• Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for August 29th through August 30th

    August 30, 2011 /

    These are my links for August 29th through August 30th:

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for August 29th on 08:31

    August 29, 2011 /

    These are my links for August 29th from 08:31 to 08:55:

    • Workplace Notice Poster for Worker’s Rights – WORKPLACE NOTICE
      Worker Rights The National Labor
      Relations Board May Not Tell You About
      For additional information:
      www.workforcefairness.org
      The Right to Decide Workers have a right to decide whether or not
      they want to be represented by a collective
      bargaining unit.
      A Secret Ballot Workers have a right to a secret ballot vote to
      decide whether or not they want to form a
      collective bargaining unit.
      A Vote on Contracts Workers have a right to vote on contracts that
      affect their salaries, benefits and workplace rules.
      Workplace Fairness Workers have a right to know that penalties for
      violating their rights will be assessed equally
      against both employers and organized labor.
      The Right to Decertify Workers have a right to vote via secret ballot to
      decertify a collective bargaining unit.
      You Control Your Dues Workers have a right to prohibit their dues from
      going to organizations that use them for political
      causes they do not agree with.
    • An EPA Moratorium – Since everyone has a suggestion or three about what President Obama can do to get the economy cooking again, here's one of ours: Immediately suspend the Environmental Protection Agency's bid to reorganize the U.S. electricity industry, and impose a moratorium on EPA rules at least until hiring and investment rebound for an extended period.

      The EPA is currently pushing an unprecedented rewrite of air-pollution rules in an attempt to shut down a large portion of the coal-fired power fleet. Though these regulations are among the most expensive in the agency's history, none were demanded by the late Pelosi Congress. They're all the result of purely bureaucratic discretion under the Clean Air Act, last revised in 1990.

      As it happens, those 1990 amendments contain an overlooked proviso that would let Mr. Obama overrule EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson's agenda. With an executive order, he could exempt all power plants "from compliance with any standard or limitation" for two years, or even longer using rolling two-year periods. All he has to declare is "that the technology to implement such standard is not available and that it is in the national security interests of the United States to do so."

      Both criteria are easily met. Most important, the EPA's regulatory cascade is a clear and present danger to the reliability and stability of the U.S. power system and grid. The spree affects plants that provide 40% of U.S. baseload capacity in the U.S., and almost half of U.S. net generation. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, which is charged with ensuring the integrity of the power supply, reported this month in a letter to the Senate that 81 gigawatts of generating capacity is "very likely" or "likely" to be subtracted by 2018 amid coal plant retirements and downgrades.

      That's about 8% of all U.S. generating capacity. Merely losing 56 gigawatts—a midrange scenario in line with FERC and industry estimates—is the equivalent of wiping out all power generation for Florida and Mississippi.

      =====

      Read it all….

    • Eric Cantor – Memo On Upcoming Jobs Agenda – As you know, we released The House Republican Plan for America’s Job Creators earlier this year. While the debt crisis has demanded much of our attention, our new majority has passed over a dozen pro-growth measures to address the equally troubling jobs crisis, such as the Energy Tax Prevention Act and the Putting the Gulf of Mexico Back to Work Act. Aside from repeal of the 1099 reporting requirement in ObamaCare, however, each House Republican jobs bill now sits dormant in the Democrat-controlled Senate. You can view the progress of our jobs bills at MajorityLeader.gov/JobsTracker.

      When we return next week, the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction will begin meeting to take an additional incremental step towards addressing our debt crisis. During this time, it is essential that the House continue our focus on the jobs crisis. Below are two areas of our jobs agenda that I want to bring to your attention for our upcoming fall and winter legislative schedule.

      REPEAL OF JOB-DESTROYING REGULATIONS TO CREATE MIDDLE CLASS JOBS

      Since passage of H.Res. 72 on February 11, our committee chairmen have been investigating and inventorying regulatory burdens to job creators. They’ve found many that have tied the hands of small business people and prevented job growth. By pursuing a steady repeal of job-destroying regulations, we can help lift the cloud of uncertainty hanging over small and large employers alike, empowering them to hire more workers.

