Photoshop: Reader Jimmy D. Yesterday, the SEIU and left-wing USA Action launched Spanish-language radio attacks on Mitt Romney for his support of immigration enforcement measures. One of Romney’s advisers is Kris Kobach — a constitutional law professor, Kansas Secretary of State, and staunch leader in the fight against illegal alien amnesty and ACORN-style voter fraud. Eliseo Medina, the secretary-treasurer of Service Employees International Union, blasted Romney on Monday during a conference call announcing a Spanish-language radio ad the union is launching in partnership with Priorities USA Action, a super-PAC supporting President Obama. Medina, the No. 2 official at the influential union, was reacting to an answer Romney gave at a debate Monday night where he said “self-deportation” was the answer to ridding the country of illegal immigrants. “It’s basically to say, ‘Make their life miserable’” by refusing to rent to them or to provide access to heat and water,” Medina said. “Make it difficult for their kids and their schools.” Asked by The Hill how Romney’s comments could be construed to imply that illegal immigrants should be denied basic necessities, Medina pointed to Romney’s close relationship with Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who has endorsed Romney. Kobach has been credit with writing most of Alabama’s harsh anti-illegal immigration law, which has been challenged in the courts. “Mr. Romney has said he wants to support and he joins in supporting Kris Kobach,” Medina said. “When he says he supports those kinds of policies, he has to own all of it.” “This is a dishonest smear from President Obama’s liberal allies and a desperate attempt to distract from his abysmal record,” said Romney adviser Albert Martinez. “It will do nothing to help the millions of Hispanics who have been hit especially hard as a result of the Obama economy.” Martinez said Hispanics, like all Floridians, believe Romney is the best person to rebuild the economy and to replace Obama. Well, look now, who’s mimicking the open-borders SEIU and blurring the lines between illegal and legal immigration. Yep. Newt Gingrich: Sen. Marco Rubio scolded Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign over a Spanish-language radio ad that accuses rival Mitt Romney of being “anti-immigrant” “This kind of language is more than just unfortunate. It’s inaccurate, inflammatory, and doesn’t belong in this campaign,” Rubio told The Miami Herald when asked about the ad. “The truth is that neither of these two men is anti-immigrant,” Rubio said. “Both are pro-legal immigration and both have positive messages that play well in the Hispanic community.” Rubio’s sharp rebuke comes a day after he subtly corrected Gingrich for comparing Romney to former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, branded by conservatives as a turncoat who left the party before Rubio beat him in 2010. The criticisms from someone of Rubio’s stature in the Republican Party comes as polls show a near-even race, albeit with Gingrich surging. Rubio plans to stay neutral in the race. He’s a potential running mate whom both candidates would love to have on the ballot. The truth is that neither Gingrich nor Romney has a strong, consistent overall record on border security and enforcement. But at least Romney’s been traveling in the right direction…while Gingrich once again echoes left-wing language and plays the race card to get ahead. Nose plugs. Get out yer nose plugs. *** Newt and his supporters have been deriding the notion of self-deportation as some sort of alien, offensive concept. Long-time readers of this blog and of my investigative work on immigration have been familiar with it for years. It’s attrition through enforcement , it’s humane , and it works . *** Can you be more two-faced? Newt has been winning massive adoration and applause for claiming he’ll stand up for states like South Carolina and Alabama , which have been sued by the Obama DOJ over tough immigration laws. Then he joins the likes of the SEIU and slams the very “anti-immigrant” policies authored by Kris Kobach that the Obama DOJ wants to overturn. Emetic of the day. *** Update: Newt retreats. From GOP Hispanic leaders calling him out, via the Miami Herald: While we may have differences of opinion with regard to some of Governor Romney’s policies on immigration, we nonetheless stand firmly behind him because we know he is the most qualified conservative candidate to defeat President Obama and to lift up all Americans, including Hispanics. Like your attacks on the free market, attacking Mitt Romney as “anti-immigrant” only serves President Obama and his liberal allies. Mr. Speaker, our party deserves better. Sincerely, Secretary Carlos Gutierrez Senator Mel Martinez Raquel A. Rodriguez Zoraida Fonalledas Jorge Arrizurieta R. Alexander Acosta Remedios Diaz Oliver Rudy Fernandez Jeanette Prenger Jerry Natividad Sal Gomez Allen Gutierrez Hector Barreto Jose Fuentes Bertica Cabrera Morris Rafael Elias-Linero
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Gingrich channels open-borders SEIU; Rubio rebukes; Update:Newt retreats
