Union Payoff

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, and is one of the most blatant payoffs ever by a U.S. president. Hundreds of billions of dollars in government construction projects restricted to only union workers, leaving hundreds of thousands of laid off non-union workers without work.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said, "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 as payback to 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."

It is nothing less than a payoff to the unions who supported his campaign with both money and troops. 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 the transparency.