Obamaville - August 27, 2014 - Secret Obama "End of Days" Strategy Leaked

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In yet another example of the porous condition of the Obama sinking Ship of State,  there has been another breach of security with the discovery of a top secret strategy for the remainder of the Obama presidency to divert the attention of the public, continue the intellectual constipation of the congress and hoodwink the lethargic news media while pursuing a new set of objectives before Obama's forced retirement in 2016.

Highlights of this top secret document by Obama Minister of Propaganda David Puff were found this morning on Twitter and include some of the following stunning revelations and a whole lot more unstunning things.  Ironically the Tweet was sent from the Twit Harry Reid website, Harry's Harangues, under the secret coding "End of Days".

In recognition of the fact Obama can never regain his popularity with the American public because you "can't fool all the people all the time", the Puff Master has concocted a new set of strategies to get what you want before it's too late, sort of a "bleed the beast" game plan.

The new Obama foreign policy doctrine - American Dwindlism - shall be pursued with vigor as it is the only policy initiative that worked in the eyes of the public.  Polling has shown that the gullible public will buy anything cloaked in the "more for less" strategy in which the less we do around the world the more we have to spend on our own special interests.

No one cares that millions are dying in Africa from wars and Ebola.  No one cares if women are slaves in terrorist states.  No one cares if Moslems kill Christians, Jews kill Moslems, Moslems kill Moslems, Jews are killed by Moslems, Russians kill Ukrainians, Ukrainians kill Russians, hip hoppers kill rappers, and cell phone radiation kills kids.

In fact, American funding of all our foreign enemies will end and Obama will no longer accept speaking engagements from any nation that has the audacity to ask us for handouts, and that does not have modern golf courses, although not necessarily in that order.

As for the home front here in the colonies, the Puffball has that all figured out as well.  The new Obama domestic policy is Selective Socialism Works Best, a new call to arms for all the Liberals who are bent out of shape by the bizarre Obama style of socialism.

Puffy encourages disenchanted liberals to pull up their skirts and focus on the possible like keep the news media attention on Gay Marriage so they don't look too close at failed health care.  Keep the attention on voting rights for illegal immigrants so the news media won't look too close at the collapsing education system.

There will be a new two-tiered wealth redistribution program 1.) from the Middle Class to the poor, 2.) from the Middle Class to the rich.

The new left motto is to be - Deconstruction rather than Resurrection - meaning I guess you have to die before you can be saved.

Other gems from the new Obama strategy include the Timothy Leary waiver of liability to any drug (pharmaceutical) corporation, selling legal or illegal drugs that are guaranteed to make people feel happy for as long as they remain under doctor's care, or induce forgetfulness on the addict that can be diagnosed as Alzheimer's disease thus making it eligible for lifetime medical assistance from Medicare.

Of course corrupt bankers, financial managers, home mortgage executives, auto industry executives, union bosses, lobbyists, politicians, Wall Streeters, MSNBC mouthpieces and Ivy League teachers and graduates still in good standing with the Obama Campaign Committee retain their shield of immunity until the end of the End of Days.

Finally, priority for White House party bookings will be given to any musical acts on the endangered species list that are threatened by bar fights, night club shoot outs, inflammatory lyrics, immoral actions or friendship with Justin Beiber or Miley Cyrus.  I mean if Obama saves all those billions in foreign policy flops some should go to the personal enjoyment and gratification of those card carrying members of the White House hood.                  

The Interests of Special Interests - What Greed? Not in New Jersey

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For those of you who pay attention you might have noticed that greed is not limited Wall Street and the politicians in Washington, it is penetrating throughout society. Let me give you yet another manifestation of greed in America.

Before telling you, let me first say I am a strong supporter of teachers but believe the education system is broken. I worked for eight years for the Governor of New Jersey. A couple of years I spent as the Assistant State Treasurer. While there I got to know the other side of the education industry and the power of special interests.

Since we left office in Jersey, leaving behind a substantial budget surplus, the subsequent Democratic governors have driven the tax rates in Jersey to the highest in the nation. The state teachers union is one of the strongest in the nation. No doubt they provided for the teachers as well as themselves. But what is the result?



Taxes are so high in Jersey that two decades of inward migration to Jersey were reversed in the past decade and people, mainly high income, are fleeing the state. In revolt, the people of Jersey stunned the political pundits and elected a Republican governor last November after almost 30 years of Democrats in control.

