Corruption at the highest level of government
During the Bush administration, regulations were implemented that made union activities more open and transparent to the public and to regulators. LM2 forms were required of unions, and as a result of reporting, the president of the largest Service Employees International Union (SEIU) local in the country, former Los Angeles local member Tyrone Freeman resigned after the Los Angeles Times revealed that he had fleeced fellow union members, who make about $9 per hour, out of over $1 million in 2006 and 2007 alone.
The Obama administration has now moved to gut the rules under which Freeman's theft was discovered. Union officials did nothing to protect the dues paid by their members. According to the L.A. Times, SEIU national president Andy Stern had been made aware of Freeman's activities repeatedly since 2001, but declined to do anything. The Washington Times reported, "The Labor Department also is rescinding another key labor financial disclosure regulation. The expansion of the so-called LM-2 rule, approved during the last days of the Bush administration, requiring unions to report more information about finances and labor leaders' compensation on annual reports."
"The Labor Department noted in a recent disclosure that 'it would not be a good use of resources to bring enforcement actions against union officials who do not comply with conflict of interest rules passed in 2007.'" The regulation, the LM-30 rule, was at the heart of the lawsuit filed by the AFL-CIO against the Labor Department in 2008. One of the attorneys in the case, Deborah Greenfield, is now a high-ranking deputy at the Labor Department. She also worked on the Obama transition team.
The SEIU has a long history of close relations with the Democratic Party, and most recently, with the Obama administration. They have funneled millions into the democratic campaign coffers. They are also closely tied, and a major contributor to the criminal enterprise ACORN. They had a significant presence in the demonstrations staged by the "muscle for money" offshoot of ACORN in the intimidation of AIG executives over bonuses that were due and paid legally by insertion of a last minute amendment to the stimulus bill by Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut.
Though the numerous labor unions' number one priority, Card Check, has stalled in Congress, Obama has made up for it in a number of appointments and Executive Orders and Memoranda. One of his first steps was to appoint Wilme B. Liebman, a former Teamsters Union lawyer, to chair the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). He has since appointed a number of union loyalists to top jobs in the Labor Department and to the NLRB.
In April, he appointed SEIU lawyer Craig Becker and pro-union labor lawyer Mark Gaston Pearce to fill vacancies on the five-member NLRB, whose job it is to oversee laws governing relations between unions and employers. Pro-union attorneys now make up the majority of the NLRB.
Another of Obama's first moves was to suspend the pilot program allowing Mexican truckers to deliver goods inside the U.S. The participation by Mexican truckers is included in the North American Free Trade Agreement, a Treaty that has the force of law and, as such, is a constitutional requirement.
In short, Obama is paying back the various unions for their support to the detriment of business and industry.