So, Trump appointed Lori Chavez-DeRemer Secretary of Labor…and much heartache ensued.
This is mostly because she was one of the few House Republicans to sign off on the PRO Act – a union-favorable bit of legislation which has been proposed and shot down in Congress by various means. It polls very well – though probably with the poll questions couched in a way to make it as favorable as possible. The biggest sticking points on the Right are that it essentially voids “right to work” laws and allows independent contractors (the “gig economy” – Uber drivers and such) to organize and strike even though they aren’t technically employees of the company they work for. The first point is the very biggest sticking point – we on the Right fought for years to make it so that unions can’t force people to be union members and pay dues…the PRO Act would essentially undo that and allow the unions to siphon off money even from people who don’t want union representation. So, Chavez-DeRemer is, in my view, wrong on this issue.
Why did Trump appoint her?
Very simple: he knows that the future of of the GOP is tied to working class voters – this is life or death for us. We either retain working class votes (and expand our support among various minority working class demographics) or we’re cooked. This pick is a tip of Trump’s hat to workers…and allows us to talk to the workers over the heads of the labor union bosses. This is worth having someone economically Left in the cabinet. And, in fact, points up the need for us to start to rethink how we do things.
Let us first be clear that we are not anti-union. There is nothing wrong at all with workers combining together to obtain the best deal possible from their employer. But let us also state firmly that public-sector unions are an abomination – any such thing is essentially a conspiracy to defraud the taxpayers as a public-sector union’s goal is to take more money from the taxpayers regardless of performance. That said, it is time for the GOP to become a union shop, as it were. When there is a dispute between workers and a large corporate entity, our sympathies must lie with the workers.
This doesn’t mean we go socialist or do something stupid like that – but we must be seen as the party that will listen to the worker’s concerns and see if a deal can be worked that avoids a strike and keeps a company profitable. We all know that the economy is forever changing and that business must continually adapt to changed conditions to remain profitable…and that profits aren’t bad; they are the only reason anyone engages in business to begin with. But when we have a situation where, say, a company is trying to import workers or export the factory…we should be dropping like a hammer on that corporation and taking the side of the workers. It doesn’t matter if ACME can make the hammer cheaper with slave labor in China…ACME will just have to make that hammer in the USA paying American-scale wages to American workers. Sure, the workers will also have to understand the thin profit margins on each hammer and adjust their pay expectations to that – as well as their productivity requirements. But this is all just the fair give and take that is supposed to happen in an economy built for a sane nation. Nobody is going to get everything they want – but reasonable people will get everything they need.
The main thing here is that the old GOP is dead. It actually died when we got our Trifecta after the 2004 elections and we couldn’t even defund NPR. It would have been nothing to do it – not that much money, we had the majorities…just do it. Nothing. That is when we started to learn that the old GOP had been running a con on us for decades and their only goal was to keep corporate taxes low and defense industry profits high. Now we sit on the cusp of Trump II and it is high time everyone got on board – the old ways didn’t cut it. We lost. Now we have to try something new…and when you try something new, it is going to be difficult and often uncomfortable. Perhaps this or that pick or policy by Trump will fail…doesn’t matter. We have to try things. In the trying will be the education which will get us to our goal…an America where the Constitution is again law (and much more strengthened) and we’re free and prosperous. This will take a long time. There will be failures on the path…but we’re on this path and we have to stay on it, or we’re doomed.
Blogs For Victory 
Why did Trump appoint her? Very simple: he knows that the future of of the GOP is tied to working class voters – this is life or death for us.
I haven’t heard hardly anyone talking about the fact that we’re going through the most massive political realignment since the 1850s, but that’s exactly what’s happening. If Trump and whoever follows him, likely Vance, succeed, the math doesn’t work for the Democrat Party to continue in its present form. There just simply aren’t enough elitists and single white women. And clearly free stuff isn’t the motivator that it once was. Also, even those traditional Democrat voters who haven’t had the oppressive boot of government bureaucracy on their necks probably know someone who has, and realize that they could be next, and that Trump is the only force standing in the way. I think that message finally got through to a significant number of people during this last election cycle. But, at the end of the day, Democrats just dug their own grave, whether it’s DEI, the Trans movement, open borders, war mongering, abortion, overt election cheating, etc., everything they support is either unconstitutional, extreme, or both.
Know what just occurred to me as I read that?
We might have reached Welfare Saturation.
That is, there are so many programs on so many levels for people to take advantage of that if being a welfare bum is your desire, you’ve got it. Think about it: the government actually advertises benefits these days. There is so much welfare out there that the bureaucrats are beating the bushes looking for people to give it to (they probably need case load to keep their jobs). There’s just no more to be ground out of that issue – and for anyone who doesn’t want to be a bum, even if poor, what they’d rather see is wealth-creation opportunity rather than an application for benefits.
We’ve all met them, haven’t we? I’m talking the young guys and gals – of all races – who are just Charlie Hustle out there. They’re working multiple jobs and are sharp eyed for any opportunity to make a buck. There’s this one black man I know who has already been out to my house twice to fix minor appliances. Just a bright, hard working young man who figured out that there’s a market for that skill and ran with it. Last time, he came out on a Saturday…I told him Monday would be fine but Saturday it was…because he knows that time is money and now he had time on Monday to make more money.
