As Barack Obama’s memorial speech in Tuscon brought healing to Arizona, his administration was preparing to bring the pain. As part of the Friday news dump, Obama’s National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced it planned to sue the states of Arizona, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah to allow unions to continue organizing through card-check instead of the secret ballot. This is a fight Republicans should welcome, because its terms and tactics reveal a White House desperate to bypass the will of the people and rule by federal decree.
In November, voters in four states approved state constitutional amendments that gave all employees the right to a secret ballot election when deciding whether to unionize. The elections were lopsided blowouts that set back the labor cause. Voters approved the measures by:
- 60 percent in Utah;
- 61 percent in Arizona;
- 79 percent in South Dakota; and
- 86 percent in South Carolina.
Now, in steps the federal bureaucracy. The NLRB — under the control of former union lawyers like SEIU extremist Craig Becker — contends that the state referenda conflict with federal law. NLRB Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon sent a series of letters to the states’ attorney generals threatening legal action from attorney Mark Eskenazi, if the states do not overturn the will of the vast majority of their voters. (The extortion letters are also signed by Eric Moskowitz and Abby Propis Simms, Assistant and Deputy General Counsel, respectively.)
A provision in the National Labor Relations Act, they claim, allows employers to voluntarily recognize unions after a card-check campaign; thus, the state provisions are unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Organizing, Bullying, Lying, Etc.
The states had ample reason to oppose the spread of card-check unionization. Union organizers often resort to threats, bribery, coercion, or deception to get employees to sign on the dotted line. Dan Yager of the HR Policy Association testified to more than 100 abuses of union organizers threatening workers with losing their jobs, health benefits, or being deported if they failed to sign the cards asking to form a union, while they promised others everything from green cards to free turkeys. Perhaps that is why, in a 1967 federal case brought by the NLRB (NLRB vs. S.S. Logan Packing Co.), the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled, “It would be difficult to imagine a more unreliable method of ascertaining the real wishes of employees than a ‘card check,’ unless it were an employer’s request for an open show of hands.”
As a final measure of hypocrisy: even the AFL-CIO supports secret ballot elections when workers choose to decertify a union — to sever its contract and represent themselves.
More Executive Branch ObamArrogance
The move is simply the latest federal assault on the will of voters. Obama held off on unleashing the lawsuits until after the lame duck power-grab session, to see if repudiated Democrats would shove the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), better known as “card-check,” down the American people’s collective throat. When they demurred, Obama sent in the federal troops. As this author reported, Obama promised an “activist” executive branch dedicated to advancing his constituencies’ goals in a 2001 public radio interview.
Obama cannot say he is merely “enforcing the law.” Obama simultaneously granted “stealth amnesty” by dismissing thousands of federal cases against illegal immigrants; he is suing Arizona for complying with federal immigration law; he sent federal election workers to multiple states last November to assure state poll workers were not too diligent in assuring that voters are legally entitled to cast a ballot; his Justice Department refuses to remove dead and ineligible voters from state voting rolls; and strong evidence has emerged that his administration threw out the Black Panther voter intimidation lawsuit — and has failed to bring who knows how many more — because the Department of Justice refuses to prosecute minority defendants.
This should be a further wake-up call to conservatives that this administration selectively enforces the law to help its friends and harm its enemies — who in this case are nearly 90 percent of South Carolina voters.
Feckless (Conservative) Reporting
Unfortunately, there is little reason for optimism. The conservative media, so late to discover Obama’s decision to rule by executive fiat, are off to a bad start on this. The Wall Street Journal set the standard for feckless reporting with this analysis:
The NLRB’s move could put the Obama administration in a difficult spot as it seeks to refashion itself after the Democrats’ midterm election defeat. Federal agencies such as the NLRB and the Environmental Protection Agency appear to be continuing policies begun long before last November. That could put Washington’s rule-making bodies at odds with the new tone set by the president’s choice of William Daley as White House Chief of Staff, a man known for his ties to business.
Why, it is nearly as though Obama never intended to rethink his anti-business, job-killing policies. Heaven forfend!
