Thứ Bảy, 14 tháng 9, 2013

Larwyn's Linx: A Real Vote to Defund Obamacare

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Nation

A Real Vote to Defund Obamacare: Amy Payne, Foundry
Obama's Insane Clown Posse: Blasted Fools
20 million illegals in US, say former border patrol officers: DC

Federal Government's War On God Continues: Nice Deb
Jim DeMint Schools Putin on American Exceptionalism: Matthew Burke
5 Americans Who Were Murdered For Being White: John Hawkins

All your private data are belong to…ehh, whoever: Cold Fury
Forty-three House Republicans back bill to defund ObamaCare: Elise Viebeck
Notes Made on 9/11/2001 from Brooklyn Heights: American Digest

Economy

CPFB seeks to monitor 80% of U.S. credit cards: Exam
People Leaving Missouri and Millions of Dollars With Them: Duane Lester
Amnesty Might Make Sense If Illegals Couldn't Get Welfare: AmmoLand

“Indiana case may become Big Labor’s newest weapon”: Protein Wisdom
Santelli Rants Against The Intellectual Arrogance Of The "Intellectuals": ZH
More than 400 Union Officials Made Over $250K in 2012: WFB

Far-Right Religious Extremists Attack Public Education: R.S. McCain
(Legally) Burn Them All To The Ground: Karl Denninger
India Housing Bubble Bursts; Panic Coming Next: Mish

Scandal Central

TSA Agent Arrested for Smuggling Illegal Aliens: WFB
Donations to Boehner Questioned by FEC: Sabrina Eaton, Plain Dealer
Social Security's $1.3 billion in overpayments: Blake Ellis, CNN

Climate & Energy

EPA Offering Teachers “Free Lesson Plans” On Global Warming: WZ
Met Office: Hey, Did We Mention That One Year Of Arctic Cooling Isn’t Significant?: RWN
Study: 114 Out Of 117 Global Warming Predictions Wrong: Blurbrain

Media

Rick Stengel Is at Least the 21st Journalist to Work for the Obama Administration: Elspeth Reeve
How a False Narrative Led to the Dodd-Frank Act: John Tamny
Recalled Colorado Senator gets shut down by CNN host for blaming ‘voter suppression’: Scoop

“Fascist” Sen. Feinstein Wants to Regulate the 1st Amendment: GWP
Washington Post: Obama Isn’t A Catasrophic Mess, This Is All Standard Negotiation On Syria: RWN
Glenn Beck asks: ‘Where are the anti-war people?’: Twitchy

World

Another Message From Bill Brown #2MBikersToSaveAmerica: Zilla
Dangerous Times: Putin the Peacemaker vs. Obama the Warmonger: James Lewis
Gene Simmons Defends Tebow: ‘If he was wearing a burqa, they wouldn’t dare say anything’: BPR

One Other Troubling Thing About the Muslim Poem Replacing The Pledge of Allegiance: Aaron Goldstein
Breaking: Is U.S. Government Harassing Walid Shoebat?: Shoebat
Army vet sues Michigan for rejecting his "Infidel" license plate as "offensive": JihadWatch

Sci-Tech

What if Marissa Mayer went to jail?: I, Cringely
Google swaps out MySQL, moves to MariaDB: Jack Clark, The Register
Twitter Announces It Filed For IPO Via Tweet: ABC

Cornucopia

Keep Scrolling: C&S
Sarah Says...: iOTW
Justin Bieber to Join Ben Affleck in ‘Batman vs. Superman’… as Robin?: Marlow Stern

Image: Philippine government, Muslim rebels agree to ceasefire
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: MAKE THE CALL: Demand John Boehner Defund Obamacare!

QOTD: "Freedom is lost gradually from an uninterested, uninformed, and uninvolved people..." --Thomas Jefferson

Thứ Sáu, 13 tháng 9, 2013

TIME MAGAZINE: Sanitized For Your Protection

You learn something every day.

Hey, you know Time puts out four covers for four different areas of the word?

I didn't know that.

But they do. They have a US cover, a Europe/Middle East/Africa cover, an Asia cover, and a South Pacific cover.

Yeah I don't get how they divided the world up myself.

But anyway.

So they have four covers.

Based on the covers, one person is dominating the world's interest... but not in the whole world.

Here's a suggestion for Time: how about different covers for red states and blue states? You could have Obama or Michelle's guns on every cover in the blues and the latest diversion (e.g., Miley Cyrus) in the reds.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

EVERY SINGLE PENNY: The Obamacare Speech a Real Speaker of the House Would Give

Line in the Sand, a speech by Speaker of the House ___________________

The ill-named Affordable Care Act -- also known as Obamacare -- has been a "trainwreck" according to its very architects since day one. From the CLASS Act, to the delay of the Employer Mandate, to exempting Congress from the law, the sheer size and complexity of this partisan bill makes it virtually impossible to implement.

I and my peers, all of us, we took an oath to uphold the Constitution. And today we are going to stand by that oath and defend the Constitution of the United States.

This bill was passed in an unconstitutional fashion -- with bribes and payoffs and other skulduggery -- by a single party that temporarily held power during the 110th Congress. The bill consisted of thousands of pages and not one person was permitted to read the bill before it was voted upon.

This bill fundamentally changes the relationship of the citizen to the government.

This is an unconscionable violation of representative government. Nancy Pelosi famously told us we had to pass the bill to find out what's in it. Now we know, and it's an unconstitutional disaster.

Because a single judge bows to some unknown pressure, and changes his vote at the last minute to rewrite a bill that is clearly unconstitutional... because, unlike every other entitlement program, Democrats had no Republican support for this bill...

Because Democrats used every underhanded tactic -- bribes, payoffs and corporate reacharounds -- possible to pass a bill that not one of them read before voting upon...

Because the IRS, already caught punishing groups based upon their political and religious affiliations, will be the enforcers of Obamacare... because radical, left wing groups like La Raza and ACORN will be hired as "Obamacare Navigators" with access to their political opponents' most sensitive health care data...

