AFP - Freeze NLRB

In yet another attempt to “work around Congress,” last year President Obama unconstitutionally appointed three people to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the agency that imposes rules regarding union-organizing elections that give Big Labor a big advantage. This past January, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the President’s appointments, finding them to be unconstitutional—the President made these recess appointments when the Senate was not actually in recess.

Take action today: Tell Congress to freeze all NLRB activities while these unconstitutional appointees are still on the board.

Thankfully, there’s a bill in Congress that would stop the NLRB from implementing the rules that it has adopted since January 4, 2012, when President Obama stacked it with illegitimate, unconstitutionally appointed members. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), would freeze all of the NLRB’s activities that require a full quorum. The House of Representatives is going to vote on the bill next week—and they need to hear from you.

This is not only about stopping the partisan, pro-union stranglehold on the NLRB. It’s also about keeping the American system of check and balances in place. Congress needs to stand up to the president when he oversteps his constitutional authority. No more working around Congress and the Constitution to further his Big Labor agenda.

Sincerely,

Nicole Kaeding

State Policy Manager

Americans for Prosperity

Take action today: Tell Congress to freeze all NLRB activities while these unconstitutional appointees are still on the board.

ALG's Daily Grind - Mexican corruption case a wake-up call for American leaders

March 22, 2013

Mexican corruption case a wake-up call for American leaders

Elba Esther Gordillo case should compel the Obama Administration to reexamine its ongoing kowtowing to union bosses — most notably the ongoing erosion of worker safeguards against union corruption.

Current Obama appointee to NLRB faces civil RICO lawsuit over union embezzlement

Unconstitutional "recess" appointee to the National Labor Relations Board Richard Griffin is alleged to have engaged in threatening activity toward local union local officials who investigated a case of embezzlement at the union he served as counsel of.

Banks in Cyprus? Really?

How can a country that comprises less than 2 percent of the GDP of the entire Eurozone threaten to tear it apart?

Smith: What could cause interest rates to rise?

Charles Hugh Smith warns that central banks cannot keep inflation at bay forever, and when it does hit, higher interest rates will be the only way out.

ALG's Daily Grind - Congratulations, you have survived the sequester!

March 1, 2013

Congratulations, you have survived the sequester!

The world didn't end. Food is still safe to eat. Planes are landing safely on runways. Invading armies are not storming our shores. And life is continuing on normally just as it was yesterday.

NLRB Pays Two Employees $100K Each to Work for the Union

These are employees whose official job is to handle internal NLRB union activities exclusively, rather than carrying out any of the NLRB's official responsibilities.

 Mars to Earth: Cut Your Spending

Rep. Vern Buchanan: "The government spent $325,000 last year constructing a robot squirrel to replicate the interaction between rattle snakes and the small-sized rodent.  Meanwhile, NASA spent $1 million taste-testing fine cuisine to be served on the planet Mars.  And last, but certainly not least, the Department of Homeland Security spent taxpayer dollars preparing for the zombie apocalypse."

…and the seas boiled, and the skies fell

With spending now cut, Obama's sixth seal has been opened.

CEI - Landmark Bill Would End Taxpayer Handout to Gov’t Unions

Coalition of Gov’t Watchdog Groups Urge Support of "Federal Employee Accountability Act"

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 14, 2013 - Government labor unions have long been able to conduct union business while on the job and on the taxpayer dime, under a little-known policy called “official time.”  Legislation introduced by Rep. Phil Gingrey could end this tax give-away to unions, and a new coalition of government watchdog groups called on Congress today to support that plan.

"No one disputes the right for workers to form a union," said Matt Patterson, a CEI Senior Fellow. "But when unions use the government to secure for themselves privileged status and perks, when they use the levers of power to funnel public money into their private coffers, they break a sacred covenant of free government, which works only when and if the law is applied equally and to all."

"Every federal government employee swears an oath to defend the Constitution and to perform their civic duty is the best way possible," said Trey Kovacs, a CEI Labor Policy Analyst. "When a federal employee is conducting union business while on government duty that vow is broken. Unfortunately this happens everyday due to the costly and wasteful subsidy to federal union employees known as official time."

An estimated $155 million in taxpayer money was wasted on “official time” activities in 2011 alone, as the coalition letter explains.  A U.S. Office of Personnel Management official, Angela Bailey, has stated publically that federal workers spent nearly 3.4 million hours conducting union business in 2011.  The Federal Employee Accountability Actwould end that practice and save the taxpayers an estimated $1.3 billion over 10 years.

“At a time when the federal government lurches from one fiscal crisis to another, this is money we can no longer afford to squander on political favors to private special interests,” the letter states.

The coalition letter includes as signatories: CEI, Americans for Tax Reform, Americans for Prosperity, the National Center for Public Policy Research, Heritage Action and the Alliance for Worker Freedom.

>>  View the coalition letter

>>  See also: Official Time: Taxpayers paying for union work is officially a scam

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CEI is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy group dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government.  For more information about CEI, please visit our website, cei.org, and blogs, Globalwarming.org and OpenMarket.org.  Follow CEI on Twitter! Twitter.com/ceidotorg.

CEI Today: Internet sales tax threat, government union largess, and Obama's missing word on trade

INTERNET SALES TAX - JESSICA MELUGIN

CEI.org: Internet Sales Tax Bill Is "Raw Deal for Taxpayers"

Legislation introduced Thursday to allow state tax collectors to reach across borders and tax out-of-state businesses would constitute a de facto tax on Internet sales and subject online retailers to taxation without representation, according to an analysis by the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

The legislation, known as the Marketplace Fairness Act, “would give state tax collectors alarming new powers to reach across their borders and audit retailers in every other state,” said Jessica Melugin, an  adjunct analyst at CEI. > Read more about it

> Interview Jessica Melugin

GOVERNMENT UNIONS - MATT PATTERSON & TREY KOVACS CEI.org: Landmark Bill Would End Taxpayer Handout to Gov’t Unions Government labor unions have long been able to conduct union business while on the job and on the taxpayer dime, under a little-known policy called “official time.”  Legislation introduced by Rep. Phil Gingrey - the Federal Employee Accountability Act - could end this tax give-away to unions, and a new coalition of government watchdog groups called on Congress today to support that plan. > Read the coalition letter > Interview Matt Patterson or Trey Kovacs

OBAMA TRADE AGENDA - IAIN MURRAY American Spectator: The Missing Word on Trade One of the few bright spots during the President’s State of the Union address was his promotion of two new major trade agreements, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and a “comprehensive trans-Atlantic trade and investment partnership with the European Union.” More trade is generally good news, as both sides benefit by it, almost by definition. However, missing from the President’s speech was the word that goes before trade when it is at its most beneficial — free. No one yet knows what the deals the President will pursue look like, but if they’re not genuine free trade deals, they will be a huge missed opportunity. > Read the full commentary > Interview Iain Murray

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CEI is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy group dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government.  For more information about CEI, please visit our website, cei.org, and blogs, Globalwarming.org and OpenMarket.org.  Follow CEI on Twitter! Twitter.com/ceidotorg.