Biz Leaders 'Blindsided' By Overtime Pay Regs From Obama's Magic Pen

Wouldn’t you rather have him off golfing?

Business groups and congressional Republicans are blasting regulations President Obama will announce Thursday that could extend overtime pay to as many as 10 million workers who are now ineligible for it.

While liberals lauded the plan as putting more cash in the pockets of millions of workers, business groups warned it would damage the economy and Republicans said it was another example of executive overreach.

Trade associations already battling the White House over a proposal to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour said they were blindsided by the announcement.
“This came as a shot out of the blue,” said David French, the National Retail Federation’s senior vice president for government relations. “Just on the surface, this looks like an enormous new administrative burden.”

Few details were released Wednesday about the initiative, which the administration is expected to detail on Thursday.

“What we’re trying to take a look at is how we can make the labor force as fair as possible for all workers and that people get rewarded for a hard day’s work with a fair wage,” Betsey Stevenson, a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, told reporters Wednesday.

“Fair.”

It is disturbing to hear so many adults in important positions repeat that word as if it applies to the real world. In the minds of Team Lightbringer, the business world is an elementary school playground at recess time and they want to heavily monitor it so that no one gets any feelings hurt.

This president’s lack of any real world work experience (sorry, Hopeychangeys, “Community Organizer” doesn’t count”) was one of the most worrisome things about him to many of us back in ’08. He has no reality-based frame of reference when making decisions and he is surrounded by yes men.

What could possibly go wrong?