Because jobs are being destroyed. Because good jobs are disappearing before our very eyes as small businesses are driven not to hire by the law. Because full-time jobs are turning to part-time jobs. Because employers are slashing benefits for spouses and other family members to adapt to a law no one read.

Because the lies that were told to sell this bill were as awful as they were brazen... Because you can't keep your policy, you can't keep your doctor, you can't keep your plan, you can't keep your insurer, and you will pay far more, not far less...

Because Democrat lobbyists and staffers are raking in million advising companies how to comply with the tens of thousands of pages of regulations that this law has spawned... Because they have built a law so complex that no one can possibly understand its effects without paying off the very people who created it!

Most of all, because the people who want Obamacare most are the very same people who have exempted themselves from the law! Obamacare waivers have been issued for Congress, staffers, unions, special interest groups...

I have a question for President Obama and the Democrats? Aren't the American people the most important special interest group Congress serves? The vast majority of Americans want a waiver from Obamacare, just like the lobbyists and the other Beltway elites.

True to my word, Republicans will not shut down the government. We have passed a continuing resolution that funds every single aspect of the federal government except for Obamacare. Every single penny.

But we are drawing a line in the sand when it comes to the trainwreck of Obamacare. We want at least a year delay in its implementation, just like Congress, just like the unions, just like the employers subject to the mandate, and just like other Democrat special interests got.

So if Democrats want to shut down the government, so be it. The House Continuing Resolution funds the entirety of the government -- every single penny -- just not the trainwreck called Obamacare, which President Obama has already defunded for his pals. The vast majority of the American people have told us over and over again: we want a waiver from Obamacare too, just like Congress got.

Call up your Representative and Senators now and tell them: we want a waiver too. Pass the House Continuing Resolution and delay Obamacare now.


STAR DRECK: EPA plans to shut down coal plants by requiring they use technology from the future that has yet to be invented

Mr. Peabody, does the Wayback Machine have a setting for the year 2030?

This past spring, EPA pulled its first attempt at a greenhouse gas emission standard for new power plants, fearing it was so draconian that it wouldn't stand up in a federal court...

The Washington Post reports that the agency is about to take a second stab at stacking the deck against new coal-fired power plants:

According to those familiar with the new EPA proposal, the agency will keep the carbon limit for large natural gas plants at 1,000 pounds but relax it slightly for smaller gas plants. The standard for coal plants will be as high as 1,300 or 1,400 pounds per megawatt hour.

However, the average coal plant emits 1,768 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour, meaning new plants will need carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology--something that is a long way from being viable. Jeffrey Holmstead, who represents coal-fired power plant owners and is a former EPA official in the President George W. Bush administration, told the Post, “As a practical matter, this means that the new proposal will still stop any new coal-fired power plants for the foreseeable future.”

The International Energy Agency doesn't expect CCS technology to be routinely used by power generators until 2030. That’s years away. In the meantime, we need to continue improving the efficiency of current coal-fired technology and continue investing in CCS research instead of writing off an abundant and economical energy source.


The only campaign promise that President Obama appears to have kept with was his 2008 pledge to make "electricity prices necessarily skyrocket".

"Under my plan of a cap and trade system, the price of electricity would necessarily skyrocket. Even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad. Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was... [t]hey will pass that money on to consumers." --Barack Obama, 1 November 2008


He can run, he can hide, he can evade, he can blame Bush and James Buchanan. But this is one campaign promise Barack Obama actually followed through with. And you. Ain't. Seen. Nothing. Yet.


Larwyn's Linx: We're about done asking nicely with our words...

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

We're about done asking nicely with our words...: III Percent
The First Time, They Come In Peace: Zilla
Congress' border efforts are bunk, say border sheriffs: USA Today

The Establishment’s Projection: Erick Erickson
Why Democrats Have Reason to Fear: Charlie Cook
Follow Alinsky: Call Obama's Bluff: CFP

The Epic Meltdown of the Gun Grabbers: Michelle Malkin
Harry Reid: “…ANARCHISTS! Anarchists roaming the halls!”: Moe Lane
Putin: Don't Worry, I'm Not Going to Bend You Over Or Anything: Ace

House Intel Chairman Rogers on Syria and Benghazi: Hugh Hewitt
What Obama’s Truth Team said about Romney and Syria in '12: Twitchy
Biden slams ‘Neanderthal crowd’ in House for blocking VAWA renewal: Twitchy

Economy

Another Union Boss Slams Obamacare: WZ
Is War Now "Inevitable"?: ZH
MD's O'Malley Signs Gun Control Bill; Employers Leave State: Tatler

Michelle Launches Courageous Program Urging People To Drink Water: Glob
Florida bans Obamacare navigators from county health departments: BPR
Where are the Jobs?: Mish

Scandal Central

SO SHUT IT DOWN: Karl Denninger
Gowdy: ‘Not a Single Person Has Been Brought To Justice On Benghazi’: Nice Deb
Did you see how WH marked Benghazi anniversary?: Twitchy

Climate & Energy

Obama's War on Energy: Power Line

Media

Why the Media Will Never Treat Conservatives Fairly: Erick Erickson
What Ricochet is Up Against: Rob Long, Ricochet
Dirty Tricks on Twitter: Bloggers Targeted with Fake Followers: Hideout

CBS Omits Attkisson's Scoop on Kerry's Benghazi Denial: CNS
Nobody Escapes the Progressive Inquisition: Taki's Mag
Who's a journalist?: James Lileks, Ricochet

World

Fast & Furious: Libyan Edition: RS
Will Obnoxious College Students Ever Scream “War Criminal” At Obama?: Glob
Muslims Wish Jews a Happy Yom Kippur with Rocks, Bricks and Automatic Weapons: Blazing Cat Fur

Death Comes to America: MOTUS
Emboldened by Morsi ouster, Tunisia and Libya are not far behind: BNI
A Matter of Trust: Shayne

Sci-Tech

The legacy of Danny Lewin, the first man to die on 9/11: Todd Leopold, CNN
The Game That Detects a Cheating Spouse: Bruce Kasanoff
Choose your poison: Why the United States hasn't destroyed all of its chem weapons: Vocativ

Cornucopia

The One Thing I Didn’t Know About 9/11 – Steve Buscemi: IMAO
Biggest Loser of 2013: the Political Class: Scott Rasmussen
The Muslim Brotherhood in America - A Course in 10 Parts: Democracy Under Attack

Image: Better Call Saul is Happening! Breaking Bad (Kind Of) Lives On!
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: MAKE THE CALL: Demand John Boehner Defund Obamacare!

