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The Labor Department will make the first step Wednesday to formally roll back one of President Obama's key workplace law legacies, a vast expansion of the number of workers covered by federal overtime rules.

Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta has said the previous administration went too far in expanding the rule and exceeded its authority under the law.

"The department is aware of stakeholder concerns that the standard salary level set in the 2016 final rule was too high. In particular, stakeholders have expressed the concern that the new salary level inappropriately excludes from exemption too many workers," the department said in a request for public comments regarding the rule set to be published Wednesday in the Federal Register. The request is required before the department can officially rescind the rule.

Federal law says employees must be paid time and a half once they work more than 40 hours in a week. However, businesses may exempt workers from the requirement if their duties are "managerial" in nature and they reach a certain salary threshold.

The Labor Department last year adjusted that threshold, previously $23,000 annually, to more than $47,000. The change was opposed by many Republican lawmakers and business groups, who argued that the change exceeded the department's authority. A Texas judge threw out the rule last year and the issue is still in court.

During his Senate confirmation hearing in March, Acosta indicated that he thought the rate should have been increased before last year but that raising it to $47,000 caused a "stress on the system." The question of where the rate should be was a "very difficult decision," he said. The rate was last raised in 2004 by President George W. Bush.

Acosta and other critics have argued that the higher rate would not necessarily help workers and was more likely to cause businesses to cut back on hours and reduce hiring rather than face higher labor costs. Tuesday's announcement seeks responses on whether "the standard salary level set in that rule effectively identifies employees who may be exempt, whether a different salary level would more appropriately identify such employees, the basis for setting a different salary level, and why a different salary level would be more appropriate or effective."

Business groups applauded the announcement. ""Retailers understand that overtime rules need to be updated occasionally but the extreme changes pushed by the Obama administration were too sharp an increase for most businesses to absorb without negative consequences for both employers and employees," said David French, senior vice president for government relations for the National Retail Federation.

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Labor Department moves to formally roll back Obama overtime rule - Washington Examiner

President Trump took jabs at Republicansenators, "dishonest" reporters, his predecessor and his 2016 election rival in a rambling and surprisingly partisan speech before about 30,000 Boy Scouts and their troop leaders Monday evening in West Virginia.

In one aside during remarks to the National Scout Jamboree in Glen Jean, W.V., the president asked, "Who the hell wants to speak about politics when I'm in front ofthe Boy Scouts?" Yet he launched into an extendeda critique of Washington politics.

That included jibes atsenators in his own party -- including by name the home statesenator, Shelley Moore Capito -- who have balked at endingthe Affordable Care Act and replacing it with a still uncertain plan that would cut hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicaid.

"I go to Washington and I see all these politicians, and I see the swamp. In fact it's not a good place --we should change it from the swamp to the cesspool or perhaps use the word sewer," he said.

Trump introduced several of his Cabinet members who had been Boy Scouts, including Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, there in Scout uniform; Energy Secretary Rick Perry' and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.

Price, the president said, "is going to start our path toward killing this horrible thing known as Obamacarethat's really hurting us."

"You going to get the votes?" Trump asked Price. "He better get them," Trump told the enthusiastic youths. "Otherwise, I'm going to say, 'Tom, you're fired!'"

He added,"You'd better get Sen. Capito to vote for it."

The Trump administration and Republican Senateleaders are pressing party colleagues to vote on Tuesday to allow debate onthe House-passed healthcare measure so that they can then amend it with a different Senate version. They need at least 50 of the 52 Republican senators to considerthe bill, a hurdle made more difficult with Sen.John McCain(R-Ariz.) undergoing treatment for a brain tumor.

Trump praised the Scouts for their pledges tobetrustworthy and loyal, and encouraged them to "never quit" and to "do something you love." But repeatedly he went off script to make political points.

"We could use somemore loyalty, I could tell you that," Trump said of Republicans in Congress. Within the first minute he attacked the press -- "fake news" -- twice and came back to the subject of "these dishonest people" later.

