FAA

Senate Dems Greenlight Key Anti-Union Bill

Brian Beutler | February 6, 2012, 6:05PM

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY)

With the help of Senate Democrats, Congress took its final step Monday toward enactment of long-term FAA reauthorization legislation, despite an aggressive last-minute effort by organized labor to kill the package.

The final vote was 75-20, with -- not nearly enough Democratic opposition to prevent a supermajority from passing it and sending it off to President Obama for a signature.

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FAA

Are Senate Dems About To Cave On GOP Union-Busting?

Brian Beutler | February 6, 2012, 5:20AM

Image from Pushkin/ Shutterstock

Senate Democrats and organized labor have reached a make or break moment over House-passed legislation that will make it harder for transportation workers to unionize.

One labor official said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Commerce Committee chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) had "sold out" workers, by striking a deal with Republicans on a long-term reauthorization of Federal Aviation Administration programs -- and they have a brief window in which to set things right.

The issue goes back months.

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Minnesota

Minnesota GOP Legislators Eye 'Right-To-Work' Constitutional Amendment

Eric Kleefeld | February 2, 2012, 2:30PM

The Minnesota State Capitol

Republican legislators in Minnesota are now setting out to make their state the newest front in the push for "right-to-work" laws hindering labor union organization. But can they pull it off?

State Sen. Dave Thompson (R) and state Rep. Steve Drazkowski (R) announced the proposal Thursday, calling it the "Employee Freedom Constitutional Amendment."

In order to pass an amendment to the Minnesota constitution, both houses must pass the proposal under a simple majority threshold, then send it to the voters in November -- thus bypassing the state's Democratic Governor Mark Dayton, but also triggering what would likely be a very heated referendum campaign. The Republicans currently have a 72-62 majority in the House, and a 37-30 margin in the Senate.

Right-to-work laws are very common in the South and the West. This week, Indiana became the 23rd state -- and more importantly, the first Rust Belt state -- to adopt such a measure. Interestingly, Indiana Democrats had proposed a compromise of sending the bill to a referendum, which the majority Republicans rejected in favor of sending the bill directly to Gov. Mitch Daniels. In this case, Minnesota Republicans are seeking a referendum, in order to pass the bill over the head of a governor who opposes it.

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FAA

Labor Targets Vulnerable House Republicans Over Union-Busting Bill

Brian Beutler | January 17, 2012, 12:33PM

Rep. Sean Duffy (R, WI)

All the big conflicts on Capitol Hill seem to get resolved just before their deadline. Except one. Federal Aviation Administration programs are again set to expire in just a couple weeks, and as has been the case for a year, House Republicans won't agree to a long term reauthorization unless it includes a provision that rigs the votes if airline and rail workers want to unionize.

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Recess appointments

Obama's Recess Appointments Dilemma Is About To Get Worse

Brian Beutler | January 11, 2012, 5:25AM

President Barack Obama

Despite making several key, contentious recess appointments since Congress left town, the Obama administration is still operating with scores of vacancies, including an unexpected hole at the top of the Office of Management and Budget.

But their options for filing those vacancies are likely limited, unless President Obama is willing to dial his use of the recess appointment power up even further.

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Indiana

Indiana Dems Restart Legislative Boycott To Stop 'Right-To-Work' Bill

Eric Kleefeld | January 10, 2012, 2:50PM

The Indiana State Capitol building in Indianapolis, IN.

Indiana Democrats are once again walking out of the state legislature, in order to tie up a "right-to-work" bill that would hinder labor unions.

The development came after a committee hearing Tuesday morning -- lasting only six minutes -- in which the majority Republicans voted to send the bill to the floor, and without hearing any debate or Democratic motions to amend the bill.

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Labor

Indiana Dems End Legislative Boycott -- For Now

Eric Kleefeld | January 9, 2012, 5:16PM

The Indiana State Capitol building in Indianapolis, IN.

Democrats in the Indiana legislature have ended their walkout of the state House, which was tying up a bill that would hinder labor unions. But they're not promising that they won't do it again.

The Indianapolis Star reports that Republican leaders now hope to hold two key votes: One on Thursday, on changes to the bill that were made in a special joint House/Senate committee last week, and a final vote on passage on Friday.