QOTD: "What is amusing... is the constant state of shock of supposedly serious people who are stunned that despite the Fed being constantly in the markets, and buying up trillions in securities, the US economy has not responded in a favorable manner. Of course, nobody has pointed out that if all it took to generate growth out of thin air without consequences was for the Fed to print, i.e., monetize debt, this would have started 100 years ago in 1913, and by now the US economy would be so advanced it would be colonizing Uranus. Logic, however, is not a Keynesian economist's best friend." --Tyler Durden

Thứ Năm, 12 tháng 9, 2013

"A great country finds itself held hostage to the ego of a small man"

Guest post by Daniel Pipes


The Obama administration's diplomatic acrobatics over Syria of the past three weeks prove that the president and his team are in way over their heads, amateurs in the deadly game of war and peace. (One wonders if Valerie Jarrett is making the key decisions in this instance, as in so many others.)

Lurching from self-imposed trap (the "red line" statement) to self-inflicted crisis (the need for congressional approval), the administration erodes the credibility of the U.S. government and increases the dangers facing Americans. Enemies of the United States, its allies, and modern civilization itself will take succor in this ignominious performance and grow in strength.

That Obama seems driven to defend his own honor and credibility, regardless of cost, makes this episode particularly troublesome. A great country finds itself held hostage to the ego of a small man.

In short, Americans are finally starting to see the consequences of electing and re-electing arguably the worst politician in modern times to inhabit the White House, consequences that will only become more apparent in the years ahead.


For more information, visit DanielPipes.org.

IRS-GATE REIGNITES: Left-Wing Hit-Man Lois Lerner Indicted By Her Own Spiteful Words

That's not a typo. Yes, I said "hit-man". I mean, have you seen a picture of Lerner? That's a man, man.

Sorry, that's cruel, I know. But when these despicable hacks use their power and the instrumentalities of government to target political opposition, well, it's clear they are not real Americans. In fact, they despise the American form of government. They loathe free speech. And, most of all, they will use any scheme, no matter how unlawful, to retain their white-knuckled grip on power.

Congress's investigation into the IRS targeting of conservatives has been continuing out of the Syria headlines... [and the latest revelations] raise doubts about IRS claims that the targeting wasn't politically motivated and that low-level employees in Cincinnati masterminded the operation.

In a February 2011 email, Ms. Lerner advised her staff—including then Exempt Organizations Technical Manager Michael Seto and then Rulings and Agreements director Holly Paz—that a Tea Party matter is "very dangerous," and is something "Counsel and [Lerner adviser] Judy Kindell need to be in on." Ms. Lerner adds, "Cincy should probably NOT have these cases."

...Earlier this summer, IRS lawyer Carter Hull, who oversaw the review of many Tea Party cases and questionnaires, testified that his oversight began in April 2010. Tea party cases under review are "being supervised by Chip Hull at each step," Ms. Paz wrote to Ms. Lerner in a February 2011 email. "He reviews info from TPs, correspondence to TPs etc. No decisions are going out of Cincy until we go all the way through the process with the c3 and c4 cases here." TP stands for Tea Party, and she means 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.

The emails also put the targeting in the context of the media and Congressional drumbeat over the impact of conservative campaign spending on the 2012 elections. On July 10, 2012 then Lerner-adviser Sharon Light emailed Ms. Lerner a National Public Radio story on how outside money was making it hard for Democrats to hold their Senate majority.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee had complained to the Federal Election Commission that conservative groups like Crossroads GPS and Americans for Prosperity should be treated as political committees, rather than 501(c)(4)s, which are tax-exempt social welfare groups that do not have to disclose their donors.

"Perhaps the FEC will save the day," Ms. Lerner wrote back later that morning.

That response suggests Ms. Lerner's political leanings, and it also raises questions about Ms. Lerner's intentions in a separate email exchange she had when an FEC investigator inquired about the status of the conservative group the American Future Fund. The FEC and IRS don't have the authority to share that information under section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code...

Ms. Lerner famously invoked her right against self-incrimination rather than testify under oath to Congress. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee reported this summer that its investigation had found Ms. Lerner had sent official IRS documents to her personal email account, and many questions remain unanswered. Democrats want to pretend the IRS scandal is over, but Ms. Lerner's role deserves much more exposure.

Lerner is a disgrace. If we had effective leaders in the House, she'd be serving time in Leavenworth, knitting sweaters for "Big Wanda".


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

AWESOME: Colorado Voters Abort Democrat State Legislators Who Sided With Rapists Over Victims

Guest post by Investors Business Daily


Rights: Colorado voters on Tuesday ousted two leading supporters of stricter gun control laws, saying "ready, aim, fired" to those who would deny movie patrons and college women the right to armed self-defense.

One would think that Colorado, the site of the tragedies at Columbine and the Aurora movie theater, the purple state where President Obama accepted his first nomination amidst faux Greek columns, would be the least receptive of states for the arguments of Second Amendment defenders.

Colorado state Senate President John Morse and Sen. Angela Giron found out differently on Tuesday as they were ousted by gun rights advocates in a recall election.

Colorado voters were persuaded that the perils of an unarmed citizenry and the spread of gun-free zones place the public in greater peril at the hands of the unhinged and criminal predators in their midst, and perhaps perceived the common thread in such tragedies — the absence of people willing and able to shoot back.

