The Federal Register is the daily depository of all proposed and final rules and regulations, as well as presidential documents, executive orders, agency internal directives and other notices.

This morning’s edition topped out at a rather incredible 81,245 pages for the year, with three days left for Uncle Sam to rack up still more mandates in 2011.

This is notable, because nominally, tomorrow’s Federal Register stands to surpass last year’s all-time high of 81,405. Each year I assemble such facts and figures about the regulatory state in Ten Thousand Commandments, and nothing is improving, at a time in our economic history when things need badly to improve.

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Continuing a fiat governance style that is right out of the Obama playbook, Democratic and Working Families Party Governor Dannel Malloy issued two executive orders yesterday that will force daycare providers and home healthcare workers in Connecticut to join unions.

The orders, his ninth and tenth since taking office in January, will force the state’s 4,000 daycare providers to add over $1 million in dues to union coffers, and remove the right to secret ballot election for these workers by instituting a card check process.

The governor said:

“I have said repeatedly that I believe in the rights of workers to organize and collectively bargain, and personal care attendants and family child care providers are often-times the hardest-working, and lowest-paid workers in our job force,” said Governor Malloy.  “These executive orders will enable them to begin informal conversations with DSS and the Workforce Council immediately on quality-of-life issues, with an eye toward establishing formal collective bargaining rights in the future.  It is important that those who care for both our youngest and oldest citizens receive equitable pay and workforce security.”

According to Zachary Janowski, Mr. Malloy came through for the unions where the Connecticut legislature failed. A bill that would have converted “family child care providers” into state employees, for the purpose of collective bargaining, had been introduced in the state Senate, but never made it to a vote.

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From Missouri Political News Service:

We’ve just learned  that the Missouri Health Insurance Pool has just voted on behalf of the state to accept $21 million dollars from the federal government to establish an health exchange here in Missouri. They are designating John Huff as the director.

Didn’t Missourians vote overwhelmingly against Obamacare in 2008 with theirProp C vote? Just like President Obama does all the time, Nixon is taking the executive order route – completely bypassing the legislature.

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Controversial card check drive by AFSCME and SEIU aims for governor’s executive order

Thousands of licensed Minnesota day care providers may soon become unionized at the stroke of Governor Dayton’s pen via executive order as an increasingly contentious, yet largely unknown, organizing campaign apparently nears an end, according to opponents.

The effort to organize the approximately 12,000 licensed home-based daycare providers goes back at least five years.  The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) appear to be working in different counties throughout the state to form two separate unions:  Child Care Providers Together-AFSCMEand SEIU-Kids First.  The unions have patterned the drive after similar campaigns in other states that targeted providers with clients that receive state childcare subsidies.

The process does not involve a secret ballot or a vote, but rather a controversial method called card check. Organizers go door-to-door to childcare providers on the job asking them to sign cards that give the union collective bargaining rights.  The unions set out to collect signatures of more than half of the available providers or approximately 3,000 signed cards apiece. After the cards are certified, it is believed Governor Dayton will be asked to sign an executive order designating AFSCME and SEIU as collective bargaining units to negotiate with the state. In addition to personal contributions made by influential union leaders, AFSCME and SEIU PACs contributed  $14,000 to Dayton’s 2010 gubernatorial campaign.

“Just about everybody we have spoken to has said they were not told by signing that card they were supporting a union,” said Jennifer Parrish, a Rochester provider who’s leading opposition to the union. “The main theme seems to be people are being told they can sign up for more information or be put on a mailing list.”

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Recently immediately after Congressman Darrell Issa finished giving a speech from the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, I caught up with him for his most recent comments on the investigation into the ATF gunwalking scandal known as Projects “Fast and Furious” and “Gun Runner.”

The California Congressman, as many of you know, is Chairman of the powerful House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is investigating the DOJ’s role in the selling of assault weapons to known drug cartel members.  Below is an excerpt from the interview.