The incumbent governor, a Democrat and former CEO of Goldman Sachs, had pushed the liberal agenda which includes coddling the special interests too far. He was bounced from office. Faced with a deficit he inherited of $11 billion the new governor outline an ambitious recovery program.

Many people don't realize that by law states cannot have a deficit, unlike the federal government that lives off the future taxes of our kids. The budget has to be balanced. So the new governor rolled up his sleeves and went to work. New Governor Chris Christie faced a huge problem. According to writer Mark Impomeni in a story on the Human events blog website this is what happened.



Christie proposed a cut in state aid to education, intended to generate $500 million in savings the first year and $800 million the second year. It was equal to the annual budget surpluses in the school district and would result in no lost teaching jobs nor reduction in services. The teacher's union, in control of the legislature, demanded a new tax on families with incomes over $400,000 to pay the cost, a reinstatement of an old temporary tax that was responsible for driving tens of thousands of jobs out of the state. In fact the previous Democratic governor and legislature had refused to extend the tax.

Christie was elected on a platform of no tax increases and a cut in excessive state spending. He said no and countered with a challenge to the teachers union tax increase proposal.: He called on teachers to voluntarily agree to a one-year wage freeze and a permanent 1.5% of their salary to go toward the cost of their health insurance. The governor said that doing so would save school districts across the state more than the $820 million he was proposing to cut, resulting in no net reductions for education.

You see, thanks to the strength of the teachers union and the weakness of the Democrats in New Jersey teachers do not pay a single cent for health care. Retired teachers also pay nothing for health care. The health care plan for teachers ranked as one of the most expensive in the nation and was so extravagant it was classified as a "Cadillac" program and almost subject to a luxury tax under the Obama plan.



When the NJEA balked at this proposal, Christie took his case to the people. The governor said that New Jersey voters should reject the budget in any school district in which teachers refused to accept the wage freeze and health plan contributions.



“I just don't see how citizens should want to support a budget where their teachers have not wanted to be part of the shared sacrifice,” Christie said.

The teachers’ union, the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), mounted a massive public campaign against the cuts, airing ads on local television accusing the governor of “attacking teachers, school bus drivers, and lunch aides.”



Last Tuesday, voters in the state decided overwhelmingly in the governor’s favor.

In an average year, nearly 70% of school budgets in New Jersey are approved. But last Tuesday, almost six-in ten-school budgets went down to defeat, a stunning reversal. Now, school budgets that were rejected will go to town councils for mandatory spending cuts or approval over the will of the voters. It seems unlikely in the current political climate that many town councils will choose to substitute their judgment for that of the voters. It is nothing short of a huge political victory for the governor.

Reacting to the vote, Christie called the results, “an extraordinarily clear signal” and “a seismic change that reflects … a changed attitude in New Jersey.” Still, Christie sought to distance himself from any personal political benefits from the vote, casting himself as the people’s messenger.



“[The people have] had enough,” Christie said. “They want real, fundamental change. We didn't lead in that regard. We merely gave voice to what the people of New Jersey were already feeling.”

The NJEA issued no comment on the results.

Christie moved quickly to capitalize on the vote, calling on the legislature to approve an amendment to the state constitution limiting property tax increases to 2.5% a year, to cut pensions and benefits for public sector workers, and to change the collective bargaining process to help reign in expanding budgets at the state and local level.



“We must arm the municipal governments with the tools they need,” he said. “We need to give people the opportunity to control their own property taxes."

Christie has been gaining national attention for his strongly conservative approach to closing New Jersey’s huge budget deficit. Tuesday’s victory will only serve to increase his national profile. New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio said the school budget votes in New Jersey were “a national model for fundamental change” and pledged to follow Christie’s example in Albany if elected.
Christie will now seek to push his $29 billion budget through the legislature ahead of the June 30 deadline. Tuesday’s results make it far more likely that his spending cuts will make it through largely intact.

This victory at the local polls demonstrates the degree to which the people's revolt against past spending habits has penetrated the American political system. It should serve as a warning to the free spending liberals throughout the nation that the Tea Party is just beginning and Independents have become more determined than ever to stop the nonsense and get control of government at all levels.