The National Rifle Association, which donated about $360,000 to support the recalls, in particular hailed Morse's loss, telling the Denver Post it "is proud to have stood with the men and women in Colorado who sent a clear message that their Second Amendment rights are not for sale."

Some would suggest this just demonstrates the power of the gun lobby, but Sen. Lois Tochtrop, an Adams County Democrat and longtime Second Amendment activist, thinks it's just a natural reaction to an overreach by Democrats in messing with gun rights.

Tochtrop feels the recall election was a reaction to seven gun-control measures introduced in the session, including a proposal by Morse. His law would have assigned liability for assault-style weapon damages to manufacturers and sellers.

Morse killed it at the 11th hour because he didn't have the votes to pass it through the Democratic-controlled Senate.

"I feel like all these gun bills have done — to quote the last words in the movie 'Tora! Tora! Tora!' — is to awaken a sleeping giant," Tochtrop said during the debate.

The Colorado legislature was recently the forum for a debate on legislation calling for a ban on concealed-carry on campus — even though such bans elsewhere, such as Virginia Tech, turned those campuses into free-fire zones.

It was at these hearings on the bill that rape victim Amanda Collins testified and was lectured and belittled by condescending Democratic legislators.

Collins was raped at gunpoint in a University of Nevada-Reno parking garage in October 2007. Nevada law prohibited her from carrying a gun on the campus, but her attacker had one.

She was raped 50 feet away from the campus police department office. Her attacker was James Biela, a serial rapist who also raped two other women and murdered another.

He attacked her at gunpoint in a gun-free zone. At the time of the attack, Collins had a concealed weapons permit, but not her firearm, due to university policies prohibiting carrying concealed weapons on campus.

Just such a gun-free zone policy is why the Aurora, Colo., shooter carefully chose the theater he did. And unlike the mall in Clackamass, Ore., where a concealed-carry holder prevented a massacre, there was no one in Aurora to shoot back.

Colorado State Rep. Joe Salazar had pompously responded to Collins' story and advocacy of armed defense by saying, "It's why we have call boxes; it's why we have safe zones; it's why we have the whistles; because you just don't know who you're gonna be shooting at."

Amanda Collins knew, and as she ended her compelling testimony, she asked the committee, "How does rendering me defenseless protect you against a violent crime?" Colorado voters asked that same question on Tuesday.


Read More At Investor's Business Daily

Larwyn's Linx: America vs. DC

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

America vs. DC: Jen Kuznicki
82 Percent of Republicans Want Obamacare Defunded in CR: FW
Obama is a laughing stock: Glenn Reynolds

‘Brutal’: Fox News montage skewers Obama admin’s Syrian disaster: Twitchy
AWESOME: Bikers ride to the Capital to remember 9-11 victims: Scoop
Number of People Who Showed Up For “Million Muslim March” . . . 21: WZ

Two Different Perspectives on the Colorado Recall: Ace
Syrial Losers: Ann Coulter
Chicago abolishes gun registry in place since 1968: Renita Young

Economy

Pass Amnesty to to Fill the Jobs Whose Former Holders We Laid Off: Ace
One California — or two?: Victor Davis Hanson
Health law challenge is back: Lyle Denniston, SCOTUSblog

Scandal Central

One Year Since Benghazi: Matthew Vadum
Former EPA Administrator Defiant over Use of Email Aliases: PJM
John Kerry’s Syria ‘Expert’ Fired for Fraudulent Credentials: Bryan Preston

Psaki Can’t Give Straight Answer on Suppression of Benghazi Witnesses: WFB
Russian President Putin makes plea to U.S. in NYT op-ed: Greta
Judicial Watch Issues Special Report on Anniversary of Benghazi Massacre and Cover-Up: JW

Climate & Energy

A Science-Based Rebuttal to Global Warming Alarmism: Watts
The EPA Is Ready To Veto A Project...That Doesn't Yet Exist: Daniel McGroarty
The New Gestapo: CDN

Media

Networks Ignore John Kerry's Refusal To Let Benghazi Survivors Testify to Congress: Matthew Balan
CNN Poll: Support for Obamacare Drops Below 40%: Foundry
Flashback Video Open Thread: Team Lightbringer Mocks Romney for Saying Russia Is Our Foe: Stephen Kruiser

The 25 Most Influential People On The Right For 2013: John Hawkins
West: It wasn’t a phony scandal for Glen Doherty: Scoop
9/11: Compare and Contrast: Borepatch

NBC Gives More Time to Hillary Clinton Getting an Award Than to Benghazi Anniversary: Kyle Drennen
Chris Matthews Decries Violent NYC Riot, Forgets It Was Fomented by Colleague Sharpton: Scott Whitlock
Better Call Saul is Happening! Breaking Bad (Kind Of) Lives On!: Glen Tickle

World

State Department Funds O’Bagy’s Pro-Rebel Syria Lobbying: Bryan Preston
Obama State Department Continues to Ignore Benghazi, 9/11 Anniversaries: Jeryl Bier
Sen. Ted Cruz’s major foreign policy speech at Jesse Helms Lecture Series: Scoop

British shocked at NHS hospital death rates: among the world’s worst and far inferior to U.S.: David Freddoso
Never forget – Obama apologized to terrorists on 9-11-2012: FAM
Russia to build second nuclear plant for Iran, deliver S-300: Hayom

Sci-Tech

New wave of tablets with Intel Bay Trail chip will start at $99: Agam Shah, IT News
Google, Intel cement ties on Chrome OS, could weaken Wintel: Agam Shah, PC World
Google Glass app Blue puts real-time baseball info in your eye: Timothy J. Seppala, Engadget

Cornucopia

There are so many reasons for conservatives to like Hillsdale College: CI
Photo gallery: 8 WWII vets getting French Legion of Honor: AirForceTimes
Obama’s Syria Speech: The Red Queen’s Commentary: MOTUS

Image: AWESOME: Bikers ride to the Capital to remember 9-11 victims
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: MAKE THE CALL: Demand John Boehner Defund Obamacare!

