NLRB overreach: More pushback edition

Washington Circle, Wash. DC

"And it was inevitable that some of these people pushed back..."
Ray Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles.

Time for more pushback.

From Business Week:

Senate Republicans are weighing a plan to block most of President Barack Obama's federal appeals court nominations starting in June or earlier in response to the recess appointments he made this month.

The idea was discussed at a private retreat of Senate Republicans on Jan. 25 at Mount Vernon, the Virginia estate of George Washington. The option of stopping all consideration of executive and judicial nominees didn't get as much support as a more modest reaction to Obama's recess appointments, which included the installation of Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, senators said.

Broadly blocking nominees "was discussed, but we're also very aware he would like us to play into his narrative, and we're not going to take the bait," said Senator John Cornyn of Texas, who heads the National Republican Senatorial Committee, referring to Obama’s rhetoric about a "do-nothing" Congress.

"There will be a response, but it will be measured and appropriate," Cornyn said.

Obama also illegaly appointed three board members to the National Labor Relations Board, including two who had not been vetted.

At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) blasted those appointments.



Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) also blasted the illegal appointments. From The Hill:

"Reversing years of precedent, the administration is asserting that the executive branch now has the authority to decide when the Legislative Branch is or is not in session," he said. "This presumptuous action by the president goes far beyond the limited powers he is granted by our Constitution.

"It is an affront to the democratic checks and balances as established by our Founders, and it constitutes a gross violation of precedent set by those who have come before us."

My neighbor to the east will soon be a right-to-work state.

CBS News:

In the end, they just didn't have the votes.

For two legislative sessions, Indiana Democrats fought the divisive labor measure known as right-to-work. They offered amendments aimed at changing the bill. They sought to put the issue before voters in a referendum. And in their most high-profile gambit, House Democrats staged occasional boycotts to deny the Republican-dominated chamber enough members to conduct business.

But that all ended Wednesday when the minority party acceded to the mathematical reality of the Republican's 60-40 majority in the chamber. Democrats showed up, and the Indiana House voted 54-44 to make Indiana the 23rd right-to-work state.

It is the latest successful legislative push targeting union power following a Republican sweep of statehouses in 2010, and if Gov. Mitch Daniels signs the bill as expected it will make Indiana the first Rust Belt state to ban contracts that require workers to pay mandatory union fees for representation.

This week is National School Choice Week.

Big Government: Gov. Jindal Calls for Expanded School Voucher Program, New Charter Schools and Tenure Reform