Labor Sec Refuses To Say US Money Shouldn’t Be Funding China’s Military

Let’s round out the week with a couple of clips from several of the hearings held this week. My favorite is Senator Rand Paul doing his number on Dr. Fauci. He takes him on over his “royalties.”

He doesn’t short change the topic of COVID vaccines.

But first let’s meet this piece of work Marty Walsh. We haven’t heard much from or about him, but we got a clear picture this week. Let’s go:

President Joe Biden’s Labor Secretary Marty Walsh refused to say US money shouldn’t be funding China’s military and companies using slave labor, during a House Education and Labor Committee hearing on 6/14/2022

Who is the world is Labor Secretary Marty Walsh?

Boston.com

“Marty understands, like I do, the middle class built this country, and unions built the middle class,” Biden said. “He sees how union workers have been holding this country together during this crisis, health care workers keeping our hospitals safe, clean, and effective — and efficient. Public service workers fighting against budget shortfalls to keep communities afloat. Port workers, car haulers, warehouse workers, folks keeping our air and rail systems running. A former Mayor of Boston.

What he apparently doesn’t know which is a hot topic right now is the plan by Biden for Federal Pension Funds investing in China.

New Bipartisan Warnings about Expected Federal Investment in Chinese Atrocities and Military Buildup

With a federal agency enabling the likely investment of federal tax dollars in companies implicated in Beijing’s genocide of Uyghurs, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is calling for a reversal of that move.

Earlier this month, Republican lawmakers warned that the Thrift Savings Plan, which is a retirement investment fund available to millions of federal government employees, planned to allow investments in mutual funds linked to a leading Chinese Communist Party entity in Xinjiang.

Trump had blocked it so of course Biden must reverse it.

What an arrogant little man.

Moving right along.

How about this one?

Sen. Rand Paul: “If I give you ten, or if I give a patient ten mRNA vaccines, and they make protein each time or them make antibody each time, is that proof that we should give ten boosters?”

Heated Exchange between Sen. Rand Paul & Dr. Anthony Fauci on Vaccines and Royalties

“Everybody on the vaccine committee—have any of them ever received money from the people who make vaccines? Can you tell me that? Can you tell me if anybody on the vaccine approval committees ever received any money from the people who make the vaccines?” Paul demanded.

“Let me give you some information,” Fauci began. “First of all, according to the regulations, people who receive royalties are not required to divulge them even on their financial statement according to the by Bayh Dole Act,” referring to a law that grants people the ability to own inventions arriving from federal government-funded research.

Dr. Fauci how about answering how you made out from 2020 to 2022? Hmm?

What could be a better post ending but from our gal  Press Secretary Jean-Pierre off the boat from Haiti and formerly of Moveon.Org as she opines yesterday on the topic of the day.

President Joe Biden’s White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said “we don’t need” to drill more oil, and that President Biden will “move forward” ending fossil fuels, during the White House press briefing on 6/16/2022.

Want more on our gal?

Shocker: Anti-Semite Karine Jean-Pierre New Press Secretary

The very best of the swamp.

Why Do Americans Celebrate Labor Day?

By Mustang

Even though the seed to recognize “Labor Day” was only first planted in 1882, the history of this holiday is already mired in myth and controversy.  The descendants of two men with similar last names argue that it was their great-grandfather who came up with the idea.

United States stamp: Labor Day“United States stamp: Labor Day” by karen horton is licensed under CC BY 2.0

One story is that at an assembly of the Knights of Labor (KOL) in New York City, Matthew Maguire urged the establishment of a national holiday to recognize the contributions of men whose labor made American industries successful.

The second claim is that Peter J. McGuire, a vice president for the American Federation of Labor (AFL) made the proposal after viewing a similar celebration in Toronto, Canada.  Both accounts took place in 1882.  Both men thought that a day set aside between Independence Day and Thanksgiving would be an ideal time to have such an event.

Now if true, then both men were clever enough to avoid celebrating Labor Day on 1 May, since “May Day” was the date chosen by European socialists and communists of the Second International to celebrate International Worker’s Day — joined, of course, by anarchists, fascists, and labor activists seeking recognition.

