Free Republic

Obama, IG Report refuse to touch powerful Treasury Employees Union headed by ex-IRS agent. “My question is who is going to jail?” — House Speaker John Boehner on the IRS Scandal The President couldn’t even bring himself to breathe a word of the truth. He could fire some hapless Acting Commissioner, but last night Mr. Obama never came close to discussing that which must never be discussed. The IRS? It’s about a union: the National Treasury Employees Union. The NTEU. A left-wing union representing 150,000 employees in 31 separate government agencies, including the IRS. A union that not only endorsed...

Long security lines, ever changing rules about what is and is not allowed, manhandling pat-downs... Thanks to the TSA, air travel is unpleasant enough as it is and now we have to worry about TSA agents stealing from us? And there's no way to NOT have them go through your luggage.They go through your checked baggage and rifle through your carry-on. You have no choice but to submit to this if you want to be able to board your flight.So what is a law abiding air traveler to do in order to protect his or her belongings from the very...

HERE WE GO. The game's afoot. In 2007, a critical factor which torpedoed illegal alien amnesty was the failure of labor unions and the business lobby to reach a deal on a "guest worker" program. Now, the New York Times is reporting that the sinister cabal of the AFL-CIO and U.S. Chamber of Commerce have reached a "deal". That's right, just what America's 20 million unemployed and underemployed need - MORE foreign workers to take MORE jobs and undercut wages even further. The Chamber could not give a damn if illegal aliens destroy American jobs and bankrupt schools, hospitals and...

Travelers at Miami International Airport weren’t too happy this weekend after being caught in delays for hours due to cutbacks by the Transportation Security Adminstration. Passengers said they faced major frustration as they stood in long lines, desperate to get through customs. “Which is ridiculous for people to suffer like this,” said Sal Tricamo, a passenger who missed his flight...

There’s nothing more embarrassing for union bosses than their own unionized staff striking against them or, in this case, threatening to strike. In San Francisco, SEIU staff, represented by the left-wing Communications Workers of America, has been without a contract since their contract expired last September. SEIU boss Roxanne Sanchez, according to the San Francisco Bay Guardian, is trying to get her union staff to give concessions on their pensions and health care. Last week, after months without a contract, 94% of the SEIU’s own union staff voted to strike.

School Reform Commission Votes To Save Four Schools, 23 To CloseBy Chelsea KarnashPHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The School Reform Commission has voted to save four public schools from closure in Philadelphia. The four schools are Roosevelt Middle School, Taylor Elementary, Pierce Elementary and Robeson High School. Twenty-three other schools on the chopping block will close. "This was a difficult vote, but it focused on our goal to provide safe, high-quality seats while being fiscally responsible," said Pedro Ramos, Chairman of the School Reform Commission, in a release from the district. "By not taking action now, we would continue the deterioration...

No halftime show at Super Bowl 2014? That’s the word, according to planners who say the weather may prevent appearances at matchup XLVIII, set for New Jersey. “It’s because of the cold weather,” said one involved with next year’s Super Bowl planning, in a New York Post report. “It’s not only the acts and the singers, but also the crews that have to put the stage together. … You just can’t assemble the stage and break it down fast enough in the cold.”

The site where Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting is building a new meetinghouse was damaged by arsonists during Christmas week, and police are now "absolutely" sure the attack was the result of a dispute between members of a Philadelphia construction union and the project's nonunion contractor.

It’s not always fun and easy being a young Republican, let alone an enthusiastic Mitt Romney supporter. Whoa: The parents of the Charles Carroll High School student ridiculed and ordered by her teacher to remove a t-shirt supporting Mitt Romney sued the teacher and school district on Friday, claiming the act violated the girl's civil rights. Filed in federal court in Philadelphia, the suit says the district ignored Samantha Pawlucy's right to free speech, let other students threaten and harass her and subjected her "to emotional distress, simply because she exercised her First Amendment rights." Fernando Gallard, a spokesman for...

Early today Clint Tarver, known as “The Hot Dog Guy” here in Lansing had his business attacked and destroyed by out of line and out of control protesters near the Capitol. Everyone who has passed the hot dog cart knows what a kind and caring individual Clint is. He never fails to bestow a smile or friendly greeting. In no way [did] he provoke this attack, nor any of the behavior displayed toward him. Mr. Tarver has been operating his food businesses since 1990 in the Lansing area. He had been hired by Americans for Prosperity to cater their tent...