Take Up This Fight
Republicans should make card-check a major battleground. States should test their opportunity to nullify the measure under the Tenth Amendment. If these state initiatives are preempted by federal legislation, then Republicans at the national level should ride the wave of voter discontent and change federal law. America is on their side and knows unions have overreached so badly that state and federal pensions alone threaten to bankrupt us.
Congressional Republicans should pass the Secret Ballot Protection Act introduced by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-SC, which would eliminate all card-check unionization. Then, call in George McGovern and have him testify on behalf of South Dakota. Allow the most liberal nominee B.B.O. (Before Barack Obama) to tell the president he has gone too far.
The GOP should use this issue to align itself with the forces of democracy, private elections, and fiscal responsibility. Tea Party conservatives must communicate that they are standing up against corrupt union bosses and an encroaching federal government that ignores the will of the vast majority of voters, imposes its agenda by unilateral force, and engages the full force of the federal government to advance corrupt special interests America can no longer afford.
This issue encapsulates everything conservative Republicans have been fighting for, and against. Now, let’s see if they have the courage to fight.
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Look at what the Popes have claimed:
- Pope Innocent III: He (the pope) judges all
and is judged by no one.
- Pope Boniface VIII: We declare, assert, define
and pronounce: To be subject to the Roman
Pontiff is to every human creature altogether
necessary for salvation.
- Pope Leo XIII: We hold upon this earth the
place of God Almighty.
LET'S SEE WHAT GOD HAS TO SAY ABOUT A
MAN WHO CALLS HIMSELF GOD.
3Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
2 Thessalonians 2:3,4.
You are so right, Raymond! Why do Catholics call their priests "Father" when Jesus himsels told us not to do it? (Matthew 23:9) The Pope claims Catholicism is the one true Christian church on earth, yet they defy Christ's and God's teachings in so many ways. Sadly, they have brainwashed millions all over the world into believing their lies and deceptions.
So, who wasn't expecting obama to become a dictator after the first of the year? We were all warned it was going to happen.
If the States can beat down the NRLB then it'll be time to beat down the EPA as well. If we can shove obama's Marxist agenda back down his and soro's throats, then we need to either clean the commies out of the unions or make unions completly unlawful.
If we can prevail, maybe the union thugs will settle accounts with Obummer in the way they do best.
Well, if you agree with me that unions extort the difference between what they're paid and what their services are worth, they're operating illegally now. Unions are founded on the premise that when you hire someone, you transfer ownership of your business to your employee. This is consonant with Marx's belief that only labor has value, and that what someone does to create wealth is not labor, therefore of no value. Thus if you invest, start a business or do anything else that creates wealth (like running a one-person home business), you're exploiting the workers of your society who should have been recompensed by the wealth you took in profit.
Every union member is a Marxist whether he or she knows it or not. "Cleaning the commies out of the unions" and "making unions completely unlawful," therefore, are logically equivalent.
As an ex-Union member myself this is wrong. We do not need card check and prefer the secret ballot method.
I was one too-loved the job but the union did nothing for us and our jobs went to Mexico.The big boss told us he was going to help us for a year to try to avoid such and about a month later we have a meeting with an accountant from corporate headquarters- whom told us the bad news-it was not even his job- but the brave man told us the lowdown- many of my coworkers had been there over 40 years and it was just unamerican and not right.Anyway, Obama is one big crybaby-always trying to take folks to court,side in with hoodlums over the working man and working woman-yes I agree Tater -secret ballot is a good thing
If the secret ballot can be eliminated for Union organizing, what is next? Our right to a secret ballot in federal and state elections?
We all knew that "The Leader" (you can say it in German if you wish) Obama was going to take over everythiing. When you think back, you will see that he has done everything, in the same order, that the German "Leader" did: DerFuerer took over the banks, (Obama did); Hitler took over the auto industry; Obama did; Hitler took over the healt care services, Obama did. Our "Leader" (I refuse to call this Kenya born usurper President) has followed his German model to the "T".
I was premature in my prediction that there would be no election in 2010. I thought mistakenly that His Most Serene and Beatific Pietude would need to suspend the elections in order to establish himself as a tyrant.
Guess I was wrong on both counts. Who's giving odds on 2012?
