On the 26th of October, DOL rescinded the 2007 Form LM-30 (conflicts-of-interests reports) and ignored statutory language to eliminate thousands of union officials from disclosing potential conflicts-of-interests when it created the 2011 Form LM-30.  DOL’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) continued to lower standards by creating new exclusions and loopholes for ethically-challenged union officials to hide their activities.

As previously noted on BigGovernment.com, Obama’s OLMS Director John Lund has his own conflict-of-interest problems since he arrived at the U.S. Department of Labor regarding his Big Labor clients.  Lund has teamed up with similarly-conflicted former AFL-CIO lawyer, and now DOL’s Deputy Solicitor of Labor Deborah Greenfield.  (Greenfield was suing DOL to try to eliminate 2007 Form LM-30 disclosure reports, the one’s that the Solicitor of Labor’s office just approved eliminating.)   It is not surprising with these two at DOL, that it has chosen to promulgate a rule that guts union officer conflicts-of-interest reporting.

John Lund’s union clients and Deborah Greenfield’s AFL-CIO comrades will directly benefit from DOL’s new rule, and under their advice will accomplish what Greenfield’s AFL-CIO lawsuit couldn’t accomplish through the courts.

Even though 'Jobs' is supposed to be the Obama Administration's #1 priority, it appears that the U.S. Labor Department's focus is on regs that will only help union bosses.

The Labor Department has even become so bold that it does not appear to care what it writes as justification for its actions.   For example, the LM-30 final rule describes an obvious potential for a conflict-of-interest even as it states there is no potential for conflict-of-interest.

“Employers have historically agreed to compensate stewards, safety and health committee representatives, and others for such work because they see it as adding value to their organizations. …Having employees serve on employee assistance programs and wellness committees is also seen as a cost-effective business decision by many employers. The Department concurs with those commenters who stated that union leave and no docking arrangements increase the speed of grievance adjustments, and otherwise benefit labor-management relations. The Department does not view the section 202 reporting provisions as requiring the reporting of such mutually beneficial arrangements between employers and employees.”

It is bizarre.

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From 2000-2010, Ohio lost 595,200 private industry jobs, faring better than only Michigan and California. In 2010 the state had the 7th-highest tax burden and 47th-best business climate. Although Governor Kasich has been working since January to get Ohio back on track, the forces of statism are deeply entrenched.

As public record proves, many of these folks get rich portraying big government as a moral imperative:

You have a chance right now to help a Midwestern swing state escape leftist control! Two Ohio ballot measures up for a vote on Tuesday deserve the full support of conservatives nationwide.

Issue 3 represents an unprecedented citizen-driven effort; its passage would amend the state constitution to block Obamacare’s individual mandate in Ohio. Conventional wisdom is that Issue 3 will pass, but efforts to kill Issue 2 may claim Issue 3 as collateral damage. If conservative Ohioans stay home Tuesday, union propaganda could prevent a repudiation of Obamacare.

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Today, in 1944, FDR was elected to his fourth term as President.

Forty seven years ago this week, Lyndon Johnson defeated Barry Goldwater in the biggest landslide since 1936. Today, both left and right see in Goldwater’s defeat the beginnings of the conservative revolution that would bring Ronald Reagan into office in 1980. Missed in this thesis, though, is how 1964 was a prime example of modern Democratic campaigning with its allies — the mainstream media — that we suffer under today. It was also a historic turning point that might have been avoided.

It is fashionable for the Left to co-opt Barry Goldwater as they have Ronald Reagan. Bill Clinton called him a “patriot” and James Carville characterized him a “principled conservative,” at odds with today’s “loony right.” But this was not so in 1964. The mainstream media, not called that then, labeled him a fascist. Walter Cronkite said of him that “Goldwater was going places, among them Nazi Germany.” Psychiatrists lined up behind the Johnson campaign, declaring Goldwater “emotionally unstable.” Reporters were aware that LBJ was heightening the conflict in Vietnam, but said nothing while LBJ promised not to send “American boys nine or ten thousand miles from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves.”

Journalists on the campaign trail saw Johnson drunkenly board a plane armed with nuclear weapons and then accidentally drop them on the United States. Luckily, by the grace of God, they did not go off. None of this was reported, while newspapers editors worked in overdrive to portray Goldwater as eager to push the button. Today, pundits argue that dirty tricks by Carville and Begalia were something new on the horizon for Democrats and were borrowed from decades of Republican campaigns. But Johnson was a pioneer of the Clinton War Room. He used the FBI to wiretap the candidate, bought political information from Goldwater defectors, and in an eerie foretaste of Watergate, put domestic CIA chief Howard Hunt on the White House payroll to infiltrate, even burglarize, Goldwater headquarters (with Democratic blessing, Hunt filtered his findings and received cash through a dummy corporation called National Press). What is striking about these tactics was how unnecessary they were. Johnson beforehand knew he was going to win, but he wanted “to crucify” Goldwater nonetheless.

