NLRB lawyer: "We screwed up the U.S. economy"

NLRB lawyer: "We screwed up the U.S. economy"
byConn Carroll Senior Editorial Writer

New documents obtained by Judicial Watch show acting National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Lafe Solomon joking that the NLRB's suit against Boeing would kill jobs in South Carolina. Commenting on a Planet Labor article whose headline suggests Boeing might not be able to open its new plant in South Carolina because of "antiunion behavior," Solomon writes:

The article gave me a new idea. You go to geneva and I get a job with airbus. We screwed up the us economy and now we can tackle europe.

Solomon goes on to complain that Obama NLRB nominee Craig Becker may be getting the credit for the Boeing suit: "I didn't read all of the meltwater articles but some of the headlines tie boeing to craig. Unbelievable."

Solomon's colleague, outgoing NLRB Chairwoman Wlima Liebman, replies by soothing Soloman's bruised ego. "None of the articles tie craig to boeing. Just mention his recess appointment. No one is raining on your parade," Liebman wrote in reply.

Becker, who was once counsel to both the AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), had his nomination to the NLRB blocked by the Senate. News of his recess appointment to the NLRB coincided with Solomon's suit against Boeing.

In another email, NLRB attorney sent an article from The Economist to NLRB attorney Debra Willen and commented: "Exactly; it just shows you how incredibly reactionary the US is, that the conservative Economist thinks we’re Neanderthal."

Willen seems to have been a magnet for emails belittling South Carolina. When a former NLRB employee emailed Willen a note mocking Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., as "Sen. Dement," Willen replied: "You retired with your integrity, which makes you far wealthier than Sen. Dement will ever be."

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton says the tenor of the emails show the NLRB's case against Boeing isn't supported by the law. “These documents provide further evidence that the Obama administration’s attack on Boeing is irresponsible and politically motivated,” Fitton said. “NLRB attorneys come off as juvenile politicos rather than professionals interested in arbitrating a labor dispute. The utter contempt for congressional oversight shows that the NRLB thinks it is above the law. We hope these documents help educate the public about the ongoing abuse of power by this agency.”