      Our regulatory relief agenda will include repeal of specific regulations, as well as fundamental and structural reform of the rule-making system through legislation like the REINS Act, the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act, and reform of the Administrative Procedures Act (all three bills are expected on the floor in late November and early December).

      The following is a list of the 10 most harmful job-destroying regulations that our committee chairmen have identified, as well as a selective calendar for their repeal. These regulations are reflective of the types of costly bureaucratic handcuffs that Washington has imposed upon business people who want to create jobs.

      ======

      Read it all for the top ten job-destroying regulations

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for August 26th through August 29th

    August 29, 2011 /

    These are my links for August 26th through August 29th:

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for August 24th through August 25th

    August 25, 2011 /

    These are my links for August 24th through August 25th:

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for August 23rd through August 24th

    August 24, 2011 /

    These are my links for August 23rd through August 24th:

    • AFL-CIO Orchestrates effort to Counter Public Opposition to NLRB’s "Quickie Election" Rules – On Monday the AFL-CIO submitted more than 21,000 comments on behalf of Americans who favor a new National Labor Relations Board-proposed “quickie election” rule change.

      If the NLRB finalizes its proposed rule, the time between when union organizers file a petition and when an election takes place would be shortened to just 7–10 days. Traditionally, unionizing elections are held up to six weeks after organizers meet the petition requirements.

      Union spokesman Josh Goldstein told The Daily Caller that the 21,000 comments submitted right before Monday’s deadline “were organized by the AFL-CIO, primarily through our online tools that allow the public to be engaged in these types of opportunities to have their voices heard.”

      “These are separate from many other comments in support submitted to the NLRB not through the AFL-CIO,” Goldstein said in an email.

      =======

      Read it all

    • How Democrats Hurt Job Creation – The airplane’s aft section arrived early Monday morning. That’s what they’d been waiting for at the final assembly plant in North Charleston, S.C. They already had the wings, the nose, the tail — all the other major sections of Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner. With the arrival of the aft, the 5,000 nonunion workers in the plant can finally begin to assemble their first aircraft — a plane three years behind schedule and critical to Boeing’s future.

      The Dreamliner is important to America’s future, too. As companies have moved manufacturing offshore, Boeing has remained steadfast in maintaining a large manufacturing presence in America. It is America’s biggest exporter of manufactured products. Indeed, despite the delays, Boeing still has 827 Dreamliners on order, worth a staggering $162 billion.

      Boeing’s aircraft assembly has long been done by its unionized labor force in Puget Sound, Wash. Most of the new Dreamliners will be built in Puget Sound as well. But with the plane so far behind schedule, Boeing decided to spend $750 million to open the South Carolina facility. Between the two plants, the company hopes to build 10 Dreamliners a month.

      That’s the plan, at least. The Obama administration, however, has a different plan. In April, the National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against Boeing, accusing it of opening the South Carolina plant to retaliate against the union, which has a history of striking at contract time. The N.L.R.B.’s proposed solution, believe it or not, is to move all the Dreamliner production back to Puget Sound, leaving those 5,000 workers in South Carolina twiddling their thumbs.

      Seriously, when has a government agency ever tried to dictate where a company makes its products? I can’t ever remember it happening. Neither can Boeing, which is fighting the complaint. J. Michael Luttig, Boeing’s general counsel, has described the action as “unprecedented.” He has also said that it was a disservice to a country that is “in desperate need of economic growth and the concomitant job creation.” He’s right.

      =======

      Read it all…..

    • Nearly All Regulations Survive Obama ‘Reforms’ – The Obama administration announced regulatory reform proposals Tuesday that it claims would eliminate red tape and save taxpayers an estimated $4 billion over five years. What these reforms don't do much of is actually eliminate regulations.

      An IBD review of the proposed reforms by the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury found scant proposals of doing away with regulations. In nearly all cases they called for streamlining or other efforts to make them more efficient.

      These efforts come amid an overall rapid expansion of federal regulatory agencies under President Obama. Their budgets have grown 16% since 2008, or about $54 billion, according to a recent report by George Washington University and Washington University in St. Louis.

