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There Ought To Be a Law
By Chris Stigall
With much ballyhoo from the statistically small but obnoxiously loud labor
leaders and the similarly “subtle” cheers of women’s rights crusaders ,
Barak Obama signed his first piece of legislation as President last week –
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
The Act was in response to an earlier Supreme Court ruling that Ledbetter,
who sued her employer, was not entitled to additional compensation because
she filed her claim more than 180 days after receiving her first
“discriminatory” paycheck.
Last week, President Obama and Congress made swift changes to the Civil
Rights Act allowing workers the ability to sue beyond 180 days after
receiving said “discriminatory” paycheck. Once again, that’s more than 180
days after Ms. Ledbetter
had been alerted her pay was less than her
male colleagues. More than two decades of an allegedly hostile workplace.
She needed still more time to consider legal action.
Twenty years, much less six months seems like a great deal of time to
deliberate over potential discrimination and assessed harm. Certainly wrong
doing and mismanagement can be challenged within weeks, if not days of
discovery. Take for example, the American electorate.
It has taken less than two weeks for the formerly hopeful huddled masses of
Obama supporters to understand their newly elected CEO has broken promises,
skirted laws, and potentially burdened their paychecks and investments for
decades to come. Quietly, the shareholders in Obama, Inc. are already
nervously wondering, “What recourse have we?” Ms.
Ledbetter
, could you point us in the direction of the
nearest EEOC office?
Wall Street’s ability to begin recovery has instead been in hasty retreat
since November. Corporate America and the free market have certainly been
in President Obama’s crosshairs from the very first moments he pledged to
faithfully execute - or execute faithfully - the duties of his office. Mr.
Obama declared in his inaugural address, "Without a watchful eye, the market
can spin out of control." He went on to proclaim, “economic recovery would
be difficult” and we “must choose hope over fear, unity of purpose over
conflict and discord” to overcome “the worst economic crisis since the Great
Depression.”
Thus was born a classic, wrongheaded tone of executive leadership. “My way
or the highway. Dissenters need not speak. Do as I say, not as I do. Fear
what lies ahead and trust only in me to lead you.” Be it Fortune 500
companies, military leaders in combat or even a football franchise in the
NFL - the evidence of ruin is ample when figure heads engage in this kind of
me-first, fortified bunker, central planning. And America’s new CEO is
just getting started.
To be sure, the rhetorical bloom was off the rose within days of the
election. Mr. Obama’s “yes we can” was sidelined in favor of “not right
now.” With each passing day the economy was verbally painted as bad and
getting worse. In one fell swoop, the President and his accomplices in
Congress unnerved taxpayers with the swift authorization of $819 billion
dollars to grow government artfully masked as job creation. This comes on
the heels of the first $700 billion of American treasure hastily authorized
last fall. Of that, $350 billion has seemingly vanished while an additional
$350 billion remains in holding as Mr. Obama dangles the treasury checkbook
before the corporate soup line.
In exchange for such presidential generosity, Mr. Obama has all but demanded
control of these strapped institutions pay structures, purchases, and
general practices. From the public condemnation of private flights for auto
executives to remodeled V.I.P. bathrooms on Wall Street – the free market
and its investors are beginning to realize there’s no such thing as “free”
anymore.
President Obama recently expressed his outrage at the very institutions he
pushed to prop-up. Calling Wall Street bonus structures “the height of
irresponsibility,” Obama demanded they “show some restraint, and show some
discipline, and show some sense of responsibility." But what was to come
next from our new executive’s mouth made talk of “restraint” seem quaint.
"There will be time for them to make profits, and there will be time for
them to get bonuses," Mr. Obama said. "Now is not that time." But as
chilling as that may have sounded to the marketplace, the stakes of this
taxpayer gamble grew greater.
That very day one of President Obama’s biggest campaign cheerleaders,
Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) took to the Senate floor introducing
legislation capping compensation for employees of any private company that
accepts federal dollars.
