[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
|
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
Corrupt Government Title: DeMint (R-SC) accuses Obama of 'thuggery'~GOP: President has enemies list in Boeing case WASHINGTON -- Business leaders and Republican politicians Tuesday accused President Obama of punishing GOP states by trying to block Boeing from opening a major aircraft plant in South Carolina. The Democratic chairman of a key Senate committee fired back, charging Republicans with launching an "assault on the middle class" by impeding enforcement of federal labor laws. S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley said all governors and state leaders should be alarmed by the National Labor Relations Board's move to compel Boeing to build a second 787 Dreamliner factory at its current hub in Everett, Wash. "This issue may have started in South Carolina, but we want to make sure it never touches another state," Haley told reporters at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce headquarters a block from the White House. "We are demanding that the president respond to what the NLRB has done." The NLRB's top lawyer in April filed a case charging Boeing with union-busting and retaliating for past strikes at its Puget Sound facilities in deciding to locate the Dreamliner assembly line in South Carolina, one of 22 right-to-work states. Haley vowed to use all her powers to ensure that the plant, which the S.C. state government gave Boeing $900 million in tax breaks and other incentives to lure, opens as scheduled this summer next to Charleston International Airport. The dispute has quickly taken on broader implications, with Republicans and Democrats blaming each other for stifling job creation and thwarting the economic recovery. Even given the rancorous partisan discourse that has dominated Washington in recent years, GOP senators leveled unusually hostile charges at Obama over the case. Sen. Jim DeMint, a Greenville Republican, accused Obama of "thuggery," while freshman Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky mused about the president maintaining an "enemies list" of states dominated by GOP leaders. "It is absurd, in this country that represents free enterprise, that one unaccountable, unelected, unconfirmed acting general counsel can threaten thousands of jobs," DeMint said. "This is something you would expect in a third-world country. This is thuggery at its worst." DeMint referred to Lafe Solomon, the NLRB's top lawyer, who is pursuing the case against Boeing. Solomon currently serves in an acting capacity because Republican opposition to his permanent appointment would likely prevent him from gaining the 60 votes needed for Senate confirmation. Solomon on Tuesday denied that his action is politically motivated. He said that Boeing and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which filed the complaint against the firm's South Carolina plant last year, will have their views heard by an administrative law judge next month in Seattle. "We hope all interested parties respect the legal process, rather than trying to litigate this case in the media and public arena," Solomon said. Depending on the NLRB's ruling in the case, Boeing or the machinists union is expected to appeal it in federal court, which would likely prolong the dispute into the 2012 election year. Republican Sens. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said they're drafting legislation that would ban the NLRB action against Boeing and, more broadly, create federal protections for right-to-work states. Paul said that Obama is targeting Republican states by stacking the NLRB with members who want to limit right-to-work laws that prohibit requiring workers to join unions. "Mr. President, do you have an enemies list?" Paul asked. "Is this decision based on the fact that South Carolina appears to be a Republican state with two Republican senators? Is this decision because South Carolina is a right-to-work state?" Hannah August, a White House spokeswoman, declined to comment. Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat who chairs the Senate Health, Education and Labor Committee, accused Republicans of doing the bidding of powerful corporate interests by trying to weaken labor protections. "What we are really witnessing here is another example of the Republican assault on the middle class," Harkin said. "Instead of focusing on how we can get Americans working again, Republicans have chosen to spend their time attacking the handling of a routine unfair-labor-practice charge." Former Michigan Gov. John Engler, head of the Business Roundtable, said the executives in his trade association are disturbed by the Boeing-NLRB dispute. "It's a threat to every company located in the United States or hoping to do business in the United States," he said. "We're concerned about the precedent this will set. This is a decision that strikes at the freedom of companies to operate in the most competitive and most attractive locations they can find." Rep. Joe Wilson, a Lexington Republican, said Boeing has already built a 1.2 million-square-foot factory in North Charleston because South Carolina is a business-friendly state, not because the aerospace giant wants to punish union workers in Washington. "Clearly, this is not about retaliation," Wilson said. "This is about creating jobs." Read more: http://www.thesunnews.com/2011/05/11/2151637/demint-accuses-obama-of-thuggery.html#ixzz1M2nVoF00
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Happy Quanzaa (#0)
This is exactly right. The Obama Administration represents the transition of America from a first class country to a Banana Republic.
|
|
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
|