      Cass Sunstein, White House administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, stressed in an Op-Ed that the reforms are not a fundamental overhaul: They "complement but do not displace" rules to protect public safety and the environment.

      Tuesday's reform proposals by the HHS include updating communications technology, streamlining record keeping, revising health insurance portability rules, speeding grant application processes and giving states more flexibility on federal mandates.

      No Scrap Heap For Rules

      But few regulations will be scrapped. A rare HHS example is the end of "actuarial reporting for hospital pension costs."

      Similarly, Labor proposes standardizing, revising, amending and even "harmonizing" rules and regulations. But no sign of scrapping any could be found.

      =======

      Not really a surprise.

      It is Obama symbolism over substance.

    • @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-24 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-24 #tcot #catcot
    • R.I.P. John R. Hubbard – Former President of the University of Southern California » Flap’s California Blog – R.I.P. John R. Hubbard – Former President of the University of Southern California
    • President 2012: Is Sarah Palin Willing to Roll the Dice? | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – President 2012: Is Sarah Palin Willing to Roll the Dice? #tcot #catcot
    • CA-30 Poll Watch: Rep. Brad Sherman Leading Rep. Howard Berman » Flap’s California Blog – CA-30 Poll Watch: Rep. Brad Sherman Leading Rep. Howard Berman
  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for August 19th through August 22nd

    August 22, 2011 /

    These are my links for August 19th through August 22nd:

    • NLRB and Labor Department regulations spell trouble – An obscure federal body, the National Labor Relations Board, along with the U.S. Department of Labor recently proposed regulations that will dramatically change how union representation elections are conducted.
      If finalized, these rules will significantly reduce the availability of legal counsel for employers and will limit the ability of employers to exercise their First Amendment rights to free speech.

      Here is how these rules working together will negatively affect businesses.

      One afternoon in 2012 a small-business owner receives notice from the NLRB that a local union has filed a petition for a unionization election. The owner had no idea that union activity was occurring and is shocked to learn that his whole world could dramatically change in just two weeks.

      The owner calls his long-time lawyer seeking legal advice on what he should do to keep the union out of his family business. The owner thinks he needs to give a speech to his employees and asks for help. The lawyer says, "Sorry, I'd love to help you edit a speech, but if I do so then, under the Labor Department's new 'persuader' regulation, I'll have to publicly disclose all of my labor relations clients and what they paid me last year. I can't do that because I'd lose them as clients."

      So, the business owner goes without legal advice. Since he hasn't been in this situation before, he doesn't know all the ways to get into trouble with the NLRB. He inadvertently commits a couple "unfair labor practices" by doing something as simple as disciplining an unruly employee.

      ======

      Read it all

    • South Carolina Governor Haley: NLRB is a ‘rogue agency’ – Gov. Nikki Haley on Wednesday blasted the National Labor Relations Board as a “rogue agency” for taking action against Boeing Co. for allegedly union busting by building a $1 billion plant in South Carolina.

      Appearing on “Fox & Friends,” Haley said she strongly supports Boeing, which has been accused by the NLRB of locating the plant in South Carolina, where unions are weak, and shifting workers there to retaliate against employees in Washington state for past strikes at the aircraft maker’s facilities.

      Haley said she thinks the NLRB is out of bounds and wants to prevent the same thing from happening in other states.

      “I’m a governor that’s committed to making sure this doesn’t happen to other governors,” she said.

      Haley, a Republican, blamed President Barack Obama for the NLRB action against Boeing.

      “For a president who claims he’s about job creation, he’s done nothing but try to kill all our American jobs,” she said.

      Boeing, which is building the 787 Dreamliner at the South Carolina facility, has said there’s no basis for the NLRB case.

      ======

      Indeed they are.

    • Political dispute over Boeing plant escalates – The Republican-led battle against the chief federal labor agency is escalating, with the head of a key congressional oversight panel and the top lawyer for the National Labor Relations Board accusing each other of flouting constitutional and legal constraints.

