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At DOL, John Lund cut the number of labor union investigators, rescinded disclosure of union officer benefits, eliminated financial reporting for unions like the Wisconsin Education Association Council, and eliminated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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The Illinois Education Association is reeling from a very bad 2009-2010 fiscal year, caused in no small part by the union’s exorbitant expenditures on parties, meetings and salaries, Education Action Group recently found.

SEIU heavy Andy Stern has often been quoted saying, “Workers of the world unite – it’s not just a slogan anymore.  It’s the way we’re gonna have to do our work.”

According to the latest LM-2 financial report filed with the federal Department of Labor, Stern’s 2009 compensation totaled $306,388.  By comparison, the “Executive Secretary to the President,” Doris Butler, received a paltry $48,666.

Another strong proponent of Marxist principles – in fact, the co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America – SEIU Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina took home a cool $242,286.  Fellow frequent White House visitor and SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger? $252,724.

Perhaps SEIU’s new motto should be: “Socialism For Thee, Not Me.”

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Just when the Obama Administration eliminates union boss disclosure that exposed union officer perks and self-dealing, a union boss has to get busted for demanding bribes from a trial lawyer. His actions certainly do not argue for the Administration’s ongoing effort to roll back union disclosure. 

The Associate Press reports:

The president of a national railroad employees union was arrested at his Ohio home on Tuesday and charged with bribery.

Edward Rodzwicz, who heads the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, is accused of soliciting and accepting $20,000 in bribes from a St. Louis lawyer. In exchange, prosecutors say, Rodzwicz allowed the lawyer to remain on a list of attorneys approved to handle injury cases for union members.

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If you have been following the unending revelations about ACORN on BigGovernment.com, then you are likely aware of ACORN’s $1 million embezzlement cover-up which has now grown to an alleged $5 million embezzlement cover-up. 

This new $5 million revelation was posted just days after ACORN founder and the embezzler’s brother Wade Rathke nonchalantly explained his reasons for the embezzlement cover-up to Megyn Kelly on Fox News:

“Because we made a decision that between restitution and retribution, that restitution was more in the interest of the [ACORN] organization and that decision was unanimous.”