But state House Minority Leader Pat Bauer (D) is still not declaring defeat:

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Indiana

Indiana Capitol In Faceoff Over Labor Rights -- Again

Eric Kleefeld & Evan McMorris-Santoro | January 5, 2012, 5:08PM

The Indiana State Capitol building in Indianapolis, IN.

The Indiana legislature is grinding to a halt this week, as Democrats work to stall the Republican majority from passing a law restricting the power of private-sector labor unions.

The "right-to-work" law would go beyond the current crackdowns on public-sector unions, by forbidding private-sector companies and unions from negotiating a contract that would require the collection of partial union dues from non-members.

Starting Wednesday, and continuing into Thursday, the Indianapolis Star reports, the state House has been unable to gavel into a session -- and protesters have once again descended upon the building.

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National Labor Relations Board

Obama Suddenly On A Recess Appointments Roll

Brian Beutler | January 4, 2012, 3:38PM

President Barack Obama speaks on the economy in Shaker Heights, OH on January 4, 2012.

Add the National Labor Relations Board to the list of agencies that will be given new life thanks to President Obama's decision to thwart Senate Republicans and use his recess appointment power expansively.

The administration just announced that Obama will appoint Sharon Block, Terence Flynn, and Richard Grifin to the NLRB, preventing it from being crippled indefinitely thanks to Senate Republican intransigence.

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FAA

Dems Pick Apart Key GOP Argument Against Passing Senate Payroll Tax Cut Bill

Brian Beutler | December 19, 2011, 6:16PM

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)

One argument House Republican leaders -- including Speaker John Boehner -- are making about their refusal to adopt the Senate's payroll tax cut compromise is a throwback to old times. They note that "regular order" in Congress is for the House and Senate each to pass legislation and to then convene a conference committee where members from each chamber meet to iron out the differences between the bills.

That's "regular order" in a traditional sense, but it's not even close to how this Congress has operated in practice. Case in point: both the House and Senate have passed legislation to reauthorize federal aviation programs on a semi-permanent basis. One key area of disagreement between the parties is a provision in the House bill that would make it much more difficult for rail and airline workers to unionize -- just the sort of provision that could be the focal point of negotiations in a conference committee.

But House Republicans won't let that happen, and have pushed a series of temporary reauthorizations instead.

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FAA

Just In Time For The Holidays: FAA Fight Heats Up In Wake Of Super Committee Fail

Brian Beutler | November 22, 2011, 3:50PM

Completely distinct from the Super Committee-related mess Congress has to clean up, the House and Senate are also supposed to pass long-term legislation to reauthorize FAA programs. But a dispute over worker rights has held up the bill for months and even led to a partial FAA shutdown earlier this year. Rinse, repeat.

Republicans want to make it more difficult for transportation workers to unionize by requiring officials to count abstentions as votes against forming a union. This provision underlies the stalemate between the House and Senate on a so-called permanent reauthorization.

The current, temporary reauthorization is scheduled to lapse at the end of the year, and now labor is pressing the GOP to strip the anti-union measure and move ahead with the long-term plan, as opposed to passing another stopgap, or triggering another shutdown.

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Government Shutdown

Dems Fuming Over GOP Threats To Planned Parenthood, Health Care Law

Brian Beutler | September 29, 2011, 4:58PM

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

House Republicans are attaching controversial cuts and policy measures to legislation required to run the biggest domestic department in the federal government, and if they don't back off there will likely be, you guessed it, another government shutdown fight.

Already, Democrats in both chambers are saying a draft of the House's Labor/Health and Human Services appropriations bill is dead on arrival, because it contains deep cuts to heating assistance for the poor, requires the repeal of a major provision of the health care law that will help provide assistance for disabled people, halts implementation of the entire law until the Supreme Court determines the constitutionality of its individual insurance mandate, and slashes Planned Parenthood and public broadcasting. Just for starters.

A Senate Dem aide familiar with appropriations issues weighs in with the following statement.

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Jobs

What The Media Won't -- Or Can't -- Tell You About The Jobs Crisis

Brian Beutler | September 6, 2011, 6:10AM

An unemployed man.

