The Senate has secret elections for its leaders. The House of Representatives also uses a closed ballot, one not open to public view, for its own members. We all, you and I, have a secret ballot when we vote for president or for our local officials at our local polling place. It’s one of the oldest aspects of the democratic system.
Yet, Democrats want to take that oldest part of the democratic process away from 105 million Americans.
For their support in the last election Democrats are poised to launch an effort to force a payback to Big Unions through Congress, perhaps as early as Tuesday. That payback will be in the form of the woefully misnamed “Employee Free Choice Act” — which is neither free nor any choice. In this legislation, unions can dispense with the ages old secret ballot for union members and force them to sign public cards revealing their personal vote to everyone. Naturally, when a voter’s choice is known to everyone, pressure will be greater to conform and the conscience of the union member can easily take a back seat to that of getting along with union bosses.
In an effort to inform as many people as possible on this unAmerican payoff to corrupt Big Labor Associated Builders and Contractors and Contractors Free Enterprise Alliance is launching www.cardcheckquiz.com.
Right now, Congress is considering the misnamed “Employee Free Choice Act.” But it would strip an estimated 105 million working Americans of the right to a private ballot in union elections. Instead, employees would be subject to “card check” — a process that’s pen to coercion, confusion, and intimidation.
Take the quiz to find out if EFCA will steal your private vote.
Why do Democrats want to take away the very access to a secret ballot that they jealously guard for themselves? As a corrupt bargain for the millions upon millions that Big Labor pumped into Democratic Party campaign coffers, of course.
And if the Democratic Party gets its way, union thugs will be intimidating union voters with impunity.
It’s up to us to stop them and save the conscience vote for millions of American workers.
Steve Maley
Moe Lane
Dan McLaughlin
Neil Stevens
Republicans should just promise to repeal it as soon as they're back in the Majority. [nt]
Martin Knight (Diary) Tuesday, March 10th at 4:28AM EST (link)Republicans should be maintaining a list of everything Obama does to overturn
JLenardDetroit (Diary) Tuesday, March 10th at 4:49AM EST (link)including as I put forth (if it is the only way to do so quickly), some Militarization of Oil Drilling to start pulling it out of our own ground for National Security ()I don’t have my link handy to that thought/argument – may be somewhere in my Recos Diary under “Oil”) reasons (and to get around the Enviro-Terrorists blocking tactics)…
If the voters WAKE UP for 2010 and 2012 and put us back in charge of WH, House, and Senate…. the laundry list should be all enacted in the first 100 days…. ramming it all through as the Democrats are undoing the country now with their agenda… This should include a dusting off of the Contract With America (Contract II?) and revisiting each and every item there and re-addressing the items…
Regards from NoMoTown (the MOTORlessCITY)
“Liberals, looking to do for? America what they’ve done for? Detroit! which is DESTROY IT!”
“I think, therefore I am Conservative”
“Conservative by choice, Republican by necessity”
“You can lead a Liberal to the Truth/Facts, but you cannot make them THINK!”
“Romney [No, not my first choice] does NOT have a MORMON problem. He has a, far too many Americans; these days; are MORONS problem!”
Follow @JLenardDetroit
(RS:Help) (JLD) (Hollyweird) (Brain-deads) (SPIN-cycle) (Obamaocare) (Party of kNOw) (Conservatism) (TEApeats) (respectful) (message) (Warning: Children Will Die!!)
Heil “O” Hell No Obamao is NOT MY PRESIDENT! “No U won’t”
I want “O” to FAIL (here, here, & whole Diary (Ofail) here, is why)
“The first Liberal was Satan” – a Rush caller (other Quotes)
It would take
Cogburn (Diary) Tuesday, March 10th at 7:29AM EST (link)60 senators, a strong majority in the House AND a willing president to undo any legislation passed by this bunch. In the meantime, increased unionism equals vastly increased union dues siphoned from the workers and used in elections. If we don’t stop this now, it will be generations, if ever, until conservatives could undo it…
It only really takes ONE PERSON, a Republican President with the where-with-all to SHUT DOWN GOVERNMENT....
JLenardDetroit (Diary) Tuesday, March 10th at 6:18PM EST (link)which we know will never occur….. Even Reagan didn’t Veto enough and Shut Government down long enough to Force reductions.