QOTD: "A Democratic strategist who works closely with the White House, and who requested anonymity to avoid political retribution, told me, "This has been one of the most humiliating episodes in presidential history." ... As he faced an international and constitutional crisis, Obama and his team were in a familiar state: isolated, insular, and alone." --Guy Benson

Thứ Tư, 11 tháng 9, 2013

Were VW’s U.S. workers threatened into signing UAW cards?

Guest post by Labor Union Report

With its future hinging on unionizing the American factories of foreign automakers, the United Auto Workers has been desperately courting Volkwagen’s 2700 employees Tennessee since 2011.

According to news reports on Wednesday, a majority of Volkswagen AG’s employees in Chattanooga have signed union authorization cards indicating the desire “to join VW’s Global Works Council and supporting cooperative and collaborative relations with the company.”

The UAW is claiming that the cards are as valid as the workers having voted in an election.

The question that is not being posed, however, is: Were the majority of VW’s workers’ signatures were gathered based on threats, coercion and fear?

You may recall that, back in June, Stephan Wolf, a high-ranking German union official with Volkswagen AG issued an ultimatum to VW’s American workers in the press:

“We will only agree to an expansion of the [Tennessee] site or any other model contract when it is clear how to proceed with the employees’ representatives in the United States.”

Unlike the U.S., under Germany’s co-determination labor relations model, unions have seats on corporations’ boards of directors and, as such, have a say in how a company is managed.

via Automotive News:

Employee representatives at VW also get a say in new products and investments through the company’s global works council, which includes representatives from all of its organized plants.

That may give labor leaders at VW enough power to follow through on the threat made by Wolf, the deputy chairman on the global works council.

This comment was quickly seized on by the UAW’s president, Bob King, who followed up with:

If I was a worker, if I was a member of the Chattanooga community, and I wanted to have the best chance of getting new investment and new product, I would want a voice on the world employee council,” King said. “I would want somebody there representing the interests of Chattanooga. I wouldn’t want a decision made where every other plant in the world has representation there, and I don’t have somebody speaking up for me.” [Emphasis added.]

What labor leaders implied was that without representation on VW’s employee council through the UAW, Chattanooga would not receive the hoped-for expansion.

This statement was likely repeated over and over again by UAW organizers in order to coerce them into signing cards and, if that is the case, it could very well be a violation of the Tennessee employees’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act.

In other words, if VW’s German union has the influence to steer VW’s board to take away jobs (or future opportunities) from Tennessee workers in retaliation for them not unionizing, it could be as bad as an employer who threatened to take away opportunities if employees were to unionize–bearing in mind that, in this case, the German union has power in managing the direction of the company.

According to the NLRB’s own guidebook on the National Labor Relations Act:

Section 8(b)(1)(A) forbids a labor organization or its agents “to restrain or coerce employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in section 7.”…

…Union conduct that is reasonably calculated to restrain or coerce employees in their Section 7 rights violates Section 8(b)(1)(A) whether it succeeds in actually restraining or coercing employees….

…Examples of violations of Section 8(b)(1)(A). Examples of restraint or coercion that violate Section 8(b)(1)(A) when done by a union or its agents include the following:

  • Mass picketing in such numbers that nonstriking employees are physically barred from entering the plant.


  • Acts of force or violence on the picket line, or in connection with a strike.


  • Threats to do bodily injury to nonstriking employees.


  • * Threats to employees that they will lose their jobs unless they support the union’s activities.


  • Statement to employees who oppose the union that the employees will lose their jobs if the union wins a majority in the plant.


  • Entering into an agreement with an employer that recognizes the union as exclusive bargaining representative when it has not been chosen by a majority of the employees.


  • Fining or expelling members for crossing a picket line that is unlawful under the Act or that violates a no-strike agreement.


  • Fining employees for crossing a picket line after they resigned from the union.


  • Fining or expelling members for filing unfair labor practice charges with the Board or for participating in an investigation conducted by the Board.


  • Section 8(b)(2) makes it an unfair labor practice for a labor organization to cause an employer to discriminate against an employee in violation of Section 8(a)(3). As discussed earlier, Section 8(a)(3) prohibits an employer from discriminating against an employee in regard to wages, hours, and other conditions of employment for the purpose of encouraging or discouraging membership in a labor organization.

    To find that a union caused an employer to discriminate, it is not necessary to show that any express demand was spoken. A union’s conduct, accompanied by statements advising or suggesting that action is expected of an employer, may be enough to find a violation of this section if the union’s action can be shown to be a causal factor in the employer’s discrimination. [Emphasis added.]

    Normally, a union–particularly a foreign union–could not threaten that, if workers don’t choose union representation, they will lose their jobs…or opportunities of jobs. Normally, only an employer would have the ability to make a threat like that.

    However, normally, unions don’t have the power that Volkswagen AG’s union does and, in this case, VW’s German has every bit of control over investment that an American employer would.

    Therefore, while the German union is a “union,” here in the U.S., its threatening statements would carry the same amount of weight with workers that an company’s executive threats would carry.

    If Tennessee’s workers really do not want the UAW as their representative, they do have the right to file an unfair labor practice charge with Obama’s National Labor Relations Board.

    While the union-appointees controlling NLRB may be inclined dismiss the workers’ charge, they may be reminded of another high-profile case, wherein they used statements made in the press by a company’s executives to prosecute a company.

    That case was Boeing, and the NLRB’s rational was that Boeing retaliated against its unionized workers by the executives stating that, without a long contract with a no-strike clause, they would put the work in South Carolina. This, according to the NLRB, was retaliation against Boeing’s unionized workforce having exercised their NLRA Section Seven rights.

    In the case of VW, a powerful union with control over the company’s investment decisions threatened workers that if they did not exercise their Section Seven rights a certain way (by getting representation), their plant might not get a hoped-for expansion.

    If that’s not coercive, what is?

     

    Get LUR updates on Twitter.

    Cross-posted on RedState.

