Should Congress Defund the NLRB?
Newt Gingrich has had his ups and downs lately in the Republican Presidential primary. Though much of the setback has been due to his own miscues, he recently hit the nail on the proverbial head when he proclaimed that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) should be defunded. There is no doubt that Obama’s recent recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board were motivated by his desire to bring Big Labor on board for the 2012 Election run as recounted in last week’s blog Will the NLRB Decide the 2012 Presidential Election. Newt was correct in stating that defunding the NLRB is the right response to an imperialistic President who intentionally circumvented the spirit of the law for personal ideology.
Besides legal measures, the only current means to defeat The Cold War Within: The Fight for America’s Future is for the Republican dominated congress to utilize its budgetary power and defund the Rogue NLRB. Such action is even more imperative now, according to Phil Wilson in his latest issue of Union Bailout Update, where he expresses that the two new Democratic appointees, Sharon Block and Richard Griffin, are even more radical than Craig Becker, which is hard to imagine. Additionally, Mr. Wilson expressed that Board Chairman Mark Pearce is the true engine behind achieving Card Check, and that the recent appointments provide Pierce the radical majority he needs to achieve Obama’s and Big Labor’s coveted goal of an Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) style regulatory scheme, aka “EFCA Through the Backdoor,” in time to support Obama’s 2012 Presidential run.
The goal is to implement new regulations such as the “Persuader Rule,” “quickie elections,” and the Posting Rule, as described in Phil Wilson’s 2012 Predictions that will allow Big Labor to utilize the Persuasion of Power to prosecute brutal Corporate Campaigns against employees and employers in time to raise money, register voters and put union foot soldiers on the ground for the 2012 Election. The frightening political machines behind them are recounted in my new book The Devil at Our Doorstep.
Don’t believe that this administration and its Big Labor allies are that connected? Read the following e-mail received from the Daily Kos supporting the President’s decision and re-election:
Yesterday President Obama used recess appointments to name Richard Cordray the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and to fill the vacancies on the National Labor Relations Board.
Please, send President Obama an email thanking him for this bold move.
Without these appointments, The National Labor Relations Board would cease to function as a defender of workers’ rights. Without a director, the CFPB couldn’t fulfill its critical function as a watchdog working to stop the fraudulent practices of mortgage companies, payday lenders, debt collectors and other financial interests that are bleeding Americans dry.
Republicans are livid. Failing to grind consumer and worker protections to a halt at the request of their Wall Street masters, Republicans are now claiming these appointments are unconstitutional (they’re not). Within hours of announcement, they began setting up congressional hearings.
This is a big effing deal, and credit should go where credit is due. Please send a thank you email to President Obama for making these recess appointments.
Keep fighting,
Chris Bowers
Campaign Director, Daily Kos
One must be naïve or in denial if this type of straightforward language isn’t bothersome. This group insinuates the goal of the NLRB is only to protect workers from employers. In fact, the Act has recognized the risk posed by labor unions. Pursuant to the language of the Act, the NLRB has two primary functions:
- To conduct secret-ballot elections among employees to determine whether or not the employees wish to be represented by a union; and
- To prevent and remedy statutorily defined unfair labor practices by employers and unions.
The implications are frightening if this administration, through the use of the NLRB, achieves its goal of neutering business and resurrecting the Gasping Dinosaurs as it will surely be A Death Penalty for Employees and Employers.
About the author: David A. Bego is the President and CEO of EMS, an industry leader in the field of environmental workplace maintenance, employing nearly 5000 workers in thirty-three states. Bego is the author of “The Devil at My Doorstep,” based on his experiences fighting back against one of the most powerful unions in existence today.