Shut it down… Shut it all down…. The States would then have to step up and do what they are supposed to be doing FOR THEMSELVES!
Yes, of course, being over-the-top…. to make a point…. we do need someone that will really use that ultimate authority for the best of the country rather than worry about the next Election cycle…. If Government is Shut Down early in a Term (why Obama is forcing through all his RADICAL agenda now, for the opposite reason) plenty of time will pass for people to discover they can/do survive without most Government functions and waste…. That a REDUCED Government would benefit them, despite the Indoctrination Factories instilling in them fear of otherwise!
Regards from NoMoTown (the MOTORlessCITY)
“Liberals, looking to do for? America what they’ve done for? Detroit! which is DESTROY IT!”
“I think, therefore I am Conservative”
“Conservative by choice, Republican by necessity”
“You can lead a Liberal to the Truth/Facts, but you cannot make them THINK!”
“Romney [No, not my first choice] does NOT have a MORMON problem. He has a, far too many Americans; these days; are MORONS problem!”
Follow @JLenardDetroit
(RS:Help) (JLD) (Hollyweird) (Brain-deads) (SPIN-cycle) (Obamaocare) (Party of kNOw) (Conservatism) (TEApeats) (respectful) (message) (Warning: Children Will Die!!)
Heil “O” Hell No Obamao is NOT MY PRESIDENT! “No U won’t”
I want “O” to FAIL (here, here, & whole Diary (Ofail) here, is why)
“The first Liberal was Satan” – a Rush caller (other Quotes)
Go look at what it took to pass the Taft-Hartley
Achance (Diary) Tuesday, March 10th at 9:18AM EST (link)amendment to the National Labor Relations Act in 1948. And the blood is still on the walls and floor from that. Taft-Hartley is the primary reason that unions will almost never back any Republican for any office at any level.
And Taft-Hartley came at a time when the People were thoroughly disgusted with union corruption and disruption, e.g, strikes against war industries, very disruptive strikes against vital industries post-war, and rampant corruption. Throw in more than a little open Communism, that’s Capital C Communism, and the Country was ripe for reform of the NLRA. Even then, it was a bloody and close battle.
In Vino Veritas
Only in the Age of Obama.... nt
Rod_Patrick (Diary) Tuesday, March 10th at 4:57AM EST (link)Card Check... as Democratic and open/free as a Cuban Election....
JLenardDetroit (Diary) Tuesday, March 10th at 5:02AM EST (link)and this video is always an important reminder
It is just simply MORONIC if anyone believes that the Unions will Choose (while still technically available under the law) to call for a Secret Ballot when they know they can Bully enough people into FORCING a Union in by twisting 50% + 1 …. no doubt part of the tactics will be to say (read: lie) they don’t know that they’ll be close to getting it and therefore Card Checking (argument to each person they arm-twist/sucker) may not cause the Unionization… thus trying to convince someone that would otherwise not want the Union that Card Checking just to avoid the Union pressure won’t really put the Union in (with the Union Bosses knowing all the while how close they are and how many more people they will need to sucker or arm twist)…
Regards from NoMoTown (the MOTORlessCITY)
“Liberals, looking to do for? America what they’ve done for? Detroit! which is DESTROY IT!”
“I think, therefore I am Conservative”
“Conservative by choice, Republican by necessity”
“You can lead a Liberal to the Truth/Facts, but you cannot make them THINK!”
“Romney [No, not my first choice] does NOT have a MORMON problem. He has a, far too many Americans; these days; are MORONS problem!”
Follow @JLenardDetroit
(RS:Help) (JLD) (Hollyweird) (Brain-deads) (SPIN-cycle) (Obamaocare) (Party of kNOw) (Conservatism) (TEApeats) (respectful) (message) (Warning: Children Will Die!!)
Heil “O” Hell No Obamao is NOT MY PRESIDENT! “No U won’t”
I want “O” to FAIL (here, here, & whole Diary (Ofail) here, is why)
“The first Liberal was Satan” – a Rush caller (other Quotes)
can someone explain to me the stated reason
bags64 Tuesday, March 10th at 5:51AM EST (link)that democrats have for supporting this bill?
Well, as the KOS Kids say.
Brian Hibbert (Diary) Tuesday, March 10th at 6:22AM EST (link)It takes the “choice” away from an employer and give it to the employees. After all the title of the bill is “Employee Free Choice Act” (for some reason labels matter more that content to them).
