Where Do Target Dems Stand on Obama's Shunning Of Mayors at Behest of Big Labor?

Obama Administration Refused to Cross Picket Line to Meet with Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory

Washington- President Obama’s top administration officials were unwilling to meet with mayors this past week who have traveled across the country – at taxpayers’ expense – to attend the U.S. Conference of Mayors, because they didn’t want to cross a labor union picket line by the local firefighters union.  Since Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory himself crossed the picket line and attended the conference, it begs the question of where local Congressman Steve Driehuas (D-OH) stands.

Does Driehuas think Obama had it right by turning his back on mayors from across the country at the request of a labor union?  Or did Driehaus’ local mayor making the right decision by attending the conference in order to address some of the most pertinent issues affecting Cincinnati residents today?

“As a fellow public official who makes a living on the taxpayers’ dime, Cincinnati residents deserve to know if Steve Driehaus is siding with their local mayor or with Obama and Big Labor,” said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain.  “If Obama is willing to sit down with hostile world leaders, why was he so unwilling to stand up to Big Labor in order to sit down with Mark Mallory?”

The New York Times covered the controversy stirred up by the Obama administration’s refusal to attend the Mayors’ Conference:

“Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and other top Obama administration officials have canceled plans to attend a United States Conference of Mayors meeting this weekend in Providence, R.I., because local firefighters will picket the event over a contract dispute.

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“The cancellation has angered organizers of the meeting, who said they had worked with White House officials to plan the program and had been counting on them to play a major role. Tom Cochran, executive director of the group, said the meeting would focus on how cities could benefit from President Obama’s economic stimulus law.

“‘We’re just absolutely frustrated that the White House has decided at the request of a union to boycott our meeting,’ Mr. Cochran said Thursday. ‘This is the worst economic crisis we’ve had since the 1930s, and this will be first time ever when there’s not one representative of the federal government here with us.’” (Abby Goodnough, “Obama Officials to Skip Event for Mayors, Citing Picket Line,” New York Times, June 12, 2009)