Former Rep. Mark Schauer (D-Mich.) was hit with pepper spray while protesting “right to work” legislation outside the Michigan state capitol on Wednesday. “I immediately began to retreat and began to cover my eyes and my mouth,” he told the Battle Creek Enquirer. “It was not good.” Meanwhile, Fox News contributor Steven Crowder was punched repeatedly in an altercation with one protester. Schauer served one term; he beat Rep. Tim Walberg (R) in 2008 only to lose to the former congressman two years later. Tear gas was sprayed at least once, according to the Detroit Free Press. At least two...

Tony carmago! You are a sorry excuse for an electrical worker! Word of Advice: When you decide to sucker punch someone and there are cameras around, don't wear a jacket with your name embroidered on it. Apparently your members don't belong to the Rocket Scientists Union.

SECAUCUS, New Jersey - Walmart workers hailed their wage protest Saturday, saying their walkout on ‘Black Friday’ had shown the world’s largest retailer their determination to fight against all odds. Hundreds of protesters targeted Walmart stores across the United States on Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year, accusing the bargain superstore of ripping off its own employees. The protests were designed to disrupt the Black Friday shopping frenzy, after Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday, when deep discounts pull in waves of customers. “Today’s protests at Walmart stores across the country are a reminder of the enormous power of working people...

The Florida chapter of the AFL-CIO appears to be encouraging folks to break the law. In a message on the homepage of their website, the union writes, "There is a mantra that we --at the Florida AFL-CIO-- like to live by, 'Vote Early, Vote'. The mantra of the Florida AFL-CIO encourages illegal activity. There appears to be two federal laws this would violate: 42 USC 1973i(e) and 42 USC § 1973gg–10(2). "The former federal law makes it illegal to vote twice. The latter law prohibits fraudulent voting in a federal election. 18 USC 2 makes it illegal to aid and...

Forget zero tolerance. Bay City Public School teachers for years could be caught repeatedly under the influence of illegal drugs or alcohol without being fired. Teachers in possession or under the influence of illegal drugs could be caught three times before they lost their job, and they got five strikes if they were drunk on school grounds before being fired. A school district official said the language in the union contract that protects teachers for those instances "was incorporated into the teacher Master Agreement in 1997." Those protections also were included in the Bay City Education Association teacher’s contract that...

SEIU Paid Protesters at Romney Cleveland Ohio Rally.

When James Hoffa, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, looks at the Tea Party today, he flashes back to 1964 and sees the John Birch Society. "The Tea Party, these right wingers are basically the modern-day John Birch Society," he told U.S. News. "They are being extremists." The John Birch Society gained traction in the earl 60s with its vehemently anti-communist rhetoric and distrust in government. Hoffa says just like in the early 60s when the John Birch Society pushed for Barry Goldwater, who was the more conservative candidate, to be the Republican presidential nominee, the Tea Party has...

COSTA MESA (CBSLA.com) — A Costa Mesa city councilman on Tuesday said a law firm involved in ongoing pension negotiations with the police department was behind an alleged plot to set him up with a false DUI report. KNX 1070′s Mike Landa reports Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer was joined at a media briefing by other local lawmakers who claim they have targeted by the same law firm. Fullerton Councilman Bruce Whitaker, Buena Park Councilman Fred Smith, Irvine Councilman Jeff Lalloway and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach all joined Righeimer at a news conference on Tuesday to call out the...

This is a Special Report from the AIM Center for Investigative Journalism Republican delegates arriving in Tampa for the convention this week will likely find one thing more oppressive than the humidity: hordes of motley Occupiers, political puppeteers, Teamsters, Code Pink activists dressed as giant female body parts, open-borders extremists, vegan Marxists, and tattooed anarchists, all assembling for their quadrennial temper tantrum. One major target is the Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, and anything ever associated with him. Plans include a tent city called “Romneyville” and protests against any companies assisted by Romney’s old firm, Bain Capital. The purpose, in...

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The retired, longtime president of the National Border Patrol Union was indicted Thursday for diverting thousands of dollars in union funds for personal use, federal prosecutors said. The indictment says Bonner used the position he held for more than two decades to obtain payment for supposedly union-related work and travel that were in fact personal. "These false claims included periods of time when Bonner was actually visiting his mistress in Chicago or family members, as well as trips to attend non-union activities such as hockey games and other sporting events," the indictment.