I lived in Jersey for 16 years and this is one of the most positive signs I have seen that the state has finally seen the light and is ready to again become the powerhouse of the Northeast, a position it last occupied when I was working for Governor Tom Kean. It is great to see Governor Christie is a man of his word and that the people understand it. Welcome back Jersey.

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Obama's Return to Health Care - A Case of Chicago Arrogance?

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Tomorrow Obama has scheduled a bi-partisan meeting on health care. Unfortunately, he has already taken the Senate and House Democratic bills and combined them into what he calls a template for a final bill. We are talking about over 1000 pages consolidated into a template. That is rather absurd. But giving the president the benefit of the doubt, so he has a template.



However, he has already said, before the meeting took place, that if the Republicans don't do what he wants them to do he will force his bill through Congress using a reconciliation act. Now that seems to take away any interest in bi-partisanship, any intent to negotiate, and any concern for the public will which is obvious from the elections in New Jersey, Virginia and Massachusetts or the polls showing the vast majority of Americans do not want a wholesale overhaul of health care. The public just wants the problems fixed.



As for the reconciliation procedure to circumvent the Senate rules, it was established for the sole purpose of establishing a mechanism to deal with contentious budget issues, not general policy. To date it has only been used for budget issues. The Byrd rule within the reconciliation procedure says no bill may be considered that will increase the national debt at the end of ten years.



With all the confusion over the impact of health care reform, and the dependence on certain budget assumptions by the White House regarding unemployment and tax revenues over the next ten years, does anyone really think this White House can be wrong on every economic and budget projection to date and not be wrong on a ten year health care projection. Not to mention that the health care reform goes way beyond a budget bill and impacts on federal policy and programs in many none budgetary ways.



So, what does it all mean? First, in the interest of transparency which Obama hails as a first step toward getting this done, the President must reveal his deals with the unions contained in this bill. He must also reveal how the auto bailout has already given the unions a multi-billion dollar payoff for health benefits. Then he must reveal any secret deals made between the White House, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel in particular, to protect the union benefits far exceeding normal health care benefits and pharmaceutical corporations to protect them from foreign competition. Finally, he must reveal any deal with the Trial Lawyers that might prevent tort reform from being included in the package.



One last item. Our health care system is built around a maze of stock ownership positions as most health care providers are private corporations. Also in the interest of transparency the White House should disclose those investment houses they have discussed health care reform with and what promises might have been made to the Goldman Sachs, JP Morgans and banks regarding their investment in these health care special interests. Far more than the insurance companies stand to gain big bucks from the Obama plan and the involvement of Wall Street in the White House plan must also be disclosed.



There is no way the president will allow the truth about any of those questions to come out as they would undermine any bi-partisan efforts and result in outrage by the public, Republicans and moderate Democrats. Obama as much as said it already by threatening to shove the bill down our throats with the misapplication of the reconciliation procedure.



Now if the Republicans do not press for answers on these issues they are just as delinquent as the White House. The Republicans must have an alternative to the Obama plan, and they must demand answers in the interest of transparency on these issues.

It is clear Obama's Chicago gang has no concern for the public will and events starting tomorrow will demonstrate if the Democrats and Republicans chose to ignore the public as well. If our elected officials do not listen to the mood of the public, and pay attention to all those polls they claim they do not read, then we know they are serving special interests and not the public interest.

The Administration and Congress are at a crossroads. They have to decide whether their campaign funds are more important than the public good. They need to pass a health care bill that reduces the cost and improves the service without impacting on the national debt. Will they serve the public interest or the special interests. We may soon know.

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Omaha Slaps Bank Tax on Public - To Be Paid by 2018 - Rakes in Millions from Banks in 2010

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Come on Mr. President, you demonstrate how hard you will be on the banks by slapping a $90 billion tax over the next 8 years yet squeeze them for hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign funds right now. What kind of math is that? Just how does the public benefit from your campaign coffers and those of all your cronies on capitol hill? And by the way, the real economic crooks were running hedge funds and derivative funds that were sold to those bad banks but you forgot to punish them. Is that fair?



Clearly the Obama gang thinks very little of the common sense of Americans. The same day Obama was raising $90 billion from the banks, assuming congress is stupid enough to pass it, Obama is guaranteeing the labor unions that their extravagant health insurance benefits would not be taxed until 2018 as a bribe to get their support for health care. Seems the union members have Cadillac health care like Congress and the fat cats on Wall Street.

