Labor Chief Takes Swipe At Obama For Not Helping Push EFCA
Okay, this is interesting: SEIU chief Andy Stern is now openly venting frustration with Obama for not doing anything to help push the Employee Free Choice Act.
Stern’s comments about Obama are buried in this Washington Post report on a meeting Stern held with the paper’s editorial board yesterday. Stern and another top SEIU official said Obama’s other priorities had left the unions alone in their quest for the 60 Senate votes they need to break the GOP filibuster.
“We respect that we have a job to do to line up enough votes without him,” Stern said. “I don’t think there’s any question that he says there will be a vote, that this bill’s time has arrived and he will do whatever is in his power to bring this home. We just aren’t there yet.”
Despite the polite tone, that’s a surprisingly direct shot at Obama. Stern says that Obama, who supports EFCA but hasn’t made it a big priority, has done nothing at all to corral support.
Stern’s comments reflect a growing frustration in labor circles that certain Democratic leaders have done nothing to prevent Dem Senators from wavering, or defecting entirely, on their top priority. This, despite the massive organizational effort labor made in 2008 on behalf of Obama and the Dem Congressional majority.
The homepage of this blog is here. RSS feed here. Twitter feed here. Email me here.
Just think of what McCain would have did in his first 100 days.
Memo to Stern: Thats because you should have tabled the bill until later you dolt!
.
Lets see how much support they get now….
I don’t get why labor is pushing this right now. Sen. Franken hasn’t even been seated yet and his vote was always going to be necessary. I think Obama hasn’t gotten involved more because so many Senate Dems are lukewarm to the legislation. Plus, it’s not really like they listen to Obama. Bayh, Nelson, et al like to go on Fox News to declare their independence from the Democratic president.
It is amazing how unpopular Labor is, even among so-called “progressives” and “liberals”. What is more important for American workers, unions or the Democratic Party? It seems the Reagan era of union-bashing is not over.
.
Comments above suggest the right thing to do is to cheer Obama when he grants every wish of Wall Street lobbyists, and scorn union leaders when they ask the President to fulfill his campaign promises.
Why oh Why
.
How the f*ck are you to come on this board and ascribe motives? You look like a blithering idiot in light of the multitude of times that I have pressed the case for EFCA on this blog many times all by my d*mn self. Basicallly don’t break your arm patting yourself on the back you self promoting a$$hole.
sg, you wrote: “Thats because you should have tabled the bill until later you dolt!”, resorting to name-calling as is apparently your habit. What makes you think Big Business lobbyists and billionaires will be any less enraged with a law promoting unions in 2, 4, or 6 years?
.
Unions are the one thing CEOs and major shareholders hate most in the world. If EFCA is to pass, Obama has to use his famous “political capital”, and use it now.
Why oh Why
.
Why does he have to use political capital now? What you think he will run out of it by the fall or the winter? Give me a break. When the economy comes around his approval numbers will be as high as ever and THATS the time to introduce the legislation because it takes all the weak fall backs away from the ConservaDems. Timing is everything when it comes to introducing contentious legislation. Nobody who had any kind of political instincts would have pushed this bill right now in the middle of this mess of a financial crisis. If you don’t understand that then you don’t understand politics much.
Oh and lets not forget after Senator Franken gets in then all we would need is one Republican to cross the aisle. Thats chess, not checkers.
OK, let’s assume Senator Franken is finally seated. There is still the problem of Bayh, Nelson, Lincoln and multiple other corporate whores being his colleagues. Unless Obama and the DNC strong-arm those Democrats, Franken becoming a Senator will change nothing.
.
And of course, whether Reid himself really wants to pass EFCA is still an open question. (Pelosi has been much more reliable on this issue) You might want to thing Obama is an extraordinary strategist playing a 11-dimensional political chess; a more likely explanation is that he doesn’t want to hurt the feelings of the many millionaires and billionaires who will fund his 2012 campaign.
Why oh Why
.
Well how about this, don’t support him next time then? Complaining in the over the top ridiculous fashion you are engaging in doesn’t help anything. If you are that dissappointed just get you a Jindal/Palin 2012 sticker and be done with it.
Why oh Why
I was a member of the United Auto Workers Union. I was a teaching associate, and as soon as my university joined the union we had dramatic improvements in our working conditions and received back pay. I defend and support unions but I said during the primaries that EFCA would have a hard time passing no matter which Democratic candidate won. This bill is going to be very hard to pass and Labor has to be strategic about it. They don’t seem to be.
I am going to keep this both civil and simple because I have neither the patience or time to engage in internet wars.
But the criticisms here by Stern – who I am not a great fan of – are dead on.
To begin with, the idea that you should wait on this bill until a mystical time is silly. There is no mystical time when the Business community will be willing to draw back their onslaught or work for a compromise. The negative feedback that weak kneed democratic scoundrels feel in relation to their Business backers will not change without a push – most significantly from the White House.
I appreciate all the nonsensical talk about “political instincts” but assure you the time was calculated. You see, the anti-efca crowd has been amassing funds in support of this campaign and the longer it drags on the less a infinitely fiscally handicapped labor movement can compete. The mobilization of television and lobbying can be sustained indefinitely by EFCA detractors.
As to Obama: By not intervening to use his political capital within his own damn party to strong arm these cowards, he has written the legislation’s demise. If Obama had told these Dems in no uncertain terms that they would be taking marching orders from the white house – who owe labor in part for their victory- to support this legislation.
However, I can assure you he has not lifted a finger in support of the EFCA. He never spoke of the legislation outside of a union crowd and has not intervened since elected into office with Dem. Senators.
What we are seeing is a tired old tune. With democrats and their “progressive” manichean cheerleaders abstractly endorsing the interests of working men and women, while simultaneously either undermining or doing nothing for them.
To sgwhiteinfla:
You havent the faintest idea for which you speak. Your chess not checkers analogy is cute but not quite sturdy. The problem is hardly the 1 Republican, it is the numerous democrats who openly oppose the legislation – on record. So seat Franken all you will, it will not mean much. If EFCA is to pass in any serious form, it will require the leverage of the white house. Many of us have known this from day one and are none too pleased about the response. So please dont pee on my leg and then lecture me on your tremendous “political” acumen.
Big labor: biggest threat to Amerikan workers.
Forget it. The “fill out this card while Knuckles and Bruno from the Union look over your shoulder act” is finished. It was too pitiful even for a 58 Dem Senate to pass.
Why are Unions so against a secret ballot? Is it because workers on onto how a union will just steal their retirement money and dues?
Nice blogging. I’ve subscribed to the RSS. Grants are still not easy to find, right?