Posted on 03/25/2013 2:58:03 PM PDT by Graybeard58
In nominating Thomas Perez to be secretary of Labor, President Obama cited the personal story of Mr. Perez, a first-generation American, as "remind(ing) us of this country's promise." The president's decision is alarming. Throughout his career, Mr. Perez has been motivated by one goal: the advancement of the far left's agenda.
It seems unlikely that he is flexible enough to run the Labor Department as the economy changes rapidly.
From 2007 to 2009, Mr. Perez was Labor secretary in Maryland. The Washington Post reports he was best known for pushing a minimum-wage increase. Mr. Perez staunchly backed unions, and several prominent leaders praised Mr. Obama's choice.
Since October '09, Mr. Perez has been assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ). Mr. Perez has some warped views on racial discrimination. In fact, his unflinching belief in disparate-impact theory, which holds that statistics, not the specifics of cases, are enough to prove discrimination, is at the center of a sleazy affair under investigation by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Nearly a decade ago, a group of landlords led by Thomas Gallagher sued the city of St. Paul, Minn. The landlords contended the city's aggressive enforcement of housing codes unfairly reduced the number of spots in low-income housing available to African-Americans. This, they argued, violated the 1968 Fair Housing Act.
The city initially prevailed in U.S. District Court, but the landlords won at the U.S. Court of Appeals. The city appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Oral arguments were scheduled for late February 2012.
In a March 19 editorial, The Wall Street Journal pointed out that with the case looking promising for the city, Mr. Perez worried that disparate-impact theory would be discredited. According to the Journal, Mr. Perez asked a connected friend in Minnesota if St. Paul could be persuaded to drop its appeal. The Journal noted that in early February '12, Mr. Perez personally offered a deal to St. Paul officials. He said that if they would drop their appeal, DOJ would decline to join — on behalf of the plaintiffs — two false-claims cases that had been filed against the city.
A week later, the city dropped the Gallagher case and DOJ announced it would stay out of one false-claims case. In June, DOJ declined to get involved in the other case.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, said, "Nominating somebody who is in the middle of a congressional investigation shows me that the president isn't very serious about working together."
In a column for the New York Post last summer, the Hoover Institution's Paul Sperry pointed out that under Mr. Perez' leadership, DOJ has investigated and prosecuted banks for supposed mortgage-lending discrimination. According to Mr. Sperry, banks have been intimidated into lending to African-Americans and Hispanics, regardless of creditworthiness.
Lending to people with bad credit helped spark the Great Recession. That Mr. Perez supports doing so is the strongest indicator that he puts ideology before all else.
During Mr. Perez' tenure, the Civil Rights Division, citing discrimination, has challenged several state laws requiring voters to present photo identification.
The president and others have portrayed Mr. Perez as a pragmatic problem solver uniquely qualified to run the Labor Department at this time.
His record suggests he would use the position merely to impose the far left's agenda. That is unacceptable.
Ping to a Republican-American Editorial.
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Who’s surprised?
All of this idiotic phony’s appointments are like spoiled meat. They stink!
Wake up America! There is a phony America-hating communist living in the White Hut.
It’ll be confirmed.
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