     

    AFL-CIO Looks to Turn All of America Into Detroit

    Guest post by Eric Boehm

    One of the major themes to emerge from this week’s national conference of the AFL-CIO in Los Angeles is a push to expand union organizing beyond the traditional collective bargaining agreement and into every workplace.

    And after some brief flirting, the AFL-CIO is ready to go steady with “workers centers,” which are popping up around the nation to help organize workers in the service sector. Members of the AFL-CIO, an umbrella group for dozens of labor unions, approved a resolution this week to establish a more formal connection between the union and the workers centers that it has, in many cases, helped to start.

    The labor movement cannot be confined within bargaining units defined by government agencies or limited to workplaces where a majority of employees votes “Yes” in the face of a ruthless campaign by their employer to deny them representation,” the resolution reads.

    The union said it would seek to organize workers who are not in traditional collective bargaining agreements and would “mobilize these new members in electoral and other political efforts and in support of organizing drives and collective bargaining campaigns.”

    To achieve that end, the AFL-CIO pledged to work more closely with “workers centers” and with foundations providing seed money to those centers.

    In many cases, these workers centers have morphed into front groups for unions by using Occupy-style tactics and threats of lawsuits to make employers comply with their demands, despite the lack of a collective bargaining agreement.

    Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, echoed the “big tent” message during his keynote remarks to the conference Monday night.

    All over America, workers are organizing in all kinds of ways, and they call their unity by all kinds of names — workers’ unions, associations, centers, networks,” he said.

    As Watchdog.org previously reported, one of those centers – the Restaurant Opportunity Center, or ROC United, which was launched in New York City in 2001 – has been at the forefront of a recent wave of protests in major cities, attempting draw attention to low-wage restaurant workers.

    BIG TENT: AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka says the labor movement should not be limited by official agreements between workers and employers.

    Saru Jayaraman, co-founder of ROC-United, was a featured speaker at the AFL-CIO conference this week.

    Previously, Trumka specifically praised the work of Jayaraman and ROC-United for organizing workers in New York and dozens of other cities.

    It’s probably no surprise unions are looking to broaden their horizons. Union membership has been on the decline nationally for a few decades, particularly in the private sector.

    “If I were within that organization, I would probably be trying to do the exactly what they are doing,” said Jade West, senior vice president for the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors.

    West said the unions’ declining influence has little effect on the daily lives of most employers, but the rise of workers centers and their organizing tactics is a real threat to workers and businesses.

    In 2012, about 7 million private-sector workers were members of a labor union, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor. That’s half of the 14 million private-sector labor union members in 1980.

    Growth in public sector unions — they now account for more than 50 percent of all union membership, up from just 28 percent in 1980 — has helped the labor movement continue its powerful influence in politics, but it has also changed how the movement works.

    Instead of fighting for weekends, better working conditions and a decent wage for industrious, blue-collar workers, unions today are more likely to be defending the right of a 50-year-old white-collar worker to retire early with full pension benefits until death.

    In 2009, public-sector unions outnumbered their private-sector counterparts for the first time ever.

    The move toward workers centers and other low-pay, long-hours, service-sector employees brings unions back toward their original purpose. Plus, it comes with the added benefit of more workers to mobilize in electoral efforts, as the AFL-CIO indicated in its resolution.

    West said many workers are no longer looking for a 25-year job with a single company that ends with a gold watch and a pension, leaving unions to scramble for a new generation of members.

    “They have almost become an anachronism,” said West. I don’t think the workforce really sees the need for a union.”

     
    Boehm is a reporter for Watchdog.org and can be reached at Eric@PAIndependent.com. Follow @EricBoehm87 on Twitter for more.
     

    TAEGAN GODDARD: Deluded Kook -- or Lying Crapweasel?

    I know, I know: 'Who or what is a Taegan Goddard?', you may ask. No, it's not an inner thigh rash.

    He's a writer for Roll Call, the official periodical of the entrenched Beltway establishment and a dedicated enemy of the American Constitution. If the issue involves promoting big government, no matter how insane, Goddard can be counted on to find a left-wing kook to quote as if that represents a mainstream opinion.

    However, if the issue involves promoting normal people -- who live outside the Beltway -- or limited government, Goddard will find a way to ignore or diminish the effort.

    Obamacare is one of his favorite programs -- no matter the fact that the entire federal government is teetering on bankruptcy, Cloward-Piven style, as unfunded liabilities near $100 trillion and 40 cents of every dollar the government currently spends is borrowed from generations yet unborn.

    Arithmetic was never one of Goddard's strong suits, it would seem.

    But when it comes to promoting a program like Obamacare, Goddard is willing to market the most egregious of lies. Consider this classic bit of propaganda -- truly one for the history books -- from earlier this week:

    Obamacare Did Not Lead to Increase in Part Time Jobs


    The Obama administration contends that since the Affordable Care Act became law, more than 9 out of 10 new jobs created have been full-time.

    “The Affordable Care Act continues to improve the functioning of labor markets in a range of ways including helping to slow the growth of premiums, creating affordable new options for small businesses, reducing the ‘job lock’ that can keep workers from taking the best job for them, and generally improving health outcomes and reducing absenteeism. We are already seeing tangible changes in affordability, including premium growth at less than one-third the rate of the late 1990s and early 2000s.”

    Jared Bernstein: “You want to hate on Obamacare, I can’t stop you… But the fact is that for now, there’s nothing to see here, folks. Move along, please.”

    Now, you have to be a very special kind of ignorant -- or quite a liar -- to rewrite White House press releases as fact. Especially after such gems as "If you like your plan, you can keep your plan", "the average family will see health care premiums will go down by $2,500 a year", and "No one will have to stop seeing their doctor".

    Yes, Obamacare has really "improve[d] the functioning of labor markets", that is, if you consider imploding the private sector as "improvement". Got Alinsky?

    Take the Obama administration's very own Labor Force Participation Rate, which is the percentage of folks who should be working who aren't. It's now at a 34-year low and still dropping.


