If you’re anything like me, until today, you probably had very little idea what the Government Printing Office is all about. And, because there are more important things in life than keeping track of every little-known governmental agency and the administration’s various political appointees, you might have missed the White House press release letting us know that President Obama just made a whole bunch of recess appointments on Wednesday.
One of those recess appointments, as it turns out, is the appointment of William Boarman, one of eight sector vice presidents with the Communications Workers of America. The President, it seems, has opted to bypass the Senate (again) and appointed Boarman to head the Government Printing Office as the Public Printer of the United States.
Another presidential appointment of another union boss to a position of power…So, what’s new? [At least, that was sort of my reaction until looking into the GPO a bit further.]
As it turns out, the Government Printing Office is a kind of a big deal in that there are (shall we say) opportunities for unions to benefit from Boarman’s appointment. You see, the GPO, according to its website is:
…[T]he Federal Government’s primary centralized resource for gathering, cataloging, producing, providing, authenticating, and preserving published information in all its forms. GPO is responsible for the production and distribution of information products and services for all three branches of the Federal Government.
In other words, the GPO is the Big Brother version of Kinkos. It is charged with printing just about everything the government puts out, from the federal register to passports. However, there are also agencies that ‘do their own thing’ in-house or through outsourcing via ‘waivers’ they are granted. As one printing-industry insider explains:
The federal government is a multi-trillion dollar operation. Yet, only about 1 billion dollars total in printing is produced or procured by GPO. Estimates have been made over the years as to how many billions of dollars escape GPO. No one really knows, because no one has kept close control over waivers, or, for that matter, has a full list of all of the waivers granted. One estimate is that there are over 25,000 federal in-house printing plants doing upwards of $20 billion in printing. Think what GPO control over this printing could do for the federal government, the tax payers, the GPO, and, very importantly for all of us in the printing industry. If there is less than $100 billion in commercial printing available, add in $20 billion in federal work and bingo – tens of thousands of private sector printing jobs would be saved – enough perhaps for the White House to crow about.
Bingo indeed! If there is $20 billion worth of printing work that may be out there that Mr. Boarman can get his hands on in his new role, that’s a lot of work…a lot of work that could go to his union buddies. [It's not like this hasn't already been established with the Obama Administration.]
Earlier this year, when the Senate was considering Boarman’s nomination, Bret Jacobson of the free-market communications firm Maverick Strategies wrote at BigGovernment why Boarman may be Obama’s pick for the GPO job:
[D]espite his assurances to the contrary, isn’t there reason to wonder whether this member of the Communications Workers of America won’t try to steer projects to unionized printers, in-source more work away from the private sector, or apply “prevailing wage” rules on taxpayer-funded projects?
[h/t: Kenny Solomon]
_________________
“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776
Moe Lane
Dan Spencer
Dan McLaughlin
Jeff Emanuel
A billion here, a trillion there...
baldbarian Friday, December 31st at 7:47AM EDT (link)Before long, you could be talking real money…
Well at least we are closer to the New Year, the new congress, the beginning of the end of the biggest crook yet elected to POTUS.. at least that is my New Year’s wish.
If not, then I plan on putting a whiskey barrel in my basement with a tap to my front porch.. hopefully Wild Turkey.. where I plan to sip the days away in my rocking chair with the Winchester, Remington and S&W leaned against the wall, on the lap and on the hip.
Is there any "real" money left?
qixlqatl (Diary) Friday, December 31st at 8:04AM EDT (link)At the rate congress has been printing it, isn’t it pretty much monopoly money at this point…? /snark?
“Yet, Freedom! yet thy banner, torn, but flying,
Streams like the thunderstorm against the wind.”
George Gordon Noel Byron
Charts, Posterboards, Graphs...... The Congressional Types.
Kenny Solomon (Diary) Friday, December 31st at 8:10AM EDT (link)You know what I mean.
On the floor of The House, we have Democrat CongressCritter™ Rupert Q. Muckenfuss, hailing from the great state of Intoxication, in his latest attempt to
pay back the campaign bribesgarner funds for his district to build a much-neededten mile sidewalk to nowherethree-inch fish sanctuary. CongressCritter™ Muckenfuss has several large presentation boards with high-quality graphics and charts showing data supporting hisstimupork demandrequest for funding.The union-run GPO lovingly and carefully printed those presentation boards for the good Democrat.
Now let’s say that another CongressCritter™ – a Republican – the esteemed Tucker P. Fudpucker from the state of denial there’s any political problem at all, has his own presentation set to go to the Speaker and House body for a funding request.
His request however, is more in line with reality…… An upgrade for technology at several combined-use Federal-State-Local service facilities in his district to help security at the locations.