Photoshop: Reader Jimmy D. Yesterday, the SEIU and left-wing USA Action launched Spanish-language radio attacks on Mitt Romney for his support of immigration enforcement measures. One of Romney’s advisers is Kris Kobach — a constitutional law professor, Kansas Secretary of State, and staunch leader in the fight against illegal alien amnesty and ACORN-style voter fraud. Eliseo Medina, the secretary-treasurer of Service Employees International Union, blasted Romney on Monday during a conference call announcing a Spanish-language radio ad the union is launching in partnership with Priorities USA Action, a super-PAC supporting President Obama. Medina, the No. 2 official at the influential union, was reacting to an answer Romney gave at a debate Monday night where he said “self-deportation” was the answer to ridding the country of illegal immigrants. “It’s basically to say, ‘Make their life miserable’” by refusing to rent to them or to provide access to heat and water,” Medina said. “Make it difficult for their kids and their schools.” Asked by The Hill how Romney’s comments could be construed to imply that illegal immigrants should be denied basic necessities, Medina pointed to Romney’s close relationship with Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who has endorsed Romney. Kobach has been credit with writing most of Alabama’s harsh anti-illegal immigration law, which has been challenged in the courts. “Mr. Romney has said he wants to support and he joins in supporting Kris Kobach,” Medina said. “When he says he supports those kinds of policies, he has to own all of it.” “This is a dishonest smear from President Obama’s liberal allies and a desperate attempt to distract from his abysmal record,” said Romney adviser Albert Martinez. “It will do nothing to help the millions of Hispanics who have been hit especially hard as a result of the Obama economy.” Martinez said Hispanics, like all Floridians, believe Romney is the best person to rebuild the economy and to replace Obama. Well, look now, who’s mimicking the open-borders SEIU and blurring the lines between illegal and legal immigration. Yep. Newt Gingrich: Sen. Marco Rubio scolded Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign over a Spanish-language radio ad that accuses rival Mitt Romney of being “anti-immigrant” “This kind of language is more than just unfortunate. It’s inaccurate, inflammatory, and doesn’t belong in this campaign,” Rubio told The Miami Herald when asked about the ad. “The truth is that neither of these two men is anti-immigrant,” Rubio said. “Both are pro-legal immigration and both have positive messages that play well in the Hispanic community.” Rubio’s sharp rebuke comes a day after he subtly corrected Gingrich for comparing Romney to former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, branded by conservatives as a turncoat who left the party before Rubio beat him in 2010. The criticisms from someone of Rubio’s stature in the Republican Party comes as polls show a near-even race, albeit with Gingrich surging. Rubio plans to stay neutral in the race. He’s a potential running mate whom both candidates would love to have on the ballot. The truth is that neither Gingrich nor Romney has a strong, consistent overall record on border security and enforcement. But at least Romney’s been traveling in the right direction…while Gingrich once again echoes left-wing language and plays the race card to get ahead. Nose plugs. Get out yer nose plugs. *** Newt and his supporters have been deriding the notion of self-deportation as some sort of alien, offensive concept. Long-time readers of this blog and of my investigative work on immigration have been familiar with it for years. It’s attrition through enforcement , it’s humane , and it works . *** Can you be more two-faced? Newt has been winning massive adoration and applause for claiming he’ll stand up for states like South Carolina and Alabama , which have been sued by the Obama DOJ over tough immigration laws. Then he joins the likes of the SEIU and slams the very “anti-immigrant” policies authored by Kris Kobach that the Obama DOJ wants to overturn. Emetic of the day. *** Update: Newt retreats. From GOP Hispanic leaders calling him out, via the Miami Herald: While we may have differences of opinion with regard to some of Governor Romney’s policies on immigration, we nonetheless stand firmly behind him because we know he is the most qualified conservative candidate to defeat President Obama and to lift up all Americans, including Hispanics. Like your attacks on the free market, attacking Mitt Romney as “anti-immigrant” only serves President Obama and his liberal allies. Mr. Speaker, our party deserves better. Sincerely, Secretary Carlos Gutierrez Senator Mel Martinez Raquel A. Rodriguez Zoraida Fonalledas Jorge Arrizurieta R. Alexander Acosta Remedios Diaz Oliver Rudy Fernandez Jeanette Prenger Jerry Natividad Sal Gomez Allen Gutierrez Hector Barreto Jose Fuentes Bertica Cabrera Morris Rafael Elias-Linero
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Gingrich channels open-borders SEIU; Rubio rebukes; Update:Newt retreats
Michelle Obama’s Unsavory School Lunch Flop by Michelle Malkin Creators Syndicate Copyright 2011 The road to gastric hell is paved with first lady Michelle Obama’s Nanny State intentions. Don’t take my word for it. School kids in Los Angeles have blown the whistle on the east wing chef-in-chief’s healthy lunch diktats. Get your Pepto Bismol ready. The taste of government waste is indigestion-inducing. According to a weekend report by the Los Angeles Times, the city’s “trailblazing introduction of healthful school lunches has been a flop.” In response to the public hectoring and financial inducement of Mrs. Obama’s federally subsidized anti-obesity campaign, the district dropped chicken nuggets, corn dogs and flavored milk from the menu for “beef jambalaya, vegetable curry, pad Thai, lentil and brown rice cutlets, and quinoa and black-eyed pea salads.” Sounds delectable in theory. But in practice, the initiative has been what