      The fight is ostensibly over the NLRB's bid to prevent Boeing from opening a jet-manufacturing plant in South Carolina. But GOP lawmakers are portraying it as Exhibit A in their case against President Barack Obama's alleged regulatory overreach.

      The dispute began in April when NLRB acting general counsel Lafe Solomon said there was potential merit in a complaint by Boeing's main union that the aerospace giant built the North Charleston, S.C., factory in retaliation for past strikes at its large plant in Everett, Wash., near Seattle.

      Boeing says it decided to make 787 Dreamliner planes in South Carolina, a right-to-work state, because of legally protected business factors.

      Among the factors Boeing cites are the South Carolina state government's granting of $900 million in tax breaks, and concerns over delays in completing deliveries to airlines around the world that have ordered more than 800 of the next-generation aircraft.

      The dispute is now before NLRB administrative law judge Clifford Anderson. In June, he rejected Boeing's motion to dismiss it and is hearing evidence from the Chicago-based firm and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

      ======

      Read it all.

      As the Presidential campaign comes to South Carolina this will be an issue.

    • Burbank Man Arrested for Feeding Pigeons Posing Risks to Airplanes at Bob Hope Airport » Flap’s California Blog – Burbank Man Arrested for Feeding Pigeons Posing Risks to Airplanes at Bob Hope Airport
    • Welcome to Flap’s California Blog » Flap’s California Blog – Welcome to Flap’s California Blog
    • North Carolina Free Clinic Treats About 2,700 Dental Patients | Smiles For A Lifetime – Temporary (Locum Tenens) Dentistry – North Carolina Free Clinic Treats About 2,700 Dental Patients
    • President 2012: Former New York Governor George Pataki to Run for President? | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – President 2012: Former New York Governor George Pataki to Run for President? #tcot #catcot
    • Flap’s Dentistry Blog: Convicted Murderer Charged With Soliciting Murder Over Loan for Dental Work – Convicted Murderer Charged With Solicitng Murder Over Loan for Dental Work
    • Day By Day August 20, 2012 – Open Season | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Day By Day August 20, 2012 – Open Season #tcot #catcot
    • Day By Day August 21, 2011 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Day By Day August 21, 2011 #tcot #catcot
    • @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-21 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-21 #tcot #catcot
    • Flap’s Links and Comments for August 19th on 12:31 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Flap’s Links and Comments for August 19th on 12:31 #tcot #catcot
    • @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-20 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-20 #tcot #catcot
    • Gregory Flap Cole: "@CEP_Observer You do know …" « Deck.ly – @CEP_Observer You do know I am no longer in private practice? Yes, they are and are important for screening… (cont)
    • foursquare – Home after the long run. Now time for some Lock Up, Hard Time and Kool-Aid (@ Home)
    • foursquare – Post 14 mile run with Alice, Tara, Nancy, and Mary (@ Ronnie's Diner w/ 3 others)
    • Shocker: California State board finds very few pay tax on out-of-state goods – As Amazon.com gathers signatures to reverse a new online tax collection law, the state Board of Equalization said Friday that a mere 0.42 percent of personal income tax filers paid use tax on their 2009 out-of-state purchases.

      The board, which administers sales and use tax collection in California, issued a new four-page review of use tax behavior in 2009. The state collected $10.4 million in use tax payments from personal-income tax returns that year.

      Under long-standing California law, taxpayers are supposed to self-report use tax on remote purchases from out-of-state businesses, though very few do so. Democrats passed a different law in June that attempted to force out-of-state retailers like Amazon.com to collect those taxes.

      BOE researchers found that wealthier taxpayers participated in greater frequency and paid more use tax to the state. Their report showed that 1.12 percent of households making more than $100,000 in adjusted gross income paid use tax, compared to 0.15 percent of those reporting between $0 and $30,000. It also showed that those above $100,000 paid on average $311 in use tax, compared to $76 for those making between $0 and $30,000.

      ======

      What a shocker!

    • Jerry Brown removing GOP appointees from key water panel – In his latest move to reverse GOP appointments, Gov. Jerry Brown will replace former Sen. Dave Cogdill and water agency leader Paul Kelley on a key panel that will shape decisions on water storage and a possible Delta canal, the governor's spokesman confirmed Friday.

