Expose Obama » Department of Labor

Obama Makes “Environmental Justice” a Defense and Homeland Security Issue

Ben — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 18:39:43 +0000

Judicial Watch

Van Jones is gone, but Obama is still carrying out his agenda

Though it is unrelated to their mission, the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, Commerce and Housing are among the federal agencies that will focus on helping minorities get green under an Obama administration plan that aims to bring “environmental justice” to poor and underserved communities nationwide.

The effort was launched by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last fall and the agency has doled out millions of dollars in “environmental justice grants” to dozens of left-wing groups, including some dedicated to helping illegal immigrants. Earlier this year the administration dedicated an additional $7 million to study how pollution, stress and social factors affect “poor and underserved communities”…

As if it weren’t bad enough that millions of dollars have already gone to this initiative, the president is further wasting valuable taxpayer resources by forcing other federal agencies, most with unrelated duties, to participate. Besides the previously mentioned, the Department of Education, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Transportation, Justice, Health and Labor have all been forced to develop “environmental justice strategies to protect the health of people living in communities overburdened by population.”

This week the agencies signed an official Memorandum of Understanding on Environmental Justice outlining some of their new duties. Under the agreement the agencies will make environmental justice part of their mission and they will provide the public with annual progress reports on their efforts. In a written statement, the Obama Administration proclaims that it’s the latest effort to address the inequities that may be present in some communities.

Obama’s EPA administrator, Lisa Jackson, has promised to bring minorities environmental justice since getting appointed, saying that all too often they live in the shadows of our society’s worst pollution and, as a result, face disproportionate health impacts and greater obstacles to economic growth.

Fed Funding for La Raza Skyrockets After Obama Hires Its VP

Ben — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 20:16:33 +0000

Judicial Watch

A Judicial Watch investigation reveals that federal funding for a Mexican La Raza group that for years has raked in millions of taxpayer dollars has skyrocketed since one of its top officials got a job in the Obama White House.

The influential and politically-connected National Council of La Raza (NCLR) has long benefited from Uncle Sam’s largess but the group has made a killing since Obama hired its senior vice president, Cecilia Muñoz, in 2009 to be his director of intergovernmental affairs.

Ignored by the mainstream media, Judicial Watch covered the appointment because the president issued a special “ethics waiver” to bring Muñoz aboard since it violated his own lobbyist ban. At the pro illegal immigration NCLR, Muñoz supervised all legislative and advocacy activities on the state and local levels and she was heavily involved in the congressional immigration battles that took place in the George W. Bush Administration.

She also brought in a steady flow of government cash that’s allowed the Washington D.C.-based group to expand nationwide and promote its leftist, open-borders agenda via a network of community organizations dedicated to serving Latinos. Among them are a variety of local groups that provide social services, housing counseling and farm worker assistance as well as publicly-funded charter schools that promote radical Chicano curriculums. Judicial Watch published a special report on this a few years ago.

This week a JW probe has uncovered details of the alarming increase in federal funding that these NCLR groups have received since Muñoz joined the Obama administration. In fact, the government cash more than doubled the year Muñoz joined the White House, from $4.1 million to $11 million.

Not surprisingly, a big chunk of the money (60 percent) came from the Department of Labor, which is headed by a former California congresswoman, Hilda Solis, with close ties to the La Raza movement….

The Media’s “Experts” Always Err in Obama’s Favor

Ben — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 07:22:10 +0000

Kevin “Coach” Collins, FloydReports.com

In 1954 a genius with a sharp eye for talent advised a young Elvis Presley, “You ain’t goin’ nowhere, Son. You ought to go back to drivin’ a truck.”

Everyday we are bombarded with news of shocked “experts” having to once again admit they were wrong. In most cases this hapless bunch of Charlie Browns isn’t any more expert than the man who dismissed Presley. So we don’t lose sight of their embarrassing claptrap, here are a few “expert” predictions we have been insulted with recently.

In spite of “expert” sentiment to the contrary, America’s manufacturing sector has slowed “more than expected” and in fact has fallen to September 2009 levels. The geniuses at the Institute of Supply Management (ISM) didn’t just miss this one their expectation was barely in the same area code. The ISM expected its growth index would fall 2.7, not the actual 6.9 points it tumbled.

The 38,000 new private sector jobs added in May provide another example of surprised “experts” having to stammer out an explanation of how they could be so wrong.

In May private sector companies in the U.S. added fewer workers than forecast by….