L.A. Unified’s food services director Dennis Barrett plainly concludes is a “disaster.” While the Obama administration has showered the nation’s second-largest school district with nutrition awards, thousands of students voted with their upset tummies and abandoned the program. A forbidden-food black market — stoked not just by students, but also by teachers — is now thriving. Moreover, “(p)rincipals report massive waste, with unopened milk cartons and uneaten entrees being thrown away.” This despite a massive increase in spending on nutritional improvements — from $2 million to $20 million alone in the last five years on fresh produce. This despite a nearly half-billion-dollar budget shortfall and 3,000 layoffs earlier this year. Earlier this spring, L.A. school officials acknowledged that the sprawling district is left with a whopping 21,000 uneaten meals a day, in part because the federal school lunch program “sometimes requires more food to be served than a child wants to eat.” The leftovers will now be donated to nonprofit agencies. But after the recipients hear about students’ reports of moldy noodles, undercooked meat and hard rice, one wonders how much of the “free” food will go down the hatch — or down the drain. Ahhh, savor the flavor of one-size-fits-all mandates. There’s nothing wrong with encouraging our children to eat healthier, of course. There’s nothing wrong with well-run, locally based and parent-driven efforts. But as I’ve noted before, the federal foodie cops care much less about students’ waistlines than they do about boosting government and public union payrolls. In a little-noticed announcement several months ago, Obama health officials declared their intention to use school lunch applications to boost government health care rolls. Never mind the privacy concerns of parents. Big Government programs “for the children” are never about the children. If they were, you wouldn’t see Chicago public school officials banning students from bringing home-packed meals made by their own parents. In April, The Chicago Tribune reported that “unless they have a medical excuse, they must eat the food served in the cafeteria.” The bottom line? Banning homemade lunches means a fatter payday for the school and its food provider. Remember: The unwritten mantra driving Mrs. Obama’s federal school lunch meddling and expansion is: “Cede the children, feed the state.” And the biggest beneficiaries of her efforts over the past three years have been her husband’s deep-pocketed pals at the Service Employees International Union. There are 400,000 workers who prepare and serve lunch to American schoolchildren. SEIU represents tens of thousands of those workers and is trying to unionize many more at all costs. In L.A., the district’s cafeteria fund is $20 million in the hole thanks to political finagling by SEIU Local 99. The union’s left-wing allies on the school board and in the mayor’s office pressured the district to adopt reckless fiscal policies awarding gold-plated health benefits to part-time cafeteria workers in the name of “social justice.” As one school board member who opposed the budget-busting entitlements said: “Everyone in this country deserves health benefits. But it was a very expensive proposal. And it wasn’t done at the bargaining table, which is where health benefits are usually negotiated. And no one had any idea where the money was going to come from.” Early next year, Mrs. Obama will use the “success” of her child nutrition campaign to hawk a new tome and lobby for more money and power in concert with her husband’s re-election campaign. It’s a recipe for more half-baked progressivism served with a side order of bitter arugula.
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Michelle Obama’s Unsavory School Lunch Flop
Under the bus. The news just hit Twitter: Team Obama is giving up on SEIU legal counsel Craig Becker, who served on the National Labor Relations Board through recess appointment. Withdrawal tweet here . (He had been previously defeated in the Senate on a cloture vote by 52-33.) You may recall that the radical union attorney was in hot water over conflict-of-interest charges last summer. Flashback: In the least surprising news of the week, Craig Becker — Big Labor’s go-to legal expert — has served on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for barely three months, and he’s already under investigation. Becker lost a bipartisan Senate confirmation vote for the NLRB before Obama gave him a recess appointment. Becker is so pro-union he previously opined that “employers should have no right to be heard” in cases before the NLRB. Aside from impartiality, the other concern about Becker was that the former associate general counsel for the radical Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and AFL-CIO lawyer would be embroiled with conflicts of interest regarding unions he’s now charged with overseeing. Sure enough, on June 2, Becker joined in on an NLRB decision involving SEIU Local 1957 and denied St. Barnabas Hospital’s request to review a union election. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Ranking Member Darrell Issa, R-Calif., asked the Inspector General to examiner Becker’s conflict of interest in the matter. An investigation is underway. I previously reported on Becker’s role in SEIU home invasion power grab schemes — background here and here . Where will Andy Stern’s “go-to guy” end up next? Place your bets. *** Meanwhile, keep your eye on the White House next steps on NLRB nominations. Labor Union Report anticipates more end-runs around the nomination process.