You Tube: Issa with the latest from his investigation into the ATF gunmwalking scandal.

“The good news is the dedicated men and women of the ATF and DOJ are breaking ranks and coming in as whistleblowers.  We’ve had numerous voluoluntary interviews that have given us an understanding of what went wrong and an understanding that a decision was made far above their level…”

“Two Border Patrol Agents are dead…this (1,800 weapons sold to drug traffickers) has resulted in an accumulation of hurt and killing that will go on for years…”

“…One of our objectives in the investigation is we have to put confidence back in the system on both sides of the border that U.S. law enforcement does not allow weapons to walk…President Calderone of Mexico is the most cooperative partner on the war on drugs that we have had in years and the Mexican government has called this ‘an active war’.”

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Has President Barack Obama been deceiving America, with his Ethics Executive Order 13490?  It certainly appears that the actions of the Obama Administration are far from his recent statement that he has “put into place the toughest ethics laws of any Administration in history [pause] in history.” A host of Obama’s appointments call into question the President’s commitment to his own Ethics Order.  Appointments such as U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Sec. Hilda Solis, DOL Deputy Solicitor Deborah Greenfield, and NLRB Board member Craig Becker undermine Obama’s claim of “toughest ethics.”

Now, the National Right To Work Committee introduces John Lund,  Obama’s “overseer” of union financial reporting and disclosure at DOL’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS).  This Obama appointee is a former director of the now-defunct Pacific Northwest Labor College,  a former SEIU union employee , a fomer IUOE union employee, and former director of the University of Wisconsin School for Workers.   Lund’s appointment means that he is now in charge of investigating financial mismanagement and irregularities by the very labor union officials he has trained for decades. (click to view the NRTW shocking handout on Lund)

Big Labor Payback Job One for Obama

Even though Obama campaigned on transparency and a focus on ethics, cronies at DOL focused on eliminating basic financial union disclosure and union officials’ conflict-of-interest disclosures requirements.

At DOL, John Lund cut the number of labor union investigators, rescinded disclosure of union officer benefits, eliminated financial reporting for unions like the Wisconsin Education Association Council, and eliminated conflict-of-interest reporting for thousands of union officials.  Each of these actions benefits Big Labor Bosses, but undercuts those forced to pay union dues and fees as a condition of employment.

John Lund Conflicts-of-Interest

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Last month, President Barack Obama signed a highly publicized Executive Order demanding a government-wide review of existing laws to remove regulations that stifle job creation and hamper America’s economy. Meanwhile, the Obama administration is considering a new alcohol labeling requirement that would devastate America’s small brewers, hampering their ability to grow and hire new employees—and even to continue operating.

Big producers of alcoholic beverages are supporting a proposal before the federal Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) that would require manufacturers of alcoholic beverages to list the nutritional content of their products, such as calories, alcohol content, and carbohydrates.

Supporters of the proposal claim that it will help provide consumers with more information to make better choices, but the result will be an increase in production costs could force some brewers of craft beers to close their doors while depriving others of the funds they need to grow their business—and hire more workers. This will mean fewer varieties of beer, more expensive products, and fewer jobs throughout the entire nation, as every state is home to small breweries.

Larger breweries will have little problem absorbing the cost of the new rule. In addition to the economies of scale they enjoy from large-scale production, major brewers only produce a few limited beer lines. Having fewer products limits the cost of providing content analysis and labeling.

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From Reuters:

President Barack Obama issued an executive order on Friday loosening more restrictions on U.S. travel and money remittances to Cuba, a further step in his efforts to reach out to the people of the communist-ruled country.

The latest measures, which stop short of lifting a ban on tourist travel to the island by Americans, are aimed at developing “people-to-people” contacts by allowing more travel for college professors and students, artists and church groups.

The regulatory changes also allow all U.S. international airports to apply to service licensed charter flights to Cuba.

