RSSWaste And Duplicative Services – A Look At The Department Of Labor
J.J. Jackson | February 28, 2011
The Department of Labor has sent out its latest newsletter. And like every other one it is a mishmash of self aggrandizement and the department patting itself on the back for finding all sorts of ways to spend taxpayer dollars on duplicative services and unconstitutional programs.
The February 24th, 2011 issue starts out under “What’s Hot” proclaiming:
Department Announces Green Jobs Innovation Fund Grant Competition
The Green Jobs Innovation Fund, a DOL-funded competition to support opportunities for workers to receive job training in green industry sectors and occupations, was announced this week. Approximately $40 million will be awarded to five to eight grantees with awards ranging from $5 million to $8 million each. Eligible applicants will include national and statewide organizations with local affiliates that have existing career training programs and will benefit a minimum of six communities per grant. “This grant program is an important effort in supporting green investments and equipping workers with the knowledge, skills and abilities they need to succeed in green occupations,” said Secretary Solis. “The projects we expect to fund will enable workers to gain new skills that will make them competitive for industries and careers in demand.”
And where exactly is it in the Constitution that our federal government has the authority to push tax payer dollars towards preferred industries while ignoring others? But here is the Department of Labor offering up $40 million dollars to feed things that government approves of.
And wouldn’t the funding of energy programs and initiatives (if Constitutional in the first place) be the pervue of the Department of Energy anyway? Why are we duplicating functions within the federal bureaucracy? Are we doing it just to distribute more funds?
But the pursuit of spending taxpayer dollars on “green” programs and distributing money to government approved industries does not stop there. Later on in the news release we come across this item:
Green Buildings Grow in Brooklyn
Brooklyn, N.Y., building superintendent Marat Olfir is advancing his career and implementing green energy savings thanks to the 32BJ Thomas Shortman Training Fund. The fund, a joint labor-management partnership that instructs property service personnel in green building operations and maintenance, is funded by DOL. Olfir is the first graduate to earn the fund’s Green Diploma, after taking intensive 40-hour courses in green commercial/residential building plumbing, carpentry and electricity, air conditioning and refrigeration, air pollution control and facilities management. Olfir now oversees two apartment buildings, and has used his green knowledge to make them more efficient, thus saving thousands in energy bills. He has urged fellow building personnel to follow his lead and make their buildings more economical. “A building is a live thing” Marat said, and bringing green practices to any of them “not only saves money but is the future of building maintenance.”
You have to look at the press release to see this yo-yo’s big smile. Hell, I’d have a crap eating grin on my face too if I was so pathetic that I needed government to help my business out and managed to find a way to convince (or should I say con) them into doing it.
Again, what exactly is the point of the Department of Energy if the Department of Labor is promoting energy programs like this? Forget the arguments about constitutionality for a minute, just answer that one.
Now, the Department of Labor’s actions were not limited to just promoting “green” jobs and energy it seems. In between all this they were also signing treaties with agents of foreign governments:
New Alliance Between OSHA and Little Rock Mexican Consulate
The signing of an alliance between the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Mexican Consulate in Little Rock last week will enhance workplace safety for Mexican workers in Arkansas and Oklahoma. Consulate personnel, which serve about 120 people a day, will work closely with OSHA offices to improve training and educational goals, outreach and communication. “The joint resources of this relationship will promote workers’ rights in protecting their occupational safety and health, particularly in regards to reducing injuries, illnesses and fatalities,” said William Burke, OSHA’s acting regional administrator in Dallas. The alliance was signed at the Mexican Consulate in Little Rock. “The main emphasis focuses on ensuring compliance with laws and regulations protecting Mexican workers, as well as raising awareness about them,” said Andres Chao, consul of Mexico in Little Rock.
Wait a minute here! OSHA, a division of the Department of Labor, is signing agreements with foreign governments? Yep. Consulates are official representatives of the countries they represent. Ergo this is an agreement with a foreign country otherwise known as a treaty. Uh, is that the way it is supposed to work?
Not according to our Constitution which says in Article II, Section 2, Clause 2, “[The President] shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur…”
Since when OSHA, “The President”?
Oh, we are not done yet! What else has the Department of Labor been up to? How about helping unemployed workers with their health insurance premiums:
Help With Health Insurance Coverage for New Hampshire Workers
Being without healthcare coverage can be one of the most stressful aspects of losing one’s job. The department is helping to ease this burden for about 150 jobless New Hampshire residents. Through a $744,000 National Emergency Grant, these workers will receive partial premium payments for health insurance coverage. Funds will also be used to upgrade the state’s existing benefit payment system. The grant, awarded to the New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development, will be used to provide “gap filler” payments for unemployed individuals who are receiving Trade Adjustment Assistance benefits and who are eligible for the Health Coverage Tax Credit program.
Here we have the Department of Labor giving money to people who aren’t even laboring! And if the DoL is paying benefits to people who are unemployed outside of the standard unemployment compensation why exactly do we have unemployment compensation?
Basically here is what the DoL has done here. It has decided that these 150 residents of New Hampshire deserved an extra $4,960 per person than everyone else on Unemployment Compensation get. What makes them so special? If you are unemployed and called up the DoL asking for $4,960 more to put yourself on equal footing how much to you want to be they would laugh in your face?
So much for equal protection under the law huh?
And to conclude the Department of Labor’s latest braggadocios claims, flaunting their arbitrary and capricious power, the newsletter concludes with a “Spotlight” on California:
Storm Recovery Aid for Californians
Clean-up and recovery efforts continue in California after severe storms battered the Golden State during the last days of autumn into early winter. The department is pitching in with more than $11 million in National Emergency Grant funds. Awarded to the California Employment Development Department, funds will be used to create temporary jobs in support of storm recovery efforts. “Storms, flooding and mud flows have caused extensive damage to roads, wastewater treatment plants, trail bridges and trails throughout California,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “Such events can exact a high toll from communities. Providing grant assistance to Californians to aid recovery is the right thing to do.”
Wait a second here, the Department of Labor is giving away $11 million for storm clean up? Shouldn’t this be handled under FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) which is part of the Department of Homeland Security? Again, forget the unconstitutionality of the whole ability to distribute such funds here for a minute. If the Department of Labor is handling storm cleanup then what is FEMA doing exactly?
Your federal government at work folks! And liberals say there is nowhere to make serious cuts? How about we start targeting agencies doing things that other agencies, you would think, are already handling?
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J.J. Jackson is a libertarian conservative author from Pittsburgh, PA who has been writing and promoting individual liberty since 1993 and is President of Land of the Free Studios, Inc. He is the Pittsburgh Conservative Examiner for Examiner.com. He is also the owner of The Right Things - Conservative T-shirts & Gifts. His weekly commentary along with exclusives not available anywhere else can be found at LibertyReborn.com (Digital Fingerprint: libertyreborn123456789)
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