“American Federation of Labor – Congress of Industrial Organizations” on The Daily Caller

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on Tuesday will accuse Republicans, private sector businesses and health insurance companies of “economic treason” in a red meat speech in Columbus, Ohio, to union members at their annual convention. (more)

AFL-CIO leaders warned NFL owners on Monday about the consequences of a lockout next season. (more)

The function of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is to administer the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the primary law governing relations between unions and private sector employers.  In the past year, the NLRB has become increasingly anti-employer.  It started with the recess appointment of labor radical Craig Becker, a former attorney for the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) who did not receive enough support in the Senate to get confirmed.  As a result, President Obama delivered “payback” to Big Labor bosses by naming Becker to the board through a recess appointment, doing an end-run around Congress. (more)

With Democrats fighting to hold onto their majorities in the House and Senate, they have enlisted their most ardent supporter — Big Labor — to help push back against a resurgent Republican Party. No interest group has been more vital to the Democratic Party’s recent success than organized labor, which spent nearly $400 million on Democratic candidates during the 2008 election cycle. (more)

Labor leaders, liberal religious leaders and the NAACP will hold a rally on the National Mall on October 2, one month before the fall midterm elections, in an attempt to show they too have political clout and momentum in response to last Saturday’s massive gathering of Tea Party types led by Fox News host Glenn Beck. (more)

Trying to recharge unions key to his 2008 victory, President Obama on Wednesday implored members of the AFL-CIO to be patient with the pace of the recovery and warned them they and the economy would suffer far worse under Republican rule. (more)

For months, the conventional wisdom has been that Democrats’ best hope of holding the House rests on two things: the long time they’ve had to prepare for a wave election, unlike in 1994, and the money advantage they’ve accumulated due to fumbling at the Republican National Committee and House Republican fundraising arm. (more)

At least two influential unions will spend close to $100 million on the 2010 election, with most of those funds going to protect incumbents. (more)

An unlikely alliance of liberals and conservatives led by socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders and firebrand conservative Sen. Jim DeMint is gaining ground in an effort to audit the Federal Reserve, despite objections by the White House and bank lobbyists. (more)

What’s legal for billionaires to do alone, but illegal for you to do with your neighbors?  Until a federal court decision last Friday, the surprising answer was:  spend freely on political ads. (more)

Senate Republicans united Thursday to voice their opposition to a recess appointment for labor lawyer Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board. All 41 members of the minority signed a letter to Obama urging him not to use the upcoming recess to seat Becker after the Senate held up his nomination last month. (more)

Faced with massive structural budget deficits and a rapidly shrinking tax base, California may find relief in an unlikely place: marijuana. Pot advocates are confident the state’s voters will approve an initiative this November to legalize the drug for recreational use. (more)

Let’s talk jobs. Rarely in our history has the country shared the same focus and concern about a single issue as we do today. With unemployment hovering at almost 10 percent, and with an even higher number of Americans underemployed and unhappy with their current jobs, we are a nation faced with great challenges. Not only is one out of 10 folks looking for a job, but this fact coupled with everyone else’s insecurity means that many people simply aren’t spending money, let alone investing in their future. This trickle-down effect is further dampening our economy and clouding America’s outlook. (more)

Trade has remained on the back burner this past year while the Obama administration has dealt with domestic issues, especially health care, with the little activity on the issue being largely negative. There was the early caving into pressure from organized labor over allowing Mexican trucks on U.S. roads (part of America’s contractual obligations under NAFTA), and another capitulation in September, when President Obama agreed to slap tariffs on Chinese tires at the behest of the steelworkers. (more)

As if the Obama administration hasn’t given union bosses enough “payback,” it is poised to give them even more – only this time the gift is as dangerous as Big Labor’s other agenda items such as the Employee “Forced” Choice Act, and will result in more job loss. (more)

Unions and liberal groups have dismissed Sen. Harry Reid’s $15 billion jobs bill as “puny” while calling for larger stimulus measures. (more)

Organized labor is increasing pressure on the White House to support the nomination of labor lawyer Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board. Becker’s nomination was stalled in the Senate this week when two Democrats joined Republicans in opposition. (more)

“It is my belief that there are ‘absolutes’ in the Bill of Rights and they were put there on purpose by men who knew what words meant and meant their prohibitions to be absolutes….[The first Amendment] provides, in simple words, that ‘Congress make no law…abridging the freedom of speech or the press. I read ‘no law abridging” to mean ‘no law abridging.’” — the late Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black (more)

Unions tentatively struck a deal Tuesday to exempt collectively bargained health care plans from a tax on high-cost plans expected to be used to help raise revenue for the health care overhaul. (more)