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JOE BIDEN: Man, the wingnuts smoked us in midterms.

OBAMA: Yeah, they kicked our butts all right. Hey, I’m craving a cigarette. Anybody got one?

BIDEN: A cryin’ shame, Boss. Like you said last week, Boehner’ll drive the budget bus while we’re sittin’ in back scratchin’ our . . . .

OBAMA: Didn’t say that, Joe. Said I was “itching for a fight.”

DAVID AXELROD: Besides the veto, only one real option’s left to you come January, sir: creative new abuses of your executive powers.

OBAMA: Agreed. Listen up, everyone. Assume gridlock and suggest end runs around Congress on savings and revenue. Janet, you start.

NAPOLITANO: Disband the INS and employ drug traffickers to police our southern border, sir; they know the territory and consider human smugglers scum.

DAVID PLOUFFE: That would save us a bundle and show you’re serious about stopping uncredentialed landscapers infiltrating from Juárez and Tegulcigalpa, Mr. President.

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Six taxpayers filed a lawsuit this week to invalidate an executive order issued by Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire. The taxpayers believe—with good reason—that the governor violated the doctrine of separation of powers by snatching a failed bill out of the legislative process and issuing it in the form of an executive order. They are being represented by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, an Olympia-based government watchdog group.

Last year, after the Washington state legislature failed to pass a climate change bill championed by the governor, she took matters into her own hands by issuing an executive order directing the Departments of Ecology and Transportation to take action to reduce climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions and increase transportation and fuel-conservation options. At a press conference, Gov. Gregoire stressed that the executive order was intended to replace her failed legislation. “What we’ve done in the executive order is everything that was in that final bill—plus. Plus. There’s more in the executive order than what was in the final bill that did not pass the Legislature,” she told reporters.

It gives one pause to consider that Governor Gregoire should record herself talking for vetting purposes prior to making such admissions in public.

There are strong parallels in this case to what is happening on a national scale. President Obama’s drilling ban end-run around the law, for example, which has signaled his administration’s strategy to push through certain policies notwithstanding any legal restrictions. Or the passage of the so-called “health care reform” bill, which was rammed through in a suspect reconciliation process designed to bypass opposition. Or the arguably abusive use of signing statements by President Bush to tell agencies to ignore certain provisions of bills he disagreed with—1,200 times. President Obama intends to continue the practice, though he claims he will “act with caution and restraint, based only on interpretations of the Constitution that are well-founded.” I’m sure we’ll all sleep  better at night.

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The horse trading went long into the night. In the end the House Democrats bought, cajoled, wrangled and bullied enough votes to pass the health care debacle. The battle is far from over and will range into next November and beyond.

As a far right wing nut job I will enjoy the coming downfall of the Democratic Party. I will enjoy the stunned looks on the faces of those who will lose their union and employer health care plans if this legislation stays around long enough to take effect. I will enjoy the coming revolt of the middle and upper class taxpayers. I could of course, be wrong. Maybe the American people are tired of being free and maybe rugged individualism is dead. Maybe the vast majority of my neighbors are looking forward to the never ending growth of the Federal Government. Maybe everyone except we gun owning, SUV driving, meat eating, smaller government, right wing nut job pro lifers want the nanny state.

So now that the first battle of the “health care reform” movement is over we need to ask some questions. Is that it from the left? Will there be no further movement to start a government option? Will there be no push to get to a single payer system? If you believe that you need to get in the line that starts right behind Rep. Bart Stupak.

Rep. Stupak has become the Neville Chamberlain of our time.

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From The Hill:

Democrats have reached a deal on an executive order on abortion that could hand them a victory on healthare.

“Eight or nine” Democrats, including Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), will announce the deal at a 4 p.m. press conference, according to an anti-abortion Democrat.

“We’ve changed [our votes],” said Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-Ohio).