Of his predecessor, Trumpinterjected, "By the way, did President Obama ever come to a jamboree? The answer's no." When he vowed to kill Obamacare, the crowd chanted, "USA! USA!"

Trump criticized Democratic election opponent Hillary Clinton and recalled at length the surprise of his victory on Nov. 8, boasting of how red he'd made the TV networks' maps of the states.

In one extendedtangent that surely confused many Scouts, Trump described a long-ago cocktail party conversation with pioneering real estate developer William Levitt.Levitt was "a very successful man," Trump told the Scouts, but sold his business and"lost his momentum." Although Levitt is considered the architect of postwar American suburbia, he was also known for ensuring that properties were sold only to whites and non-Jews.

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Trump slams GOP senators, 'dishonest' press, Obama and Clinton in a rambling speech to national Boy Scouts Jamboree - Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON While President Donald Trump has cut over 800 regulations during just his first six months in office, freeing up small businesses to grow and prosper, one California farmer is hoping that his administration will drop a costly lawsuit held over from the Obama years.

So he can pursue his livelihood, farming, without the shadow of a misapplied regulation.

John Duarte, a farmer and owner of Duarte Nursey, Inc., planted winter wheat in 2012 on land thathe owns in Tehema County, California. In February 2013, he received a cease-and-desist order from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, according to the Pacific Legal Foundation, which is representing the Duarte family in this case.

The cease-and-desist order was based on allegations that the Duartes, in plowing their own land, had violated the Clean Water Act, which is supposed to govern navigable waters in the U.S., according to the EPAs website.

See Charlie Daniels in his latest starting role, in Revelation: Dawn of Global Government, which explains how America, Christianity and liberty all are being destroyed by the Trojan horse of globalism.

Under the Obama administration, the government expanded this definition to include even soggy areas on agricultural land, which can be as small as pools of standing water that only appear in the wet seasons of the year in areas that are normally entirely dry. Farming practices in general are supposed to be exempt from the Clean Water Act.

John Duarte attributes this cease-and-desist order to a mistake made in the government office. In a July 16 statement posted on the Duarte Nursery Facebook page, Duarte said: Wheat plantings and the shallow tillage involved have never triggered regulation, nor required permitting prior to this case. The prosecution got started when a federal bureaucrat confused the shallow 4-6 inch tillage operation with 3-4 feet deep ripping for vineyard or orchard preparation.

This kind of mistake is forgivable, given that Duarte Nursery does sell trees and vines. However, when it was discovered that they were planting wheat instead of an orchard or vineyard, the government should have dropped the case and left the Duartes in peace, his lawyers said.

Instead, the bureaucrats doubled down.

The government denied the Duartes a hearing to establish the facts, prompting them to sue the government for taking away their Fifth Amendment right to due process.

And the feds responded to the familys lawsuit with one against the family, for destruction of wetlands.

If the Duartes lose the suits, they will be force to pay $2.8 million in direct penalties, plus another $20-$30 million in additional mitigation to a private third-party organization, and they will lose the right to use their own land, according to Duartes statement.

So far, all the legal action taken against the Duartes has been by Obama administration officials.

Since the government side of the suit is now owned by the Trump administration, there may be hope that the government will drop the suit and leave the Duartes in peace.

EPA Director Scott Pruit has indicated sympathy with the Duartes, and members of Congress have petitioned Attorney General Jeff Sessions to drop the case against the California farmers.

President Trump has already directed that the EPA review the rules concerning what constitutes navigable waters under the Clean Water Act, which could lead to the case against the Duartes being thrown out anyway.

The government has been arguing that the exemptions granted for farming and plowing only apply if soil is not moved. Duarte said in his statement that he and other farmers have yet to understand how plowing can be done without moving soil.

If this unprecedented prosecution succeeds, it threatens nearly every farm in the United States, Duarte warned.

As well as suing for due process under the Fifth Amendment, the Duartes are arguing that the amount of fines being levied against them for simply plowing a wheat field violates the Eighth Amendments protections against cruel and unusual punishment. In addition, after a federal attorney said they are suing us so we are suing them back, the Duartes are suing the government for attempting to stifle their First Amendment right to free speech.