If he voted, who the heck do you think he voted for? A promise of more transitions for kids, or the loud mouthed New York businessman who told him he can make all the damned money he wants, and keep it?
Things really are changing.
Having the support of the working class is a must for any successful political party, and wasn’t it FDR who warned us of government unions? Even FDR understood the danger of government unions negotiating with politicians over tax payers money. That’s a bad recipe.
I think we all suspected this was happening but here is even more evidence. This is why politicians and the pentagon love wars … MONEY. They all get rich while people die. This. Must. End
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/11/former-polish-minister-least-half-us-aid-was/
I look at it this way: Trump is committed to slashing the size, scope and power of federal agencies, which has to include Labor, and bringing them back to their original charters. I guess its Mission Statement is its charter: To foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.
If the Department is restricted to its own Mission Statement, and can’t just make rules and regulations without the participation of Congress, its power and authority are pretty limited, which makes the Secretary more responsible for coordinating legislation and relationships between labor and the administration than having the ability to unilaterally make changes or even major decisions. Most of the stated Mission Statement is pretty vague and benign, with only the last part—-to assure work-related benefits and rights—-getting into very contentious territory. And she will serve at the will of the president, so I don’t see her posing any real threat, and in the meantime she is a strong symbolic nomination regarding the unions and a lot of labor.
So good LOL
I have a new contender for “Who’s the most crazy on the Left?” Today it is Denver mayor Mike Johnston, who recently told Denverite magazine that “he plans to send Denver Police officers to the county line to stop federal troops from entering the city to enforce deportations, comparing the matter to China’s Tiananmen Square demonstrations.”
He evidently got a little pushback, because he walked back the Tiananmen Square comment (maybe Tim Walz wasn’t available to provide support with an eyewitness account of that event) but “Still, Johnston said he is encouraging people to protest deportations in Colorado but is willing to go to jail to stop any efforts from Trump that he thinks are wrong or illegal.”
Okey dokey. I know Colorado in general is in a death spiral but I didn’t realize that its officials actually believe they get to decide what is “wrong or illegal” or that any of them believe they have the authority to order the police department to block federal law enforcement from doing its job. It is a violation of federal law to interfere with apprehension of illegal aliens including ordering or enabling interference. Mike won’t have to be standing there on the line trying to block federal officers “from entering the city” because the law covers conspiracy to violate it in addition to personally, physically, participating in a violation.
I’d like to interview Mike to ask him to explain his perception of the legality of being here without any documentation and the illegality of enforcing federal law. It might be kind of fun to hand him US Code 1324, with this part underlined:
Mike can brag and posture about being willing to go to jail for interfering with federal law enforcement, but I doubt he has considered the ramifications of being held legally liable for crimes committed by people he is protecting in addition to simply being fined and/or imprisoned for the crimes of protecting them in the first place. “shall be punished as provided in subparagraph (B).” is strong language. “Shall”, in the law, is an imperative. It must be done.
Sounds like the perfect test case to me, and he’s even VOLUNTEERING!
I know. He seems to be acknowledging that he would be breaking the law but is posturing as some kind of folk hero. Polis is term-limited (thank God) and the only thing I can think of is that Johnston is angling to set himself up to run. His opposition would be corrupt Jena Griswold, who tried to get Trump off the ticket, so it will be a race to the bottom.
Just massive teeth to that law – and the funny part will be when the arrests start, the accused will initially appeal based on the fact that its never been enforced before!
The appellate courts will reject that, of course…
Musk Announces Plan To Buy MSNBC And Turn It Into A News Network
(Babylon Bee, unfortunately)
But he has posted on X talking about it – hope he does!
The buying part is great—the “turning it into a news network” is funny
Jack Smith just dropped all charges. Tell me that that prosecution was purely political without telling that that prosecution was purely political.
He’s pretending it’s because of that prosecuting-the-president rule, but that’s just to save face. He has got to be so relieved to have an excuse to dump this hot mess, especially with the questions about whether or not he was even legally qualified to file as he was improperly appointed. I think there is still a charge of election interference to consider, for him and for Bragg. Get those charges in front of real juries in places not as blue where facts can be presented and see what happens.
Yep – if Harris had made it, then the whole Executive would have stood behind it and it would have taken the Supreme Court to shut it down – some years from now. With it now being Trump’s DOJ, there’s just no support for this ridiculous effort.
Next step: charge Smith and everyone involved with malicious prosecution.
And civil rights – 18 US Code 241:
If two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same…
…They shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both…
If I’m not mistaken, the charges were dropped “without prejudice” which means they can still be reinstated at some point in the future. It’s as though Smith want it to appear the issues is dead, but unless the perpetrators are prosecuted and the issued destroyed, it is still an underlying threat.
Good point. What ever happened to the question about the legitimacy of Smith’s appointment? It seems that addressing that might be a backdoor way to make the whole thing go away permanently.