embarrassment for the Obama Administration. (firefighterhourly.com)
ObamaCare fail, sooner or later ... Originally, the promise was universal health care for all Americans but not one bill in the House or the Senate provides that and the main Senate bill mandates health care for all Americans whether they can afford it or not. Those who can't face a fine...or maybe even jail. Originally, the promise was "affordable" health care but the legislation percolating in both Houses of Congress will drive health insurance costs up, not down. Once again, reality falls short of promises and actuality fails to meet expectations. President Barack Obama wanted health care reform to be the centerpiece of his Presidency. Now it could be the failure that limits his time in office to a single term. (capitolhillblue.com)
Castro pleased as Gitmo terrorists OK'd for U.S. transfer ... The president scored a partial victory, however, when a panel of House and Senate members agreed to allow the continued transfer of detainees to U.S. prisons to await trial. The move is expected to draw a challenge from Republicans who want to ban all detainee transfers to the U.S. Shutting the prison at Guantanamo Bay was a key Obama campaign promise. "He'll catch it from the liberal Left but not from anyone else," said Susan MacManus, a political scientist at the University of South Florida. "I don't think it hurts him too much, because the public wants to keep that prison open." (washingtonexaminer.com)
Valerie Jarrett & MOb: Obama's scandal-in-waiting ... Bringing the games to the Windy City had been Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley's "vision." The entrenched Democratic power broker - in office since 1989 - wanted to cap off his tenure with a glorious $4 billion bread-and-circuses production. The influential Daley machine backed Barack Obama for the presidential primary. Obama lavished praise on Daley's stewardship of the city. Senior White House adviser and Obama consigliere Valerie Jarrett is a Daley loyalist who worked as his deputy chief of staff, deputy corporation counsel and planning commissioner. She hired the future first lady of the United States, then-Michelle Robinson, as a mayoral assistant. Jarrett went on to serve as president and CEO of The Habitat Company, a real estate firm with a massive stake in federally funded Chicago public housing projects. (thespectrum.com)
Fly the union-friendly skies of Obama ... Despite dire predictions, Reagan and his team were able to field replacements --some military, some managers -- and train new controllers. No accidents occurred. The union, led by a radical, failed its members and was eventually decertified. Controllers who were fired often remained unemployed for years (Bill Clinton overturned a ban on their hiring as controllers). Regan took a strong stand and earned his image -- one that proved fruitful to him on the world stage as he confronted a Soviet Union that had run rampant around the world while Jimmy Carter lamented the decline of America. Reagan's firm stand encouraged businesses and industries to take on unions that were wreaking havoc in America, and reportedly impressed the Soviets with his toughness. That was then -- when Presidents were leaders and not lackeys -- and this is now. We have Barack Obama as President. He is showering dollars on the air traffic controllers and sending a message to labor unions: their man is in the White House and will follow their marching orders. What wonderful image. (americanthinker.com)
Obama in ugly P2P with union operatives ... Stimulating the economy isn’t nearly as important to President Obama as putting federal dollars into the pockets of his union cronies. Because of Obama’s PLA Executive Order, thousands of jobs are going to unions in states that have few union members. The Washington Times, for instance, reports that Obama has grandiosely given a $35 million federal construction project to the New Hampshire. But there are strings attached, strings that pull federal pay levers for the exclusive benefit of unions. In February Obama signed Executive Order 13202 that demanded that project labor agreements be forced on every federal construction project. These PLAs would demand that federal construction projects either hire union labor or pay all workers union wages. Of course, as these non-union workers are getting union wages the government will also be deducting union dues from their paychecks regardless of whether said worker is in a union or not. This is little else than a direct transfer of federal money to union coffers. (theunionlabelblog.com)
ACORN focus shifts to SEIU ... Yesterday, it was the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal. Today, it is the New York Times. Major media outlets across the country are finally catching on to the growing outrage–not against ACORN (currently in stocks in the village square), but against the SEIU. SEIU is one of ACORN’S closest allies. They probably hoped that the attention of ACORN’s prostitute-brothel video scandal would never turn to them. Of course, the wildly political SEIU has more fingers in ACORN’s pie than they would like anyone to count. (laborpains.org)
ACORN-SEIU-WFP rolls GOP ... "I think this [cutting off ACORN's federal funding] will have a chilling effect on their election activities and anyone that has a relationship with them," Mr. Boehner asserted. Yet within an hour, Mr. Boehner was orchestrating support for the Republican nominee for the Nov. 3 special election in New York's 23rd Congressional District - liberal state Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, who has a long and close relationship with ACORN's political front. (The special election was set after the Obama White House named Republican Rep. John M. McHugh to be secretary of the Army.) Three times Mrs. Scozzafava has run for the Assembly on ACORN's Working Families Party line, appearing with John Kerry in 2004 and President Obama last year. The left-wing political Web site the Daily Kos has endorsed her for Congress - and with good reason. She is pro-card check, pro-abortion and twice voted in the Assembly to legalize gay marriage. (washingtontimes.com)