In fairness, neither Matthew, Peter, nor any European labor activist could have imagined the long-term effects of Marxism in 1882.  On paper, the ideologies proposed by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels does seem enlightened; in its application, however, Marxism became an entirely different animal.

In any case, the notion of setting aside one day out of the year to recognize the contributions of American labor seemed innocuous and who doesn’t want a day off from work with pay, a parade, a picnic — even if you have to listen to men give political speeches?

So, the labor unions had their first parade in the United States on 5 September 1882 and a good time was had by all.   Interest in Labor Day spread across the United States.  In 1887, Oregon became the first state to designate Labor Day as an official holiday, and by 1894, thirty additional states made similar pronouncements.  In 1894, Congress passed a bill designating Labor Day as a federal holiday on the first Monday in September.  The bill became law over the signature of President Grover Cleveland (Democrat) on 28 June.  Of course, the law only applied to federal employees, so when other states failed to recognize Labor Day, unions began organizing strikes and work stoppages on that day.

In 1909, the AFL convention earmarked the Sunday preceding Labor Day as “Labor Sunday.”  The AFL wanted to dedicate a day to the spiritual and educational aspects of the American labor movement.  Labor Sunday never quite caught on, however.  Most people in 1909 didn’t appreciate having their religion politicized.

Today, Labor Day marks the official end of summer and the official start of football season, where young men who earn a skillion dollars a day playing a game begin “taking a knee” in protest of their unhappy circumstances in America as black people.

Every American likes having a long weekend, but not every American appreciates celebrating communism — particularly given the direction of the US government since the presidency of Barack Obama.  Culturalist Matt Barber (an attorney and blogger at BarbWire.com) reminded us about the relationship between Marxism/Socialism and Labor Day in 2016:

“How about some Commie ketchup on that burger?  It’s extra red.  A little Marxist mustard for your dog?  What about a pinch of socialist sauerkraut on the bubbling bratwurst?

“I know, I’m a killjoy, and, call me a hypocrite, but I’m grilling out Monday anyway.  Still, fellas, while you’re sweating over that sizzling Weber this three-day weekend, just be sure to tip a stein to old Karl [Marx], Vladimir [Lenin], and Josef [Stalin].  Without those genocidal schmendricks, you’d be stuck in your cubical Monday, just like every other day, playing Candy Crush and checking fantasy football […]

“Actually … hard work has nothing to do with it.  Labor Day is about “labor,” and “labor,” since the 19th century at least, has been, and yet remains, one of the primary “progressive” euphemisms exploited by leftists (aka, Democrats) to further the redistributionist goals of the global socialist movement.”

Wow.  And I thought I was a hard ass.  But, he does have a point.  I’m certainly not advocating that we curtail a long weekend … only that we stop to consider what the US government has contrived to do to laborers in this country.  We no longer produce anything in America.  Most of our industrial laborers are now involved in manicuring the lawns of wealthy bankers or opening car washes where you end up doing most of the work yourself.  With people on your side like the Congress, who needs enemies?

In any case, Mr. Barber concluded with:

“And so, as we enjoy friends, family, food, and fun this extended Labor Day weekend, let’s heed the advice of Marxist.com and remember that this particular holiday — this workers’ paradise for a day — was ‘conceived of and celebrated by socialists and militants within the labor movement.’

“A socialist movement, mind you, that thrives from within the freest nation on earth (for now at least) — a nation made great, in large part, by the very capitalism unions, and the Democrats they fund, so hate, and desperately seek to destroy.”

Something to remember and think about.  While the United States sent its young men and women into harm’s way to fight communism (1950-1975), while young Americans were dying from communist bullets and shrapnel, as mothers and wives cried, Americans back home were celebrating communism and socialism on the first Monday of September.  It’s hard to imagine that our nation could be so obtuse.

Sources:

  1. A&E Television, history online.
  2. Green, J.  Death in the Haymarket: A Story of Chicago, the First Labor Movement, and the Bombing that Divided Gilded Age America. Random House, 2007.
  3. “Labor Daze — Pride, Chaos, and Kegs on Labor’s First Day,” US Department of Labor, online.
  4. Barber, M.  Labor Day Celebrates Marxism.  Christian Post, 5 Sep 2016 online.