So we go after the banks for a paltry sum compared to the damage they did to the economy, a few trillion dollars lost to the little people in America. And we exempt unions from being taxed for health benefits that we are already paying for through the auto bailout, the transfer of GM stock to the unions, and the stimulus to help car sales. Now aren't these the same health care benefits that broke the auto companies in the first place and plunged them into bankruptcy?



Sometimes I am in awe of the Harvard business school accounting of government expenditures and national debt that seems to emit from the Obama economic team. Their actions would at least seem sincere if they were not shaking down Wall Street and all of corporate America for millions of dollars in campaign contributions from the very special interests Obama was going to run out of Washington.

So far his effort to purge capitol hill of lobbyists has consisted of having them all move to the White House where they will be taken care of if they contribute to the Democratic campaign funds. I really like this election year. The Democrat Speaker of the House, Steny Hoyer, has already raised money from every major bank and pharmaceutical company on Wall Street including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, CitiGroup, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and a blue chip list of other Wall Street titans.

I wonder when the tsunami of Wall Street money flooding into Obama and the Democrats in congress becomes a conflict of interest? If Obama was being so hard on Wall Street why are they having record profits in the first place? If Obama was so hard on pharmaceutical lobbyists why are they pouring money into his campaigns? And if Obama was so hard on the health insurance providers why did their stock value skyrocket when the Obama Health Care bill passed the Senate?



The facts seem to contradict the words of our president in spite of his failure to see his own hypocrisy. Maybe he should consider that the people see through his hypocrisy as well. As his poll numbers fall through the floor and he drags Democratic candidate after Democratic candidate with him someone should tell him he is captain of a runaway train heading for a big wreck, not captain of the ship of state.

Slow down Mr. President, the time for a full court press is when you have a chance to win the game, not after it is hopelessly lost.

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Obama Caught Between Two Masters - Goldman Sachs & SEIU - Part 1. Goldman Sachs

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President Obama has taken on one of the most difficult jobs possible, trying to please two master with very different agendas. On the one hand is Goldman Sachs, the undisputed king of Wall Street and his long time corporate sponsor. On the other the more traditional sponsor of liberal Democrats the SEIU labor union, the Service Employees International Union. Of course there is nothing normal about either of these two contenders and so far they are leaving all their competition in the dust when it comes to benefitting from the actions of the new president.

One is the epitome of corporate excess with over a billion dollars in bonuses paid even in the worst of times. Goldman not only is the only financial institution to actually improve their position during the world economic collapse but actually wiped out competition in the process while making money every time money flowed from the federal spigot during the bank bailout, the AIG bailout, the housing crisis and bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the economic stimulus and even the cap and trade bill making it's way through Congress.




Long before Obama became a household name, before he was even elected to a federal office, Goldman was shepherding his meteoric rise through the ranks of political wannabes. Of course it helped that Obama's closest advisor and mentor, Rahm Emanuel, was on Goldman's payroll before Obama ever thought about running for office. When he was raising money for the Clinton presidential run in 1992 he was also on the Goldman payroll and investigations were launched that stopped the illegal corporate subsidy.




After serving as a White House aide during Clinton's term, in 2000, just before leaving office, Clinton then appointed Rahm to the Board of Freddie Mac where the sub-prime mortgage plot was hatched that triggered the economic disaster years later. A major player in this market was Goldman Sachs who was to make billions of dollars before the sub-prime market dried up and the Obama Administration had to bailout the banks and mortgage companies.




Emanuel spent three years as an investment banker after his Clinton years making $16 million and then ran for Congress, with the generous help of Goldman and the Wall Street community. Making a name for himself as the most prolific Democratic fund raiser ever Emanuel rose to #4 in the party hierarchy before being tapped by Obama as his Chief of Staff.




While Emanuel was a Congressman from Illinois Obama was to get a tremendous shot in the arm in his presidential ambitions with the help of Goldman, starting from his first campaign for federal office, the US Senate, in 2004. In the Democratic primary Obama was a distant underdog to millionaire Blair Hull who was caught in a scandal and forced to resign from the race. Interestingly, Blair Hull's company was purchased by Goldman Sachs shortly afterward.




In the general election Obama was again a distant underdog to millionaire Republican Jack Ryan who was also forced to resign from the race because of a scandal. Ryan was a partner in Goldman Sachs. This cleared the way for Obama to be the new Senator from Illinois and launched his presidential bid. In 2006 Obama secretly met with Goldman Sachs executives in Chicago and soon after, thanks to the fund raising of Goldman, his presidential bid was launched.