Paul Ryan spoke at the Iowa State Fair today, and his speech was interrupted by two women who first heckled and then stormed the stage. My first thought was, Where is the Secret Service? Apparently Ryan’s Secret Service protection hasn’t begun yet; the scene could easily have turned scary. Here is the video: Video here No word yet on who the women are, or what connection they have to the Democratic Party or the Obama campaign. One wonders whether the Democrats will turn to heckling and stage-storming as a routine matter. It might not be a bad strategy: by turning...

Unions hit Democratic convention where it hurts: In the wallet By: Robin Bravender and Anna Palmer August 9, 2012 06:44 PM EDT The Democrats are hitting up unions — their go-to cash cows — for last-minute donations to help pay for next month’s convention in Charlotte. The response from some big unions? Tough. Union leaders insisted from the start that they wouldn’t help fill the piggy bank for this year’s Democratic National Convention after the party picked a labor-hostile location and at the same time made fundraising tougher by banning corporate contributions and capping individual donations. And with the event...

The MSNBC Klux Klansters are VERY ANGRY tonite.... They were SURE they were going to win, and MSNBC/CNN reinforced that up to the moment the actual votes started rolling in. The woman walks up to Barrett and slaps him silly for daring to concede while people were still voting in the same building. TO MODS: WISN has not broken this video out from it's election blog, yet! Direct Video Link: http://livewire.wisn.com/Event/Wisconsin_Recall_Election_Coverage/31986124 UPDATED: 2 News' Terry Sater just spoke to the mayor about the 'slap.' Barrett said the woman asked if she could slap him for conceding. He said he'd rather...

From students using class schedules to "prove" that they live in Wisconsin (but not who they actually are), to multiple accounts of people being "bused" in, dozens of accounts of Democrat and Union attempts to commit voter fraud in Wisconsin have hit the news. One town even has turnout that was reportedly six times the votes normally cast in a "heavy" participation election- and that was at 10:30 am in the morning. First is a story from Milwaukee, in which students printed out a piece of paper in order to "prove" their identities. Last Friday, on a High School field...

So much for Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) stewardship of the Wisconsin economy and his promise that eliminating collective bargaining rights for public employees and massive budget cuts would turn the Badger State into a job growth miracle.A report today from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that Wisconsin is the only state in the nation to suffer “statistically significant” job loss during the 12 months from March 2011 to March 2012. In other words, while the rest of the nation is at least holding its own or seeing improvement in job growth, Walker’s Wisconsin experiment is a miserable...

Rev. T. Ray McJunkins of Springfield's Union Baptist Church and USAction's William McNary engaged in violent rhetoric to rile up a union crowd of thousands just yards away from an Illinois appearance by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. McNary challenged Walker to "knuckle up" while McJunkins said they're going to "cut off his head," likening Walker to Goliath.

What are parents to do when their child comes home from school with stories about "this creepy guy in my class" – and it turns out to be the teacher? That’s a very real concern for parents with children in New York City public schools, where 14 teachers of highly dubious character have been reinstated to the classroom – and two others have been given "desk duty" – thanks to appeals by their powerful teachers union, the United Federation of Teachers. NYDailyNews.com reports that 16 teachers "kept their jobs after being brought up on egregious charges, some sexual, some involving...

This just seems so unsporting. After all, these high-school students didn't make threatening calls to the unions that were singing their silly "Solidarity Song" in the capitol rotunda in Madison, to the tune of the Battle Hymn of the Republic: CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO When about 300 Sheboygan Lutheran High School students and supporters piled into the rotunda of the State Capitol in Madison last Thursday after the boys basketball team clinched a trip to the finals for the Division 5 WIAA state championship, they had some time to spare.Sharing the rotunda with a small group of pro-union...

Protestors [sic] are assembling in New York and around the country to let billionaires, big oil and big bankers know that we’re not going to let the richest 1% force draconian economic policies and massive cuts to crucial programs on Main Street Americans. Out-of-touch Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor said he is “increasingly concerned by the growing mobs.” Mobs? That must be what Republicans refer to as the middle class, or maybe the millions of unemployed Americans across the country. As Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi told reporters, “The message of the American people is that no longer will the recklessness...

The angry longshoreman who unleashed a profanity and threat filled tirade on TV crews after last week's union stoppage in SW Washington has been arrested, thanks to his video appearance. Witnesses reportedly identified 45-year-old Ronald Patrick Stavas from the video that's gone viral. The Associated Press reports the Kelso longshoreman is accused of assaulting a guard and breaking into the EGT terminal on Thursday. He was arrested for first-degree burglary and second-degree assault. Bail was set at $50,000.