      Cogdill was the chief GOP legislative negotiator on the historic 2009 water deal that placed an $11 billion bond on a future statewide ballot and reconstituted the California Water Commission. His subsequent appointment by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to the nine-member commission was considered part of the bipartisan deal struck that year by lawmakers and the former Republican governor.

      Kelley is a former Sonoma County supervisor and former director of the Sonoma County Water Agency. A Republican, he serves as president of the Association of California Water Agencies, a key player in the 2009 water talks.

      Brown and Republican lawmakers have been at odds, particularly since talks broke down over a state budget deal in June. Republicans have accused Brown of rescinding past promises made by Democrats in bipartisan agreements and see the Cogdill move as the latest example.

      ======

      So, what else is new?

      Jerry Brown is a cry-baby partisan who failed as Governor the forst time and is failing today.

    • Older Americans with a College Education Have Better Emotional Health After Age 65? | Smiles For A Lifetime – Temporary (Locum Tenens) Dentistry – Older Americans with a College Education Have Better Emotional Health After Age 65?
    • Flap’s Dentistry Blog: There is an APP for Your Dental Lab Prescription Dentists: Dental Rx – There is an APP for Your Dental Lab Prescription Dentists: Dental Rx
  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for August 18th through August 19th

    August 19, 2011 /

    These are my links for August 18th through August 19th:

    • A Textbook Case of Government Waste and Stupidity – With a finite – and as far as most Democrats are concerned, insufficient – supply of taxpayer funds out there, its always interesting to see the choices that politicians with the power to spend the money make.
      Take Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, for example. Yes, that Jack Conway, of ‘Aqua Budda’ fame. Conway has been on the warpath against for-profit colleges, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer funds to mount an investigation against seven academic institutions in the state.

      Conway’s investigation recently got a big break. The smoking gun?  Owensboro-based Daymar College seems to have overcharged students for textbooks. That’s right; apparently Daymar encouraged students to purchase textbooks in the college bookstore even though they were available more cheaply through other retailers.
      For anyone who has been to college this quarter-century, the textbook charges are laughable. Every school, from community colleges all the way up to the ritziest private universities, tries to snooker students into buying their textbooks at the bookstore then they could easily get them for less on Amazon.com.
      The real issue is that state officials like Conway are conducting a witch-hunt against for-profit colleges when they should be focusing time and money on rampant fraud within taxpayer-funded public schools.
      For-profit colleges are private institutions that students can choose to attend or not to attend. The same cannot be said for public schools, which are racking up institutionalized cheating scandals faster than investigators can keep up with them.
      A few examples: Edison College, a public college in Florida, was recently caught forging transcripts en masse to inflate graduation rates. In Atlanta Public Schools, a massive fraud operation was uncovered that implicated hundreds of teachers in over 40 schools and went right on up to the Superintendent. Atlanta is by no means alone; an increasing number of teachers and administrators across the country have been discovered inflating grades and forging test answers in order to keep bad teachers on the rolls until they could collect their pensions.

      =======

      Read it all

    • Oversight Committee responds to NLRB’s refusal to comply with subpoena – The National Labor Relations Board’s refusal to comply with a congressional subpoena could lead to the disbarment of the NLRB attorneys working on the case against the Boeing Co., House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa wrote in a letter to the labor agency.

      “I trust you stand ready to accept the severe consequences of your decision to avoid compliance with the subpoena,” Issa, R-Calif., wrote.

      Issa and NLRB have been haggling over the committee’s requests for documentation in the board’s case against the Boeing Co. over its final assembly and delivery plant in North Charleston. The NLRB issued the complaint against Boeing in April, accusing the aerospace giant of opening the S.C. plant to retaliate for worker strikes at its Puget Sound plant in Everett, Wash.

      Acting general counsel Lafe Solomon has argued that releasing the requested documents could affect the ongoing hearings in Seattle. He’s also cited attorney-client privilege and a ruling by an NLRB administrative court judge to deny the release of similar documents to Boeing earlier in the case.