In 2008 Goldman sponsored a secret meeting at the Metropolitan Museum where Obama was prepared for debating by none other than former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw, who would moderate the final presidential debate of the campaign. Of course this was not disclosed to the media or public either.




Goldman was the leading contributor to Obama while the sub-prime mortgage market collapsed, while the oil futures market prices skyrocketed for no good reason, and for the economic collapse of the USA when the multi-billion dollar bank bailout was enacted. The bailout legislation was prepared by Bush Treasury Secretary Paulsen, a former Goldman CEO, steered through the House by Rahm Emanuel, a former Goldman Executive, and even approved by Senator Obama.




Once elected Obama immediately appointed Emanuel Chief of Staff and the AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailouts, and Stimulus bill were approved with Goldman benefitting with billions of dollars in revenues. Far outperforming everyone in the financial sector in the first 6 months of the Obama rein, the Goldman dominance was so great that at one week in the spring Goldman's program trading on the New York exchange was greater than the combined total of the next 14 traders worldwide.




Goldman has the inside track for controlling the "cap and trade" energy market, the bizarre centerpiece of the Obama Green energy program that will create immense wealth for Goldman, Al Gore and whoever else they decide to include. Gore's partner in his financial schemes which have already made him $100 million as the Green King is also from Goldman. What real benefit to the environment from cap and trade remains to be seen.




Now Emanuel is heading the White House efforts to regulate Wall Street and the financial markets and draft the necessary rules and regulations to tighten controls. Perhaps that explains why no action has been taken in nine months. If Obama does not know what the legions of former Goldman executives are doing in his administration he is merely a puppet. If he does know then he has a lot of explaining to do to the American public. I'd say to the media and Congress as well but they have ignored the Goldman factor for years. Perhaps the millions in campaign contributions from Goldman and Wall Street have influenced this ignorance by Congress.




Although Obama and Treasury have sternly criticized Wall Street and the investment banks for the manipulation of the stock market, sub-prime mortgage market and oil futures market, Obama has been silent on Goldman and their role in these activities. He has also never answered questions as to the role Goldman played in his Senate campaigns, his presidential campaigns and the extent of his contacts and those of the many former Goldman executives on his staff with current Goldman executives.

Obama promised transparency and gave us a brick wall. He promised reform and gave us more of the same. He promised to penalize the violators and he gave them unlimited wealth. Now he is trying to complete his deal and deliver to them the cap and trade and even health reform legislation on top of the trillion plus already given through the bank, insurance, auto, and housing bailouts and the stimulus bill. Just today the White House announced that the financial reforms are being scaled back from expectations. Imagine that?

In the tale of the two Masters, the SEIU has no chance against Goldman Sachs when it comes to deciding which master will win out with the Obama administration. Goldman has billions to manipulate while SEIU must borrow money to play the money game. So far the return to Goldman has already been in the billions of dollars while the token victories given to SEIU have not even made a dent in paying their debts.




Nor can SEIU match the vast army of former Goldman executives strategically placed throughout the Obama administration and throughout the world of finance and politics. No one has ever questioned the loyalty of this massive force. Andy Stern may have attended the Wharton School of Finance but Goldman wrote the course and probably financed the school's endowment fund.

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Obama Caught Between Two Masters - Goldman Sachs & SEIU - Part 2. SEIU

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Radical even among unions, the Service Employees International Union has staked a name for itself building it's two million members not just by organizing the workplace but by stealing members from other long established unions.

The genius behind this radical labor movement is Andy Stern, yet another of the many Obama backers who were youthful members of the most radical organizations of the 1960's. Andy was in the socialist SDS, Students for a Democratic Society, before setting off on a life of organizing. To his credit, SDS was rather radical but never endorsed the use of terrorist bombings like other socialist groups.




Stern, perhaps the most loved and most hated member of the labor movement in modern America, began his career as a community organizer and never looked back. During his years as recruitment coordinator for the President of the AFL-CIO he consistently pushed for revitalization of the labor union movement and refocusing American unions to consolidate and gain bargaining power.