Investors in Obama, Inc. came to realize last week that the election of
their new CEO means ceding control of their own destiny, and sending the
markets sliding further south. All of this sealed with Mr. Obama’s personal
guarantee of still worse times to come, trillions in deficit spending
assured, and public persecution of any private enterprise deemed too
profitable in these trying times.
The cause of this buyer’s remorse among the Obama loyal is not exclusively
found in his government choke-hold on the marketplace or reckless and
hurried spending of their hard earned investments, however.
Less serious, but no less cynical was the team of all-stars he began
appointing within days of the election. Mr. Obama’s shareholders “hoped”
for “change” when they made him their new leader. Instead, they watched the
all-too-familiar business model of Clinton Inc. employed once again at
America’s headquarters.
Rahm Emanuel was chosen almost
immediately as our new CEOs right hand. His deep ties to the soap opera
years of the Clinton White House, coupled with his rich history of Chicago
machine politics provided the first peek behind Obama Inc.’s character
curtain.
Soon to follow came Hillary Clinton, Eric Holder, Bill Richardson – all
loaded with the heavy baggage of Washington mismanagement and a
scandal-laden former administration in their rear view mirrors. Within two
days of their post-election jubilation, Obama Inc.’s premiere publication,
the Huffington Post was left bemused. “Come on, President-elect Obama.
Sure, it makes sense to start with a few experienced hands. But we hired you
to make change happen, not to recycle.”
Investors in Obama, Inc. were also treated to the promise of a new era of
personal responsibility. Of course, that personal responsibility was meant
for his investors not for CEO Obama and his management team.
Former Senator Tom Daschle, nominated to be Secretary of the Department of
Health and Human Services, did not pay more than $128,000 in taxes over
three years. The back taxes, along with $12,000 in interest and penalties,
involved unreported consulting fees, questionable charitable contributions,
and a car and driver provided by a private equity firm run by entrepreneur
and longtime Democratic Party donor.
White House spokesman Bill Burton was quick to defend Mr. Daschle. “"The
president has confidence that Sen. Daschle is the right person to lead the
fight for health care reform." Perhaps Mr. Obama is correct. It isn’t as
though he has appointed a tax-dodger to head the IRS. Now that would be
disheartening.
Speaking of the newly confirmed Secretary of Treasury; with his own messy
“missteps” and “honest mistakes” in his personal bookkeeping behind him, Tim
Geithner can now focus on more important things. His first item of business
was to appoint his new Chief of Staff, Mark Patterson. Mr. Patterson was a
former lobbyist for Goldman Sachs and was instrumental in securing a piece
of the original $700 billion dollar bail-out for his former employer.
Obama, Inc. has also made a bold move in appointing William Lynn as the new
Assistant Secretary of Defense. Lynn is currently a senior vice president at
Raytheon, which holds billions of dollars in Defense Department contracts.
In his new role as Assistant Secretary, Lynn would be involved in the
process of budgeting and acquisitions for the DoD. If the picks of Lynn and
Patterson sound like they could be conflicts of interest, fear not. Mr.
Obama pledged to his shareholders, “lobbyists won't find a job in my White
House." It is a safe statement, after all.
Neither Lynn nor Patterson actually has a job in the White House. Obama,
Inc. shareholders have always been impressed with his ability to
communicate. They are now learning to appreciate his ability to obfuscate
as well.
So concludes the first two weeks of the Obama administration. The Lilly
Ledbetter Fair Pay Act becomes law. Finally, the little guy will enjoy
added protection in the workplace. Yet somehow the little guy still feels a
sense of uneasiness about the future. Not necessarily as an employee, but
as a citizen of the United States in this new era of double-speak and
collectivism.
Unlike Ms. Ledbetter, there is no government commission for voters to
petition when victimized by their CEO’s malfeasance. There are no juries to
award damages to their paychecks. There will be no signing ceremony in the
East Room of the “American Voter Fair Shake Act.” Their only legal recourse
is to watch helplessly and wait until the next election.
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