      Issa wrote that privileged matters disclosed to a congressional committee are not assumed to be public and that if they are public, the disclosure might not affect the outcome of the case. He also said attorney-client privilege does not apply to Congress, citing a federal court ruling.

      Issa also calls the argument based on the judge’s ruling “absurd.”

      “Quite simply, the idea that the investigative powers of Congress are bound by nonconstitutional, common-law rules of the judiciary conflicts with the separation of powers doctrine as well as the constitutional authority granted to each house of Congress to determine its own rules,” Issa wrote. “As I have previously articulated, the NLRB has no valid basis for continuing to withhold the documents the committee has requested.”

    • @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-19 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-19 #tcot #catcot
    • Lawsuit Alleges Rick Santorum’s Website Built With ‘Counterfeit’ Font | techPresident – President 2012: Lawsuit Alleges Rick Santorum's Website Built With 'Counterfeit' Font
    • Flap’s Links and Comments for August 18th on 14:07 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Flap’s Links and Comments for August 18th on 14:07 #tcot #catcot
    • President 2012: Obama Fan Sending Flap GOP Obama Getaway Postcards | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – President 2012: Obama Fan Sending Flap GOP Obama Getaway Postcards #tcot #catcot
  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for June 27th on 09:59

    June 27, 2011 /

    These are my links for June 27th from 09:59 to 10:02:

    • How many new pro-union rules will the NLRB ram through in coming months? – Earlier this week, I wrote about the real world problems with the National Labor Relations Board's new proposed rules to speed up union elections, which would punish small businesses in an attempt to expand union membership. Having written about the rules themselves, it's also worth elaborating on the insane process the NLRB is using to ram them through, which undercuts President Obama's own transparency guidance.

      ======

      Read it all….

      First, some context. Currently, there's a three-to- one Democratic majority on the NLRB. In August, the current chair Wilma Liebman's term will expire. Later in the year, the term of recess-appointed union lawyer Craig Becker will also expire. That would bring the board's composition down to a one-to-one deadlock. Given that Republicans have taken an increasingly adversarial stance toward the NLRB in wake of its general counsel's move to sue Boeing for building a nonunion factory in South Carolina, it's unlikely that the pro-union bloc will ever get stronger than it is now. So there's a tremendous incentive for the board to ram through as many union-friendly rules as possible as quickly as possible.

      That seems to be the impetus for the expedited process they're using to advance the proposed "quickie election" rules. In the lone dissent in the decision to propose the rules (which you can download here), Brian Hayes explains in detail how the board is disregarding Obama's pledges for transparency by pushing through the rules without giving the affected parties enough time to provide input.

    • The Boeing complaint should be decided, not settled – The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) should take a break from pressuring the Boeing Company to settle that agency’s “loony left” complaint (“The Economist,” May 19, 2011), which seeks to prevent Boeing from producing additional 787 aircraft in its non-union plant in South Carolina.  A settlement would protect from judicial review the imprudence of the agency’s complaint and leave standing a legal theory that it can thereafter use at the behest of organized labor to deprive less financially resourceful employers of the ability to make fundamental business decisions long protected by law. 

      The loss of 9,000 jobs in South Carolina today is just the beginning.  After all, why invest in a country where the government has declared unlawful a business’s decision to open a non-union second production line to protect the company’s continued production from the economic consequences of union-encouraged strikes? 

      ======

      Decide it and then throw Obama out of office to change the NLRB

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for June 13th through June 14th

    June 14, 2011 /

    These are my links for June 13th through June 14th:

    • Is Every Lesbian Blogger a Middle-Aged Man? – By Mark Steyn – We’re one lesbian away from a bona fide Fleet Street “trend”. Further to yesterday’s post, a lesbian blogger who helped unmask the Syrian lesbian blogger as a middle-aged American male has herself been revealed to be a middle-aged American male:

      In an apology to its readers, one of the other owners, Linda Carbonell, wrote: “The past three days have been devastating for all of us on LezGetReal. ‘Paula Brooks’ has been a part of our lives for three years now.”