Mustang also blogs at Fix Bayonets and Thoughts From Afar

For the best in conservative news push the button.

Bunkerville wishes everyone a wonderful Labor Day.

House passes Union Pension fund bailout – Dems eye Union heavy States

 

The House bill that just passed ensures that certain Union pension funds have no fear of going broke. Simply get a loan for their badly managed funds and you and me in the name of the government will simply dump our cash into their hopper. May I ask how much better off will these pension funds be in paying off the loans? I suggest this will simply be Billions of buckeroos reimbursed for very bad management and corruption. What incentive is there for better management? Where was the State supervision of these funds? A “Loan?” How stupid do they think we are?

The operative quote:

“For the first time ever, taxpayers will prop up failing, mismanaged union-run pension plans,” Foxx said during debate. “We’re giving failed union pensions a blank check. What a deal.”

 

Even better, the Dems are smart enough to know this will appeal to the key State voters in the Mid-West that Trump needs to win. First the set up:

The Kline-Miller Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 (Division O of Pub.L. 113–235) is a federal law that was enacted in the United States on December 16, 2014, with the goal of allowing certain American pension plans that have insufficient funds, and thus are at risk of insolvency, to reduce the benefits they owe.

The House on Wednesday night passed legislation to bolster failing pension funds, an issue that Democrats are hoping will help win over voters in the Midwest’s union-heavy states during the 2020 presidential election.

The bill would bail out multiple-employer pension plans that are on the verge of collapse. The measure would help pension plans sponsored by several employers and managed by a collective bargaining agreement by giving loans to insolvent plans so they can continue to distribute the promised retirement benefits. The legislation passed 264 to 169, with bipartisan support.

The bill, which would aid truck drivers, iron welders, construction workers and employees in other industries, helps bolster Democrats’ case as they look to win back Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan — states Trump won in 2016 — in 2020.

“You need those areas to win the presidency,” said Brad Bannon, a Democratic political consultant. “There is a cloud of uncertainty hanging over ­blue-collar, noneducated workers in those states. They are worried about the cost of health care, pensions and economic security.”

Washington Post

Here is what the Detroit News has to say:

Washington — The Democratic-controlled House late Wednesday approved a bill to help an estimated 45,000 current and retired Teamsters union members in Michigan avoid pension cuts related to the distressed Central States Pension Plan.

Financial problems have left the plan severely underfunded and could force cuts in payments to hundreds of thousands of retirees nationwide who paid into the system over their careers.

Republican leaders said the bill was fiscally irresponsible and that the poor financial situation of multiemployer pension plans is the result of “union and employer negligence,” as California Rep. Virginia Foxx argued Wednesday.

“For the first time ever, taxpayers will prop up failing, mismanaged union-run pension plans,” Foxx said during debate. “We’re giving failed union pensions a blank check. What a deal.”

Detroit News

There is a similar bill in the Senate which has been reported would need to be compromised with the House Bill.

Other than that, all is well in the swamp. For the best aggregator of conservative news – click below

Thanks Whatfngernews for the link…

AFL-CIO own workers strike against the Union

This should just about finish the once megalithic union. What an advertisement. It’s own worker bees striking against it. A long way from the violence and murder of Eddie York. Trumka has come a long way. Read more about Trumka’s history of condoning union violence and corruption in the Foundation’s eye-opening Fact Sheet (PDF).

Janitors, support staff vote to strike against America’s largest labor group

Workers at AFL-CIO’s Washington, D.C., headquarters are fed up with the “anti-union” attitude of America’s largest labor union.

The janitors who empty the waste baskets at the AFL-CIO say the union fails to live up to its values. On Tuesday the cleaning staff voted to authorize a strike against the 12.4 million member union, a week after picketing in front of its Washington, D.C., headquarters. Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 2 (OPEIU), which falls under the AFL-CIO umbrella, called the labor giant’s reputation into question, saying, “The AFL-CIO is anti-union” on its website.

“The bargaining unit has voted unanimously to give strike authorization to OPEIU Local 2,” the union said in an Oct. 9 post. The website goes on to say that the AFL-CIO’s treatment of its own staffers could signify “the death of labor” in the United States.