    And a full one-sixth of the U.S. is now on food stamps, another all-time record.

    Yea! The economy's doing swell!

    And how about about his ludicrous headline, which is as succinct as it untruthful, "Obamacare Did Not Lead to [an] Increase in Part Time Jobs"?

    Goddard, seemingly unfamiliar with new technologies like Google News, failed to use the oh-so-difficult search string health care part-time workers. This would have led him to trip over such stories, written in the last 30 days alone, as:

    Obamacare, tepid US growth fuel part-time hiring (CNBC, Reuters)
    With Eye on ObamaCare, Companies Move to Cut Workers’ Hours (Fox Business)
    Local governments cutting hours over Obamacare costs (Washington Post)
    Trader Joe's To Drop Health Coverage For Part-Time Workers Under Obamacare (Huffington Post)
    Mort Zuckerman on PBS: Obamacare to spike part-time work from 25 percent of all jobs to 50 percent (PBS)
    CFOs Lean on Part-Time Workers (WSJ)
    Some employers cutting hours for part-time workers to avoid new insurance mandate (Winston-Salem Journal)
    Health Reform Turning U.S. Into Part-Time Nation (Fox Business)
    SeaWorld to cut workers’ hours (Tampa Tribune)
    Restaurateurs, wary of health care costs, eye workers’ hours (Dallas Morning News)

    And those are just the first ten I found.

    So you have to be a special kind of stupid -- or a rank propagandist -- to try and foist articles like this on the American public.

    It's sick. And I'm sick. I'm literally disgusted with people like Goddard, who are helping destroy the fabric of this country in pursuit of some insane Utopian fantasy that can't work, won't work, and has never worked in all of human history.

    Goddard believes in the supremacy of a few master planners: some bureaucrats in Washington who will reward his misanthropic behavior with accolades, financial rewards or access to all the right parties. Who knows what his true motivations are?

    Perhaps he'll offer us his perspective in the comments.

    Or perhaps not, since he seems only able to regurgitate the agitprop of a few far Left Marxists controlling the Democrat Party.

    Roll Call should be ashamed for publishing these naked lies, Leni Riefenstahl-style, as if Americans are as dumb as Goddard thinks we are.

    But then again, based upon its Alexa traffic ranking this year, the market is offering its own solution to Roll Call's Goddard problem.


    Related: Roll Call Embarrassment Taegan Goddard Still Shilling for Obamacare While Unions, Congress and Special Interests Bail.

    You Risk Touching Off World War III, Mr. President -- And For What?

    Guest post by Investors Business Daily


    Syria: As a Chinese warship joins Russian ships in the Mediterranean, we should remember a cruise missile attack on an Israeli warship. President Obama should understand that Syria and Hezbollah have missiles, too.

    As the Obama administration continues to deploy its comical weapons, with Secretary of State John Kerry promising America any attack on Syria will be "unbelievably small," a Chinese warship deploys off the Syrian coast, joining its Russian counterparts in what used to be an "American lake," the Mediterranean Sea.

    The People's Liberation Army has dispatched the amphibious dock landing ship Jinggangshan, a move that follows the announcement that Russia is sending three more ships — two destroyers and the missile cruiser Moskva — to the eastern Mediterranean to bolster forces that already include three other warships dispatched over the last two weeks.

    All are a pointed reminder that we are not the only player that has pieces on the board.

    Launched in 2011, the 19,000-metric-ton Jinggangshan is a 689-foot-long warship that can carry 1,000 soldiers, helicopters, armored fighting vehicles, boats and landing craft, according to a report in the China Daily.

    China is reportedly worried that a Syrian strike and its aftermath could send oil prices skyrocketing, which would be bad news for the Chinese economy.

    Russia has a naval base at the Syrian port of Tartus and is a major arms supplier to Syria. Russia is sending its large landing ship Nikolai Filchenkov loaded with "special cargo" towards the Syrian coast, the state news agency Interfax quoted a navy source as saying Friday.

    Could that "special cargo" be parts for completing its high-end, Russian-supplied S-300 air defense system?

    Earlier last Wednesday Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed to Associated Press that Moscow supplied Syria with components for the state-of-the-art system but that the shipment was not completed: A cruise missile strike might assure its completion.

    Syria is not Libya. If the United States strikes Syria, we might be surprised at how hard Syria can hit back. The P-800 Yakhont anti-ship missiles that Russia has equipped Syria with are the most advanced anti-ship missiles that Russia has.

    From Syria, P-800 Yakhont anti-ship missiles can cover much of the eastern Mediterranean and can even reach air bases in Cyprus. If the U.S. Navy is not very careful to stay out of range, analyst Michael Snyder observes, we could easily see footage of destroyed U.S. naval vessels sinking into the Mediterranean on the evening news.

    And once the American people see such footage, it will be impossible to stop a full-blown war between the U.S. and Syria and its allies, such as Iran and Hezbollah.

    In June 2006, as Hezbollah and Israel fought a brief war, an Israeli vessel, a Saar 5-class missile ship, was struck by a Chinese CS-802 anti-ship missile launched by Hezbollah in Lebanon with the assistance of Iranian Republican Guards.

    If President Obama thinks he can launch a few Tomahawks in an "unbelievably small" strike and then head off for a few rounds of golf, he may be sadly mistaken.

    We hear the argument that U.S. credibility is on the line here, but we also note that U.S. credibility may already be destroyed as a result of repeated betrayal of allies like Poland, the Czech Republic, Britain and Israel, as well by precipitate withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan.

    Hillary Clinton once defended the proposition that Bashar Assad was a "reformer." John Kerry once casually dined with the man he now likens to Hitler, calling him "generous." President Obama returned a U.S. ambassador to Syria after President Bush had pulled one out for Syria's role in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

    An "unbelievably small" strike might not restore our credibility, but it could start our Nobel Peace Prize winner's next war.


    Read More At Investor's Business Daily

    A Psalm for 9/11: The Dreams That Fly Away




    All mankind will pass before You

    like members of the flock.