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White House withdraws Craig Becker/NLRB nomination
People make honest mistakes. When right-leaning people make them, Soros-funded Media Matters turns it into Apocalypse Now and an opportunity to discredit all of conservatism. But when liberal journos err, it’s like the proverbial trees falling in the forest. Does anybody hear the muffled sound? Last night while I was on Twitter, a few left-leaning reporters fell for a hoax SEIU press release announcing the withdrawal of the union’s endorsement of Barack Obama. The timing alone — midnight-ish — should have raised eyebrows. But Marc Ambinder of the The Atlantic (who called it a “symbolic shot across the bow”) and Kenneth Vogel of Politico (who has erased his tweets about it) fell for the prank before being cautioned by Ben Smith of Politico, who quickly debunked the bogus statement. Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times also was targeted. I asked those involved last night who they thought was responsible. My tweets were like trees in their forest. No replies. Roll Call reports on the story this morning without mentioning who got punked: A prankster sent reporters a fake press release Tuesday night claiming that members of the powerful Service Employees International Union had voted to take back the group’s endorsement of President Barack Obama. The release hit inboxes just before midnight bearing the name of SEIU spokesman Mark McCullough. It included a fake quote from SEIU President Mary Kay Henry that claimed Obama hadn’t delivered enough change. “Someone is playing a prank and using my email address,” the real McCullough told Talking Points Memo early this morning. He later issued a statement affirming the union’s support for the president. Talking Points Memo also makes no mention of those reeled in. Lib media membership has its privileges. SEIU’s real statement re-endorsing Dear Leader in response to the kerfuffle is here : So just to be clear: We stand by our November 16, 2011 endorsement of President Obama as part of a broader ’99 percent’ strategy to create good jobs now, end devastating cuts to Medicare and Medicaid and require everyone to pay their fair share. Any reports to the contrary are simply false. As those who have followed my coverage of SEIU and Obama for the past several years, it is inconceivable that one would disown the other. Ever. They’re stuck like glue. But like I said: People make honest mistakes. In the end, the lightning-quick, self-correcting mechanism on Twitter worked as it should. This is the beauty of crowd-sourcing. My question for journos on the lib side of the aisle, though: Why does it only redound to the benefit of lefties? Something to dwell on the next time they’re tempted to hound and mock conservative bloggers, Breitbart, Fox, etc., as not “real” journalists.
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Lib media journos punked by fake SEIU press release
So, the Office of Congressional Ethics joined in the Holiday Document Dump Spirit ( ho, ho, ho! ) on Friday and unloaded a two-year-old report on Jesse Jackson, Jr.’s cameo role in the Blago Senate seat trading scam. The announcement is on the OCE site here , but you can read the 300-page report right here in case you missed it: Review No 09-9812 Referral to Committee The upshot: The toothless OCE found “probable cause” and “substantial reason to believe” that not only did Jackson conspire to trade campaign cash for the Senate appointment, but that Jackson also broke the law by using taxpayer-subsidized office resources to promote a “public campaign” for Barack Obama’s old seat. Straight from the report: There is probable cause to believe that Representative Jackson either (1) directed a third-party, most likely Mr. Raghuveer Nayak, to offer to raise money for Governor Blagojevich in exchange for appointing Representative Jackson to the Senate seat, or (2) had knowledge that Nayak would likely make such an offer once Representative Jackson authorized him to advocate on his behalf with Governor Blagojevich. Because former Governor Blagojevich, Nayak and Mr. Rajinder Bedi have declined to cooperate with the OCE investigation, and because the OCE cannot compel their cooperation, the OCE is unable to determine whether there is a substantial reason to believe these allegations. …There is substantial reason to believe that Representative Jackson violated federal law and rules promulgated by the Committee on House Administration concerning the proper use of the Member’s Representational Allowance. Specifically, the OCE learned from Representative Jackson and his staff that staff resources both in the Representative’s Washington, DC and Chicago, Illinois, offices were used to mount a “public campaign” to secure the Representative’s appointment to the Senate. None of this is new news — most of the details emerged in the Chicago press and at trial — though the moldy oldy report includes a fresh, 17-page CYA letter from Jackson and his attorneys denying everything and invoking the see no corruption, hear no corruption defense. The delayed disclosure of the 2009 OCE comes just as Blago is scheduled to be sentenced early this week following his June conviction in the pay-for-play corruption case. And while OCE plays docu-dump reindeer games, the House Ethics Committee has decided to play more Kick the Can . Sporting its own holiday scandal muffler, the panel announced…it would have nothing to announce. It reneged on a do-something Friday deadline in Jackson’s ethics case and said it would continue to investigate: Pursuant to House Rule XI, Clause 3(a)(8)(A) and Committee Rules 17A(b)(1)(A) and 17A(c)(1), the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee jointly decided on October 18, 2011 to extend the Committee’s review of the matter until December 2, 2011. In order to gather additional information necessary to complete its review, the Committee will continue to review the matter pursuant to Committee Rule 18(a). The Committee notes that the mere fact of conducting further review of a referral, and any mandatory disclosure of such further review, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the Committee. As The Hill reports, Jackson faces a challenge from his left flank and has asked reverse Midas Touch pal Barack Obama for help. Careful what you wish for, crony: While the committee has not set a new deadline for its decision, the delay threatens to push the committee’s findings into later this year — during what could be a tough primary battle for Jackson. The primary election is March 20. Former Rep. Debbie Halvorson (D-Ill.) announced in early October that she would challenge Jackson for a new Chicago-based congressional district. That district is primarily composed of Jackson’s current constituents, but includes substantial areas of the Chicago suburbs more familiar with Halvorson. Jackson’s concern over the district is significant enough that he reportedly asked President Obama for help in the 2012 race. Jackson headed then-Sen. Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign in Illinois. And while the Ethics Committee emphasized that “conducting further review of a referral … does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred,” having the threat of Ethics Committee punishment looming over Jackson’s primary fight is disconcerting. Halvorson has indicated she will make it a campaign issue. As commenter Flyoverman quipped here almost a year ago: “The only ethics committee with any clout is an informed electorate.” Or as I always like to put it: The ballot box is the ultimate sanitizer. *** Previous/related: Capitol Hill’s other dirty laundry Summer of corruption: Blago verdict watch, Day 14; Update: Count 24 – lying to feds – GUILTY; deadlocked on all remaining counts against Blago and bro; mistrial declared; lone juror holdout Summer of corruption: Blago verdict watch & Jesse Jackson, Jr. watch The long, hot Summer of Corruption Blago appointed Obama’s AG to probe corruption; probe found no corruption; Holder forgets the whole thing
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Capitol Hill plays Jesse Jackson, Jr. games: Docu-Dump and Kick the Can
So, yeah. All that White House demagoguery about prescription drug shortages I wrote about last week was simply smoke and mirrors to cover up rotten crony deals for his Big Pharma/Big Labor friends. I shed more light below on the chumminess between former SEIU thug-in-chief Andy Stern, fat cat Dem donor Ronald Perelman, and Obama health care bureaucrat Nicole Lurie. Related non-shocker: SEIU announced its endorsement of Obama 2012. Pay to play. Corrupt birds of a feather… *** Obama’s Half-Billion-Dollar Crony Drug Deal by Michelle Malkin Creators Syndicate Copyright 2011 What do you get when you mix Democratic fat-cat donations, Big Labor favors, pharmaceutical lobbying and Beltway business as usual? Answer: another toxic half-billion-dollar Barack Obama-approved crony deal. Move over, Solyndra. Here comes Siga-Gate. This latest Chicago-style payoff on your dime involves a dubious smallpox drug backed by a liberal billionaire investor, along with a former union boss who was one of the White House’s most frequent visitors. They’re the “1 percent” with 100 percent immunity from the selectively outraged Occupier mobs that purport to oppose partisan government bailouts and handouts to privileged corporations. Ronald Perelman is the New York City-based leveraged buyout wheeler-dealer who controls Siga Technologies. He has donated nearly $130,000 mostly to Democrats over the past two election cycles alone (history here ), and he forked over $50,000 to pay for the president’s lavish inaugural parties. A Siga affiliate ( MacAndrews and Forbes ) pitched in nearly half a million more in contributions — 65 percent of which went to Democrats — and the firms have spent millions on lobbying . Perelman’s pharma company makes an experimental antiviral pill used by smallpox patients who received diagnoses too late to be treated with the existing smallpox vaccine. Smallpox experts cast doubt on the need for the drug given ample vaccine stockpiles, the remoteness of a mass attack and questions about its efficacy. But over the objections of federal contract negotiators, competitors and scientists, the Obama administration approved a lucrative $433 million no-bid deal for Siga in May. No other manufacturers were able to compete for the “sole source” procurement, according to the Los Angeles Times. The special arrangement was made after a competitor objected to the administration’s violating small-business rules during a first call for bids. That’s right: It’s yet another rigged giveaway from a Hope-and-Change champion who vowed on the 2008 campaign trail to “end the abuse of no-bid contracts once and for all.” Intensifying the culture-of-corruption stench: the critical role of Andy Stern . He’s the profligate, corruption-coddling former head of the powerful Service Employees International Union — the 2.2 million-member public-employee union powerhouse that he left in April 2010 with a mountain of debt and eroding rank-and-file pensions (and looming FBI investigation ). After pouring some $60 million of workers’ dues into Democratic coffers, Stern was rewarded by Obama with a cozy spot on the White House deficit panel and dozens of visits to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue — including at least seven with the president, one with Vice President Joe Biden, and meetings with Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Biden Chief of Staff Ron Klain, OMB Director Peter Orszag, health czar aide Jennifer Cannistra and Valerie Jarrett’s former high-powered aide and Chicago fundraiser Tina Tchen. In a classic access-buying maneuver, Siga placed Stern on its board of directors in June 2010. Four months later, Siga nabbed an estimated $3 billion contract. By January of this year, Siga’s stock had skyrocketed . The House GOP has been investigating the deal for months, which comes amid separate allegations of insider trading and political profiteering by investigative journalist Peter Schweizer. Stern and Perelman have been scratching each other’s backs for years. In the fall of 2006, the SEIU backed off organizing protests against AlliedBarton , a security guard firm in Philadelphia owned by a Perelman interest — and then remained quiet when the firm was bought out by a longtime SEIU nemesis , the Blackstone Group. According to the L.A. Times, which exposed the scandal over the weekend, Obama’s top biodefense bureaucrat Nicole Lurie railroaded a key dissenter at the Department of Health and Human Services who ridiculed Siga’s inflated projected profit margins. Lurie soothingly reassured a whiny Siga executive that the “most senior procurement official” would take over and mollified him in a letter: “I trust this will be satisfactory to you.” Lurie falsely told the newspaper that she had never made contact with the official regarding the contract and deemed any such contact improper. When caught with documentation, her department spun the communication with Siga as a “national security” matter. Lurie, it should be noted, is a former Clintonite and Howard Dean health care consultant who was most recently in the headlines for pushing anthrax vaccine testing for children . According to the Labor Union Report , there have been market murmurs of a merger between Siga and the anthrax vaccine manufacturer, PharmAthene. Hard to trust Lurie’s public health moral authority with the taint of pay-for-play wafting over the Siga deal. As always, venture socialism backed by Big Labor muscle and White House wealth redistribution is hazardous to taxpayers’ health.
