Jan
9
About a month ago, Mark Mix wrote an op-ed column in the Washington Examiner, explaining why his organization is suing the Obama administration. Who is Mark Mix? He is the President of the National Right to Work (NRTW) Legal Defense Foundation, “a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by abuses of compulsory unionism.”
For several months now, the NRTW has submitted multiple requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for Department of Labor documents that would reveal the special deals and provisions being given to Big Labor. President Obama is on record as stating that he “owes” the unions for helping him get where he is and he aims to pay them back. The NRTW figures the public has the right to know just what has been promised to the unions — thus the FOIA requests. And, with all of Obama’s pre- and post-election promises of “transparency” and responsibility in what is supposed to be the most ethical administration in history, that shouldn’t be a problem, right? There can’t be any conflicts of interest, right? Don’t bet on it.
Here is some of what Mix has to say:
The foundation’s concerns about possible conflicts of interest start right at the top with Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, who held a leadership post at American Rights at Work, a group funded by the AFL-CIO and the powerful Service Employees International Union.
The foundation is also seeking information on the role of former AFL-CIO lawyer Deborah Greenfield, now a high-ranking Department of Labor official. Before the election, Greenfield filed suit on Big Labor’s behalf to stop the implementation of some modest disclosure requirements for union officials. Now she’s in charge of gutting those same reporting guidelines.
In his first full day in office, Obama pledged that his appointees ‘will not for a period of two years … participate in any particular matter involving specific parties that is directly and substantially related to their former employer.’ Yet Labor Secretary Solis was given a free pass, even though she helped oversee ARAW’s intense lobbying program while serving as a member of Congress (itself a congressional ethics problem).
Meanwhile, as a lawyer with the AFL-CIO, Greenfield sued the Department of Labor over the very regulations she is now rolling back.
No wonder the administration continues to stall the FOIA requests with one bureaucratic roadblock after another! They never thought anyone would actually check up on them and hold them accountable. This is just one more indication of Obama et al.’s lack of integrity and a desire to consolidate more & more power among those who agree with their “progressivist” vision for this nation. (Note: Don’t forget the Obamacare provision that will force unionism of all healthcare professionals and give more money & control to the unions.)
If this concerns you anywhere near as much as it concerns me (and the NRTW), please help by passing this info along, bringing it up in conversation, subscribing to the NRTW’s free email newsletter (www.NRTW.org), maybe even making a donation. Let’s fight for our right to work without forced dues and intimidation by unions that no longer work for the people they supposedly represent. And, let’s support those who work to expose injustice and keep the politicians honest.
P.S. There’s a post over at The Foxhole blog with some good info about Big Labor benefiting from the “Stimulus”.