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT OUT OF A BUNCH OF CORRUPT POLITICOS? THIS IS THE MOST CORRUPT BUNCH IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND IN WASHINGTON THAT I CAN EVER REMEMBER. THIS INCLUDED WATERGATE, WHITEWATERGATE, YOU NAME IT, THIS BUNCH OF RENEGADES HAVE GOT TO BE STOPPED. IF NOT FOLKS, THERE WILL NOT BE AN AMERICA THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE. MEXICO WILL LOOK GOOD. YOU WILL BE HAPPY TO BE CAUGHT UP IN ALL THE CORRUPTION THAT GOES ON IN MEXICO. WATCH AN SEE.
Obama & his other Anti-American buddies know that the majority of people who vote, don't want to be bothered with contacting their reps in Congress to complain about something. I forward many things to others in the hopes that they will follow suit & contact their reps, but I know that out of 20 people, mabey only one or two do anything. Our corrupt illegal in the Presidents office & the Corrupt Reps in Congress are well aware of this, so continue to what ever they please. Like I have said before, most of the incumbants of both parties need to be voted out. BUT WILL ENOUGH PEOPLE WAKE UP ???
Are we relying solely on our Republican leaders to make things right? Everyone with a modicum of intelligence who isn't brainwashed up the yin-yang knows Obama and his entire administration are a bunch of corrupt, lying, deceiving criminals. But will our Republican leaders actually do their jobs, the jobs we elected them to do, and put a stop to the lies and deception? Almost daily we find out another so-called "conservative Republican" is actually a RINO (Republican In Name Only.) Liberals are infiltrating the Republican Party in droves! What can we do about it? PLEASE, what can we do?
The Supremacy Clause does not apply in this case. The Supremacy Clause is subject to the Necessary and Proper Clause, which the regulation of labor is NOT necessary and proper for the powers enumerated and delegated to the federal government as per Article 1 Section 8.
I am most sorry to say, but I have lost any faith or hope that our America will ever be truly AMERICA again. There is not one person in that hellhole called Washington that is going to do the right thing by the people that gave them the jobs they now have. They took the jobs with the intent of screwing every one of us, and lying out the old wazoo while promising to do as we asked. Just so they could make more money off our hard labor, and sweating brows. Unless we, the people of this country send them packing PHYSICALLY, we are not going to get anywhere with any of it. I do not know what to say or do. Write a congressman or woman, fax them, try to speak to them as voters………nothing works. How do we get our country back? The only thing I can think of is what our forefathers did when they went up against King George and the British Empire. And they did that because of basically the same thing that our so called “leaders” are doing to us now. And this peice of PIG EXCREMENT that is now in OUR WHITE HOUSE wants to be a RULER! And, I ask you, JUST WHAT THE HELL IS THIS “RULE” THING ALL ABOUT ANYWAY? I thought we were a nation that didn’t want a “RULER”, but a president, a PRESIDENT! A democratic society, but this THING wants to RULE! RULE????? IF I wanted to be RULED, I’d live in a monarchy! But I live in AMERICA, where it is supposed to be “FOR THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE” the PEOPLE being the ones who should be HEARD BY IT”S LEADERS! Instead, we are being RAN OVER BY THIS PRETENDER OF A HUMAN, A PRETENDER TO OUR GOVERNMENT! BY A STINKING MUSLIME INVADER WHO DOES NOT EVEN BELONG IN THAT POSITION! it was the STUPIDITY of the American voters who put this INSULT there! Voters who only wanted to prove how UNracist they are, and by doing so, screwed us all, including themselves! This INSULT OF A HUMAN NEEDS IMPEACHED YESTERDAY! LAST YEAR AND THE YEAR BEFORE! That very name should have told people what HE/IT was! AND STILL IS! if something drastic does not take place soon, I beleive my country is doomed to end before very long. And not only does it sadden me, it makes me sick! my country, which my ancestors fought and died for, will soon come to an end if this INSULT is not dealt with soon. Dealt with, meaning send his nonAmerican skinny ugly muslim rearend anywhere but in that office! And get it out of our lives. America, LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT.
Betsy,
Well said. I could'nt agree with you more. I just wonder how and who can accomplish this because we average Americans, just do not have any pull.