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Obama’s Half-Billion-Dollar Crony Drug Deal; Related non-shocker: SEIU endorses Obama
It was a split decision in Ohio last night. Voters in the Buckeye State rejected Obamacare and its individual mandate overwhelmingly — all 88 counties approved a constitutional amendment “to preserve the freedom of Ohioans to choose their health care and health care coverage.” Unfortunately, voters also said no to Issue 2 – the budget and union reform initiative . Ohio blogger Jason Hart, who vigilantly chronicled Big Labor’s spending, lies, and thuggery, has a must-read post-mortem here . Ohio bloggers at Third Base Politics also fought the good fight and have lots of post-election analysis. Too bad voters didn’t listen to this wise advise from Kevin O’Brien at the Cleveland Plain Dealer. They’ll be discovering the “hidden costs” soon enough: A “no” vote preserves the old, familiar game of hostage-taking. No school levy? Fine, no sports and no buses — and that’s the taxpayers’ supposed advocate, the school board, talking! If that doesn’t break the public’s resistance, a teacher strike will. Want to lay off a firefighter? Fine, here’s a union grievance and a bill for thousands of dollars, payable by the taxpayers. You may win, but it will cost you a bundle. And you may not win. Or you may win for now, only to have an arbitrator decide you shouldn’t win later. Then you get a bill for the reinstated employee’s back pay, too. Advice to voters: See the hidden price tag in a “no” vote on Issue 2, and have the sense to vote “yes.” In this election — as in all the many contentious elections down the road, should Issue 2 fail — when the answer to the unions is “no,” the reason won’t be because taxpayers hate public employees, or envy them, or because they believe public employees are overpaid. The reason will be because those taxpayers have studied the financial status of their very own households and have decided, on that basis alone, that they are unable to commit more money to government. Issue 2 opponents have worked hard to make this election about emotion. They have also ignored the inconvenient certainty that the financial situations of localities across Ohio will necessitate layoffs, whether or not Issue 2 passes. They are quite prepared, though of course they will not say so, to resort to the time-honored union practice of “eating their young” when layoff time comes, so as to protect union leaders and other senior employees. That’s why any talk of merit is anathema to them. If they win Tuesday, it will be because a majority of Ohioans do not understand the seriousness of an impending fiscal crisis at all levels of government. Eventually, though, it will become clear that neither the money nor the public will exist to sustain the system that SB 5 and Issue 2 aim to change. The union-friendly imbalance of power — the structural defect in the system that SB 5 begins to address — has been winked at for almost 30 years, because enough money was sloshing around that system to satisfy everyone. Although not everyone is willing to admit it, that is no longer the case. Elsewhere, immigration enforcement proponent Russell Pearce lost an unprecedented recall election in Arizona. Open-borders lobbyists are claiming Pearce’s scalp over his staunch opposition of illegal immigration, but it appears that local issues and the taint of corruption scandals may have played as significant a role in the race. Elsewhere, Mississippi voters rejected a pro-life personhood amendment. LifeNews reports: Mississippi voters on Tuesday made the Magnolia State the second to reject a personhood amendment that would have put the state on record as defining human life beginning at conception. The amendment was controversial as it pitted some pro-life advocates supporting it against others who recognized the amendment would not ban abortions and would perhaps give a pro-abortion dominated Supreme Court or lower courts a chance to reaffirm the Roe v. Wade decision that allowed virtually unlimited abortions in 1973. With 1559 of 1876 precincts counted, the amendment failed by a 58 to 42 percentage point margin. Mississippi follows Colorado, which also rejected the amendment twice in both 2010 and 2008. The 2010 amendment lost by a 70-30 percentage point margin as Amendment 62 failed to gain a majority in any Colorado county. Colorado voters defeated Amendment 48 in 2008 by a 73-27 percentage margin with 1,605,978 voters rejecting it compared to 585,561 who were supportive. The 2010 Colorado personhood amendment received the support of more than 100,000 fewer voters than in 2008. The amendment would define unborn children as persons under the law starting at the point of conception and would, if upheld, sponsors claim it would essentially prohibit abortions in the state. However, top pro-life attorneys and organizations said they didn’t expect the amendment to be upheld in court and they say, even if it does survive a legal challenge, the amendment likely won’t ban any abortions. On the plus side, Mississippi did approve a voter ID measure requiring voters to show government-issued identification at the polls. More mixed-bag results: Republican Phil Bryant won the Mississippi governorship by a comfortable margin, while Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear, a Democrat, prevailed easily too, winning a second term. …The results in