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Employee Free Choice Act

A Second Look | Arlen Specter Switching Parties From Republican To Democrat

Apr 28th, 2009
by Tom.
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via Arlen Specter Switching Parties From Republican To Democrat.

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Penn.) is becoming a Democrat.

“I have decided to run for re-election in 2010 in the Democratic primary,” said Specter in a statement. “I am ready, willing and anxious to take on all comers and have my candidacy for re-election determined in a general election.”

“Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania

Senator Arlen Spector

changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans.”

The move will give Democrats a filibuster-proof 60 vote majority in the Senate, presuming Minnesota’s Al Franken is eventually seated. However, in his statement Specter said his opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act — widely seen as a defense against a Republican primary challenge — will not change.

Polls had shown that, despite his shift on EFCA, Specter was on his way to losing his seat if he stayed in the GOP. A Rasmussen survey from last Friday had former U.S. Rep. Pat Toomey beating the Senator by 21 points in the primary.

Sources told the AP that an announcement could come later in the day — or Wednesday.

Vice President Joe Biden and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell have urged Specter to switch parties in the past.

Hurray! This drowns out all the crappy, BS news out there today – Rush Limbaugh says it’s Obama who’s spreading the swine flu, and Fox News is taking their ball and going home when Obama gives his 100 days press conference Wednesday, and let’s not forget about the egg all over Senator Susan Collins’ face for stripping out needed money from the stimulus for pandemic disease control just to get her vote. This announcement is the story of the day.

Spector’s announcement has come as a very welcome surprise to me because I have not been following Pennsylvania politics at all and maybe if I had been I would have known about Spector’s hard road ahead in the Republican Party. It seems that Arlen Spector, as a Republican, would have a very serious challenge from the right – something that all Republicans fear. This fear is the main reason that there was not one vote from the House  in favor of the stimulus bill. The Republicans and some Democrats from Republican-leaning districts were terrified by the very same thing that has caused Spector to switch.

They didn’t want a challenger to come along and appear to be more conservative than they are. U.S. Rep. Pat Toomey has jumped all over Senator Spector’s support for the stimulus using the falsely drummed-up fervor and fake indignation over necessary spending to launch his Senate bid and quickly gain popularity among the right-wing extremists. The strength of Toomey’s challenge seems to be the driving force in Spector’s decision. No matter how much we wish it were ideology, Spector is switching sides to save his re-election à la Joe Lieberman.

Having said that, it is still best to take what we can get and be happy for it. I certainly am. Thanks, Arlen Spector, for making my day.

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A Second Look | LABOR — BIG BUSINESS RALLIES AGAINST EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT

Mar 11th, 2009
by Tom.
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The Progress Report wrote:

LABOR — BIG BUSINESS RALLIES AGAINST EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT:


From: The Progress Report [progress@americanprogressaction.org]
Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 10:36 AM
To: Tom
Subject: LABOR — BIG BUSINESS RALLIES AGAINST EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT

UNDER THE RADAR
Today, Democrats in both houses of Congress will introduce the Employee Free Choice Act, which provides a “fairer path for workers to unionize by enabling them to form a union by signing cards of consent.” The bill has been called “a power struggle among labor unions and businesses” and business leaders, in conjunction with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, are bringing in lobbying giants to kill the legislation. Rick Berman, executive director of the lobbying firm Union Facts, which spent $20 million last year trying to defeat the bill, is spearheading a new campaign featuring TV and radio ads in states where Democratic senators are wavering. One such TV ad features George McGovern saying the bill “cannot be justified.” On a February conference call hosted by Bank of America, Berman boasted that “we have mounted the largest public education on this in the target states where there are Senate races that are still in play.” In addition, the Chamber of Commerce has raised at least $10 million to supplement this effort and launched a nationwide campaign to fly 180 business leaders to pressure legislators still on the fence. They will follow up with a second round in April when the bill must be voted on. Although over-matched, the SEIU organized a competing “fly in” of 300 workers to speak with legislators about the benefits of the legislation in expediting health benefits and increasing wages.President Obama reaffirmed his support for the Employee Free Choice Act in a recent interview in the Oval Office.

And what ammo are the corporatists, big business lobbyists, and Republican ideologists bringing to the fight? This: the Employee Free Choice Act will strip employees of the right to hold secret ballot confirmations.

Have you ever known Republicans and right-wing blowhards to ever let the facts get in the way of a good con job? Well, neither have I. This time is no different.

The Employee Free Choice Act, living up to its name, offers employees wishing to unionize a FREE CHOICE. They have the CHOICE of one of two ways to proceed to those ends. One CHOICE is to vote in a union the old way using the secret ballot method, and the other CHOICE is called “card check”, or a signing of cards in favor of a union. In other words, they get a CHOICE of methods with the card check method being the one that is most streamlined and is most hated by the above mentioned blowhards.

The right-wing blowhards are spending millions of dollars to defeat the card check method because it would mean much more union recognition and union representation for many more workers. It would mean higher wages and better benefits for legions of workers and help America reestablish the middle class – just the opposite of what Reagan, Bush, and Bush tried to accomplish.

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A Second Look: Shutting Out Solis

Feb 5th, 2009
by Tom.
No comments yet

The Progress Report wrote:

Shutting Out Solis


From: The Progress Report [progress@americanprogressaction.org]
Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2009 9:19 AM
To: tomc2322
Subject: Shutting Out Solis
A ‘PROXY FIGHT FOR EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE’: The right wing strongly opposes EFCA and any attempts to increase participation in unions, arguing that the bill unnecessary, “a threat to one of the fundamentals of democracy,” and an attempt to “Europeanize America.” Last month, Senate Republicans initially attempted to passive-aggressively bury Solis in paperwork, saying that they needed her to clarify her position on the Employee Free Choice Act. As CQ wrote on Jan. 29, “Although the written questionnaires don’t constitute an official hold on Solis’ nomination, the paperwork has the same delaying effect.” The New York Times similarly remarked, “The delay in confirming Ms. Solis isn’t because the Senate needs to know more. It’s a way for Republican senators to score tough-guy points with business constituents who are driven to distraction by the thought of unions.” Since that time, the right wing has gone all out to block her, now claiming that she is facing ethics issues. Earlier this week, the Heritage Foundation called her “The Next Tom Daschle,” and the National Review wrote, “While everyone is looking at Tom Daschle’s tax problems…a new issue has arisen concerning another Obama cabinet nomination, that of Rep. Hilda Solis to be Secretary of Labor.” According to The Hill, Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) “has questioned whether Solis had done lobbying work while she was both a House member and an official at a pro-labor group, American Rights at Work” (ARAW). There is no conflict-of-issue problem here. Solis wasn’t paid for her activities with ARAW, and as the Washington Independent pointed out, her role was “well-known and ceremonial.” As one official at a union noted, these excuses to hold up Solis are nothing more than a “clear proxy fight for Employee Free Choice.”

The President should have whomever he wants in his Cabinet.
See here and here.

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