Everyone knows the unemployment rate is painfully high and not falling. Friday's monthly jobs report from the Department of Labor put a cruel point on this fact: In August, job gains in the private sector were entirely offset by job losses in the public sector, netting precisely zero new payrolls for the month.

Zero is a striking number in this context, but it's also a bit misleading. For instance, private sector job creation appeared artificially lower than it should have because 45,000 Verizon workers were on strike when the survey was taken. What happened in August has been happening for months, as policy makers allow federal spending to fall and, thus, for government jobs to disappear, placing a significant drag on overall growth.

Experts disagree to some extent over the precise measures lawmakers should take to stanch this bleeding -- but overwhelmingly they agree it can be stanched. Their recommendations give the lie to the idea -- pushed by conservatives and adopted by some Democrats -- that government is growing out of control and deficits need to be addressed urgently. And yet nearly all major news outlets ignore, or bury this fact -- indeed, most reports of this month's jobs figures place no emphasis on the contraction of the public sector, and the implications thereof.

Here's a sample.

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Barack Obama

Obama Pledges to Protect Collective Bargaining While Creating Jobs

Susan Crabtree | September 5, 2011, 2:19AM

President Obama addresses a Labor Day rally in Detroit, MI, September 5, 2011.

President Obama previewed his proposals for job creation and reviving the economy to thousands of supportive union members in Detroit on Labor Day.

The speech at a rally sponsored by the Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO came just days before Obama's Thursday evening address before a joint session of Congress where he plans to oultine specific proposals to spur job creation and resuscitate the economy.

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FAA

Powerful Union Escalates Campaign Against GOP Push To Weaken Unions On Threat Of FAA Shutdown

Brian Beutler | August 30, 2011, 6:15AM

A powerful union will escalate a fight with Republicans over the party's push to make it harder for rail and airline workers to unionize.

This week, the Communications Workers of America will launch direct mail and robocall campaigns against the GOP's top transportation policy maker, and about two dozen other GOP members of the House of Representatives, according to officials.

The campaign stems from a months-long fight over legislation to permanently reauthorize Federal Aviation Administration programs. House Republicans want to use that bill to fiddle with mediation rules, so that airline workers who abstain from voting on whether to form a union would be tallied as having voted "no."

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Republicans

Cantor Jobs Memo Calls For Repeal Of Health, Environment, Labor Rules -- And For More Tax Cuts

Brian Beutler | August 29, 2011, 10:34AM

Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) with members of the Republican House leadership

When Congress returns from recess, House Republicans will begin a continuous assault on a series of health, environmental and labor regulations, which they say are hampering job creation. And they'll twin it with two tax cuts for both large and small businesses. One of those cuts will actually be aimed at preventing a scheduled tax increase -- but it's not the payroll tax cut President Obama has asked Congress to extend.

In a memo to members, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) laid out a list of 10 rules, most of which have yet to be implemented, which they'll seek to prevent week by week. These include regulations that would limit the amount of mercury and other toxins boiler and incinerator operators can burn into the atmosphere; that could make it easier for workers to unionize; and that assure that employer insurance policies exempted from new health care law -- so-called "grandfathered" plans -- meet the law's basic requirements and aren't gamed by employers to reduce workers' existing benefits.

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Darrell Issa

Issa: NLRB Has Until Friday To Hand Over Docs In Boeing Case

Susan Crabtree | August 8, 2011, 12:04PM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the GOP's No. 1 Obama administration attack dog, has bitten down hard on the dispute between the National Labor Relations Board and Boeing and doesn't appear to be letting go anytime soon.

Issa issued a subpoena to the NLRB's Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon August 7 as part of its investigation into the merits of the NLRB action against the Boeing Company. The subpoena compels the NLRB to comply with earlier document requests submitted in May with a deadline of noon Aug. 12.

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Labor

WH Commerce Secretary Pick John Bryson Defends Boeing From NLRB Suit

Benjy Sarlin | June 21, 2011, 5:37PM

John Bryson

President Obama's pick to lead the Commerce Department, John Bryson, got caught in a political crossfire over a lawsuit between the National Labor Relations Board and his employer, Boeing, at his confirmation hearing on Tuesday. He chose to side with Boeing, where he holds a seat on the board.

