10/21/09

Wednesday wrap

Obama: Social justice fraud, we suck, clings to failed ideology, hearts forced clunkerism, alienates, speech thug, Biden missing.

Mismanagement: Spectacular GOP fail in NY-23, NLRB pwned by SEIU, ACORN fail, fight for Anita, Motor City BaDaBing, SEIU thugs in MD, oppressive Diocese, UFCW arrested.

International: Sandinistas for life, Human Rights fail, SEIU revives Mao.


Obama orders hyperpartisan Social Justice ... Voters in this small city decided overwhelmingly last year to do away with the party affiliation of candidates in local elections, but the Obama administration recently overruled the electorate and decided that equal rights for black voters cannot be achieved without the Democratic Party. The Justice Department's ruling, which affects races for City Council and mayor, went so far as to say partisan elections are needed so that black voters can elect their "candidates of choice" - identified by the department as those who are Democrats and almost exclusively black. (washingtontimes.com)


We suck, but I'm OK ... From the time he entered the White House, President Obama frequently has spoken about having “inherited” an economic mess, and he has been criticized for it. But the expression arguably has been used even more often by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Nine months later, it is a theme she returns to regularly at home and abroad. (cnsnews.com)


Collectivism fail: Obama missed the memo ... The Obama Administration has chosen to compare the current economic conditions to those of the 1930’s to justify action on legislation without public comment and debate. Despite the fact that the current economic conditions were caused by government intervention into the housing industry, just as the crash of 1929 was caused by the government’s monetary policy, 2009 differs from 1932 in one important way: the American public of 2009 has witnessed the failure of collectivism, which it had not in 1932. In 1932, Communism was considered a viable alternative to Capitalism. The members of Franklin Roosevelt’s cabinet that had met with Joseph Stalin some years earlier were impressed with the progress that he had made with central planning and collectivism in Russia. But, of course, the brutal mass genocide and food shortages of Stalin’s regime had yet to be exposed. And at the same time, they were also intrigued with the industrial collective that Mussolini’s fascist government was able to achieve in Italy. FDR was able to gain support for his programs by blaming business and investors for the economies’ failure to recover, despite the fact it was his programs and policies that were thwarting the recovery. His collectivist policies kept wages and prices high while discouraging businesses from expanding to reduce unemployment. Today, the American public has seen cleary that collectivism does not work. Communism and Fascism have had their chance in many parts of the world. Suppression of individual initiative and liberty to enhance the power of the state can not be sustained indefinitely. It has been the spread of Capitalism and markets throughout India and China that has lifted millions of people out of poverty, not central planning. (reviewmessenger.com)


Shame on fascistic GOP unionist ... John McCormack is a reporter working for The Weekly Standard. Dede Scozzafava is the extremely liberal New York Assemblywoman running as a Republican to succeed Rep. John McHugh from the Empire State's 23rd congressional district in the upcoming special election. Scozzafava was speaking at a GOP dinner Monday evening. McCormack was reporting on Scozzafava's campaign, including her recent pledge to the AFL-CIO to support Big Labor's top legislative objective, the Card Check proposal - currently stalled in Congress - to abolish the secret ballot in workplace representation elections. Scozzafava apparently didn't appreciate being asked about her support of Card Check because after she left and McCormack went to his laptop to file a report on the evening's event, the police showed up. What happened next is .... well, here's McCormack's description: "Minutes later a police car drove into the parking lot with its lights flashing. Officer Grolman informed me that she was called because 'there was a little bit of an uncomfortable situation' and then took down my name, date of birth, and address. "'Maybe we do things a little differently here, but you know, persistence in that area, you scared the candidate a little bit,' Officer Grolman told me. '[Scozzafava] got startled, that's all,' Officer Grolman added. 'It's not like you're in any trouble.'" (washingtonexaminer.com)


You can’t make this pro-union thuggery up ... The person who called the cops on Weekly Standard reporter John McCormack was none other than Scozzafava’s husband, Ron MacDougall, a leading labor official in upstate New York. Keep in mind that before Scozzafava won the Republican nomination, MacDougall reportedly spoke with several Democratic officials in the district to see if they would be interested in supporting her for Congress if she switched parties. The full story, from the Watertown Times: (politico.com)