Biden to Union Thugs: You Keep “Barbarians from the Gate”

Ben — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 14:25:43 +0000

Obama Labor Department Ignores Freedom of Information Act

NewsEditor — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:17:00 +0000

By Don Loos, Big Government

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis is defiant and combative

On Friday, 20 November 2009, The National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation (Foundation) decided enough was enough and filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court demanding that they compel the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to comply with the Foundation’s April 6th Freedom of information Act (FOIA) request.
The Foundation’s FOIA requested:

Records from communications and recorded events where specified Obama appointees and Big Labor official were present
Lists of lawsuits involving the Department of Labor and Deborah Greenfield within the past eight years.

List of any gifts received by Solis in the past 5 years from Big Labor or its officials

Specifically provide in detail (a) notes, (b) agreements, (c) communications, and (d) agendas related to the regulations related to the labor union and officer disclosure rules

Copies of phone logs

Copies of any notes or documents related to any enforcement of any labor laws and any outside groups such as labor unions, American Rights at Work, or ACORN

Obama’s Labor Department Ignores His Transparency Guidance
Remember January 21, 2009, when President Barack Obama proclaimed the new era of more open and transparent government began? This U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy memorandum is a good reminder:

On his first full day in office, January 21, 2009, President Obama issued a memorandum to the heads of all departments and agencies on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The President directed that FOIA “should be administered with a clear presumption: In the face of doubt, openness prevails.” Moreover, the President instructed agencies that information should not be withheld merely because “public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might be revealed, or because of speculative or abstract fears.”

Agencies were directed to respond to requests “promptly and in a spirit of cooperation.”

Solis’ McCain-Feingold Ethics Problem

admin — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 14:22:07 +0000

The Foundry

Congresswoman Hilda Solis has tax and serious ethics issues

Barack Obama can’t seem to win for losing when it comes to his nominees. Earlier this week, I wrote about the possible ethics violations committed by Congresswoman Hilda Solis, who has been nominated by President Obama to head the Labor Department. Not only was she the treasurer and on the board of directors of American Rights at Work, an organization lobbying Congress on bills she cosponsored, but she failed to reveal that information as required on financial disclosure forms until January 29.

The nomination of Solis was supposed to be voted out of committee on Thursday, but was postponed indefinitely just after USA Today reported that her husband paid off $6,400 in tax liens against his business on Wednesday, some of which had been outstanding for as long as 16 years.

Now the DC Examiner is reporting what could turn out to be an even more serious problem, one with potential criminal consequences. According to the report, American Rights at Work collected “at least $1 million in contributions from labor unions.” It also filed electioneering communications reports with the Federal Election Commission prior to the November election showing that ARW spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on television ads in states targeting Republican senators.

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Obama Appoints Collectivist to Chair NLRB

admin — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 13:45:23 +0000

Warner Todd Huston, Red States

The National Labor Relations Board (nlrb.gov) is a federal agency created to monitor and administer federal laws that govern the relationship between labor unions and business owners and corporations and to this board, Barack Obama has appointed as its chair a woman that does not seem to believe much in individual freedom but seems more interested in collectivism. To you and me that might be considered a communist ideal, but even if she doesn’t take it that far it is certainly an adversarial idea to individual freedom and the rights of business.

Last week, Obama named to the NLRB Wilma Liebman, a Philadelphian that has served on the legal staff of two labor unions: the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (1980-1989) and the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen (1990-1993).

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Christmas Card Check

admin — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:30:51 +0000

By Doug Bandow, The American Spectator

Card Check will Limit Workers Freedom and Privacy

So far Barack Obama has surprised supporters and opponents alike by choosing centrists for his economic and foreign policy teams. The leading exception is Labor Secretary-designate Rep. Hilda Solis, a long-time supporter of coercive unionism. The principal congressional battle is likely to be over so-called card check, which would allow Big Labor to intimidate its way to increased power.

People obviously should be free to join unions. But the vast majority of Americans choose not to do so, which is why organized labor represents only 7.5 percent of private sector workers.

Of course, Big Labor blames everyone else for its troubles. Evil employers. Economic woes. Unfair laws. So union officials want to fix the game.

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Obama’s Labor Pick has Communist Ties

admin — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:51:19 +0000

By Aaron Klein, WorldNetDaily

Rep Hilda Solis is a Leftist Radical

President-elect Barack Obama’s choice to head the Labor Department has close ties to U.S. communist and socialist organizations and has sent representatives to functions organized by national parties for both ideologies.

The pick of Rep. Hilda L. Solis, D-Calif., a Congressional Hispanic Caucus leader considered to be one of the most reliably pro-union voices in the House, was hailed as a victory by communist and socialist leaders.
An article this past weekend in the Communist Party USA’s People’s Weekly World Newspaper welcomed Solis and quoted known socialist leaders calling her a “great choice” and an “outstanding” selection with “a life-long commitment to working people.”

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