They will fight you to the death if you even hint that employees will no longer be allowed a secret ballot election. They will claim that employees can still choose the free election and that any thought to the contrary is a “lie”.
If you point out actual text in the legislation that shows where the choice is gone or state that the choice is given to the union rather than the employee, your reply will be hidden. They can’t have the non-initiated see it after all.
At least that was my experience last week.
Candidate for Trustee of Illinois Central College
Socialism doesn’t work. It looks nice on paper, but it’s been tried and it’s failed miserably every time (usually accompanied by widespread death and suffering).
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It's true - sorta'
Achance (Diary) Tuesday, March 10th at 9:12AM EST (link)It doesn’t repeal the current provision that causes an election on a 30% showing of interest. So, if the union can get 30% of the employees to sign an interest card, the NLRB conducts an election in which the union must get 50% + 1 of those voting in order to be certified as the exclusive representative. The reality is that a union would almost never petition with only a 30% showing; they’d want a majority before proceeding even under the current law.
The real change in the representation process is that EFCA forces recognition on a majority showing of interest cards. It is true that even under current law an employer could agree to recognition on a majority showing of interest, but they almost never do. Also, under current law, the interest cards are not public and cannot be made public. The union knows who signed one because they gathered them, but neither the employer nor the other employees know who has signed an interest card.
As I wrote in a diary a week or two ago, the real, lasting damage of EFCA isn’t the representation process, there are still ways for employers to resist organization (For the right amount of money, I’ll be happy to show you some.). The mandatory arbitration that EFCA establishes will be a nightmare for employers organized under EFCA (Since I’m one of only a handful of people in the Country who’s ever eve seen an interest arbitration, for the right amount of money, I’ll be happy to represent your company if you get organized.).
In Vino Veritas
AR senators are vulnerable
DerKrieger (Diary) Tuesday, March 10th at 6:59AM EST (link)Call AR’s two Dem senators. Blanche Lincoln is up for reelection in 2010 and is particularly sensitive to this issue being a Dem in a state that went for McCain 59% and Obama 39%. This is also the home of Wal-Mart. She’s gonna be on thin ice if she supports this fiasco.
“In questions of power, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.” – Thomas Jefferson
“I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents.” – James Madison
Whenever the legislators endeavor to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience.” — John Locke, 1690
I Agree
Swamp_Yankee (Diary) Tuesday, March 10th at 1:31PM EST (link)We spend more time around here going after other Republicans than we do vulnerable Democrats. Its not enough that they vote against it. They must not vote for cloture. Let every voter in Arkansas know how dubious this Bill is and Lincoln is up in 2010. Force her to join a filibuster.
[And after I went through the trouble...]
I am a Dutch retread who wants to lecture Americans on their domestic policy. Tuesday, March 10th at 7:48AM EST (link)[...of trying to translate "Blam" into Dutch, too. Such ingratitude. - Moe Lane]
This will pass. And it will pass with the support
mbecker908 (Diary) Tuesday, March 10th at 7:52AM EST (link)of Republicans. And you can forget the Blue Dogs standing “firm” against this outrage. Remember, they told Nancy they wouldn’t vote for something that would get changed in the Senate. They will fall into line like good little Marxists after the Senate passes it and it comes to the House. And as far as having an impact at the polls in 2010, don’t bet on it. First of all, this WILL be a bipartisan piece of legislation, at least in the Senate. Second, the people most effected by it – WalMart, etal – won’t raise a peep against it either before or after it passes. They are smart enough not to piss off the bureaucrats who are going to be running the Labor Department who will be siding with the unions right down the line.
And even if this abortion could be repealed, it wouldn’t matter. The damage will be done. Get over it folks, we’re going to be living in the United States of Sweden in two years and there’s not much we will be able to do about it. Thanks to GWB, John McCain, Arlen Specter and the Republican “leadership” since 1988 with the exception of one brief bright spot in ’94.
I'll Take This Bet
IJB Tuesday, March 10th at 10:11AM EST (link)It won’t pass, and it will be all Republicans (including Specter, who’s now running for his life) and several Democrats who uphold the filibuster.
In fact, I think Dingy Harry never brings it up for a vote because he knows it won’t pass filibuster, and it’s a PR disaster all around if he brings it up for a vote, and it fails.
