Research

The Hill reports today that the cozy relationship between Democrats and labor unions may be waning. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka predicts that unions will be “unpredictable partners” when it comes to Democratic candidates in November.  One of the reasons Trumka lists for the AFL-CIO’s unhappiness with Democrats is the fact that stimulus funds are being sent overseas.  We have to admit, Trumka has a point.  We have pointed out before that it is outrageous that stimulus funds are going overseas, especially when our unemployment rate is almost 10 percent and expected to rise in the future. 

Trumka also expressed frustration about Obama’s support of the Cadillac tax stating: 

The labor leader also noted the Obama administration’s support of a tax on high-cost insurance plans in the healthcare reform bill. He credited that policy with the Democrats’ loss of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy’s (D-Mass.) seat to Scott Brown (R) in January this year. “Two thirds of the people in ... more

Today, Biden will hold an event at the Brooklyn Bridge area to discuss the stimulus.  At the event he will no doubt tout the stimulus and claim that it is saving countless jobs in New York. However, since the stimulus passed, New York has lost over 107,000 jobs, not exactly what the stimulus was intended to do. 

As he did yesterday, Biden will also probably tell New Yorkers that the national jobs report due out on Friday will show a gain of 500,000 jobs.  However, Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s, has already thrown cold water on Biden’s claim, reminding us that the jobs report on Friday will likely show 425,000 temporary census jobs. 

So New Yorkers, if you believe Biden’s claim today, come talk to us afterwards, we have a bridge to sell you. 

President Obama claims that the “greatest threat to U.S. and global security” is “nuclear terrorism by violent extremists and nuclear proliferation to an increasing number of states,” yet a new report from his Justice Department’s inspector general says his government is anything but ready to handle such an attack. According to The Associated Press, “The IG says the [Justice] department hasn't assigned one entity responsibility for central oversight in responding to a WMD incident.”

The AP article goes on to note that “no law enforcement component in the department besides the FBI has operational response plans in place against WMD” and as Inspector General Glenn Fine, who is responsible for the report notes, “Preventing terrorist attacks, including WMD attacks, is the department's highest priority.” 

This is not the first warning Obama has received on his administration’s lack of preparedness for a large scale terrorist attack. In January a bipartisan commission, led by former ... more

An article in The Hill quotes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi denying any dissent within the Democratic ranks over Obama’s mishandling of the Gulf Coast oil spill.  “No, I haven't heard those,” the Speaker is quoted saying when asked about rumors of griping among Dems over the administration’s response to the crisis.  Regardless of whether or not she heard it, we’ve compiled the following quotes from major Democratic players:

• Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) has criticized the Obama administration’s lack of leadership after their promise to keep their boot on the throat of BP: “You don't leave the fox to guard the henhouse, and you shouldn't leave the perpetrators of environmental crime to oversee the cleanup.”

• In a stern letter to Sec of the Interior Ken Salazar, Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY) wrote, “After repeated phone calls by Committee staff, we were informed today that the requested information and records will not be produced any time soon and that no estimate can be provided as to ... more
  
  

Obama and White House officials claim that cleaning up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill ranks at the top of their priorities.  However, that hasn’t stopped the President and members of his administration from hosting lavish fundraisers and taking time off for vacation since crude oil began flowing into the gulf. 

Last night during a fundraising dinner at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, Obama claimed that no one “is more upset than me” when it comes to the millions of gallons of oil washing up onto the gulf coast every day, but that didn’t stop him from going to another after-dinner fundraiser at the house of Gordon Getty, heir of the late oil tycoon, and raising a whopping $1.7 million  for embattled California Sen. Barbara Boxer and his cronies in Congress.  Apparently Boxer’s approval ratings are of more concern for the President than the livelihoods being destroyed on account of the oil spill.

This was not the first time off from his responsibilities Obama has taken since the ... more

After adding over $2 trillion to the national debt in just 16 months, the White House is suddenly finding it useful to appear fiscally responsible in an election year. Yesterday, the President proposed the Reduce Unnecessary Spending Act, which would grant him the power to send wasteful spending back to Congress to be given a mandatory up or down vote on its elimination. The problem with Obama’s abrupt conversion to the worship of thrift is that he, along with the Democrats in Congress, refused to grant President Bush the same authority in 2007. The Washington Times reports that back when then-Sen. Barack Obama joined in a filibuster against a similar measure; the democratic leadership did not have many kind words for the proposal.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat who in 2006 said he liked the idea of a line-item veto "about like I like a bad sore throat," was far from encouraging Monday. . . House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer, the Maryland Democrat who is now ... more

Yesterday, Senate Democrats passed a massive 1,400 page financial reform bill that we are told will protect Main Street from the abuses of Wall Street. But despite the Democrats’ claims, the army of regulators that this bill unleashes will not be doing Main Street any favors.

For Main Street businesses this new regulatory regime will be a nightmare. It will leave them with less access to credit, tighter restriction on how they do business and more hoops to jump through just to keep federal bureaucrats happy. For the rest of us that means fewer jobs, higher prices and more local businesses that will not be able to compete.   

That’s why Republicans stood with Main Street and voted against this disastrous piece of legislation while Democrats locked hands with Wall Street and muscled it through.

Find out more about how the financial regulations bill will send Wall Street “From Regs To Riches” here.

Obama promised his government-run experiment on health care “will slow the growth of health care costs for our families, our businesses, and our government.” When he was running for President, he even went so far as to say that his experiment would “lower health-care costs by $2,500 for the typical family.” The reality is that he broke these promises (and more) when he signed his experiment into law almost two months ago.

The expected impact of Obama’s broken promises have not gone unnoticed. In fact, The Associated Press reports:

More than 40 percent of employers surveyed by the consulting firm Mercer expect health care reform to raise health care costs by a modest 2 percent or less next year. A quarter of those surveyed believe reform will add at least 3 percent to their projected costs for 2011, while 3 percent of the employers expect no increase.

Early cost increases for employers will come from ObamaCare’s front-loaded benefits – like allowing young adults to stay on their ... more

In hopes of keeping their Democratic supporters in power, major unions are planning on spending hundreds of millions of dollars to support Democrats in the 2010 elections. And in return, they hope the Democrats in Washington will bailout their seriously underfunded pension funds, rolling the dice on political favors while going all-in with money that could and should be shoring up their members’ pension plans. The Hill follows the money:

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) plans to spend in excess of $50 million during the 2010 campaign, part of which will fund ‘a massive incumbent protection program,’ according to Gerry McEntee, president of the union… The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) plans to spend $44 million in total on its 2010 election program. 

These figures are on top of the over $53 million that the AFL-CIO plans on spending, also in an aggressive attempt to save Democratic incumbents who have shamelessly lavished ... more

Perhaps not when a foreign leader is criticizing a U.S. state’s law that they have not yet read. But this situation arose earlier today, when both Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder applauded Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s criticism of a recent Arizona immigration law.

What is most troubling is the fact that both Eric Holder and Janet Napolitano told Congressional oversight committees just last week that they had not yet taken the time to read the 10 page law. Unfortunately,

Holder and Napolitano’s applause today was backed up by a shocking announcement by Obama’s hand-picked choice to head the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, John Morton.  The Arizona Republic reports:

John Morton, who heads U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said his agency will not necessarily process illegal immigrants referred to them by Arizona officials. The best way to reduce illegal immigration is through a comprehensive federal approach, not ... more