Here at Freedom@Work, we've spent some time documenting the Obama Administration's efforts to gut basic union transparency guidelines under the guise of saving money. We've also urged concerned readers to get involved to help stop the Department of Labor from rolling back transparency requirements aimed at curbing Big Labor's corrupt practices. Unfortunately, the worst may be yet to come -- the Administration has just announced its potential plans to close the Employment Standards Administration, an office tasked with rooting out union corruption:
The Obama Administration has found a way to cut $100 million from the federal budget and one of the items on the chopping block is an office inside the Department of Labor that conducts oversight of labor unions.
Pursuant to President Obama’s April order that federal agencies come up with away to eliminate $100 million in wasteful spending, White House Budget Chief Peter Orzsag and Cabinet Secretary Christopher Lu issued a 20-page list of items to cut to the president on Monday.
One of the proposed cost-saving measures is the disbanding of the Employment Standards Administration (page 11 in the link), an office in the Department of Labor that has the power to audit and investigate labor unions for corruption and embezzlement.
While transparency is no substitute for rolling back union bosses' many government-granted privileges, the Administration's eagerness to give its Big Labor allies a free pass on financial disclosure shows a callous disregard for the rank-and-file workers whose money union bosses are spending. So long as workers across the country are being forced to pay union dues just to keep their jobs, they should be getting more information about how their seized dues are being spent, not less.
Comments
corruption in unions and the White House
Well folks, we shouldn't be surprised by the Obama administrations to close down the employment standards administration. After all didn't big labor unions pay for the Obama adds and presidential campaign? This will not stop until Mr. Obama has destroyed all that we hold dear in this once great land. Make no mistake about it, we are in the fight for our very lives, we must all wake up before it is to late.
DISMANTLING INVISTAGATING UNION DEPARTMENT (DOL)
It has been my experience that our government is guilty of appointing boards and/or departments to do the same job that the original agency was established to do. Is this the rationale used with this department? or is this another way that the Obama administration has found to pay back political favors at the expense, once again, of the American people?
If the latter is the response, then, why can't Americans unite to dethrone this president and kick out of office all elected officials who are interested in destroying our country and the laws that we have fought to maintain?
In my opinion, the time has come to put a STOP to this administration and begin a new era of recovery!
I think you are correct in
I think you are correct in your thinking. It is time the American people started running the govermnment instead of the people that are in there. They are not doing the job that the people want done. They are only doing what they want to do. It is time for us to take back America
I agree with you all
I agree with you all.This Administration wants to take away all of our rights.They want to run all of our lifes,control us.They way they are going we well be a socialist country before we know if.More people need to wake up.After all they have over 69 banks3 car companys,trying to take over the healthcare of everyone,yes we need to take bank America.
cutting union corruption unit
They are all crooked bastards in DC starting with the King and going on down through the ranks of his lackies. Now he wants to "cut costs" by removing the unit that goes after corrupt unions. I guess that's becaue there's nothing corrupt with ACORN or SEIU etc. In a pigs eye. We must throw all of them out starting in 2010 and finishing the job in 2012. I swear everyone elected to a political position must take dumb and crooked pills at the time he or she is sworn in because they lose any resemblence of common sense from that time on. It's time they go back where they came from. It would be great to see some honesty in government. Thomas Jefferson, where are you when we need you?