Top AFL-CIO union chief Richard Trumka -- President Barack Obama's guest of honor at his speech to Congress Thursday night -- urged Obama to "go to the mat" for Big Labor. Of course, Obama hasn't been shy about doing just that for the last three years. Trumka just wants more, more, more. Obama's "jobs" proposal appears to be full of it -- more special deals and bailouts for the union hierarchy. And unsurprisingly, Obama made no mention of the Boeing jobs in South Carolina the Acting General Counsel of his National Labor Relations Board is trying to destroy. Meanwhile, Big...

New polling shows reliably blue Pennsylvania, a state that hasn’t voted for a Republican for president since 1988, could be up for grabs in 2012. And in a wisdom-bending development, organized labor could help the state trend red. A new poll from the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa. shows 52 percent of Pennsylvanians want someone other than Barack Obama elected president in 2012. Just 41 percent say he deserves another term. But most telling in the Franklin & Marshall poll is remarkably high dissatisfaction with Obama in households where rank-and-file union members live....

At least 500 Longshoremen stormed the Port of Longview and broke out windows in the guard shack, according to Longview Police Chief Jim Duscha. As men wielding baseball bats and crowbars held six guards captive, others cut brake lines on boxcars and dumped grain, according to Duscha.

Millions of California workers don't have much to celebrate this Labor Day. State unemployment once again has crept up to a lacerating 12 percent, second-highest in the nation, and the specter looms of a double-dip recession. The high jobless rate doesn't do justice to the economic trauma working families face. Overall, almost one in four California workers – a Depression-era number – is searching for a full-time job. An emerging danger is a "lost generation" scarred by the hopelessness and despair of extended job loss. One-third of the unemployed have been out of work for a year or more. And...

Unions: An Ohio contractor was wounded by gunfire Wednesday by a shadowy man vandalizing his SUV with union threats. Where's Washington's outrage at such lawlessness? Had King Electrical Services owner John King been shot by, say, a Tea Partyer, there'd be no end to the public pontificating from Washington's politicians and media commentators about their rhetoric or protests inciting violence. It's quite a different story for the Lambertville, Mich., contractor who woke up in the dead of night a week ago found a silhouetted figure on his driveway spraying "SCAB" on the side of his vehicle. The figure fired a...

Verizon Communications Inc. reported a dozen cases of sabotaged cable lines and warned of delays in repairs and customer service on the second day of a strike involving about 45,000 employees. The telecommunications company said there have been 12 acts of sabotage to telephone lines and to Internet and television services in Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York since the strike began. Fiber-optic lines were intentionally cut in Tewksbury and several other municipalities on the East Coast, the company said.

A spokesman for the Wisconsin Democratic Party has threatened to sic union bullies on an independent news organization whose reporting he thinks is "biased."Graeme Zeilinski was upset that a WisconsinReporter.com reporter noted in an interview with the Heritage Foundation think thank that Wisconsin had, according to U.S. Department of Labor data, created nearly half of all the new jobs created across the country in June.In an email titled "What Happens Next," Zeilinski warned WisconsinReporter.com that:“What happens next is that I contact the publishers and editors of the papers that publish you as ‘unbiased,’ and let them know our deep concern...

A national scandal hit the news when Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal released a 413-page report describing how hundreds of Atlanta public school teachers and principals had been cheating during the past 10 years on standardized tests in order to falsely report that their schools were doing a good job and the kids were improving. A total of 178 teachers and principals (38 were principals), 82 of whom have already confessed, had fraudulently raised test scores so their schools would meet test targets set by the district and thereby qualify for federal funds. The truth came out after a 10-month inquiry...

Head of U.S. Postal Service says delivery could be scaled back to 3 days a week By Maeve Coyle Topics Domestic Issues With Internet usage rising and mail volume steadily falling, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe warned the U.S. Postal Service is going to have to make significant cutbacks that could mean no more Saturday service and eventually lead to mail delivery just three days a week. The Postal Service's "cashflow crisis is at a critical level," Donahoe told USA Today in an interview published Wednesday. Donahoe said eliminating Saturday mail would save around $3.1 billion a year for the cash-strapped...

