To the editor:
The grandfather clock is chiming. Have you heard of the WARN Act?

Well, I hadn’t either until yesterday. It is a federal law that requires employers to warn employees at least 60 days in advance of mass lay-offs. You got that – a Federal Law!

Now Lockheed Martin, for one, is facing mass lay-offs as of Jan. 1 because of the looming sequestration cuts in defense spending. This would mean that pink slips would go out to thousands of employees just a few days before the election.

My goodness, Mr. Obama certainly doesn’t want that to happen so he has told these defense contractors to ignore the WARN Act – ignore a federal law – and that the government, or, more precisely, We The People, will pay the fines, penalties and costs of any resulting lawsuits. Oh, but in order to be eligible for this “pay-off,” the employer must agree to play by the rules of the Department of Labor’s guidance which asks them not to send out lay-off notices before the election. Lockheed Martin has just agreed to this.

Now let me get this straight. The U.S. Government is going to use your tax money and mine to “bail out” Mr. Obama’s butt! Are you okay with that?

The grandfather clock is chiming – wake up America!

– Joan Puma, Columbus