In June 2016, a judge sided with the federal government against the Duartes, saying they had indeed violated the Clean Water Act by plowing their wheat field. They have appealed the judges decision to throw out the First Amendment retaliation case to the Ninth Circuit Court, and the case will begin there on Aug. 15.

See Charlie Daniels in his latest starting role, in Revelation: Dawn of Global Government, which explains how America, Christianity and liberty all are being destroyed by the Trojan horse of globalism.

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Obama-era rules jeopardize California farming - WND.com

The former first lady is in the Mile High City.

Michelle Obama is in Denver to speak at an event sponsored by the Womens Foundation of Colorado to celebrate its 30th anniversary Tuesday night at the Pepsi Center. More than 8,000 people had bought tickets as of Tuesday morning.

She has inspired many girls with her story and her fierce commitment to creating access to education for girls, WFCO President and CEO Lauren Casteel said in a statement. We are thrilled that she is joining us.

Casteel will be moderating the conversation with Obama. Eight local teenagers,members of the 2017 Girls Leadership Council, will introduce the former first lady.

Obamas popularity led the organization to open up more seats to the event starting at 5:30 p.m., and tickets were still available as of midday Tuesday.

Michelle and Barack Obama have both been on speaking tours following a post-presidency vacation. Michelle Obama has largely steered clear of politics, focusing instead on topics that she advocated for as first lady, including education for women and health and nutrition for schoolchildren.

She spoke at the American Institute of Architectures annual conference in April, The Partnership for a Healthier America summit in May and the Pennsylvania Conference for Women in October.

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Michelle Obama to speak before thousands Tuesday night at the Pepsi Center - The Denver Post

A former Obama administration official who earlier this year acknowledged urging her D.C. contacts to leak dirt on President Trumps team returned to the spotlight Thursday using an appearance at a security forum to accuse the president of Kremlin tactics and openly question whether he owes the Russians money.

Evelyn Farkas, who left the Obama administration in 2015 after serving as a deputy assistant secretary of defense, spoke on a panel Thursday at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado. She took aim at Trump for past remarks that the United States, like Russia, has killed people too.

Thats very dangerous, Farkas said, accusing the president of adopting Kremlin tactics with that language of relativism.

President Donald Trump denied his company did business with Russia, during a New York Times interview this week. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

In February, Bill OReilly told Trump during a Fox News Channel interview that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a killer. Trump replied: There are a lot of killers. We have a lot of killers. Well, you think our country is so innocent?

On Thursday, Farkas floated a theory, without citing evidence, that the president may actually owe money to Russia, something that could be influencing his posture toward the government.

The influence these Russians have on him could be greater because of these business ties and because he may owe them money and of course the issue of his campaign manager and all the work he was doing and whether he was indebted to Russians or not, she said.

During an interview with the New York Times this week, the president denied his company did business with Russia. My finances are extremely good, my company is an unbelievably successful company, he said, according to the transcript. I dont do business with Russia.

Farkas got attention after a March interview on MSNBC when she said there had been a rush from Obama-era government officials to share information before President Trump took office.

I was urging my former colleagues, and frankly speaking, the people on the Hill get as much information as you can, get as much intelligence as you can before President Obama leaves the administration, because I had a fear that, somehow, that information would disappear with the senior people who left, she said.

Farkas added, Thats why you have the leaking, because people were worried.

OBAMA OFFICIALS PRESSURED BY FARKAS FOR MONTHS TO SPILL BEANS ON TRUMP-RUSSIA TIES

During her appearance at the Aspen Security Forum, Farkas offered criticism of former FBI Director James Comeys recent prediction that the Russians will again try to meddle in an American election.

It drives me crazy when former Director Comey says the Russians are coming back, Farkas said. They never left. Theyre still here, they still have all that information, theyre in our cyber and in our information sphere.

Fox News Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

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Ex-Obama official who urged anti-Trump 'leaking' lobs new ...