I gladly am an ex union member! I worked at the City of Minneapolis and to this day, I can not figure out how the unions got so strong and control way too many businesses in Minnesota. The main reason unions are so powerfull in Minnesota is because the liberal democrats have been controlling this state for way too long. That is why our bridges collapse and they build a $ 5 million concrete bus stop in the middle of freeway for 10 bus riders? Minnesota has been paying for free transportation to bring in millions of Somali's and Muslims, then they pay for everything: housing, food, clothing, transportation, education, medical, etc etc. you name it it's paid for. Also, check the news out, whenever the FBI make a bust for most terroristic and other Int'l crimes, it usually has some connection or it begins in Minnestoa!
I have never heard of a POTUS suing States/Governors.. He has yet to figure out that HE IS POTUS. He is still acting like an attention getting Community Organizer in more ways than one..He only REPESENTS parts of the Nations populace,
it's O.K. for some states to things that others cannot.
Companies that do things his way can do anything, but if he is mad at a certain company, then that company cannot. .."Give me my way or else".
Some Fed Laws get enforced, others don't..
Racist, radical and sower of discontent
What a joke he is as POTUS.. Famous words from our President "Give me my way or I'll sue you".
Daisysue,
There are alot of things going on in this country that I had never heard of, imagined of and I wonder sometimes if I dare to sleep for fear and trepidation "what is that man and his cheerleaders going to do next?"
I will never forget a college history class that I took years ago. The professor said that early "mankind" did not become civilized until each person of the community could sleep for fear of not being able to watch his/her back against predators. Once Man learned to take turns watching guard while others were sleeping did Man finally flourish.
I think Americans are back to the caveman days wherein we cannot go to sleep and wake up without finding that we just got nailed again by the invisible enemy. I wish the enemy were a figment of imagination but I know better. The force coming at us is huge and they seem to be using every branch of the law and of government to confuse us and take away whatever we have left. It is incredible that 1 million Americans will lose their home this year in one year 2011 to the same banks that they/we bailed out last year…. Think about it. We bailed them out so that they could take more!
Wouldn't it be nice if we saw the Bill of Rights legalized in this USS of A?
Martial Law IS Coming.
I agree!!!! Let this criminal administration have free regien and they will enslave us all.
That's their plan.
SOME SAY THAT OBAMA IS GOD. (How evil the times have become).
This ascribing Godhood to Obama has been going on since he began to run for the presidency. One site that still believes that Obama is the Messiah is http://obamamessiah.blogspot.com/. On that site images of Obama are startling and creepy. There are images there of Obama on a cross, one with the heading "take up your cross and follow me", one with a world tattoo on Obama's forehead, etc. On this web site: http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=77539 it was reported that Luis Farakhan called Obama the "Messiah" saying:
Addressing a large crowd behind a podium Feb. 24 with a Nation of Islam Saviours' Day 2008 sign, Farrakhan proclaims, "You are the instruments that God is going to use to bring about universal change, and that is why Barack has captured the youth. And he has involved young people in a political process that they didn't care anything about. That's a sign. When the Messiah speaks, the youth will hear, and the Messiah is absolutely speaking."
There are many other web sites attributing Godhood to Obama. Suffice it to say, when people become sheep and mistake a person like Obama for God, then they are ready to be misled by the coming AntiChrist and False Prophet. The fact that Obama seems to have no big problem with this kind of talk is perhaps even more troubling.
Obama The Destroyer Wants Everyone To Prove
They Are Insured……
But People Don't Have To Prove They Are Citizens.
THIS MOVES US CLOSER TO A ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT.
the communist democrat party is in for the beat down of its life in 2012 I know democrats who cant stand this commie bastard ……chairman obama = PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE
Elbonzo is ashamed of us the people, and our country because it is not his country. He is a liar and a theif. How did this moron get elected? Money, money money and intimidation of voters and false promises.
It is now time for all of us to contact our representatives to have them introduce legislation to make every state in the Union a "Right to Work State". Obama and his left wing loons can have all the card checks they want but having the people of their own state determine if they want to join a Union will over-ride all this BullSh–!
Fellow Conservative,
Barney Frank didn't waste much time showing his true colors.