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Ten minutes prior to the start of a December 15^th, 2009 board meeting of the Riverside Community College District in California, board members are handed a 52-page document filled with millions of dollars in projects to be funded by the district’s taxpayers, who themselves are struggling under the state’s 12.4% unemployment rate.  The document, a draft Project Labor Agreement (PLA), will commit long-term construction and ancillary projects for the next several years to labor unions.

At least twenty-three members of the public, many of them local private business owners who oppose the PLA, have attended to publicly comment on the proposal.  Two of the board members have never even seen the PLA prior to today, and have asked for a special session to review it.  Despite opposition from the public, and the concern voiced by those two board members, the remaining three board members have moved that the Board of Trustees authorize Chancellor Greg Gray to negotiate the final PLA with the Riverside and San Bernardino Building and Construction Trade Councils. Board Trustees Virginia Blumenthal and Janet Green dissented.

So, without adequate time for all to review the draft, without any backup analysis provided to justify the use of up to $350,000,000 in Measure C taxpayer funds, without giving the public reasonable time to voice their opinions, and with an unemployment rate of over 12% when non-union workers are in even greater need of jobs than union workers…why would three of Riverside’s five board members vote to move forward with a final negotiation anyway? Why the rush? Residents and business owners in Riverside are wondering the same thing, and hope to have the chance to weigh in before the PLA’s final draft is signed.

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Outrageously, U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Hilda Solis and other DOL Obama appointees appear to have blatantly disregarded the President’s Executive Order #13490 – the Ethics Pledge.

According to a report by the National Right To Work Committee, Solis and several other appointees gave themselves unilateral waivers on the two-year moratorium in direct conflict with President Obama’s two-year mandate:

Revolving Door Ban [for] All Appointees Entering Government.  I will not for a period of 2 years from the date of my appointment participate in any particular matter involving specific parties that is directly and substantially related to my former employer or former clients, including regulations and contracts.

The White House Press Office

Solis’ only publicly available signed ethics pledge is provided by Olga Pierce and Christopher Weaver at Propublica.  National Right To Work reviewed it and other ProPublica provided ethics pledges. It is clear that other DOL appointees followed Solis’ lead and granted themselves ethics waivers in conflict with the presidential order.  The report identified Deputy Secretary Seth Harris, Assistant Secretary Phyllis Borzi, Assistant Secretary T. Michael Kerr (SEIU & AFSCME), and Assistant Secretary Jane Oates.

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The current state of the economy has placed a large burden on private business, especially on small businesses and the self-employed. Subscribing to a Keynesian tenet of financing debt and increasing government spending to boost output, lawmakers are repeatedly giving themselves cover for splurging.  After the first bailouts came the massive $787 billion stimulus bill, an urgent remedy that Congress and the White House insisted was all about “Jobs, Jobs, Jobs.”

And as spending has increased, so has the size of the public employment sector. Meanwhile, the private sector will soon be close to earning a coveted placement on the endangered species list.

As the union leaders’ plundering of the private sector has continued, this doesn’t mean that they have abandoned unionizing private sector workers altogether.  In fact, while the number of private sector jobs overall is down, the number of unionized private sector jobs is trending upward, right alongside the public sector growth.

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In 1983, President Ronald Reagan issued an Executive Order which gave permission to the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) to operate within the boundaries of the United States.  Reagan’s EO put INTERPOL under the same basic guidelines as the CIA, FBI, ATF and other Federal law enforcement agencies.

Two weeks ago, without any announcement, debate, discussion or inquiry from journalists charged with “speaking truth to power” President Obama issued an amendment to this EO.  The amendment removed part of Reagan’s order that kept INTERPOL from having full diplomatic immunity while operating within the United States.  In other words:  Under Reagan and right up until two weeks ago, INTERPOL was authorized to operate within the USA but they did not have full diplomatic immunity and had to adhere to certain laws set forth for investigative agencies.  Laws that prohibit authorities from violating our constitutionally protected rights.

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