NLRB overeach: Wisconsin petitions edition

Chilly news today

First some NLRB news, then on to Wisconsin.

From the Workforce Fairness Institute blog, which is enthusiastic about the Executive Appointment Reform Act:

We believe that President Obama's recess appointments of Richard Griffin and Sharon Block to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) were unconstitutional and a gross overreach by the executive branch that serves as nothing more than payback to Big Labor bosses who are bankrolling his re-election campaign. Therefore, we believe it is pivotal that the legislative branch assert its authority under the Constitution by passing legislation that ensures the system of checks and balances remains intact. Legislation introduced by Representative Jeff Landry titled the Executive Appointment Reform Act (EARA) deserves the serious consideration of Members of Congress as it states "payment for services may not be made to an individual appointed during a recess of the Senate to fill a vacancy in an existing office, if the vacancy existed while the Senate was in session and was by law required to be filled by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and for other purposes." On its own, this is noteworthy legislative language, but particular so since the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) used the Pay Act in defense of its actions writing it "sets out the circumstances in which a recess appointee may be paid a salary from the Treasury." Clearly, Congress has the power of the purse strings and should exercise it. If these non-recess appointees want to work to advance policies that kill American jobs, at the very least, taxpayer dollars should not be expended in paying their wages unless they are confirmed by the U.S. Senate as clearly intended by our nation's founding fathers and completely disregarded by the current administration.

An ill wind from the north: It's very likely that Governor Scott Walker will face a recall election in November. The unions who oppose him view this battle as Armageddon. It will be--for taxpayers if Big Labor wins and removes Walker from office. But a victory in November by the suburban Milwaukee Republican will embolden like-minded reformers in other states to continue the fight of rescuing government from the overreach of public-sector unions.

If my state, Illinois, has any hope of getting out of its fiscal morass, we need "a Walker" to run the Land of Lincoln. Our next election for governor is in 2014. You may need a Walker in your state too.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Democrats and organizers will file petitions with more than a million signatures Tuesday afternoon as they seek to force a recall election against Gov. Scott Walker, a massive number that seems to cement a historic recall election against him for later this year.

It would mark the first such gubernatorial recall in state history - in all of U.S. history there have been only two successful recalls of a governor. Organizers at 3 p.m. will the signatures against Walker, as well as ones against Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and three GOP state senators.

Already, they have filed petitions to recall Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau).

The sheer number of signatures being filed - nearly as many as the total votes cast for Walker in November 2010, and almost twice as those needed to trigger a recall election - ensure the election will be held, said officials with the state Democratic Party and United Wisconsin, the group that launched the Walker recall.

The Committee to Defeat Barack Obama is in Walker's corner--click here to contribute to that group.

More bad news from the Washington Examiner:

Something questionable is going on when a state chapter of the Service Employees International Union advertises on the SEIU national website a "Lead Internal Organizer/Home Care (LiA)" position paying up to $65,000 a year for somebody with the following qualifications:

• Train and lead members in non-violent civil disobedience, such as occupying state buildings and banks, and peaceful resistance.
• Plan and execute strategic direct action field plans including banner drops, bank takeovers, and capitol occupations with membership, other local unions, and coalition partners.
• Execute field plans for special campaigns including contract campaigns, ballot initiatives, COPE contributions, general membership growth and the broader campaign to fight for a fair economy.

Technorati tags: wisconsin Politics elections wisconsin politics SEIU unions scott walker Democrats economy business law legal nlrb