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Obama Urging More Illegalities

Traveler

Well-known member
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/10/urging-federal-contractors-to-violate-the-warn-act

On September 28, the Office of Management and Budget issued a “guidance” letter that assures defense contractors that the federal government will pay for any legal damages incurred for failing to issue layoff notices related to sequester-induced job losses as required by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.[1] Specifically, the guidance states that “any resulting employee compensation costs for WARN Act liability as determined by a court, as well as attorneys’ fees and other litigation costs (irrespective of litigation outcome),” will “qualify as allowable costs and be covered by the contracting agency.”

In other words, the White House is telling defense contractors that the American taxpayer will compensate them for any liability incurred for violating federal law.

This guidance is the second notice issued by the government after defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin and EADS warned of impending layoffs because of automatic spending cuts in the defense budget.[2] However, the guidance is completely silent as to what legal authority enables the Administration to make such a guarantee—and for a good reason: There is none.

An Expensive Proposition

Sending employees layoff notices 60 days before a plant closing or mass layoff is required under the WARN Act,[3] a law that President Barack Obama previously supported. In 2007, when he wanted to amend the WARN Act to force employers to give 90 days’ notice, then-Senator Obama said:

American workers who have committed themselves to their employers expect in return to be treated with a modicum of respect and fairness. Failing to give workers fair warning…ignores their need to prepare for the transition.… Many of these workers support families that are living from pay check to pay check, squeezed by the demands of rising health care costs, the declining value of their homes, and wages that have been stagnant for decades. It adds insult to injury to close a plant without warning employees.[4]

Being shielded from this notice requirement no doubt provides comfort to defense contractors who, according to the law, would otherwise have to issue the notice letters by November 2 (four days before the election) in order to meet the January 2 start date for the spending cuts. Many of the defense contractor employees who would receive WARN notices are located in Virginia, a key battleground state.

Lawsuits related to a failure to meet the 60-day deadline can be very expensive, especially when multiplied by tens of thousands of affected employees, such as the 123,000 employees whom Lockheed CEO Bob Stevens said would receive such notices. Employers who violate the WARN Act are liable to their former employees for “back pay for each day of a violation” and “benefits under an employee benefit plan,” as well as a penalty of $500 for each day that notice has not been sent to the local government where the layoffs will occur.[5]
 

ranch hand

Well-known member
Environmental Protection Agency regulations will contribute to projected shutdowns of up to 69,000 megawatts of coal-fueled electric generation and job losses of up to 887,000 jobs per year, according to a report.

Total compliance costs for the electric sector could be up to $220 billion, with annual costs as high as $16.7 billion per year.

The report by National Economic Research Associates (NERA) examined the impact of seven major EPA regulations on coal-fueled electric generation. NERA did not use any “worst case” assumptions in its analysis.

The report looked at the the Mercury Air Toxics Standards, regional haze, national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for ozone and sulfur dioxide and fine particulate matter, section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act, and coal combustion residuals.

The findings were that 54,000 MW and 69,000 MW of coal-fueled generation will be shut down, mostly due to EPA regulations. Compliance costs for the electric sector will total between $15 billion and $16.7 billion per year. However, compliance costs could be between $36 billion and $44 billion in peak years.

EPA regulations also contribute to job losses averaging 544,000 per year to 887,000 per year, according to the study. However, peak year job losses could be between 700,000 to 2.2 million.

In coal-heavy regions including  Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana of the country peak year job losses run between 354,000 to over 1 million. these regions could also experience peak year losses in family income ranging up to $1,600 per household.

Nationwide the average loss in disposable income ranges from more than $200 per household to more than $500 per household, with peak year loss in family income up to $700 per household.

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The study was commissioned by the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.

The coal industry has been hit hard this year, seeing many coal mines and generators announce planned shutdowns, with many blaming EPA regulatory policies.

Recently, Coal company Alpha Natural Resources announced it was laying off 1,200 workers and closing eight coal mines, partly due to “a regulatory environment that’s aggressively aimed at constraining the use of coal.”

In the wake of this announcement House Republicans passed the Stop the War on Coal Act of 2012 which prohibited the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions, contained an alternative to EPA rules for coal ash disposal and management, and restricted the Interior Department from issuing regulations regarding surface mining operations, among other provisions.

The bill is seen as dead-on-arrival in the Democratic-held Senate. However, EPA regulations on coal have angered Democrats as well as Republicans.

West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin recently aired a campaign ad where he says he’d “take on anyone who tries to stop us,” from developing coal and natural gas resources in his state. And Indiana Democratic Senate candidate Joe Donnelly embraced a the Stop the War on Coal Act, distancing himself from President Obama and the EPA on coal policy.
 
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