Arizona and Ohio gave Democrats and their allies reasons to cheer. But Republicans also won some important victories. The party easily held its majority in the Virginia House of Delegates and also appeared on the cusp of gaining effective control of the Virginia Senate. Democrats held a 22-18 edge in the Senate prior to the election, but, with several races very tight, Republicans were very close to pulling into a 20-20 tie, which would allow Republican Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling to cast tie-breaking votes. Republicans also were aiming to win a majority in the Mississippi House, where Democrats previously had the edge. Taken together, the results didn’t provide a clear message from voters about what sort of policies they want or whom they’re likely to prefer in 2012. That unclear message was, in part, a natural consequence of the limited election slate, in which any single result could be written off as the product of local circumstances, not grand judgments. Mississippi and Kentucky were the only states to hold gubernatorial elections, while only Mississippi, Virginia and New Jersey held regularly scheduled elections for the state legislature. The muddled result, though, may be a real reflection of an electorate that lacks a clear preference for any single party right now. Nationally, President Obama’s approval rating has consistently stayed below 50 percent for months, yet he still leads all his Republican rivals in many polls. Voters broadly disapprove of both Republicans and Democrats in Congress. In that context, it may not be surprising that in state contests voters didn’t give Democrats the sorts of clear victories they won in 2006 and 2008 or Republicans the same triumphs they enjoyed in 2009 and 2010.
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Mixed bag: Election post-mortem
The politics of economic obstruction Occupy Oakland strike promoter Boots Riley, who penned “5 million ways to kill a CEO,” celebrates the attack on the World Trade Center My new column spotlights the Occupiers’ “general strike” action scheduled for today — and climaxing tonight in an anticipated shutdown of the Port of Oakland (Calif.). Many of the same old agitators I’ve covered over the past decade are behind the latest manufactured chaos. I refresh your memories below of the Bay Area Left’s violent Oakland port shutdown in 2003 and the ignominious Oakland agitator and strike leader Boots Riley, and also connect the dots between Riley, Oakland’s Van Jones, Occupy Oakland, and the violent ILWU thugs and their supporters who kicked off the Day of Rage warm-up show in Longview, Washington in September. Related reading: Here’s the scathing open letter from Oakland’s police union blasting the quivering Democrat mayor Jean Quan. She’s a UC Berkeley-bred moonbat now more interested in restoring her prog credentials than in cleaning up her dysfunctional city and standing up for law-abiding businesses and taxpayers. The organizers have distributed their chants for the day, including: “Strike, Occupy, Shut it Down! Oakland is the People’s Town” “Every Hour, Every Day! The occupation is here to stay!” “Occupy Everything! Liberate Oakland” “Politicians & Bankers, Liars & Thieves, We’re taking it back! We’re not saying please!” “No more cops, we don’t need ‘em! All we want is total freedom” “Shut Down OPD! Not the Public Library!” “Let’s Go Oakland! Let’s Go!” [clap] [clap] Perhaps they’ll throw some of Boots Riley’s violent rap lyrics into the mix, too. The mob enablers in Oakland’s city government — and the voters who keep putting these stooges in office — have only themselves to blame for disgracing their basket-case city. Shame. *** Occupy Oakland’s dangerous “strike” follies by Michelle Malkin Creators Syndicate Copyright 2011 The next stage of the Aimless Occupation of America is upon us: On Wednesday, rabble-rousers in the San Francisco Bay Area will walk off jobs they don’t have and encourage everyone else around the country to abandon work to protest high unemployment. The Occupiers are calling their organized day of inaction a “Mass Day of Action. ” The Carpenters Local 713, the Service Employees International Union, the United Auto Workers, and the Industrial Workers of the World have all endorsed the “general strike.” Longshore workers and their union agitators are rooting for the shutdown of the Port of Oakland. Teachers’ unions will push students and educators to play hooky. Their posters urge: “No Work. No School. Occupy Everywhere.” A city suffering from chronic poverty, out-of-control crime, a $76 million budget deficit , and a 15 percent unemployment rate (nearly 50 percent for Oakland’s youth ) can hardly afford such social justice follies. But a pushover Democratic mayor and an overwhelmed police force have left what’s left of gainfully employed Oakland taxpayers at the mercy of professional freeloaders and anti-capitalism saboteurs. Instead of unequivocally condemning efforts to paralyze downtown commerce, Oakland city officials have all expressed sympathy for the protesters. For a brief moment, the city council president fretted meekly about the city’s image after a violent clash between Camp Chaos inhabitants and law enforcement officers last week. Nevertheless, city leaders — or rather, city enablers — have informed public employees they can use vacation or other paid time to ditch their offices and raise their fists