The NLRB has filed a complaint against Boeing alleging that the company is building an assembly line in South Carolina as retaliation against its unionized Washington State workers. A large number of Republican lawmakers, especially in South Carolina, have waged all-out war over the decision and are even threatening to cut off the agency's funding in response.

At the hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison whether the NLRB decision was "regulatory excess," prompting Bryson to defend the corporation.

"I think it's not the right judgment," he said. "Maybe if I'm ... I wasn't thinking of it so much as regulation, it seemed like such an unexpected kind of legal proceeding that none of us on the board - we thought we were doing the right thing for the country and we looked hard at maintaining the jobs in Washington and expanding the jobs elsewhere for the benefit of the country and never thought for example of putting those jobs outside the U.S."

The NLRB is an independent agency and its lawsuit was not filed in consultation with the Obama administration, so Bryson's words don't contradict the White House. But Republicans, led by South Carolina Sens. Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint, have been waging all-out war on the issue and will doubtless jump on the exchange. Already the RNC is out with video:

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AFL-CIO

AFL-CIO Prez Warns Dems: Don't Take Labor's Love For Granted

Evan McMorris-Santoro | May 20, 2011, 4:23PM

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka

Watch out, Democrats, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said on Friday. Your buddies in organized labor are looking to expand the friendship circle.

Trumka's speech at the National Press Club, billed as a major address by the union, recast the union's connection to politics as a year-round, national affair -- rather than the election-focused, battleground state strategy of the past. Trumka warned Democrats that labor would not always be at their side, suggesting more of the primary battles like the unsuccessful one that labor backed against former Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) last year.

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New Hampshire

New Hampshire's Dem Gov Vetoes Anti-Union Bill

Eric Kleefeld | May 11, 2011, 1:45PM

Gov. John Lynch (D-NH)

New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch (D) has vetoed a "right-to-work" bill passed by the Republican legislature, which would have restricted private-sector unions in the state. As of this juncture, a veto override could potentially occur, but is not a certain thing.

The New Hampshire Union Leader reports:

The bill, HB 474, would bar contracts that require non-members to pay partial dues to unions that represent their rights in the workplace. The partial payments are meant to cover the costs of reaching and enforcing labor contracts.

The bill would also allow fines to be levied against companies that included the provision in a contract and deducted the payments.

...

Lynch wrote in his veto message, "States should not interfere with the rights of businesses and their employees to freely negotiate contracts. That is unless there is a compelling public interest, and there is no compelling public interest in passing this legislation.

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Labor

Harry Reid Tells GOP To Stop Pressuring Independent Labor Agency

Benjy Sarlin | May 11, 2011, 11:24AM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) defended the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday amid a concentrated attack from prominent Republicans around the country, accusing conservative critics of meddling with an independent federal agency.

"We need agencies like the NLRB to be able to operate freely and without political pressures," he said in a floor speech. "We need to keep our independent agencies independent. This case is for them to decide, not us."

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Labor

Union Advocates Accuse GOP Of Interfering With Independent Labor Agency

Benjy Sarlin | May 11, 2011, 8:57AM

Labor allies are defending the White House from attacks by South Carolina Gov. NIkki Haley (R) and other Republican lawmakers over a union dispute with Boeing, accusing them of interfering with an independent federal agency.

At the Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, Haley and other Republicans called on President Obama to condemn the independent National Labor Relations Board, which is tasked with enforcing labor laws, for suing Boeing over a production line in South Carolina that it says constitutes illegal retaliation against unionized Boeing workers in Washington State. Obama has no direct control over the agency, but does choose its members, and Republicans have sought to block appointments they consider too pro-labor.

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, issued a statement accusing the GOP of an "overly dramatic response" to a "routine unfair labor practice charge." He added that it was unfair to target the White House when it has no say in the NLRB's lawsuit.

"That's what this all comes down to: powerful corporate interests are pressuring public officials to interfere with an independent agency, rather than let justice run its course," Harkin said. "And we should not tolerate this interference. Instead, we should turn our attention back to the issues that really matter to American families - how we can create jobs in Washington, South Carolina, Iowa, and across the country?"