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In February, when the Democratic National Committee chose Charlotte, North Carolina as the host city for its September 2012 convention, it left the door wide open for the Charlotte-area’s union-free workforce to be discriminated against in favor union workers. Although Charlotte’s Democrat Mayor, Anthony Foxx  (who is facing GOP challenger Scott Stone in Tuesday’s election), has denied the allegation, it appears Foxx has been misleading Charlotte residents on both his (alleged) job creation record as well as the outsourcing of DNC convention jobs to union labor.

On Friday, RedState’s Ben Howe broke the story of the Democratic National Committee discriminating against a Charlotte-area business for the 2012 convention because its workers were not unionized.

When John told him he was not, the Committee member told him, “We were just told that we cannot accept bids unless they are from companies that are unionized.”

Politico also had another Charlotte business owner who was told the DNC was looking to use union labor for its Convention:

He was told the Convention was looking to use local contractors to run the project, but union labor to staff it — and then, he said, he was told he would have to sign an agreement stating he would use union labor for the project.

“We asked the question, how do you want to use local when no one local is unionized?” Webb told POLITICO.

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Environmentalist, educator, and author of Eaarth (because evidently one “a” is not enough), Bill McKibben, has been traveling to colleges and universities across the country speaking to students about the dire circumstances that we are facing on the planet.  He has recruited the involvement of people in our religious communities and calls himself one of the “Methodist Mafia.” Introduced to the audience as “most important person in the world,” McKibben began by saying that he was there as a professional “bummer outer” (obviously taking it to a level the students would understand).  He has been studying and writing about climate change since 1989 and is in a panic over the drastic changes we are seeing in the earth’s climate.  Apparently, scientists underestimated how much we humans affected the climate and we must do something NOW, before all of this is irreversible.

McKibben explained that, at the rate we are going, we will see a five degree increase in global temperature within this century and that every degree of increase will reduce crop output by ten percent. We cannot let this happen for ethical, moral as well as practical reasons. The only solution is that we must get off of coal, oil and gas FAST! As it stands, food prices are going up and millions of people are starving. Americans burn more fossil fuel in two days than the people of the Sahara do in one year.

Our political leaders are not making changes because of threats from the fossil fuel industry.  The “greens” are becoming desperate as they see their oh-so-carefully laid plans for wealth redistribution falling apart. McKibben’s message to the students is that they can no longer talk lightly about the very survival of the planet. He is building a movement to organize the globe and force President Obama to honor his campaign promises to reduce our fossil fuel dependence. America must reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by eighty percent by 2020. We only have five to ten years before the damage is irreversible.

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The illegal immigration debate could not be any hotter. While JW was protecting the rights of Maryland citizens to stop tuition breaks for illegal aliens in Maryland, on October 14, a federal court blocked provisions of Alabama’s new tough illegal immigration enforcement law from taking effect — at the urging of the Obama Department of Justice (DOJ) — while allowing other provisions to be enforced. At the same time, Arizona’s illegal immigration enforcement law, SB 1070, is expected to go before the U.S. Supreme Court soon (Judicial Watch currently represents the Arizona State Legislature in court and recently filed an amicus curiae brief with the High Court, which began its current term on October 3).

In the midst of this firestorm, Judicial Watch took aggressive action, launching a national television advertising campaign to combat illegal immigration. The purpose of the campaign is to collect petitions from the American people to send to the governors of all 50 states, urging them to obey and enforce all laws against illegal immigration. This campaign to encourage our nation’s governors to stand strong on illegal immigration law enforcement has become more urgent now that the Obama DOJ has decided to sue states for merely trying to protect their citizens from the scourge of illegal immigration.

But it’s not just the federal government that is to blame. Some states have decided to side with the illegal aliens, rolling out the welcome mat for illegal aliens through costly and unlawful sanctuary policies. That’s why we’re going national with this petition campaign. The petition campaign is being driven by a series of television advertisements that began broadcasting this week in California, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, as well as nationwide on Fox Business News (FBN) and the Military Channel.

In this new national campaign, Judicial Watch asks Americans take a stand on this illegal immigration crisis:

The cost of illegal immigration is a burden on every taxpaying citizen. That’s why Judicial Watch fights hard to hold politicians accountable when they violate and undermine immigration law. Take a stand. Sign this petition and tell your state governor to enforce our federal immigration laws.