SEIU-ACORN political fraud unit caught red-handed in NY-23 ... The only problem with these absentee ballot records at the Rensselaer County Board of Elections in Troy, N.Y., is that they're phony, voters and investigators say -- and they've prompted what's being called an unprecedented investigation of suspected voter fraud. Thirty-eight forged or fraudulent ballots have been thrown out -- enough votes, an election official admits, to likely have tipped the city council and county elections in November to the Democrats. Candidates would have been able to run both on the Democratic and Working Families Party lines in two weeks, and that could have given the Democrats in the general election. A special prosecutor is investigating the case and criminal charges are possible. New York State Supreme Court Judge Michael Lynch ruled that there were "significant election law violations that have compromised the rights of numerous voters and the integrity of the election process." (foxnews.com)


Hoffman: Repeal the Stimulus! ... Asked what he’d do if he got to Congress, Doug Hoffman hesitates. He has a few ideas, such as revisiting the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, putting the breaks on cap-and-trade legislation. But the idea of winning the Nov. 3 election and becoming the only non-Republican, non-Democrat in the House is a bit much. The national media would descend on him, right away. And that still takes Hoffman by surprise. “I’m not in this to get the splash and the notoriety,” said Hoffman, “I’m only in this, as an average American, standing up and saying it’s time we take our country back. But, certainly, if it does encourage other people to get up and do that, then so be it.” (washingtonindependent.com)


Shame on GOP Bigs ... Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, House Minority Leader John Boehner and the National Republican Congressional Committee are now in the position of endorsing thugocracy. Unless they withdraw their endorsements and financial support for left-wing Republican Dede Scozzafava, they will effectively condone a blatant, unwarranted and somewhat frightening attack on a free press. (washingtontimes.com)


Forced to buy a clunker ... By contrast some conservatives have expressed support for Senate Finance Committee proposal requiring that everyone must purchase insurance. After all, they reason, isn't it just a matter of fairness to expect everyone to bear responsibility for their own care? In reality, this is a Trojan Horse that will give the government as much power to control the health care system as the "public option". It is also unconstitutional. But then there is nothing in the text of the constitution that gives the Congress any authority to regulate health care. However, this mandate breaks new ground. For the first time, the federal government would be ordering Americans to buy a product or service they do not voluntarily choose to purchase. (americanthinker.com)


We don't need no stinkin' advise and consent ... On behalf of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), I urge you to request a hearing on Craig Becker, President Obama’s nomination for National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). A Senate hearing would allow for Mr. Becker to clarify his past positions, many of them controversial, and give Mr. Becker a forum to explain his vision for the NLRB and their role in labor reform. Members of the NLRB have the critical tasks of supervising union elections, investigating labor practices, and interpreting the National Labor Relations Act. Bestowing that power to change the employer-employee relationship without a full Senate hearing is irresponsible at best. Mr. Becker, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) associate general council, suggested that members of the NLRB should rewrite union-election rules in favor of unions in a 1993 Minnesota Law Review article. When asked by Republican Senator Orrin Hatch to clarify this statement, Mr. Becker only promised to “maintain an open mind about whether [his] suggestions should be implemented in any manner.” (atr.org)

Related video: Meet Craig Becker, AFL-CIO Obamunist



Progressive NLRB favors union bigs over rank-and-file ... So it should come as no surprise that several high-profile Obama nominees to key positions in the Department of Labor and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) are longtime Big Labor lobbyists and compulsory unionism hard-liners. But Craig Becker, Mr. Obama's latest nominee to the NLRB - the quasi-judicial agency hat administers federal labor law - is a radical, even by Big Labor's standards. With just some of the NLRB's most important functions including overseeing secret ballot elections and resolving unfair labor practices committed by union organizers, it's easy to see why a militant NLRB is one of Big Labor's most treacherous accomplices in increasing its radical forced-dues power. When the union bosses have the NLRB in their fold, workers who try to exercise their legal rights to dismiss unwanted union monopoly bargaining agents - or even to stop their forced dues from being used to elect handpicked Big Labor candidates - are denied even the most basic protections. (washingtontimes.com)


