Who Has Obama’s Attention?

Mostly the SEIU, that’s who.

Investor’s Business Daily (in addition to many others) has an article about who is on the list of people who visited the White House and in particular who visited the president.   Head of the list is Andrew Stern.  “Who is Andrew Stern?”, you might ask.

Here is the answer:

In the former category, there's Service Employees International Union boss Andy Stern, who told the Wall Street Journal that if the power of persuasion didn't work, then the persuasion of power would have to do. The records show Stern had 22 meetings, many face-to-face with the president, more than anyone else known so far. Stern might as well borrow a White House bedroom.

And that may be why the president has been so solicitous of union demands at the expense of the economy. As the jobless rate hits 9.8%, unions have managed to persuade the president to impose tire tariffs, violate the NAFTA treaty with Mexican truck restrictions, place protectionist "Buy American" limitations on federal contracts, and ice Colombian, Panamanian and Korean free trade treaties. Stern's union has also harassed banks that took bailouts, making one wonder if a sort of Cuban or Venezuelan revolutionary mob activity against business has the White House imprimatur.

While Stern gets what he wants from the White House, the released visitors list shows no record of huddling with U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, whose trade pacts could create 600,000 jobs if ratified, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

If only President Obama would give that much attention to the war in Afghanistan, real jobs creation and other real American problems, instead of toadying up to his cronies, we might be starting a real way out of the messes we are in.