The contract is dangerously hypocritical of the AFL-CIO, which is supposed to be a leader of unions,” the site says. “If we agree to this contract, we are signaling to every other union out there that they should accept these terms from their employers.”

The move against sick leave and other AFL-CIO demands led Local 2 officials to declare “the house of labor = the house of hypocrisy” on its website. The AFL-CIO has campaigned aggressively for paid sick leave mandates at the local, state, and federal level no matter the cost.

“You shouldn’t have to work while sick,” an AFL-CIO website says. “When you have access to paid sick days, it makes everyone healthier and more productive.”

“Management pushed several proposals that completely contradict its mission to ‘work tirelessly to improve the lives of working people,’ Local 2 said, linking to AFL-CIO’s mission statement. “We know how the organization can improve, and we are part of the solution.” More at Free Beacon

The chickens are coming home to roost. Recall this?

AFL-CIO Richard Trumka and the Murder of Eddie York

As president of the United Mine Workers (UMW) union, Trumka led multiple violent strikes. Trumka’s fiery rhetoric often appeared to condone militancy and violence, especially against workers who dared to continue to provide for their families by working during a strike…………

Flashback: Pelosi claims Supremes did ‘violence to our democracy’

 

Shall we do a Flashback and whatever happened to thug AFL-CIO Richard Trumka? He appears along side Pelosi as she now claims the Supremes are a “violent” sort of thing. So first let’s watch Nancy gin up the crowd and now we know what is ahead of us for one long hot summer. Trumka back in action.

 

Thursday at a press conference, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said the Supreme Court’s decision on Janus v. AFSCME, which struck down laws requiring government workers to pay union fees, was “violence to our democracy.”

Pelosi said, “Now, yesterday, they did violence to our democracy by trying to diminish the voices of working people.”

She continued, “That’s not the American way. Their decision does violence to the First Amendment.”

The “Tell” is that she is appearing with AFL-CIO Richard Trumka – let’s do a flashback then.

 

 

AFL-CIO Richard Trumka and the Murder of Eddie York

 

…snip

Take the murder of Eddie York, a nonunion contractor, who was shot in the back of the head and killed while leaving a worksite in 1993. Trumka and other UMW officials were charged in a $27 million wrongful death suit by Eddie York’s widow. After fighting the suit intensely for four years, UMW lawyers settled suddenly in 1997 — just two days after the judge in the case ruled evidence in the criminal trial would be admitted.

Later, as Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, Trumka pleaded the Fifth Amendment before Congress and a court-appointed election monitor over his role in an illegal fundraising scheme to benefit the Teamsters president Ron Carey’s re-election. Trumka has remained in his position ever since despite an AFL-CIO rule (adopted in 1957) which held that union officials who plead the Fifth have “no right to continue to hold office” in the union umbrella organization.

Read more about Trumka’s history of condoning union violence and corruption in the Foundation’s eye-opening Fact Sheet (PDF).

 

Flashback to 2009. Nancy had a different view regarding rhetoric didn’t she, as we sucked it up with Obama and his policies.

 

 

A comment made on the clip:

Published on Sep 18, 2009
“The Speaker is now likening genuine opposition to assassination. Such insulting rhetoric not only undermines the credibility of her office, but it underscores the desperate attempt by her party to divert attention away from a failing agenda. During one of the most important policy debates of our time, the American people have been completely abandoned by those elected representatives under her control. Voters are justifiably frustrated with Washington, and the Speaker’s verbal assault on voters accomplishes nothing other than furthering her reputation for being wildly out of touch with the American people.” I saw this and had to post it..Where were all her concerns when Bush was in office?..Movies were made about his death. He was called a liar, Hitler, a murderer, dumb, war monger, ect. I guess when it comes to liberals like this moron, dissent against big government is “Racist and un-American”..but its ok when the left does it. When ever the left had there war protests, at least 100-200 people were arrested because of violent actions on their part. At the “Tea Parties” do you know how many arrests were made?….Zero. Nancy, do us all a favor and shut yer pie-hole…