The objective of our television campaign is to educate the public and encourage citizens to petition their government in support of the rule of law. Here’s what our petition states (If you’d like to sign off on these principles, then please click here and join our cause!):

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Moody’s Credit Rating Service just announced the ominous trend that credit quality in the municipal bond market is falling at the fastest rate since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. Data released showed that 5.3 times as many municipal bonds were credit downgraded over the three last months than were upgraded. Moody’s emphasized that: “Downgrades dominated rating revisions across all public finance sectors except for healthcare,” said Assistant Vice President-Analyst Dan Steed, author of the report. “A rapid deterioration in credit metrics led to a higher-than-average 14 multi-notch downgrades.” Often sold to individuals as “conservative investments with tax free income”, munis in states like California, Illinois, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania are increasingly looking like high risk rolls of the dice.

This credit implosion comes after a sustained period when muni bonds were performing much better than corporate bonds. During the credit crisis; corporate bonds prices dropped by 30%, while muni bonds suffered very modest losses. The main reason for this stability was bail-out money showered on state and local governments by the Obama Administration. But fed money has dried up and property reassessments are falling for the first time since the 1970s. Strains on core operating expenses and revenue sources will likely persist, according to Moody’s: “This will be mostly due to economic stagnation, high unemployment, declining home values, and low consumer confidence,” said Steed. “We expect downgrades to continue exceeding upgrades in upcoming quarters.” This is polite ratings speak for: “duck and cover”.

The state revenues fell by $14.3 billion, even as the national economy has seemed to stabilize. The quarter ending September 30th saw 163 ratings reductions, the second highest 90 total in history. Over 100 of those downgrades were cities and school districts where falling property-tax collection is playing catch-up on the downside to the 30% fall in real estate values.

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From Canada’s SunNews:

On the heels of a death at Occupy Vancouver Saturday, the city’s mayor vowed to end the encampment he says has become dangerous.

“This is second critical incident in two days – obviously there is a serious problem here,” Mayor Gregor Robertson said from the Occupy site at Vancouver Art Gallery.

“Having people die … is not OK.”

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From The New York Post:

This isn’t the way to stick it to corporate America.

A Zuccotti Park protester threw a violent fit in a McDonald’s yesterday after employees refused to give him free food.

Fisika Bezabeh, 27, ripped a credit-card reader from a counter and threw it at workers at about 2:30 a.m. at the Mickey D’s at 160 Broadway, a bathroom spot for protesters.

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One of my frustrating missions in life is to educate policy makers on the Laffer Curve.

This means teaching folks on the left that tax policy affects incentives to earn and report taxable income. As such, I try to explain, this means it is wrong to assume a simplistic linear relationship between tax rates and tax revenue. If you double tax rates, for instance, you won’t double tax revenue.

But it also means teaching folks on the right that it is wildly wrong to claim that “all tax cuts pay for themselves” or that “tax increases always mean less revenue.” Those results occur in rare circumstances, but the real lesson of the Laffer Curve is that some types of tax policy changes will result in changes to taxable income, and those shifts in taxable income will partially offset the impact of changes in tax rates.

However, even though both sides may need some education, it seems that the folks on the left are harder to teach – probably because the Laffer Curve is more of a threat to their core beliefs.

If you explain to a conservative politician that a goofy tax cut (such as a new loophole to help housing) won’t boost the economy and that the static revenue estimate from the bureaucrats at the Joint Committee on Taxation is probably right, they usually understand.

But liberal politicians get very agitated if you tell them that higher marginal tax rates on investors, entrepreneurs, and small business owners probably won’t generate much tax revenue because of incentives (and ability) to reduce taxable income.

To be fair, though, some folks on the left are open to real-world evidence. And this IRS data from the 1980s is particularly effective at helping them understand the high cost of class-warfare taxation (click to enlarge).

There’s lots of data here, but pay close attention to the columns on the right and see how much income tax was collected from the rich in 1980, when the top tax rate was 70 percent, and how much was collected from the rich in 1988, when the top tax rate was 28 percent.

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I guess NATSLA – that is, the “North American Teacher/Student Love Association”* – will have to look for members in places other than Michigan.  That’s because the Michigan legislature will likely pass a bill that would make it a crime for teachers and students to have sex.

It’s incredible that such a bill is necessary. Can’t we just expect the tiny fraction of overly-randy teachers to control themselves? Apparently not.

So the full-time Michigan legislature – which is often looking for new laws to pass to fill its time – is tackling the issue head-on.

MLive.com reports:

“The bill was sparked by concerns from prosecutors who said they were unable to charge teachers who had sex with students after the students turned 18, including one who waited until the day after the girl’s birthday before taking to her a hotel room.”

Who’s willing to bet this teacher splurged and rented a room at the Holiday Inn Express instead of the usual Super 8?  Anybody?

Why aren’t the unions cleaning out their own ranks, thereby making such a bill unnecessary?  It’s hard for union teachers to demand to be treated like professionals when issues like this must be addressed.

But never fear: Those deep-thinking legislators did raise some concerns.

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This one ought to make the “down staters” happy.