      Mr Graber told the Associated Press news agency he set up LezGetReal to advance the gay and lesbian cause. He said he felt he would not be taken seriously as a straight man.

      Yeah, tell me about it.

      Miss Brooks, the founder of LezGetReal, turns out to be Bill Graber, a 58-year old construction worker from Ohio. Mr Graber feels that he should at least receive credit for unmasking yesterday’s faux-lesbian blogger, 40-year old college student Tom McMaster:

      Mr Graber defended his actions, saying he had helped unmask Mr MacMaster by tracking his posts to computer servers in Edinburgh.

      “He would have got away with it if I hadn’t been such a stand-up guy,” Mr Graber told AP.

      =======

      Good grief

    • Veepstakes – Was just chatting with Andrew Langer at the Institute for Liberty for his podcast about last night’s debate, and he asked something along the lines of: If Romney is the frontrunner in the end, will he have to pick Michele Bachmann?

      It’s way too early to consider Romney the nominee, of course — we’ve had one debate and the whole field may not even be in place yet. But I think the vice-presidential choice will not have to do with demographics so much as enthusiasm and inspiration. And if the presidential candidate is eminently steady, an impatient streak in a veep will be appreciated. Rep. Bachmann could have all these things. So could Senator Rubio.

      =======

      Romney – Bachmann would be a viable GOP ticket.

    • Quickie Elections: Rigging the Rules to Favor Big Labor – After the forces of organized labor lost their battle for mandatory card check in Congress, it was widely anticipated that the board would give them the next best thing — “quickie elections,” which are held seven to ten days after a petition is filed. Like card check, quickie elections rig the rules to favor a union outcome. With NLRB chairman Wilma Liebman’s term ending in ten weeks, we may well see something issued soon.

      Imagine a political election in which only one party were given the opportunity to tell voters its side of the story, and could set an election date only days away, all without prior notice to the other side. Sound unfair? This is the model the Obama board intends to impose on American business for union-representation elections.

      One of the cardinal roles of the NLRB is to protect employees’ free and informed decisions on the issue of union representation. Consistent with that goal, the board has over many decades arrived at election procedures that allow for an election window of three to six weeks after a petition is filed. This permits the board to conduct a statutorily required hearing if the parties are unable to reach agreement on certain pre-election issues and to complete other pre-election requirements. The window also gives management the opportunity to learn about the union and either support it or assemble a case against it and make its reasons known to its workers. Organized labor abhors this opportunity because employees are less likely to vote for union representation if they are given the opportunity to consider both sides.

      The current election procedures work. Under this system, union density in the private sector reached 35 percent in the1950s, when the election window was roughly the same or a bit larger.

      Big Labor wants the rules of the game changed.

      ======

      Unions have failed in the marketplace so why not rig the system?

    • Koch Brothers, Grover Norquist Split On Ethanol Subsidies – Opponents of ethanol subsidies got a boost Monday from Koch Industries as the company announced its opposition to the giveaways on the eve of a major vote in the Senate.

      Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) is pushing a vote on an amendment Tuesday that would end ethanol subsidies and eliminate tariffs on foreign supplies of the biofuel. That would allow companies to use sugar-based Brazilian ethanol, which is both cheaper and less environmentally damaging than the domestic corn-based variety.

      Ethanol is a key national issue for the GOP because of the importance of Iowa's early caucus to the presidential primary. Former Gov. Jon Huntsman (R-Utah) is skipping the state, he has said, because his opposition to the subsidies is toxic in the state. The issue has split the Republican Party, with free market advocates and deficits hawks pushing for elimination of the subsidies and corn-state politicians fighting back.

      =======

      End the subsidies.