    Like a shepherd pasturing his flock,

    making sheep pass under his staff,

    so shall You cause to pass, count, calculate, and consider the soul of all the living;

    and You shall apportion the fixed needs of all Your creatures

    and inscribe their verdict.

    For Your Name signifies Your praise:

    hard to anger and easy to appease,

    for You do not wish the death of one deserving death,

    but that he repent from his way and live.

    Until the day of his death You await him;

    if he repents You will accept him immediately.

    It is true that You are their Creator and

    You know their inclination,

    for they are flesh and blood.

    Our origin is dust and our end is dust.

    At the hazard of our life we earn our bread.

    We are like a fragile vessel,

    like the grass that withers

    the flower that fades,

    the shadow that passes,

    the cloud that vanishes,

    the wind that blows,

    the dust that floats,

    the dreams that fly away

    Verily.

    The dreams that fly away.

    Your kingship is an eternal kingship.

    Your dominion is for all generations.

    Larwyn's Linx: Lyndon McCain Meets Woodrow Obama

    Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

    Nation

    Lyndon McCain Meets Woodrow Obama: Jeffrey Lord
    Putin Didn't Save Obama, He Beat Him: Lee Smith
    Total Recall: Gun-Grabbing Democrats Recalled in CO: Michelle Malkin

    The ‘I Saw Something Nasty In The Woodshed’ Speech: HayRide
    9/11: America’s Unfinished Business: Michelle Malkin
    Remembering The 9/11 Massacre: The First One: DiploMad

    No, John Boehner Really Won't Defund Obamacare: Susan Jones, CNS
    Bikers arrive in DC! Traffic cams cover thunder live: BPR
    Countdown to Gun, Magazine & Ammo Confiscation in California: AmmoLand

    The Rest of America Is Coming to DC: Act Well Your Part
    Here They Come: 2 Million Bikers On Their Way to DC: Scoop
    Weiner flips the bird to journos as he drives away from election loss: Twitchy

    Economy

    ObamaCare Medical Device Tax Kills 1,000 Jobs in Michigan: GWP
    ‘Teachers for Social Justice’ pamphlet riddled with spelling errors: EAG
    Obama Judge: Hijab Ban Violates Muslim Civil Rights: JW

    Public Pensions Are Even Deeper In Debt Than Previously Thought: MPN
    Net Neutrality Oral Argument: Stuart Benjamin, Volokh
    MORGAN STANLEY: Clients Preparing For Loss Of Central Bank Control: SFGate

    Scandal Central

    Kerry Not ‘Prepared’ to Let Congress Interview Benghazi Survivors: Jason Howerton
    Reflections on Benghazi: Samuel S. Stanton
    Issa threatens to compel Benghazi wounded to testify: The Hill

    Media

    Assad tells Charlie Rose: Obama runs a ´social media administration´.: Lucianne
    Krauthammer: Obama’s Syria address “one of the most odd presidential speeches ever delivered”: Scoop
    CNN's Van Jones Organized Rally to Celebrate 9/11 Terrorists on 9/12/01: Sentinel

    RFK Jr. diary revealed: Jackson, Sharpton give me creeps, make me feel dirty: BPR
    ‘Chillax, Buddy!’: Anthony Weiner Does Epic MSNBC Interview Hours Before Polls Open: Jill Colvin, Politicker
    New York Times CEO: We’re Not Twitter: Don Irvine, AIM

    World

    Shouldn't Putin Address Us Tonight?: Rush Limbaugh
    Doctors Flee Single-Payer Hungary to Earn Enough to Survive: Breitbart
    Eyewitness Places ICNA Official at Bangladesh Mass Killings: IPT

    Two Former Hostages of Syrian Rebels Go Against the Narrative: Gates of Vienna
    Death by a Thousand Cuts as Obama Administration’s Whittles Away Our Rights: AmmoLand
    Toy company creates 'crystal meth lab' for children with Breaking Bad play sets: Daily Mail

    Sci-Tech

    The feds pay for 60 percent of Tor’s development. Can users trust it?: Brian Fung
    What to do (and what not to do) when your $1B system-wide EHR fails: Erin McCann, Healthcare IT News
    Body armor roundup: What's new in ballistic protection products?: PoliceOne

    Cornucopia

    We put our plans for a Petite Military Strike (PMS) on hold for now.: MOTUS
    Cradle To Grave = Death Of Liberty: 90 Miles
    Oh? Obama's on? I'm busy watching something much more interesting...: Feral Irishman

    Image: @PJStrikeForce
    Sponsored by: 10,000 Calls For Steve Lonegan for U.S. Senate – Everyone Must Help

    QOTD: "The president’s supporters and publicists in the press know how to package Obama’s weakness. The fear that everyone else in the world smells emanating from him like a wounded animal is really just humility and modesty—fitting attributes for the leader of a superpower that needs to make amends for having meddled so long in the affairs of others. And besides, this talk of strength and weakness is juvenile—the world is not a schoolyard. And so Obama ignored Putin’s slights and held his head high. This revealed to Putin Obama’s real liability, his vanity. Obama always needs to look good. He will embrace defeat so long as he can still imagine himself a handsome princeling. After pushing Obama around for five years, now Putin escorts him out of the Middle East. Here, friend, take my hand. Let me help you to the sidelines...

    Putin’s goal is to replace the United States as the regional power broker... What good are American aircraft carriers if you don’t have the will to use them? Putin will use anything he has to win, while Obama is looking for a reason not to fire a few cruise missiles into the Syrian desert. There is absolutely no chance Obama would risk a shooting war with Iran.

    ....Obama can relax now and imagine that he has finally earned his Nobel Peace Prize and that that sound he hears is the tide of war receding... In fact, it is the sound of American allies around the world—the Poles and Czechs, the Japanese and the South Koreans, the Saudis, Jordanians and Israelis, among others—gnashing their teeth. They now see that they are on their own, and that the word of the United States means nothing." --Lee Smith