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Labor

South Carolina Emerges As Next Labor Flashpoint In Boeing Dispute

Benjy Sarlin | May 9, 2011, 9:56AM

An ugly spat between a huge corporation, organized labor, the White House, and a Tea Party governor whose union-busting rhetoric would make Chris Christie blush, is becoming the next national flashpoint in this year's ongoing war on unions.

The dispute centers around a planned Boeing airplane production line for its 787 Dreamliner in South Carolina using nonunion labor. The National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint earlier this month looking to halt operation of the new plant after members of the International Association of Machinists at Boeing's Washington state production line claimed the decision to expand outside the state was retaliation for previous strikes. The NLRB is demanding that Boeing open a second production line in labor-friendly Washington state.

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Jobs

Economy Adds 244k Jobs, Though Unemployment Ticks Up To 9%

Benjy Sarlin | May 6, 2011, 9:25AM

The economy added 244,000 jobs in April, significantly more than predicted, indicating that the recovery still has legs despite disappointing projections from the Federal Reserve last month.

The private sector led the charged with an impressive 268,000 new jobs added, including 57,000 new retail positions, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In addition to last month's growth, the previous two month's numbers were revised upwards to include 46,000 more jobs. In another positive sign, the number of long-term unemployed -- those who have not held a job for 27 weeks or more -- declined by 283,000.

While economists and leaders from both political parties hailed the report as a positive sign, the unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 9.0% from 8.8% in March. The downward turn did not come from higher participation in the job market by previously discouraged workers, writes the New York Times' David Leonhardt, but from revisions to slightly inflated numbers in previous jobs reports.

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Wisconsin

Wisconsin Republicans Threaten End Run Around Courts If They Block Union Busting Law

Brian Beutler | May 4, 2011, 6:09PM

Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald (R) and Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R)

The top two Republicans in the Wisconsin legislature say they'll make an end run around the judicial branch in early June if the courts haven't ruled on the legality of the anti-union law that put the state in the headlines earlier this year.

From the La Crosse Tribune:

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald both told The Associated Press that it would make the most sense for the committee to add the language into the budget before it comes up for debate before the full Legislature.

However, both Fitzgeralds are hoping the courts rule that the bill passed in March is legal and can take effect so further legislative action isn't necessary. The state Supreme Court has been asked to take the case, but it has not said if it will. Two lawsuits are pending in circuit court.

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Debt

Are We Really Drowning In Red Ink? A Closer Look At Our Non-Exceptional Debt And Deficit Crisis

Brian Beutler | April 22, 2011, 9:36AM

For the next several weeks, and likely through election season, Washington will continue to be gripped by the debate about how to reduce federal deficits and the national debt. It's a common focus of legislative preening, particularly after economic downturns, and even more particularly when Democrats control the White House.

So it's worth keeping in mind how current and projected deficits and debt stack up to their historic levels, relative to GDP. The answers will surprise you.

The following graph tracks annual deficits as percentages of GDP over the last several decades. Unsurprisingly, what you see is that they spike during economic downturns, with the most severe spike after the United States entered World War II -- a spending effort that provided the economic stimulus the country needed to finally break the back of the Great Depression.

National surpluses shrank as the country entered a mild recession at the end of the Clinton administration, got worse after President Bush spearheaded deficit financed tax cuts, wars, and domestic spending, and ballooned just as Obama took office thanks to the double whammy of a sharp decline in revenues, which plunged when the bottom fell out of the economy after the financial crisis, and stimulus spending to salvage the economy.

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Labor

Top Union Presses Senators To Ditch Union-Busting Push By House GOP

Brian Beutler | April 20, 2011, 12:43PM

A powerful union is lobbying Democratic and Republican congressional negotiators to make sure they don't curtail worker rights when they finalize new FAA legislation.

A conference committee composed of a bipartisan group of senators and congressmen will soon sort out differences between two different versions of the bill. But the House bill contains a provision that would make it much more difficult for airline and rail workers to form unions. More on that provision here -- it would reinstate old rules that count abstentions as "no" votes in union elections, thus stacking the deck against pro-union workers.

