Here’s a deplorable turn of events — and just when we were so happy to have thwarted the socialist stylings of Harris and Walz.
We’ve always known that Donald Trump doesn’t advocate 100 percent laissez faire capitalism. As if to confirm his inconsistencies and disabuse us of any hopes of clear sailing toward greater freedom, or even toward keeping the freedom we’ve got, he has named Republican Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer as his Secretary of Labor.
Labor-union darling DeRemer supports the Pro Act: anti-worker, anti-freelancer legislation that was barely blocked in Congress and that the current Labor Department has tried to impose by regulation. I doubt the incoming Congress will enact it either. But if DeRemer is Labor Secretary she, too, may try to impose it by regulation.
The Pro Act would kill laws in 26 states that let workers choose whether to join a union. There’s a novel concept, letting employees decide whether to join an organization supposedly devoted to their interests.
The Pro Act would also undermine the secrecy of the ballot in union elections. A secret ballot is a fundamental tenet of our democratic republic.
Worst of all, at least for gig workers and freelancers, are its provisions to make life much harder to function as an independent contractor.
Unions that favor the Pro Act, and Mrs. DeRemer, are eager to do all they can to cripple the ability of non-unionized labor to compete with above-market-rate union labor.
This isn’t just a No, Mr. President.
It is, as Jennifer O’Connell puts it, a “Hell No.”
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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8 replies on “No, Donald Trump, No”
The GOP will be in charge of confirmations. See what they do.
Finally, you see the light. Expect many more that you can write about.
How about the cabinet selections?
Paul has been supporting free trade generally —
and objecting to Trump’s tariffs specifically — for years. You can check the tariff tag, look in the free trade and free markets category, or effect a relevant search on Google for confirmation.
Even as the last election loomed, Paul was objecting to Trump’s position.
The people not seeing the light were those who were silent or supportive about the Biden Administration and the Democratic Congress maintaining or increasing tariffs imposed during the first Trump Administration. Often these same supporters had decried protectionist measures of Trump’s first term, and many of them will return to decrying them only as Trump returns to office.
He’s also not free trade, witness the proposed 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, our two largest trading partners. I mean, to punish Canada for all the fentanyl it sends us? Canada??? Forgot to be careful what you wish for.…?
This is just the beginning of stupidity by Trump!
Sometimes it helps to bring on a total incompetent just so you can publically terminate them as an example to the rest of the troops.
As bad as some of his picks are, they pale in comparison to what would have happened if Harris had acquired the White House.
And yes, some of them are bad.
“The Pro Act would kill laws in 26 states that let workers choose whether to join a union.”
All workers in every state already get to choose whether to join a union. Don’t want to join a union? Don’t seek or accept a job that comes with a “closed shop” union membership requirement.
Like the National Labor Relations Act proper, fake “Right to Work laws under the Taft-Hartley amendments are usually also anti-choice — instead of REQUIRING companies to negotiate exclusive labor agreements with unions, they FORBID companies to negotiate exclusive labor agreements with unions.