Meanwhile, the House won’t even take it up for a vote unless the Senate votes on it first.
The wheels are coming off the Dem machine – just look at Obama’s budget, which is dying by a thousand cuts. The Dems realize that if they push this too far, they’re toast. EFCA would be pushing things way too far.
They know that all they have to do is pass it,
Achance (Diary) Tuesday, March 10th at 10:20AM EST (link)and they’re poised for hegemony over the Country for a VERY long time. The Rs thatdon’t go along just become targets. The Rs that do go along become targets too, but they’ll just join the long list of Republicans who thought that they could get a union to like them if they were just nice – abused children! And there’ll be a special political Hell for Ds who don’t line up. My money is on it passing, and quickly. They’ve been waiting since 1948 for this!
In Vino Veritas
I Know I'm Going Against You and Becker on This
IJB Tuesday, March 10th at 10:36AM EST (link)That’s why they call it a “counter bet”.
But, if I win, I win *big*.
(And I honestly do believe that they won’t get it: individual political survival instincts easily trump what’s in the best interests of the parties – we’ve seen this numerous times, on *both* sides of the aisle. Personally, I can’t wait for all the DKos articles coming up that will vilify people like Lincoln and Pryor of AR over Card Check… [evil grin] )
I hope you're right, but I usually prepare for the worst
Achance (Diary) Tuesday, March 10th at 10:45AM EST (link)and am pleasantly surprised when I don’t get it. My money’s that there are enough Rs who think they can get some union love that they won’t filibuster it. There might be enough Rs to even let a couple of Ds cover their butts.
You know, I’d like to see what flashes through their misguided little minds after they sell out on something like this and find out they’ve been used and there isn’t even any money on the dresser.
In Vino Veritas
a vote on a Cornyn amendment may be indicative
pilgrim (Diary) Tuesday, March 10th at 4:46PM EST (link)The Senate rejected an amendment to the omnibus bill offered up by Sen. Cornyn. The text of this amendment:
Thomas doesn’t have the results up yet, but I watched it on C-SPAN2, and there were NO Ds that voted for this amendment. GOP Senators Spector and Voinovich voted with all of the Ds against this amendment.
the results of vote for defunding Obama executive order on unions
pilgrim (Diary) Tuesday, March 10th at 5:05PM EST (link)http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00091#position
I hope you're right too. But you're not.
mbecker908 (Diary) Tuesday, March 10th at 12:14PM EST (link)And, as far as Lincoln and Pryor are concerned, just who is going to run against them? Especially when you consider that they will have literally unlimited funds from the born-again unions to buy their election.
Same situation for Blue Dog House Members.
who to run against Lincoln...your ole pal, Mike Huckabee? nt
pilgrim (Diary) Tuesday, March 10th at 12:19PM EST (link).
I'd happily support Huck for Senator.
mbecker908 (Diary) Tuesday, March 10th at 3:27PM EST (link)But he’s not going to be running for anything but Rex.
Another nail in the economy's coffin.
Old_Crow (Diary) Tuesday, March 10th at 8:35AM EST (link)Stimulus bill focused on govt spending + executive indecision + Card Check + Cap & Trade Tax + govt bailouts of failed companies = 4500 Dow and 20% unemployment.
How long can we let this continue?
“Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm.” — James Madison
Until Obama is buried in it
JustLeaveMeAlone (Diary) Tuesday, March 10th at 12:43PM EST (link)That may be the only silver lining to this dark cloud.
“To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.” Thomas Jefferson
Card check is bad...
JDidSaint Tuesday, March 10th at 9:49AM EST (link)But in my opinion, the conservative focus should be on the unions themselves and why they’re so destructive. It kills two birds with one stone:
1. If unions are bad and the only effects of card check are taking away the secret ballot and creating more unions, then it follows naturally that card check is bad.
2. It will preempt any possible, “union revolutions” that could come from passing this bad legislation.
We’ve focused too much on number one. We need to focus on the parasitic tendencies of unions and highlight real life examples like the Big Three. If this legislation ends up slipping through, the workers need to know how destructive a vote to unionize can be to their company and the economy.
Furthermore, I think the unions should be destroyed.
“I’d rather go through the pain of the re-emergence of free markets than endure the long suffering of a socialist state. One is natural and comes from that spark of human desire; the other is imposed and smothers the flame of ingenuity.”-Crowe (from RedState!)