That’s right, everyone’s favorite “budget-friendly” pals, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Governor Pat Quinn, have a “great deal” for you!  It’s a new $1 billion CTA Red Line renovation, and Chicago taxpayers only have to pick up 4% of the bill!!!

The rest of the state will kick in $646 million from a grant from the $31 billion Illinois Jobs Now program that Governor Quinn signed into law in 2009. In other words, all the increased taxes and fees “everyone” has been paying all across the land of Lincoln will now go towards more than 60% of the renovation costs for Chicago’s mass transit line.

According to Crain’s Chicago Business, the renovation will cover 11 stations and include new track and power systems. Sadly, $1 billion doesn’t go as far as it used to, and fairly large portions of the line’s most dilapidated sections will remain in their current dilapidated condition.

From Crain’s:

“Since I became governor, I have focused on creating  jobs and improving transportation service for our citizens. This major investment in the CTA’s Red Line does both,” Mr. Quinn said.

“These investments will make our city a more enticing place to live, to start a business, to raise a family,” Mr. Emanuel said. The city will provide $44 million for the project. The source was not immediately known.

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As violence and crime escalates, it is clear that the #Occupy movement has ‘jumped the shark’. The media will quickly pretend it never existed.

From NY Daily News:

Spurred by a spate of sex attacks in Zuccotti Park, Occupy Wall Street protesters built a “safe house” for women on Friday. The 16-square-foot military frame tent is designed to shelter up to 30 women from the predators lurking around the lower Manhattan encampment.

“It will be used to protect ourselves from people out there,” said Nan Terrie, 17, a protester from East Oakland Park, Fla. “I’m sick and tired of women getting taken advantage of, raped and murdered. “We need to take charge. We can make it happen without men telling us what to do,” said Terrie, who heads a protester subcommittee called Strong Women Rules. Terrie said the tent, erected along the southern edge of the park near Cedar St., will be outfitted with bunk beds, drawers and a welcome table. A second tent will house a computer.

“I think it’s a great idea, especially for a movement like ours, to show we’re supporting each other,” said Bieje Chapman, 37, of Park Slope. “Certainly women are the first target for any type of crazies, but I live in Park Slope, and the rapists there are more scary. I feel safer here.”

Read more here.

Despite some modest improvements in the jobs picture with the release of Friday’s Labor Department report, I would guard against any irrational overexuberance that problems with employment or the economy are being solved.

A smaller-than-expected 80,000 gain in nonfarm payrolls was bolstered by upward revisions in the prior two months, amounting to 102,000 additional jobs. So over the past three months the establishment survey has averaged 114,000. It’s really nothing to write home about.

A 2 percent economy is simply way too slow to generate the kind of 300,000 per month job gains the country needs. Economic growth at 5 percent would be more like it.

And this should be a warning to members of Congress who are flirting with higher tax rates as part of the supercommittee deficit deliberations. There’s loose talk about raising the top Bush tax rates and adding to that a surcharge on millionaire tax rates. That would be a big negative for future growth.

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Politicians in Europe have spent decades creating a fiscal crisis by violating Mitchell’s Golden Rule and letting the government grow faster than the private sector.

As a result, government is far too big today, and nations such as Greece are in the process of fiscal collapse.

But that’s the good news – at least relatively speaking. Over the next few decades, the problems will get much worse because of demographic change and unsustainable promises to spend other people’s money.

(By the way, America will suffer the same fate in the absence of reforms.)

Here’s a stark indicator (click to enlarge) of why Greece is in the toilet.

Look at the skyrocketing number of people riding in the wagon of government dependency (and look at these cartoons to understand why this is so debilitating).

By the way, Greece’s population only increased by a bit more than 16 percent during this period. Yet the number of bureaucrats jumped by far more than 100 percent.

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With the 2008 “Credit Crisis” bursting the global housing bubble; the United States led and the world followed with the massive amounts of government spending and money-printing stimulus promoted by “Keynesian” economists. To stem the crashes in prices on stock and commodity exchanges and a run on European banks, the U.S. Federal Reserve enlisted the world’s central banks in a coordinated drenching of the earth in vast amounts of freshly printed cash.

But as the crisis waned and the “Great Recession” began, governments and their central banks continued to pour wave after wave of Keynesian deficit spending and money printing. With economic activity about to slow and austerity shrinking excess government spending, the citizens of the world are about to be rewarded for their trust in government with a steep recession coupled with high levels of inflation. Economists refer to this witch’s brew of escalating misery as stagflation.

The U.S. Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of Japan, and other central banks around the world expanded money supplies by purchasing $2.5 trillion of sovereign debt and distressed banking assets to stem the risk of a deflationary spiral; from this, resultant lower wages and higher unemployment led to a self-reinforcing decline in global consumption. (more…)