Is Colorado's Democratic Congressional delegation really going to play Pavlov's dog to Big Labor officials? News came out earlier today that Colorado Democratic Congresswoman Betsy Markey has agreed to co-sponsor - just as U.S. Senator and former Congressman Mark Udall did in the recent past - the poorly-named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) -- aka card-check. Or as my colleague and fellow blogger Amy Oliver put it: "Markey pays back labor unions". If not for the money, why else would Markey leap into action as an EFCA co-sponsor? As policy, it's terrible for business and the rights of workers. As 4th Congressional politics goes, it's equally bad - opening the door wide for a strong, credible, business-backed challenge in 2010. At … [Read more...]
Ask Colorado LOSES Why the Union Card-Check Bill is Such a Bad Idea
Do you still need more reason to understand why union bosses are so keen on taking away the secret ballot from workplace elections? On the Colorado LOSES website, state employee Dave Ohmart gives an account of his experience trying to attend the Colorado WINS union's rally / lobbying event at the State Capitol on Wednesday:Ryan Webber, a union organizer, immediately came to me and asked, “You’re not going to say anything, are you Dave? I’ll have to toss you out of here if you do.†Another security-type person came over and stood behind me. Ryan then asked, “You’re not going to write more lies about me, are you Dave?†(Don’t think I ever have!) I assured him I was not there to make a scene. Governor Ritter spoke … [Read more...]
Growing Labor Clout Puts Michael Bennet in Bind Over Card-Check Bill
The first big line in the sand this year for Colorado's selected U.S. Senator Michael Bennet and not-so-senior partner Mark Udall was the vote in favor of the massive federal spending (so-called "stimulus") bill. Next on the docket is the poorly-named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would take away employee secret ballots in workplace election and impose costly binding arbitration procedures. … [Read more...]
Nearly Half of Coloradans Admit They Don’t Know Who Michael Bennet Is
Congressional Quarterly says Michael Bennet "needs to get better known" -- who? Oh yeah! Colorado's junior junior U.S. Senator. The Democrats' Public Policy Polling - in a herculean effort to put an impossibly meaningful spin on an election that's more than 21 months away - finds almost half of Coloradans will admit they don't even know who Bennet is. (How many of the 54 percent were fibbing, or thought maybe pollsters were asking about this AFC West rival running back?) We're a long way from knowing much of anything about the dynamics for the 2010 U.S. Senate race in Colorado. But we'll at least begin to have a good idea of the terrain when we see how Bennet casts his vote on union card-check legislation. With the announcement … [Read more...]