Ugly New Prog speech thugs act up ... "It is a little hard to discern a strategy behind the White House campaign of criticism of Fox News unless it's simply this - an attempt to quarantine Fox and thereby discourage other media outlets from following up stories did originate here," Hume stated on "Special Report with Bret Baier." Hume suggested that the White House's tactic of picking favorite news outlets was demeaning to journalists. (washingtonexaminer.com)


Whining Obama alienates folks ... Let's just say for the sake of argument that all of their accusations are legitimate. That wouldn't make it a better strategy. Fox News has, by far, the highest ratings of all the cable news networks. Clearly, that means more of the American people are watching this channel than any other. The administration risks ostracizing a lot of the people they serve by picking on Fox News. Furthermore, it is childish. Barack Obama, you won the election. You are the president of the United States of America. You are arguably the most powerful man in the universe. Is this really worth your time? I don't see how whining about Fox News can be perceived as anything other than petty. (lancastereaglegazette.com)


Obama stimulates Fox News ratings ... If Fox News is telling lies about President Obama, why doesn't the White House simply refute the lies by presenting the facts? Why instead does the President send out his hatchet-men to impugn the integrity of the Fox News organization and character-assassinate Fox News personalities? If the White House thinks what Fox News says is important enough to address at all, why not just present the irrefutable facts that counter that news organization's assertions? Fox News and Glenn Beck were right about the self-avowed Marxist, Van Jones (whom, as I recall, was quietly banished by the White House on a weekend so the mainstream media could tactfully avoid the story). They were right again about the corruption (or worse) at ACORN. Even the New York Times was forced to admit that it dropped the ball on that one. (dailyrecord.com)


Rebuilding the Middle Class by Depression ... The stimulus is working, a White House economic adviser declared on Monday, citing a new report that 250,000 education jobs were “saved or created.” This news, however, comes at a time of 9.8 percent unemployment and 21 straight months of job losses nationwide. It is difficult to say how many jobs were “saved” and how many were “created” by the $67 billion in stimulus education grants, said Jared Bernstein, executive director of the White House’s Middle Class Task Force and chief economist for Vice President Joe Biden. He also did not know how many jobs were teaching jobs or other public school staff positions. (cnsnews.com)

Related video: Biden missed the memo



Who is Bertha Lewis? ... Lewis's statement about the Republican National Committee was immediately undermined by the blissfully ignorant and frequently tone-deaf RNC chairman Michael Steele who defended ACORN. In a video of Steele from a Sept. 21 speech that surfaced on a left-wing website the day of Lewis's speech, Steele praises Lewis. "The current head of the organization, she's done a phenomenal job getting out in front of it," Steele said. "I applaud her. I take her at her word that she wants to work to make sure that the bad apples are thrown out." Steele said he respects ACORN's history of "working in the community and helping the poor." So much for the Republican boogeyman. Lewis didn't say much about her own role in covering up the nearly $1 million embezzlement perpetrated by founder Wade Rathke's brother. After news of the theft broke, Lewis drove out honest ACORN national board members who dared to ask questions. Lewis, who has high-level contacts within the Marxist governments of Venezuela and Bolivia, also glossed over her ties to the radical Working Families Party in New York state and to President Obama's political director Patrick Gaspard. (spectator.org)

Related video: Teachers heart ACORN



Fight for Anita MonCrief ... Thanks for visiting FightforAnita.com. This is the official website of the Anita MonCrief Defense Fund. Anita has stood up against the wrongdoing of ACORN, Project Vote, and their affiliated entities, and the defense fund was created to provide support for her fight against corruption and very expensive legal fees. Join the fight that Anita started to put an end to corruption. Make a contribution today. Fight for Anita. (fightforanita.com)