U.S. Pilots to rally at WH, urge blockage of export of White Collar jobs UPDATE

UPDATE: Google this topic and nothing found about it. I did see a picture slide by on twitter yesterday.Here tis and that was it.
http://pics.mcclatchyinteractive.com/news/politics-government/28w25a/picture128460689/ALTERNATES/FREE_960/IMG_1632

We learn of one more time bomb inserted by Obama a couple of days before his departures. In this case,foreign workers. The more the merrier for him, but in this case let’s have those of us flying the friendly skies supported by American workers, not those earning a buck an hour. Here tis:

Airline pilots will hold a White House rally on Tuesday asking President Donald Trump pilotsto block Obama’s last-minute approval of a plan that would replace thousands of American pilots with foreign aircrew paid at rock-bottom foreign wages.

The airline pilots’ appeal will come one day after Trump’s signature on Monday killed the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, which would have allowed an unlimited number of foreign companies to replace U.S. workers with imported foreign workers paid $1 an hour wages.

“This [Obama pilot] decision is just another failed trade deal by the Obama administration, giving foreign companies an unfair advantage over U.S. companies,” said Captain Jon Weaks, Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association president.

Throughout his two terms, Obama worked to increase the annual inflow of foreign white-collar workers, and his last-minute regulations allow many more white-collar contract workers to get permanent residence.

Obama’s expansion of the H-1B outsourcing program would take effect just three days before he leaves the White House. It can be seen as a direct challenge to incoming President Donald Trump, who promised to reform the H-1B program.

“This is an attempt to rewrite the Green Card [immigration] system through regulation,” said John Miano, an attorney who represents American workers hit by H-1B outsourcing. “The effect is to make an even bigger hash of the problems we have now,” he told Breitbart News. Currently, roughly 1 million while-collar jobs in Americans are held by multi-year foreign contract workers. These professionals include 100,000 H-1B contract workers employed in universities, and 147,00 foreign graduates of U.S. universities. Also, several Democrat-run states are granting professional licenses to illegal immigrants. In addition, legal immigration brings in more than 150,000 white-collar immigrants each year.

More at Breitbart

Warren slams Clintons at AFL-CIO meeting

How about a feel good moment for the day? Fauxahontas Liz is on the war path, and looks like she would love to skin Hillary alive. Bill is high on her list as well,

In some her strongest language yet, liberal icon Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) slammed economic policies embraced over the years by both Bill and Hillary Clinton in remarks today before an AFL-CIO conference.Insurgent progressive potential presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren took aim at the Clinton legacy during a major labor summit on Wednesday.

The Massachusetts senator slammed the deregulation of Wall Street under former President Bill Clinton’s watch and dismissed his contention that the “era of big government” was over, according to video obtained by America Rising.

“Pretty much the whole Republican Party, and if we’re going to be honest too many Dems, have talked about the evils of Big Government and called for deregulation,” Warren told the AFL-CIO Summit on Raising Wages.

Clinton oversaw the repeal of the core of the Glass-Steagall Act, allowing financial institutions to operate as investment, insurance, and commercial banking operations. Warren blamed the withdrawal of such financial regulations for the 2008 market crash and economic recession.

More at Free Beacon

Have a dead pet? Unions demand bereavement time off

Other than killing who knows how many Veterans at unionized VA Hospitals, unions carry on. Having worked at a unionized Hospital I can tell you that this demand is nothing unusual. Of course, no one gets fired as a union worker, so it is Katy bar the door. One wrong statement to a union worker ends up in days of protracted legal wrangling. There, I said it.

Called stretching my angst against unions.

Via Herald Sun:

BEREAVEMENT leave on the death of pets is among outrageous union demands mining bosses say are putting jobs at risk.

Mining giant Rio Tinto says unions are using unreasonable claims to drag out negotiations on employment deals at its mines, costing the resources industry time and money.

Rio Tinto Australia managing director Phil Edmands said other ambit claims put to the company include complaints that seats in portable huts used for meal breaks at mines do not have cushions and calls for an extra 7½ days’ annual holidays.

Keep reading…

HT: Moonbattery

NLRB plans on stopping businesses from ever moving

How soon are we going to realize that we are living in a totalitarian state? The infamous NLRB that Obama has pinned his high hopes on destroying any vestiges of a free state is back at it and wants to condemn businesses from ever moving their business. I was surprised to read at present, the Courts can already mandate a business remain in its present location. And just who is Mr. Griffin?

