AFL-CIO's endorsement of Obama is payback

As today is the last day of the first quarter of 2012, my email box is filling up with requests from candidates of both parties asking for contributions to their campaign funds--they want to report on healthy bank accounts next month.

So it's timely that I refer to an Investors Business Daily article about the AFL-CIO's endorsement of President Obama.

This month the AFL-CIO "enthusiastically" endorsed Obama's re-election bid. No surprise there. No previous president has created anywhere near as large wealth transfers to unions.

Obama's $825 billion stimulus package targeted union jobs. Then there was the $26 billion Public Sector Jobs Bill of 2010. And the Disaster Relief and the Summer Jobs Act of 2010 provided another $24 billion to specifically help teachers, police and firefighters.

The stimulus required Davis-Bacon "prevailing wages and benefits" rules for contracts receiving any stimulus money. These rules typically force companies to pay union wages.

In addition, Obama enacted new executive orders that forced some contractors bidding for government contracts to recognize unions and adopt existing collective bargaining agreements. He even went so far in this process as imposing a "gag" order on what firms were allowed to tell employees about unions and collective bargaining in the event that union organizing efforts were undertaken.

Last month the Workforce Fairness Institute's Big Labor Bailout reported that union bosses plan to spend $400 million to reelect President Obama.

Who wins? Big Labor and Obama. Who loses? Taxpayers.

Technorati tags: labor politics unions news organized labor afl cio