We're from SEIU and we're here to help ... Family child-care workers in Maryland, beware. A union official will come knocking on your door soon. A collective bargaining agreement Gov. Martin O'Malley signed with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 500 last week gives the union broad access to the names, addresses and, ultimately, the checkbooks of family child care providers who participate in the state's child care subsidy program. (baltimoresun.com)


Typical union organizing reported ... A union is out to ruin West Suburban Medical Center. Like a guy with a fedora making you an offer you cannot refuse, AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) is demanding that the hospital unionize or else. The "or else" means continued mailings from the union that make wild claims about the hospital being unsafe. (wednesdayjournalonline.com)


Motor City gets serious with gov't-unions ... In a story you heard first on WWJ, the city of Detroit has cancelled labor agreements with 34 employee unions that haven't negotiated concession contracts with the city. Charles Beckham, chief administrative officer for Mayor Dave Bing, told WWJ that, "to move the process on, we would terminate those contracts. The reason you're just hearing about them, we issued those letters some time ago. There's a ten-day notice on those before they can actually go into effect. So that tenth day was...the 19th of October." (wwj.com)


Catholic teacher-militants add kids to picket line ... All but 10 of 168 teachers at the three schools had refused to work as of Tuesday, according to Bill Blumenstein, president of the Audubon-based Catholic Teachers Union. About 40 juniors and seniors from Camden Catholic and 50 seniors from Paul VI joined the striking teachers on the picket line Tuesday, according to a press release by Blumenstein. (courierpostonline.com)


Typical UFCW organizers arrested in labor-state ... United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555 here has filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board against Fred Meyer, after a store manager in Hillsboro, Ore., called local police to stop union representatives from talking to store employees. Three union members at the store last week received citations from police, who were called to the store when managers said the representatives would not disperse when asked, reports said. (supermarketnews.com)


International Collectivism

How Sandinistas 'adjusted' term limits ... The chief justice of Nicaragua’s Supreme Court said Tuesday that a ruling by several of his colleagues nullifying term limits on elected officials represents “legal anarchy.” Manuel Martinez told reporters that the ruling is illegal in terms of the manner in which the quorum on the high court’s Constitutional Chamber was formed. He was reacting to the Constitutional Chamber’s decision to declare “inapplicable” the constitutional article that would keep President Daniel Ortega from seeking a second consecutive term, but the ruling must still be confirmed by the full 15-member court. Martinez, linked to the main opposition Liberals, pointed out that all six justices who signed the ruling are members of the governing Sandinista Party. He said that the three Liberal magistrates of the chamber were replaced by Sandinistas. Two Liberal members of the chamber, Sergio Cuarezma and Ivan Escobar, alleged that they were not called in time to take part, while the other Liberal justice, Damisis Sirias, is out of the country. (laht.com)


Human Rights: Another tired, failed policy of the past ... In the days before the Nobel committee bestowed the 2009 Peace Prize on Barack Obama, the U.S. president had a message for a previous Nobel Peace Prize recipient: Get lost. Since 1991, the Dalai Lama has been granted a presidential audience during each of his 10 visits to Washington. President George H.W. Bush met with the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, as did Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. But not Barack Obama. The president who’s found time to accept literary advice from Hugo Chavez, share tea with Vladimir Putin, and bow down to King Abdullah wouldn’t make time for this internationally recognized man of peace. Not because Obama couldn’t work the Dalai Lama into his grueling media schedule. Obama just didn’t want to offend the Chinese government, which invaded Tibet in 1950 and continues to claim sovereignty over it. (news.guelphmercury.com)


Well if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao ... Much has been made about White House Communications Director Anita Dunn's description of the murderous dictator Mao Zedong as one of her "favorite political philosophers." Now comes word that another Obama insider has been quoting Mao approvingly. A video shot at a 2008 Union League Club meeting in New York shows "manufacturing czar" Ron Bloom telling his audience: We know that the free market is nonsense. "We kind of agree with Mao that political power comes largely from the barrel of a gun." So who is Ron Bloom? According to one blogger: "He has a long history of being the negotiating face of unions in a suit. He is a Harvard Business School graduate who has worked for the unions beginning with [the Service Employees International Union] SEIU for decades. (examiner.com)
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