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Scott Walker

On Capitol Hill, Walker Defends Fight With Unions: "We Are Doing Something Truly Progressive"

Benjy Sarlin | April 14, 2011, 2:00PM

Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI)

Testifying before the House Oversight Committee, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) defended his administration's combative approach to unions amid aggressive questioning from House Democrats and his fellow witness, Vermont Governor Pete Shumlin (D).

"In Wisconsin, we are doing something truly progressive," Walker said in his opening remarks. "In addition to holding the line on spending and finding efficiencies in state government, we are implementing long term budget reforms focused on protecting middle class jobs and middle class taxpayers."

Ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and others repeatedly pressed Walker to explain why he targeted collective bargaining rights when unions had already agreed to budget cuts to help close a deficit.

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Barack Obama

White House Threatens To Veto Key Legislation Over Union Busting Provision

Brian Beutler | March 30, 2011, 6:45PM

President Barack Obama

The White House has threatened to veto the big FAA authorization bill if its final version contains an anti-union provision that would make it harder for aviation and rail workers to organize.

That measure, described at length here and here, "would undermine a fundamental principle of fairness in union representation elections - that outcomes should be determined by a majority of the valid ballots cast," according to a statement of administration policy the White House released Wednesday night. "By treating non-votes as 'no' votes, the provision would prohibit workers in the airline and railroad industries from voting whether to join a union on the same basis - majority rule - as most other industries."

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Progressives

New Progressive Group Aims To Close The Talent Gap Between Left And Right

Brian Beutler | March 30, 2011, 1:56PM

Mark Begich (D-AK)

This winter, progressives and elected Democrats in states across the country found themselves blindsided by a coordinated wave of conservative legislation. The policies themselves were tailor-made to both advance right-leaning policy objectives, and undermine the electoral hopes of the Democratic Party: union-busting, voter ID laws, tort reforms.

Despite high unemployment, and a public clamoring for jobs, these political measures popped up in just about every state where the GOP took control of part or all of government after the 2010 midterm romp -- the ideas themselves were drafted and circulated by a network of conservative groups, and advanced by a crop of politicians that has been nurtured by the movement for years.

Looking forward, progressives want a piece of that action.

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Labor

Labor Ups Pressure On Lawmakers To Nix Union-Busting House Bill

Brian Beutler | March 28, 2011, 9:34AM

Labor activists are preparing to step up their advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill ahead of a key vote on a union-busting measure later this week, according to sources familiar with their campaign.

The stepped up effort comes as anti-union activists are preparing efforts of their own, in order to make it harder for aviation and rail workers to unionize.

At issue is House legislation to renew FAA programs, which includes a provision that would reinstitute old rules governing how the National Mediation Board counts workers' votes. Under the current system, a simple majority of those voting wins, just like in, say, the House of Representatives. If Republicans get their way, those rules will change, and workers who don't vote will be tallied as having voted "no."

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New Hampshire

Protesters Erupt As New Hampshire GOPers Move Anti-Union Bill That Goes Farther Than Walker's

Brian Beutler | March 25, 2011, 3:39PM

New Hampshire State House

Late on Tuesday evening, Republicans on a House panel in New Hampshire voted to advance legislation that resembles Scott Walker's law in Wisconsin ending collective bargaining rights for public sector unions. It's actually farther reaching.

Under the terms of this plan, public sector workers in the state would become "at will" employees if and when their contracts expire.

That eliminates all the leverage state employees have in negotiation with their employers, and could ultimately end up busting the unions entirely.

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Scott Walker

Washington GOP Gubernatorial Hopeful Distances From Scott Walker

Brian Beutler | March 25, 2011, 1:00PM

Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI)

We know conservative politicians in safe districts are happy to align themselves with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. In fact, they fawn over him. But for vulnerable pols, or hopefuls in battleground states and districts, it's a different story.

Take Washington state's Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna, who aspires to be governor.

Washington Dems tried to mark McKenna with Walker's taint, in an ad in The Olympian. "If you like what Governor Scott Walker is doing in Wisconsin... you will love Rob McKenna as Washington State's Governor."

McKenna wants no part of that association -- even though he's publicly taken position's similar to Walker's in the recent past.