Pastor Harris Himes sent me this letter following the shocking verdict in the Gladney beatdown case. Pastor Himes and his wife Sandra witnessed the local SEIU thugs attack Kenneth Gladney outside a Russ Carnahan town hall event in 2009. They were there when the SEIU beat an innocent black man. Harris was obviously upset with the verdict yesterday. After a health care town hall meeting in August 2009 St. Louis native Kenneth Gladney was beaten, kicked and called racist names by Rep. Russ Carnahan’s SEIU supporters. Gladney spent the night in the hospital after the beating. Yesterday the two SEIU...

A public school district in Michigan has used its phone alert system to point voters toward the recall effort against Gov. Rick Snyder. In early June, shortly after the Snyder recall reached the petition-gathering phase, the alert system for Lawrence Public Schools sent out the following robocall to residents of the district: “This is a message from the Lawrence Public Schools (inaudible) alert system. This is an informational item and not directly associated with the school. Concerned parents interested in cuts to education . . . we're here to inform you that there is information about the problem. Also, be...

Kenneth Gladney reaction: “I couldn’t beat them; I didn’t have the resources they had. They had all the money in the world and the backing. I’m just an average man.” Video pending. The Kenneth Gladney beatdown case continued this morning in St. Louis County Court. After a health care town hall meeting in August 2009 St. Louis native Kenneth Gladney was beaten, kicked and called racist names by Rep. Russ Carnahan’s SEIU supporters. Gladney spent the night in the hospital after the beating.

NOT GUILTY- SEIU GOONS CLEARED IN GLADNEY BEATING!

Thousands of union workers descended on East Stroudsburg on Saturday for a rally attended by "Lethal Weapon" actor Danny Glover to support Pocono Medical Center's service workers. Union members from across Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and even as far away as Colorado attended the event organized by Service Employees International Union, organizers said. Danny Glover a no show at PMC protest todayThey estimated more than 4,000 attended the gathering held in front of East Stroudsburg University. Protestors wore purple shirts with the slogan, "Help fight the attack on workers' rights from Wisconsin to Pennsylvania."

Washington (CNSNews.com) – In what the White House calls a push for transparency, a pending executive order would require companies doing business with the federal government to disclose political contributions to independent groups, but would not place the same requirement on public employee unions or federal grant recipients that typically donate to Democrats. Entitled the “Disclosure of Political Spending By Government Contractors,” the order would implement parts of the DISCLOSE Act, which failed to get through Congress last year. The legislation sought to restrict campaign speech after the landmark Citizens United vs. Federal Elections Commission U.S. Supreme Court ruling that...

MADISON (WKOW) -- Authorities say 26-year-old Katherine Windels sent disturbing emails to 16 Republican senators, repeatedly threatening to kill them. Windels, of Cross Plains, faces four charges including using a computer to send a threat and creating a bomb scare. Two of the counts are felonies, two are misdemeanors. The criminal complaint says the emails were sent on March 9, the same day senate Republicans passed the revised budget repair bill with no Democrats present. According to the complaint, Windels told the senators "you will be killed and your families [sic] will also be killed due to your actions in...

Prison guards at a Western Maryland correctional facility say a union boss berated and tried to intimidate them after they raised questions at a pre-shift meeting about how their fees are spent and the benefits of belonging to a union. The guards said the March 11 meeting at the Maryland Correctional Training Center started amicably enough when Steve Berger, their American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union representative, tried to rally opposition to proposed changes in the employee retirement plan. The meeting took an unexpected twist, they say, when Mr. Berger opened the floor to questions. When...

Eyewitness account: This video was shot minutes after a union advocate destroyed several petitions at a recall Jim Holperin Rally in Merill, WI. The event was moved to the court house grounds because the private location originally slated to host the event was threatened with arson. It should be noted that police were present when the protestor (sic) destroyed these recall petitions, but stated to us that there was nothing they could do about it. The female protestor (sic), who had a young child with her, approached the recall table pretending to be interested in signing the petition, then proceeded...

The 17-year-old high school senior waded into a sea of communist red to deliver the truth of liberty in the form the US Constitution to the political pagans assembled. In the process, Patrick was verbally assaulted by an old man who graphically described sexual tea-bagging to the high school student. The incident took place during dueling protests in Jefferson City, Missouri, and was caught on two separate video cameras Patrick had grabbed a stack of Pocket Constitutions and Declarations offered for free by the St. Louis Tea Party Coalition The Tea Party held a rally on the south side of...

Today, union thugs descended on the FreedomWorks office. It was the middle of the day, and there was some excitement outside as all the buses pulled up and people started to fill the courtyard. We decided to go out and show our support for freedom. Intern Steve was quickly suited up.....