Harry Reid

Union-Backed Bill Would Force Monopoly Bargaining on Public Safety Employees

Mayor Bloomberg in Times Square bomber aftermathEver so quietly, America passed a milestone in 2009. For the first time in our history the number of employees in the public sector belonging to a labor union exceeded the number in the private sector. Proposed legislation in Congress would push this trend along further. The benignly-named Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act (H.R.413, S.1611) would mandate union monopoly bargaining for state and local public-safety employees. Its brand of "cooperation," strongly backed by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and other unions, would force police, fire, ambulance, and corrections departments across the country to create collective bargaining units to cover employees. If evidence is any guide, however, this expansion of public-sector unionism is likely to produce higher taxes, strained budgets and more strikes.

Obama's 60-Vote Health Care Majority is Result of Fraud, Manipulation, Bribery

Obama/RiedWithout sixty votes in the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) would not be able to invoke cloture, or cut off debate. Anything short of sixty would allow a filibuster and doom Obama’s health care plan. The present 60-vote majority is artificial, the result of undemocratic means. Consider how three of these votes came to be:

Roland Burris- Appointed by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich just prior to his removal, Democratic leaders including Harry Reid pledged that he would never be seated. Barack Obama, along with other Democratic officials in Illinois, called for a special election to fill the seat. When it became apparent that a Republican could win, Obama and the others backed off from their request. Obama, Reid and the rest of the Democratic establishment eventually acquiesced to Burris’ appointment. The media was strangely uncritical of the sleaziest political deal of the decade.

American Cancer Society (Again) Endorses ObamaCare Despite Devastating Impact on Cancer Patients

ACS logoWe have criticized the American Cancer Society (ACS) for wading into the political fight over health care through its “advocacy affiliate,” the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACSCAN). In the clearest evidence yet that politics has replaced ACS’s core mission of fighting cancer, ACSCAN took part in a press conference this week to support “upcoming cloture votes on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.”  In other words, ACSCAN wants the Reid bill backed by Barack Obama.

Now comes Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), a practicing physician, with an op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal that details just what ObamaCare might mean for cancer victims. He writes:

First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit Program Rife with Fraud; IRS Employees in on Scam

IRS refundDespite its brief existence, the federal government's $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers already has proven to be a costly boondoggle. And in what appears to be an act of unintended comedy, Congress is primed to extend and expand this "temporary" program beyond its November 30 deadline. On Thursday, October 22, J. Russell George, inspector general for the Internal Revenue Service, testified before a House Ways and Means subcommittee that the tax credit has been rife with inefficiency and fraud. Among those scamming the program, he believes, are more than 50 IRS employees. This interim report, George emphasized, if anything, understates the problem.

Illinois Senate Nominee Has Ties to Corrupt Chicago Locals

Rod Blagojevich’s tenure as Illinois governor may be almost up, but it’s as if he hadn’t noticed.  Since his December 9 arrest by FBI agents on charges of conspiring to sell or trade the U.S. Senate seat recently vacated by President-Elect Barack Obama, he’s radiated the confidence of someone ready for the long haul.  Toward that end, he nominated former State Attorney General Roland Burris, who is black, to serve as Obama’s replacement.  He’s effectively challenged U.S. white Democratic senators, a bastion of support for affirmative action, to reject him. 

 

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