    • Flap’s Links and Comments for June 13th on 10:23 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Flap’s Links and Comments for June 13th on 10:23 #tcot #catcot
  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for April 25th on 10:15

    April 25, 2011 /

    These are my links for April 25th from 10:15 to 10:36:

    • Boeing and the Wages of Subsidy – Is Boeing to Dependent Upon Obama to Fight? – Is Boeing too compromised by its dependence on Obama administration subsidies to fight a ruling by the administration’s National Labor Relations Board telling it where to build the 787? …  Even if you heroically assume the NLRB is independent of political influence, that doesn’t mean the administration couldn’t retaliate elsewhere if Boeing fights the NLRB too vigorously. Boeing has recently gotten $15 billion in loan guarantees from the Export-Import Bank. Is the Ex-Im Bank insulated from political influence too? The Washington Examiner rightly points out that it was just assumed–not even a scandal, no surprise at all–that banks receiving TARP funds were inhibited when it came to contesting their treatment as creditors in the administration’s auto bailout. 

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      If Boeing knuckles under, then you have your answer. But, my bet is that they fight.

    • Supreme Court turns down Va.’s request to expedite review of health-care law – ObamaCare – The Supreme Court on Monday turned down Virginia’s request that it rule immediately on the constitutionality of the nation’s health-care overhaul.

      The decision to reject Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II’s request for expedited review, announced routinely without elaboration or noted dissent, is not surprising. The court rarely takes up issues that have not received a full review in the nation’s appeals courts.

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      Perfect…. SCOTUS will take up the matter in the middle of the 2012 Presidential campaign.

      Let the repeal begin…..

    • Rep. Dan Lungren on King and Spalding’s ‘Insult to the Legal Profession’ – California Republican Dan Lungren is chairman of the House Committee on House Administration. He just issued this statement regarding King and Spalding and Paul Clement:

       “I want to express my gratitude to former Solicitor General Clement.  I admire his unwavering commitment to his clients and his dedication to uphold the law – qualities that appear to be inconsequential at King and Spalding where politics and profit now appear to come first.

      “King and Spalding’s cut and run approach is inexcusable and an insult to the legal profession.  Less than one week after the contract was approved engaging the firm, they buckled under political pressure and bailed with little regard for their ethical and legal obligations. Fortunately, Clement does not share the same principles. I’m confident that with him at the helm, we will fight to ensure the courts – not the President – determine DOMA’s constitutionality.”

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      Paul Clement has resigned from King and Spalding and now has joined the firm Bancroft PLLC. He will continue to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) for the House

    • DOMA’s Erstwhile Defenders – News reports this morning indicate that King & Spalding — the law firm whose partner, former solicitor general Paul Clement, was slated to defend the Defense of Marriage Act — has decided to withdraw. This follows a campaign of intimidation with threats from law schools and activist groups that retribution would follow if the firm continued to defend the law. This tantrum and its seeming success tell us that many on the left believe they have a veto on the principle that everybody deserves to be represented in court. It also suggests that there are few limits on what gay marriage supporters will do to marginalize those with whom they disagree. It’s worth remembering, as Maggie Gallagher says, that this is what “marriage equality” means. Paul Clement’s principled stand, which Kathryn has noted, is a much-needed grown-up decision and a very powerful rebuke to the intimidators.

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      Intimidation worked for the firm but not attorney Paul Clement who has resigned.

    • Paul Clement law firm drops DOMA case because of protests – In a real victory for supporters of same-sex marriage — and marking what seems like real marginalization for its foes — a major law firm has reversed course and will refuse to represent the House of Representatives in defending the Defense of Marriage Act.

      King and Spalding Chairman Robert D. Hays, Jr., whose partner Paul Clement was to lead the defense, said in a statement through a spokesman, Les Zuke:

      Today the firm filed a motion to withdraw from its engagement to represent the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the House of Representatives on the constitutional issues regarding Section III of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. Last week we worked diligently through the process required for withdrawal.

      In reviewing this assignment further, I determined that the process used for vetting this engagement was inadequate. Ultimately I am responsible for any mistakes that occurred and apologize for the challenges this may have created.

      The statement is silent on the reasons for the decision, but the firm faced protests at its Atlanta office and a national campaign against it. And now the House majority may have to find a new lawyer.

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      Of course, Paul Clement has now resigned from the firm.

      I thought law firms were to represent the innocent and guilty or disparate interests?

      Guess expedience is OK with King and Spalding