in solidarity with the Occupiers. Instead of targeting local bank branch managers and private-sector entrepreneurs, the protesters should be camping out at government offices asking where all the tens of millions in federal Obama stimulus funding for Oakland went over the past two years – including $40 million from the Department of Health and Human Services, nearly $30 million from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, $26 million from the Department of Justice, $24 million from the Transportation Department, $15 million from the Department of Education, and $5.3 million from the Environmental Protection Agency. One local analysis found last year that the Oakland Housing Authority squandered nearly $11 million in federal project renovation and clean-up stimulus grants to create a measly 10.7 jobs. It would all be an amusing object lesson on the impotence of the welfare state, if not for the looming shadow of violence that hangs like stubborn Bay Area fog over the movement. In 2003, a like-minded mob of police-provoking anarchists, anti-war organizers, and progressive activists descended on the Port of Oakland to coordinate a “Day of Action.” They hurled concrete, wood, and iron bolts at cops while attempting to block military shipments to soldiers in wartime – then whined about police brutality. Fast-forward eight years. This week’s “Day of Action” is spearheaded by the likes of Oakland rapper Boots Riley, a militant, self-declared “communist” who penned “ 5 million ways to kill a CEO” (“Toss a dollar in the river and when he jump in/If you find he can swim, put lead boots on him and do it again”) and “Lazy Muthaf**kas” (“You ain’t never learned to drive or tie your shoe/I got my ear to the street and my eye on you/… You’re a lazy ********** ! Lazy **********!). After the 9/11 attacks, I reported on Riley’s appalling album cover depicting him partying in front of a doctored image of the World Trade Center being blown up. Like fellow Occupier, 9/11 conspiracy theorist, and Oakland community organizer Van Jones, Boots Riley has long stoked anti-police grievances. In “Pork and Beef,” he rapped: “If you got beef with c-o-p’s/Throw a Molotov at the p-i-g’s.” Add to this toxic mix the thugs of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. The planned march on Oakland’s port is being billed as an expression of “solidarity with longshore workers in their struggle” against grain importer EGT. In Longview, Washington, wildcat union workers cut train brake lines, smashed windows, dumped grain, and took hostages earlier this fall to protest the company’s decision to employ not non-union workers, but workers from a competing shop. A federal judge fined the ILWU $250,000 after it defied a court restraining order; even Obama’s National Labor Relations Board was forced to issue a complaint against the union’s “violent and aggressive” actions. The unapologetic local union president vowed: “It’s going to get worse before it gets better.” Mark those words. *** UPDATE: Men’s Wearhouse = moonbats. Thousands “strike”… Thousands of Wall Street protesters marched in the streets of Oakland on Wednesday as they geared up with labor unions to picket banks, take over foreclosed homes and vacant buildings and disrupt operations at the nation’s fifth-busiest port. Demonstrators as well as city and business leaders expressed optimism that the widely anticipated “general strike” would be a peaceful event for a city that became a rallying point last week after an Iraq War veteran was injured in clashes between protesters and police. Embattled Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, who has been criticized for her handling of the protests, said in a statement that she supported the goals of the protest movement that began in New York City a month ago and spread to dozens of cities across the country. …Nurse, teacher and other worker unions are taking part in the protests, and Oakland is letting city workers use vacation or other paid time to take part in the general strike. About 5 percent of city workers took the day off Wednesday, according to City Administrator Deanna Santana. About 360 Oakland teachers didn’t show up for work, or roughly 18 percent of the district’s 2,000 teachers, said Oakland Unified School District spokesman Troy Flint. The district has been able to get substitute teachers for most classrooms, and where that wasn’t possible children were sent to other classrooms, he said. The day’s events in Oakland began with a rally outside City Hall that by midmorning drew more than 1,000 people who were spilling into the streets and disrupting the downtown commute. About three dozen adults with toddlers and school-age children formed a “children’s brigade, gathering at Oakland Public Library for a stroller march to the protest in downtown Oakland. Demonstrators handed out signs written as if in a children’s crayon that read “Generation 99% Occupying Our Future,” which the marchers attached to their baby backpacks and strollers. The protests were expected to culminate with a march to the Port of Oakland, where organizers said the goal would be to stop work there for the 7 p.m. shift. Organizers say they want to halt “the flow of capital” at the port. Stay tuned.
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Occupy Oakland’s dangerous “strike” follies; Plus: Capitalism-bashing, cop-hating rapper Boots Riley is back; Updated
