NLRB overreach: State of the Union edition

Keeping an eye on Las Vegas--south strip

Despite what you will hear tonight during President Obama's State of the Union address, unless you are one of the favored castes of the White House, such as Big Labor, the state of the union is not sound.

We start with an op-ed from Fred Wszolek of the Workforce Fairness Institute in Townhall:

As President Obama steps before the nation tonight, he will deliver a report to the American people on the condition of our country. The speech is the equivalent of Super Bowl Sunday for politicos in Washington, D.C. Commentators, policy experts, lobbyists, flacks and many others will be combing through the speech seeking mentions that affect clients or favored issues.

What Obama won't tell the nation is that he has served as the most pro-labor president in American history. He has delivered a series of giveaways to union bosses that should make even labor's most enthusiastic supporters blush. And in the process of giving away the store to his top campaign contributor, Obama has hung workers out to dry, placed unnecessary job-killing burdens on employers and sent a message to the business community that it can go to hell.

Looking at the last year alone, Obama re-nominated labor radical Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in spite of the fact that both Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Senate opposed his nomination. The White House then proceeded to submit a budget that increased funding to regulatory agencies in spite of a massive budget deficit and poll after poll showing Americans wanted less restrictions on employers, not more.

In March, the NLRB ruled the employees of lessees had a right of access to the private property of the owner to organize workers and distribute materials to the general public without regard to whether other less-intrusive means were available.

Roll Call writes about those so-called recess appointments.

Senate Republicans at their retreat this week are expected to consider ways to take a stand against the White House and Senate Democrats after four controversial recess appointments were made earlier this month, Senate Republicans said today.

"It's going to be discussed" at the Republican retreat Wednesday, said Sen. Chuck Grassley, ranking member of the Judiciary Committee. "I don’t know what's going to be done, but it can't be just Chuck Grassley ... and a couple of other people."

On the Senate floor, Grassley said that President Barack Obama’s recent recess appointments are “a matter of concern to my Republican colleagues, as it should be for all Senators; we must consider how we will respond to the president and restore a constitutional balance."

Did one union cave in on a long-running election dispute?

From The Hill:

The compromise on labor rules for transportation workers contained within the deal to approve a long-term extension of funding for the Federal Aviation Administration is acceptable to at least one key union, officials with the group said Monday.

Lawmakers agreed to a deal last week on the rules for workers covered under the Railway Labor Act, which includes some airline workers, to organize unions after fractious negotiations held up a multi-year funding bill for the FAA for the better part of a year.

Under the agreement, the percentage of a company's workforce that would have to be in favor of a vote on unionization changed to 50 percent from 35 percent before an election could be called.

The Washington, D.C.-based Transport Workers Union said it would be OK with the new rules if it meant ending the string of short-term extensions of the funding for the FAA, which is expected to reach 23 this week as lawmakers iron out the final details over their compromise. The agency's current short-term funding measure had been expected to run out Jan. 31.

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