Richard Griffin, the new general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, wants to give unions a veto over a unionized employer’s decision to relocate. If Griffin has his way, and he most assuredly will, some unionized businesses will be pinned in place at the discretion of their unions.

Mr. Griffin previously served as General Counsel for International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE).  He also served on the board of directors for the AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee, a position he held since 1994.  Since 1983, he has held a number of leadership positions with IUOE from Assistant House Counsel to Associate General Counsel. From 1985 to 1994, Mr. Griffin served as a member of the board of trustees of the IUOE’s central pension fund.

Unions can contest the employer’s decision, but they have no right to participate in it or otherwise delay it absent a court order enjoining it.

 

Griffin’s intent was disclosed in a memorandum he sent the agency’s regional directors ordering them not to act on cases presenting issues “of concern” to him — and there were many such issues — without receiving guidance from his office. Griffin’s guidance will be to order an employer to be prosecuted not on the basis of what the law is but on the law as Griffin would like it to be. This will give the board an opportunity to change the law.

Under current law, it is perfectly legal for a unionized employer to relocate some or all of its facilities and eliminate bargaining-unit work if the move is motivated by economic gain — not by a desire to retaliate against employees for their union activities and support. A desire to escape the consequences of unionization, particularly high labor costs, is considered an independent, innocent motivation, not an unlawful one. Big Labor loathes this law; Griffin intends to help unions nullify it.

Under longstanding NLRB law, a unionized employer is not required to bargain with the union over a relocation decision that is motivated by labor-cost savings if the employer determines that bargaining would be futile — that the union could not offer labor-cost savings that could change its decision. Unions can contest the employer’s decision, but they have no right to participate in it or otherwise delay it absent a court order enjoining it.

More ate 

 

Labor Dept.on payments to labor unions worldwide

Senate Republicans say the Labor Department appears to be spending millions  in taxpayer dollars to establish labor unions and promote collective bargaining  in foreign countries and are asking top Obama administration officials for a  full audit.

The purported activities were conducted by the agency’s Bureau of  International Labor Affairs.

The bureau for the past several years has purportedly made numerous awards —  worth millions of dollars — to the United Nations, the Solidarity Center and  other similar groups, “whose stated objective is to help establish labor unions  in foreign countries,” the senators said.

The bureau’s stated mission is to “help ensure that workers around the world are  treated fairly and are able to share in the benefits of the global  economy.” 

When I caught this story, an old post of mine came to mind. In the heat of the Acorn scandals which was a headliner for months, I recalled that Wade Rathke, founder of ACORN had moved on to India of all places. Acorn Alive and Well- Moving World-Wide

…[Wade] Rathke, who left the US ACORN group in 2008, focuses now on a separate organization he founded named ACORN International. The group has members in nine countries, including India, and focuses on the billion or so people who live in mega-slums.

So now we know where ACORN is getting its funding. From us. Recall Wade Rathke?

  • Founder and former Chief Organizer of ACORN, a nationwide activist network engaged in “community organizing” and in voter mobilization drives for George Soros’ Shadow Party
  • Former draft-resistance activist for the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)
  • Former activist in the National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO) and protegé of its founder George A. Wiley
  • Co-founder of the Tides Foundation, along with Drummond Pike. Currently serves as Board Chairman of the Tides Center and member of the Tides Foundation Board of Directors
  • Founded Local 100 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in New Orleans and heads it to this day. Rathke is president and co-founder of SEIU’s Southern Conference and a member of SEIU’s national executive board. He also helped launch the United Labor Union (ULU), which organizes low-skill service workers.
  • Rathke chairs the AFL-CIO’s Organizers Forum and formerly served as Secretary-Treasurer of the Greater New Orleans AFL-CIO.

Full background over at Discover the Networks 

“At a time when our federal budget is deteriorating rapidly … it is troubling  to us that the department appears to be spending millions of dollars of taxpayer  funds to establish labor unions and promote collective bargaining in foreign  countries,” they said in a letter to acting Labor Secretary Seth Harris

Read more:  Fox News