The supporting-data charts that CongressCritter™ Fudpucker requested to be printed at The GPO office mysteriously never arrived at the House chamber…… or the data showing isn’t what was supposed to be listed…… or any other malady that could possibly affect any Republican attempt to use The GPO’s services.
Naaaaaaah.
Nothing like that could ever happen with the current administration in a union environment, right ?
— — — —
Fantastic write-up L.U.R.
The unions
gfwarhol Friday, December 31st at 8:34AM EDT (link)are, to a great extent, running the country, and it is likely to get much worse. I can envision the citizens of this country being forced to join the “Citizens Union” down the road.
“Jobs” used to belong to the employer, but it seems the unions have hijacked them into belonging to the unions. The world is upside down!
Just yesterday
rick554 Friday, December 31st at 8:38AM EDT (link)I was talking to a guy who lost his job at a printing shop because his non-union company lost its Gov’t contract. He’s learning to drive a truck. Go figure.
Rick554
It may be worse, actually.
america1st (Diary) Friday, December 31st at 9:18AM EDT (link)I’ve not the time to research, but is the Bureau of Printing & Engraving under the GPO?
A union thug controlling the agency which prints official documents such as passport blanks? What could go wrong?
Logic in the mind of a liberal is like a snowflake in the desert: lost, alone and soon destroyed by a hostile environment.
The GPO doesn't print money...thankfully. nt.
LaborUnionReport (Diary) Friday, December 31st at 10:10AM EDT (link)“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine December 23, 1776
In any compromise between food and poison, it is only death that can win. In any compromise between good and evil, it is only evil that can profit.-Ayn Rand
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News & Views on Today’s Labor Unions.
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Printing decisions of Dems AND Republicans...
traversecityconservative (Diary) Friday, December 31st at 10:38AM EDT (link)Printing…let me tell you a few things about that since me and my husband are in the printing industry. My husband’s boss’s company prints a lot of federal labels for food and guess what? They are FOUR COLOR now and use plastic instead of label paper. And this is something that has changed under the Obama administration. Anyone in printing knows that this a HUGE jump in printing costs. Printing is a very easy area to save money. There is absolutely no reason to make these changes. Now with this new guy in charge, they’ll probably add metallic ink and varnish to the labels. And I’m pretty sure they’ll probably make sure the printing is done ONLY in union shops pretty soon. So my hubby, who’s hours have already been cut due to Obamanomics, will probably lose his job. HOPE AND CHANGE. How wonderful.
Now, in addition to that, let’s talk about the Michigan GOP. Guess what they did? After looking at a few bids, they decided to get their printing done in Utah. Yes, they are sending their printing OUT OF STATE even though Michigan is suffering. That’s just totally disgusting. Add that to the sorry state of affairs at this year’s convention and you have a Republican party in MIchigan that doesn’t have a clue about how to harness the energy and direction of the Conservative influx. And what do we get for a new chairman? The current finance chair. At a time when we need something totally different, and we actually might have enough tea party precinct delegates to elect someone decent, we get the SAME OLD CRAP. Oh, and just so you know I have verified my information about the Michigan GOP’s printing going out of state, take a look at this website and see if YOUR state is on the list: http://www.winningmail.com/clients.html
What will be
caboose Friday, December 31st at 11:41AM EDT (link)done about appointments by the potus by passing the Senate. Remember when the dems prevented Bush from making appointments when the congress recessed. The Senate under Reid employed an abusive tactic of having his sycophanic ILK, Webb of VA., opened up the Senate each day and then supposed adjourned immediately. As usual, Bush refused to stand up to the abuse by the dems. I don,t expect that the Senate Republicans will do anything abouse the abuse because they lack the cajones and leadership to stand up to the dems. The perfect example was their wimping out on the lame duck session. When will America wake up?
America
jlsankot Monday, January 3rd at 6:44AM EDT (link)is waking. The question is, when will our Republican Congressmen wake up!
Liar Liar...
jerseydevil Monday, January 3rd at 5:55AM EDT (link)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhYD8_L0nV8 <–BHO on lobbyists/unions and “fighting to reduce influence of lobbyists…”
http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/obamas_lobbyist_line.php <–liar lair pants on fire!
Chris
“The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes nor between parties either – but right through the human heart.”
Alexandr Solzhenitzyn
Liar Liar...
jerseydevil Monday, January 3rd at 5:55AM EDT (link)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhYD8_L0nV8 <–BHO on lobbyists/unions and “fighting to reduce influence of lobbyists…”
http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/obamas_lobbyist_line.php <–liar lair pants on fire!
Chris
“The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes nor between parties either – but right through the human heart.”
Alexandr Solzhenitzyn
Just a question
tlhanger Monday, January 3rd at 10:24AM EDT (link)Can a Republican congress with any cohonies do anything about the power grab and rescind it?
Terry L Hanger