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Labor

Anti-Union Push Picks Up Steam On Capitol Hill

Brian Beutler | March 25, 2011, 10:35AM

In the next several days, the state-level fight between Democrats and Republicans over unions will go federal. House Republicans want to re-establish old rules which say that when aviation or rail workers don't vote in unionization elections, they're treated as having voted against unionization. And now on of the nation's largest airlines is getting involved in the fight.

The push is reflected in language in the House's FAA re-authorization bill. In an earlier stage of the legislative fight, Democrats, joined by a few Republicans, nearly succeeded in getting the provision stripped. Now, sources say, a similar fight is likely to play out on the House floor, and anti-union employees at Delta Airlines are preparing to fly to Washington to join the fight.

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Paul LePage

LePage's Office: People Complained Labor Mural Resembled "North Korea"

Benjy Sarlin | March 23, 2011, 3:06PM

Defending his decision to take down a mural at the Department of Labor building and change the name of conference rooms considered too pro-labor, a spokeswoman for Gov. Paul LePage released a faxed complaint comparing the art to North Korean propaganda.

"In this mural I observed a figure which closely resembles the former commissioner of labor," an anonymous fax given to the Portland Press Herald reads. "In studying the mural I also observed that this mural is nothing but propaganda to further the agenda of the Union movement. I felt for a moment that I was in communist North Korea where they use these murals to brainwash the masses."

A spokeswoman for the governor, Adrienne Bennett, told TPM that while she didn't want to "give validity" to the specific sentiments in the fax, it was one of numerous complaints brought up by senior policy staff when the LePage administration took over the department.

"The message we want to send is 'We're here for you,' for job creators and employees," she said. "The decorum needs to represent neutrality."

Democrats and labor organizers slammed the decision on Wednesday, labeling it a cheap and unnecessary poke at unions.

"I think its horrible," Don Berry, head of the Maine AFL-CIO, told TPM. "It's Hollywood LePage. Right or wrong, he likes being in the spotlight."

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Scott Walker

National Republicans Rally Around Scott Walker

Brian Beutler | March 16, 2011, 3:18PM

Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI)

Ahead of yesterday's House vote to fund the federal government, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) painted the Republicans rebelling against Speaker John Boehner from the right as Scott Walker Republicans -- uninterested in compromise, single-minded in pursuit of a right-wing policy agenda.

The statement quickly diffused through the Capitol, and Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) -- an influential conservative and former Republican leader, who voted against the spending measure -- took kindly to it. On Twitter, Pence joked, "Sen. Schumer called us 'Scott Walker Republicans?' That's the nicest thing anybody has said about me in a long time!"

Turns out this is a view shared by both the so-called "Scott Walker Republicans" themselves, and Republicans who voted to pass the compromise plan.

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2012 elections

GOP War on Unions Could Boost President Obama in 2012

Benjy Sarlin | March 14, 2011, 10:11AM

Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI)

Scott Walker may have won the legislative battle over collective bargaining, but the political damage from the Wisconsin standoff as well as similar battles in other states could follow Republicans all the way to 2012.

Wisconsin, Ohio, and Indiana are each embroiled in battles with unions, each are considered battleground presidential states, and each swung hard right in the midterm elections after going for Obama in 2008. Political observers suggest that a newly re-energized union vote could have a profound impact in all three states the next time around -- and perhaps across the country.

"Given the intensity of emotion that Wisconsin has generated, supplemented by actions in other states, it's very possible that there will be ripple effects all the way to November 2012," Larry Sabato, Director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, told TPM. "Unions see this struggle as life-or-death, so they are bound to put extra resources into the swing states that are the epicenter of this controversy."

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Labor

Ad Targets Wisconsin GOP Candidate For Voting With Scott Walker On Unions (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | March 11, 2011, 12:37PM

Chris Abele, the Democrat who's running to replace now-Governor Scott Walker as Milwaukee County Executive, is targeting his Republican opponent in a TV ad for -- you guessed it -- voting for Walker's plan to scrap public sector unions.

Republican Jeff Stone is currently a member of the Wisconsin state assembly. He voted for the just-signed plan to eliminate collective bargaining rights for state and local government employees, before waffling a bit in public statements.

Ultimately, though, Stone insisted "This needs to be clear; I support the Governor and the provisions in the budget repair bill.

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