In a recent interview, the left-wing congressman told CNBC that he's just fine with a double-dip estate tax because heirs don't deserve inheritances. Barney went on to say that, "they didn't work hard, they don't deserve it, they just happen to be lucky enough to be related to someone."
Who is Barney Frank to say who worked hard and who didn't? Maybe Barney is just that clueless. Or maybe this is just another ploy to increase our taxes. But either way, Barney has proven once again that he is unfit to represent us.
No surprise that this neo-democrat administration would support card check – it is another one of the most disgusting insults to peoples' freedoms, just like the healthscare TAX – nothing getting lauded as “reform” or “care” makes sense any more.
- Beck provision apparently applies to non-right to work states because of union security clauses in collective bargaining agreements. If one decides to resign one's membership, one pays for activities which are germane to collective bargaining, contract administration and grievance adjustment, i.e. – representational activities. In right to work states, under the National Labor Relations Act, union security is a moot issue and no dues are paid as a condition of employment, if one chooses to be a non-member of the union. For more information check out National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
-www.nrtw.org – Stealth union organizing campaign springs union boss control over employees without even a vote – Security Union Officials Hit With Federal Labor Board Charges for Forcing Employees into Union – Flint, MI (November 9, 2010) – “…The employees were forced to sign union dues deduction authorizations – used by union officials to automatically withhold dues from employee paychecks – and are currently paying dues to the union in order to keep their jobs…”; – many examples of union control
-nrtw-org NATIONAL RIGHT TO WORK LEGAL DEFENSE FOUNDATION, INC. Incoming AFL-CIO President
Richard Trumka: An Ugly History of Violence and Corruption -SEIU’s new rule forces local affiliates to raise PAC money or kick in workers’ forced union dues and pay penalties
-nrtw-orgNew Obama Administration Contracting Policy "Nothing More Than Payback" to Big Labor
- biggovernment-com Obama Lawyer with SEIU, AFL-CIO Connections Sidesteps Ethical Complaints Aug 17 2010 – “…In a letter addressed to Attorney General Eric Holder, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation (NRTWF) points out that Craig Becker, who now sits on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) as a recess appointee, has declined to recuse himself in multiple cases involving his former employers, most notably, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the AFL-CIO…”
Craig Becker Obama administration nominee to the National Labor Relations Board
–nrtwc-org (the national right to work committee) The NLRB Becker Fight “Shakes and Bakes” Again
-shopfloor-org Senate Confirms NLRB Nominees Pearce and Hayes, not Becker June 22, 2010
-washingtonexaminer-com/opinion/blogs/Controversial National Labor Relations Board nominee Craig Becker shot down in Senate 02/09/10
-Senator Orrin Hatch Utah concerned by NLRB Nominee Craig Becker
- biggovernment-com Obama Lawyer with SEIU, AFL-CIO Connections Sidesteps Ethical Complaints Aug 17 2010 – “…In a letter addressed to Attorney General Eric Holder, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation (NRTWF) points out that Craig Becker, who now sits on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) as a recess appointee, has declined to recuse himself in multiple cases involving his former employers, most notably, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the AFL-CIO…”
-nationalaborblog-com 2010 02 Controversy Over Nlrb Nominee Craig Becker Heats Up
-nrtw-org NATIONAL RIGHT TO WORK LEGAL DEFENSE FOUNDATION, INC. Incoming AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka: An Ugly History of Violence and Corruption -SEIU’s new rule forces local affiliates to raise PAC money or kick in workers’ forced union dues and pay penalties
-nrtw-orgNew Obama Administration Contracting Policy "Nothing More Than Payback" to Big Labor
Tue, 04/13/2010; -Top Down Organizing (card check National Right to Work Foundation attorneys assist home-based personal care providers pushed into union’s forced-dues ranks against their will; SEIU’s new rule forces local affiliates to raise PAC money or kick in workers’ forced union dues and pay penaltiesWashington, DC (July 17, 2008)
-right to work foundation sign petition against card check
-uschamber.com/issues/ Union Recognition – Secret Ballot Elections and Card Check Schemes
-wsj comBusiness Fights Back = (card check, c*ap & tax, etc.)
-Center for Individual Freedom not-for-profit constitutional advocacy organization with the mission to protect and defend individual freedoms and individual rights.