By 2005 he was head of the SEIU and was pushing his boss, John Sweeny, President of the AFL-CIO to make reforms or he would lead a walkout from the union federation. Sweeny balked and Stern made good on his threat. Within a year he formed the Change to Win (CTW) Labor Federation, getting the powerful Teamsters and five other unions to join forces with the SEIU. It was the first new labor federation in America in 50years.



Meanwhile he targeted other unions in a radical move to build his SEIU and his membership soared to 2 million this year, the largest labor union in America, with nearly 1 million health care workers. Parlaying the millions of dollars in membership dues and lack of unions in the health care industry Stern claims he spent $60.7 million to get Obama elected. It would be the largest union and special interest campaign financing ever given to a single candidate.

What was the price of the financing for Obama? Perhaps it is most obvious in the actions by the new president. Within ten days of becoming president, on January 30, 2009, Obama signed the first three Executive Orders wanted by the unions.

The first executive order requires employers with federal contracts above $100,000 in value to post a notice in the workplace informing their employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), including the right to join a union. This order also repeals Executive Order 13201, issued by President Bush in 2001, that required federal contractors and subcontractors to post so-called “Beck notices.” Such notices, named after the Supreme Court’s decision in Communication Workers v. Beck, 487 U.S. 735 (1988) informed employees covered under the NLRA that they could not be required to join a union or maintain union membership in order to retain their jobs and that employees who are subject to a union security clause and choose not to be union members may object to the purposes for which mandatory union dues are used.

The second order applies to federal contractors who provide services to government buildings. While there are several exemptions, under this new executive order, when a federal agency changes contractors, the new contractor will be required to offer jobs to the non-supervisory employees of its predecessor. This order is designed to try to ensure that when a unionized contractor is replaced, its successor will be obliged under existing labor laws to bargain with the original contractor’s labor union.

Finally, the third order prevents federal contractors from being reimbursed in federal funds for money spent to oppose (or support) union organizing efforts among their employees. The First Amendment prevents government from interfering with an employer’s right to voice its opinion on the merits of unionization. Similar measures have been enacted in some states, with respect to their state contractors, but the Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that California ’s law to this effect was invalid because it was preempted by the National Labor Relations Act. Although a federal executive order is different than state legislation, there may be legal challenges to this executive order’s constitutionality, including a possible violation of the First Amendment. Unless and until the order is successfully challenged, however, federal contractors who still wish to oppose union organizing campaigns will need to consider the effects of this order on their ability to continue doing so without jeopardizing their federal contracts.




In another boost to organized labor, just six days later President Barack Obama on February 6, 2009, signed a fourth Executive Order, effective immediately, authorizing executive agencies of the federal government to require every contractor or subcontractor on a large-scale construction project to negotiate or become a party to a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) with one or more labor organizations. This is the fourth pro-labor Executive Order signed by President Obama since January 30th.

A PLA is a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement between contractors and one or more unions that establishes the terms and conditions of employment for a specific construction project. The stated rationale for this Order is that a PLA can promote the “efficient and expeditious completion of Federal construction contracts” by ensuring a “steady supply of labor” and the avoidance of “labor disputes” which can delay the project.

This Executive Order, which specifically revokes contrary Executives Orders issued by former President George W. Bush in 2001 and reinstates a Clinton-administration rule, was immediately hailed by organized labor. "This is yet another reason for working families to be grateful that we have a champion in the White House," Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa stated. In the same vein, Mark H. Ayers, president of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD), praising President Obama, stated: “The Bush anti-PLA executive order was exactly the type of special interest-driven politics and policy that American voters rejected overwhelmingly last November…. [Project Labor Agreements] provide maximum benefit to construction users; union and non-union workers; union and non-union contractors; lenders and insurance companies; and taxpayers.”




This was only the beginning.

Though stymied on the Employee Free Choice Act, (the Card Check Act), abolishment of the secret ballot in elections which would make it easier for workers to form unions, organized labor claimed a big consolation prize: the massive application of a law guaranteeing “prevailing wages” for hundreds of thousands of construction workers hired under President Obama’s economic stimulus program.

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood implemented guidelines to expand the scope of the 1931 Davis-Bacon Act, according to a department spokesperson. LaHood’s action will put a floor under wages paid for the more than 578,000 construction jobs that the White House estimates will be created by the end of 2010. It also marks a sharp reversal of U.S. policy on public works projects under President Bush, who in September 2005 suspended Davis-Bacon in the Gulf States after Hurricane Katrina.

