Hey everybody, I’ve been MIA for a couple days so I’ve got some catching up to do.

First:

The Senate claimed another victim yesterday. This time it was Craig Becker one of Obama’s nominees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the anti-democratic, anti-labor bias of the world’s most obnoxious deliberative body was on full display. A majority of the Senate voted to confirm Becker, 52-33 which in the bizzaro world of the upper chamber wasn’t enough to push him over the edge. (The magical 60-vote was needed to overcome the inevitable filibuster.) Ostensible Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson exhibited his usual douchebaggery, joining the Republicans in their obstructionism. Becker was blocked because of his past employment by the AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which conservatives argued would make him bias in his deliberations. Probably true. Somehow I can’t remember them making such a stink about Bush’s unabashedly pro-business appointees.

Second:

My article about the perpetual failure of labor law reform is now up at Campus Progress, the youth wing of the Center For American Progress. It basically gives a lengthier version of some of my recent Slog posts. Check it out.

13 replies on “The Senate Blocks Another Labor-Friendly Nominee”

  1. As a Big Labor shill, why do you work for a scab rag like the Stranger?

    When are you going to call Liz or Yoko at the Guild and organize the scab rag?

  2. Dumping Becker was essential to preserving workers’ right to secret ballot.
    Working Americans (in Obama’s America, a shrinking pool, admittedly…) owe the Senate a debt of gratitude.

    Hey, Jake- how are efforts to organize The Stranger coming?
    Can you update Slog?
    Can you get a reaction from Dan?
    Please keep us posted.

  3. Bullshit @2:

    Dumping Becker was essential to preserving employers’ ability to coerce employees with “captive audience” meetings, to thwart the will of a majority of employees to form a bargaining unit during the “card check” phase, and to prevent employers from engaging in unfair labor practices during the organizing phase.

    The “oooh, employees will lose their right to a secret ballot” is irrelevant, since, if 50% +1 of the employees have ALREADY signed cards stating they want union representation, then what’s the point of holding a SECOND “secret vote”? The ONLY reason is to give the employer time to try to subvert the first vote by either cajoling or threatening employees to change their vote on the second round.

    It’s like what corporate interests did to the monorail a few years back: every time they lost the vote, they’d demand one more, and one more, and one more, until – after FIVE tries, they finally got the outcome they wanted, THEN it was “okay, no more votes!”

    Bullshite, pure and simple…

  4. i just don’t get it: if 50+ votes was insufficient to stop a filibuster, then why aren’t GOP Senators standing up reading the phone book RIGHT NOW? why isn’t the Senate leadership making them do it?

  6. 4
    democraps are such pussies that every vote that comes up they convince themselves the GOP is going to kick their ass on so the Republicans don’t even actually have to threaten the filibuster anymore.

  7. @4, I agree. I don’t really give a damn about this guy, or the NLRB, either way; but I wish they would CALL THE REPUBLICANS OUT. Let the public WATCH these bastards shut down the government over trivialities. FIGHT THEM, for cryin’ out loud. All this “boo hoo, we cain’t do nuthin’ til Timmie giss our ball back” baloney is maddening.

  8. well actually, instead of “making them do a filibuster,” how about:

    1. biden rules changes are in order.
    2. objection to this ruling
    3. biden is sustained with 51 votes.
    4. we fucking change the fucking 60 vote rule that fucking castrates us that we fucking agree to in total ball less gutless yellow bellied bullshit scam of the people who voted democrats into office promising change and not having the smallest balls to deliver it.
    5. then we start adopting things by simplle majority as in every other democracy from canada to austria to germany to france and everywhere else that’s more green more healthy more jobs-y more fair and has allthe other good shit we want.

    I mean come on, what kind of party agrees to minority rule and lets the minorty party just fucking rule?

    I am referring to obama, reid, murray cantwell, etc. them. they’re the ones doint it to us. why, you got me. I guess we keep silent like sheep, and keep reelecting them and swwon and adulate them when they promise change or have a nice story or promise to be a technopopulist or some other shit that seems to guile us totally.

  9. you people are pathetic pussies.
    the GOP has NEVER had a 60 vote majority and they have NEVER bitched about the filibuster.
    grow a pair.
    and STFU.

  13. Keep in mind that not ONE SINGLE DEMOCRATIC SENATOR bothered to block Bush’s nominations. Poor helpless defenseless pathetic lying sacks of dogshit.

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