Special interests dominate Obama's State of the Union

Obama's state of the Union reflected his belief in government aggressively steering the economy. In my column, I list who wins under Obama's proposals:

For instance, he called for more funding to build high-speed rail. Why rail? Rail is only one way to travel or to ship things.

A likely clue: lobbying. Lorenzo Simonelli, chief executive officer of GE Transportation, said in May, "We are ready to partner with the federal government and Amtrak to make high-speed rail a reality."

Subsequently, GE Transportation hired two new lobbying firms. One new GE lobbyist on high-speed rail: Linda Hall Daschle, the wife of former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, an Obama confidant.

Samuel Whitehorn is another new addition to GE's train lobby. He served as senior counsel on the Senate commerce committee and a senior lawyer at Bill Clinton's Department of Transportation.

Class Dismissed: How Teachers Unions Killed D.C. Vouchers

After I wrote my Examiner column in February on teacher union lobbying clout and their campaign against vouchers, I had the opportunity to expand this story for Labor Watch, a publication of the Capital Research Center. Now you can read the full piece in PDF. Here's the precis:

At the urging of teachers unions, the Democrat-controlled U.S. Congress has put the District of Columbia’s pilot educational vouchers program on the fast track to extinction. This in spite of the fact that vouchers enjoy the support of several high ranking D.C. officials and important Democratic constituencies. How did the teachers unions acquire such clout? Timothy P. Carney, lobbying editor and columnist for the Washington Examiner, tells the story of the political struggle that created the vouchers program, and the backroom maneuvering that killed it.

UPS vs FedEx: Labor law as a corporate weapon

As government grows, business rivalries will increasingly be played out on Capitol Hill through regulation and legislation. As a preview, witness the UPS-vs-FedEx battle currently. My Examiner gives the story:

Both sides, of course, are engaging in Beltway knife-fighting, which requires campaign cash. On top of their five-figures-per-day lobbying budgets are the companies' PACs. FedEx PAC spent $3.4 million last cycle, and $231,000 so far this cycle. UPS's PAC shelled out $4.7 million last election, and an impressive $522,000 so far this time around.

UPS has a key ally: the Teamsters Union, which gave $2.4 million to Democrats in the last cycle. Teamsters want to unionize FedEx, and Oberstar's provision will make that much easier if it becomes law.

Is it fair for FedEx and UPS to play by different rules? Is it fair to change the rules on FedEx in the middle of the game? Is the NLRA even fair?

Sadly, "fair competition," doesn't really play a role in shipping--an industry that has been subsidized and regulated since its birth. Federal law nearly prohibits UPS and FedEx from competing on price. Other regulations--including labor laws--cramp their ingenuity.

Read the whole thing here.

The Big Business of Big Labor

Handing Chrysler over to the UAW will be pitched as handing the automaker over to its workers. My Washington Examiner column today digs through the UAW's finances to argue that the UAW is, itself, a big business.

Peer deeper into the UAW’s finances, and it starts to look even more like a big business. The organization sits on nearly $1.2 billion in investments. This is money the UAW took from the paychecks of workers, money that now functions as an endowment out of which the union pays its staff and subsidizes its golf resort.

Black Lake Golf Club, which the UAW brags is "one of the finest anywhere in the nation," is owned by the union. Situated at the very top of Michigan, a drive of more than four hours from Detroit, it’s not exactly accessible to the union rank and file.

The resort is subsidized by workers’ paychecks, too—the union currently has $29.6 million in loans outstanding to the resort. That’s not their only posh real estate. The UAW’s Washington headquarters, home base for the union’s $1.6 million-a-year lobbying operation, is a beautiful $2.98 million townhouse in the DuPont circle neighborhood.

You can read the whole column here.

Teachers unions say 'jump,' Congress says 'how high?'

Congress has passed a measure that could pull the plug on school vouchers in DC. My Examiner column pokes around to see who's behind this:

The top two teachers unions—AFT and the National Education Association—spent more combined, $5.27 million, than the top two defense contractors.

The top five lobbying firms, combined, didn’t equal the AFT and the NEA in federal contributions in the 2008 cycle. Both of the teachers unions gave more than any oil company, and the NEA and AFT combined gave more than the top four oil companies combined.

These contributions give the unions clout, and federal lobbying records show they use this clout. Again, on closer inspection, the teachers unions look an awful lot like those corporate special interests Democrats supposedly oppose.

Read the whole piece here.

Obama Thankful for Bailouts and Added Power

My November 28, 2009 column:

General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler all have come begging at the federal trough for a series of bailouts. In recent weeks, Democrats have made it clear what they will demand in exchange for the bailout cash: more attention to fuel-efficient cars, fewer gas guzzlers, more research into alternative-fuel-powered cars, and other green efforts.

It’s also obvious what the Democratic Congress won’t demand of Detroit—they won’t call on the Big Three to significantly renegotiate the absurdly generous pension plans the unions demanded and irresponsible past CEOs agreed to.