Such is the power of Stern that Obama once said he consulted with SEIU on every major decision he makes. Proof of the power is that the White House, when it became obvious that the Obama healthcare initiative was in danger of losing support and faced with a series of contentious town hall meeting in August, brought Stern and SEIU in to manage the campaign for approval.




Stern dispatched the SEIU mobile centers to coordinate town halls for nervous members of the House and Senate all over the nation. They were to control and counteract the opponents to the Obama healthcare proposals including filming events with their own video teams and feeding footage to the media to make the opponents look bad. Some say the tactics of the purple clad SEIU operatives was like thugs and one SEIU staffer was arrested for beating up an older man.




Even House Majority leader Steny Hoyer was fearful enough to hire SEIU to manage his town hall where they limited questions from the crowd to 20 total when over 1500 people were at the meeting and several hundred more were outside. Hoyer spent over one hour spouting the benefits of the Obama plan before people were allowed to take the mike and in spite of the SEIU efforts to control things the crowd began to boo his responses.

In September another victory for the unions when Obama imposed heavy import tax duties on imported Chinese tires at the request of labor unions, an action against that threatens to spark a trade war between the US and China. China has already threatened to add a tariff to imports of US poultry and vehicles. The action by Obama increased the 4% tariff on Chinese tires by 35%.

Now Congress is back and it is time to see if the big payoff is made to the SEIU, passage of health care reform that allows, even gives favorable treatment, to allow Stern to organize the health care industry in America. Over 17 million people work in health care and related social services in America. SEIU now represents about 1 million of these workers while the Communications Workers of America represents about 140,000 meaning the pool of non-unionized health care workers is huge.




SEIU expects to be the primary beneficiary of the health care reform using it to open doors to unionizing this massive prize. The union dues and lobbying wealth it would generate would dwarf current spending by the unions. A public option would make it even more desirable as public workers would be much easier to organize.

Unfortunately, the more SEIU has tried to function like a well oiled corporation the more difficulties it has encountered so it remains to be seen if Stern can wrap up the gigantic payback. If anyone can he can. However, his aggressive tactics have alienate many other unions and even some of the unions he has swallowed up are now protesting their treatment and threatening to withdraw from SEIU because of his heavy-handed tactics.

Corruption in SEIU is extensive, especially in California where battles between unions and between union leaders, most instigated by SEIU, threaten to tear apart the move to grow the unions. One union official in California calls Stern a "threat to the soul" of the union movement. Claims that members dues are being used to foster socialism and other causes not approved by members, even funding programs like the disgraced ACORN program, are a source of concern.




But the most serious threat to SEIU controlling the union movement in America may be the lavish spending to buy politicians, like the $60.7 million spent on Obama. Ironically, Obama and Congress may be the only thing standing between the union and bankruptcy. Stern led the condemnation of the greed and mismanagement on Wall Street. Now he stands to fall into the same trap as his Wall Street enemies.

According to the New York Daily News, in spite of the fact Stern undertook a bitter campaign against the Bank of America and even got the CEO thrown out last spring he was borrowing an astonishing $87.7 million from the bank at the same time. In another industry it would probably be called protection money. He borrowed another $15 million from the only union owned bank in America, the Amalgamated Bank. SEIU recently reported $33 million in assets and $102 million in liabilities.

The SEIU cannot afford delays in the payback by Congress and Obama, they need money and they need it fast. There are times the investor better have the money to invest before making the big jump. If SEIU spent $60.7 million on Obama and health care yet had to borrow $102 million to cover it the accounting does not seem to add up. It will be interesting to see if Obama, Pelosi and the Democrats can maintain the sense of urgency they need to approve the bill and help SEIU or if the public discovers the truth first.

In the tale of the two Masters, the SEIU has no chance against Goldman Sachs when it comes to deciding which master will win out with the Obama administration. Goldman has billions to manipulate while SEIU must borrow money to play the money game. So far the return to Goldman has already been in the billions of dollars while the token victories given to SEIU have not even made a dent in paying their debts.

Nor can SEIU match the vast army of former Goldman executives strategically placed throughout the Obama administration and throughout the world of finance and politics. No one has ever questioned the loyalty of this massive force. Andy Stern may have attended the Wharton School of Finance but Goldman wrote the course and probably financed the school's endowment fund.

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