President of 11.9% of Us

Barack Obama tells Congress to pass the infrastructure piece of the American
Jobs Act while at the Georgetown Waterfront Park in Washington, November 2, 2011.

Infrastructure huh? I had lost track of where I read that almost all of the infrastructure jobs would be union jobs. But I tracked this down, an e-mail that went round awhile back:

President Obama quietly signs Pro-Union Executive Order

February 9, 2009

While everyone is talking about the pork laden stimulus that Obama and many Democrats in Congress are pushing, President Obama very quietly signed a pro union executive order on Friday. It ordered the use of union labor for federal construction projects. This is one of the most blatant payoffs I have ever seen.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele has made the following statement.

"President Obama’s executive order will drive up the cost of government at a time when we should be doing everything possible to save taxpayer dollars. Federal contracts should go to the businesses that can offer taxpayers the best value – not just the unions who supported the Democrats’ campaigns last year. Quietly signing executive orders to payback campaign backers undermines Obama’s promise to change Washington. It is a disappointment for Americans hoping for more transparency and less politics as usual in Washington ."

I would have to agree with everything the chairman said. It is nothing less than a payoff to the unions who supported his campaign with both money and troops. And the fact that it was done with no media coverage shows that he once again is trying to slip one by Americans, which is anything but transparent.

Factcheck.org checked this one out:

It’s not often that we receive chain e-mails that actually check out, but this one, while exaggerated, is largely right. On Feb. 6, Obama issued Executive Order 13502 that encourages federal agencies to "consider requiring the use of project labor agreements in connection with large-scale construction projects in order to promote economy and efficiency in Federal procurement." A project labor agreement requires contractors and subcontractors to pay union wages and to recognize collective bargaining agreements. The order "does not require" project labor agreements, but it’s reasonable to say that "encouragement" from the president is likely to carry considerable weight with federal agencies.

As for RNC Chair Michael Steele’s allegation that the order constitutes "payback" for the unions who supported Obama’s campaign, well, we don’t have any way to know Obama’s motives. What Obama says is that the policy will help to make labor costs more predictable and will prevent construction delays by nipping labor disputes in the bud.

Not sure how requiring unions would nip labor disputes in the bud. You don't hear of many non-union labor disputes. Anyway, I'll say it again: It would be nice if we had a president of all the people, not just of all the unionized people.

And anyway, didn't you reward them enough with the first "stimulus" bill?

photo via