ACORN shreds GOP registrations ... Muhammad went to the ACORN office in Jacksonville. There she encountered a young man speaking to a room of about twenty people. “He was telling us, you know, about his experience, he was from Brooklyn, he wasn’t from this area. He was just here recruiting people to register people to vote. They had a big office here, and I would say maybe about ten or twelve people at there.” She went to work: “Well, I went out and got a lot of people, homeless people, but of course I signed everybody up as a Republican, and I would have put people had they been Democrats.” She was not forcing people to sign up as Republicans: “You could put down anything you wanted.” But when she got back to ACORN, a group leader was not pleased: “So I showed what I had, and he said, “No, no, you a fraud, there can’t be any black Republicans,’ and oh, he just kind of hung me out to dry…. But of course their main aim was to register only Democrats. They’re not interested in registering Republicans.” (biggovernment.com)
ACORN scandal exposes teachers-union corruption ... By now we are all familiar with the ACORN videotape scandal in which the community organizer was busted for offering advice about how to circumvent the law. What many may not know is that the nation’s largest teacher union, the National Education Association, has been a regular donor to ACORN since 2002. You may ask: Why would school teachers, to whom we entrust our nation’s most valuable commodity, fund a controversial political organization that was caught on video giving tax advice to a couple posing as a child prostitution operation? The fact is that most teachers do not know that they have been funding ACORN through their dues. (buffalonews.com)
WaPo pans ACORN's Bertha Lewis ... Bertha Lewis, the head of ACORN, is one tough nut. She came to the National Press Club on Tuesday, ostensibly to report on the community group's "internal probe" into the ACORN workers who were caught on tape advising people posing as a pimp and a prostitute. Lewis made it clear that, far from apologizing, she was on a "set-the-record-straight tour" -- and a tour de force it was. But Lewis, in playing the victim, is her own worst enemy. Forget the film of the pimp and prostitute: Watching a film of Lewis's performance yesterday would probably be enough to cause lawmakers to cut off ACORN's federal funding. (washingtonpost.com)
ACORN-SEIU's Working Families threat bedevils Empire State ... The Working Families Party was the big winner in this year's Democratic primary elections - having backed the winning candidates in both the public advocate's race and the contest for city controller. That's not good for mainstream Democrats, and it is not good for New Yorkers. But as "liberals with sanity," we see danger when narrow agendas overwhelm the public good. That happened this spring in Albany, when the WFP masterminded a whopping 9% increase in state spending in a year when the state's economy is actually contracting. The spending was financed in part by a steep tax hike and in part by more than $6 billion in one-time-only federal stimulus money - which will leave a gaping budget hole for next year. (nydailynews.com)
Typical Teamster election fraud, embezzlement reported ... A local woman is having her case moved to the U.S. District Court in Hammond after pleading guilty to rigging a union election. Cassandra Mosley, was sentenced in September to one day in jail and fined $901,000 in the U.S. District Court Northern District Illinois after pleading to one count each of mail fraud and theft from a union and embezzling from a union. Mosley, a Gary resident who was a business agent for International Brotherhood Teamsters Local 743 in Chicago, said in her plea agreement that she was approached by the union's president in August 2004 to provide a list of the addresses of her friends and family members in Gary and Merrillville. Mosley said she later found out that the president had sent union election ballots meant for union members to those addresses and had Mosley bring all the ballots to him. (post-trib.com)
Striking workers misled by union ... Hourly employees at PAL Health Technologies in Pekin remained on strike Wednesday without any sign that contract talks would resume any time soon. With issues still outstanding that include wages, some benefits and absenteeism, 62 members of Laborers Local 231 went on strike last Saturday at the plant at 1805 Riverway Drive. Those strikers then watched on Tuesday as potential hourly employees crossed picket lines and applied for jobs at the orthotics manufacturing company during a job fair - at advertised hourly wages well above what they are paid. (pjstar.com)
Unions shut down labor-state for good? ... Citing mounting debt and a decline in tourism dollars, the state of Maryland will shut down for good on August 31, Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. told reporters Monday. "I would like to sincerely thank everyone who has ever lived in or visited the great state of Maryland," Ehrlich said at a press conference held on the steps of a boarded-up Capitol Building. "You are the people who have made this such a wonderful place. Maryland will live on in the fond memories of each of you, even as we liquidate the state's assets." (theonion.com)
Must. Kill. Term limits. ... A new proposal to change the state’s legislative term limits law has been submitted to the Attorney General’s office, and could be on the ballot by November 2010. The initiative is similar to a measure backed by former Speaker Fabian Nuñez and former Senate Leader Don Perata in 2008. That measure was also supported by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, but was ultimately rejected by voters – 53 percent of whom voted against it. (capitolweekly.net)International Collectivism
VeneProg wisecrack draws sniggers ... Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has once again made the headlines this time for a remark made to his Minister of Mining, Rodolfo Sanz, when he jokingly asked him "How's the uranium for Iran? For the atomic bomb?" The remark brought sniggers from cabinet members present. Chavez has declared that he has no intentions of sending Uranium to Iran which has considerable deposits of its own. Iran currently aids Venezuela in detecting Uranium deposits. (shortnews.com)
