Democrat Leader Tapdances Around His Party’s Push to Kill Secret Ballot

After their impressive electoral victories, the Democrats on Capitol Hill are feeling their oats. Can you blame them? It’s payback time to the Big Labor leaders who have bankrolled the campaigns of many a Congressional Democrat. Top of the list therefore? The unpopular and poorly-named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would take away workers’ rights to a secret ballot in union elections.

Watch how House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland), appearing on Fox News Sunday, tapdances around Chris Wallace’s question contrasting the union bill with the House Democrats’ own procedures for electing officers within the caucus: “Why is a secret ballot okay, and desirable, for Congress, but you want to take it away from workers?” (H/T Workplace Fairness Institute)

More videos after the fold…

Bringing EFCA to life… Do you want this guy telling you how to vote?

But then there are real workers – like Kaiser employee Karen Mayhew (PDF) and materials handler Mike Ivey (PDF) – who are living testaments to the professional union harassment that accompanies the card-check process, which would replace the secret ballot election:

Even the Left’s elder statesman George McGovern has spoken out against the union bill (“It’s hard to believe that any politician would agree to a law denying millions of employees the right to a private vote”):

With the Democrats’ large majority in the House, there is no doubt that Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer & company – making EFCA a high priority – will pass the bill on through. But will there be 40 votes in the Senate to sustain a filibuster? If Norm Coleman’s recount numbers withstand attack from trial lawyers in Minnesota, and Saxby Chambliss prevails in today’s runoff election in Georgia, there is a fighting chance. With either or both of them gone, it will be Christmas and the lottery jackpot rolled into one for Big Labor leaders, bon voyage to the rights of workers, and a big Strike One for the Democratic majority under the new administration.

Here in Colorado we’ll be watching how the likes of Ken Salazar, Mark Udall, John Salazar, and Betsy Markey vote on the issue.