Man... The Democrats May Have Just Lost Labor...

[WillyT]

This may have big repercussions...

Vote on Obama NLRB nominee spells trouble for unions
By William Douglas and David Lightman | McClatchy Newspapers

<snip>

WASHINGTON — The Senate Tuesday failed to advance President Barack Obama's nomination of a union lawyer to the National Labor Relations Board, as the debate and vote became a test of union clout in Congress.

The vote on Craig Becker's nomination — the first controversial vote since the Senate Democrats' 60-seat majority shrank by one last week — highlighted the difficulty that Democrats will have trying to push union-friendly legislation through Congress.

Only 52 senators voted to cut off debate on the nomination, eight short of the number needed, and 33 were opposed. Many senators weren't present because of an impending snowstorm.

The president could name the former union lawyer to the board with a "recess appointment," which doesn't require confirmation, while the Senate is on its President's Day break next week.

Still, the vote signals that Obama is in for a tough time pushing labor's agenda.

"It's a statement that anything friendly to organized labor won't get through the Senate as long as Republicans stand together," said Gary Jacobson, an expert on Congress at the University of California at San Diego. "The labor wing of the Democratic Party is not going to get what they were hoping for."

<snip>

Link: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/84129.html

FUCK !!!

:nuke:

[Teaser]

1. hopefully a recess appointment will be made.

.

[villager]

2. I suppose a recess appointment just wouldn't be "nice" enough for this administration

Plus,, the Chief of Staff might consider it "retarded."

Better to, you know, be swept in upcoming elections than dare question the Washington playbook.

At least, the one that Democrats are allowed to us.

[spanone]

3. the vote only confirms he has to make as many recess appointments as necessary,

he needs to play hardball. his predecessor had no problem at all using recess appointments

[Liberal In Texas]

5. Totally agree.

[Warpy]

4. Obama has already threatened recess appointments

and I think he will need to do so. The NLRB was short its required Democratic members for most of Stupid's two terms by design and it seems conservatives want that to continue.

It's up to Obama to make sure it does not.

Remember, conservatives in both parties are our deadly enemies.

[Dinger]

6. Teachers Unions Too

Not crazy about his agenda at all.

[BunkerHill24]

7. You have to wonder if this administration has the courage to stand up to

these Rethugs, and their obstructionism and partisan bickering? By Gawd, what would it take to have leadership in the Senate? +1000000 Democrats to get our nominations confirm? What a disgrace!

[Make7]

8. 49% of union households voted for Brown, 46% for Coakley. ( n/t )

www.wpri.com/dpp/news/poll-shows-union-members-sided-with-brown-over-coakley-

[LeftyAndProud60]

10. That's a great stat. Unions in Mass deserve what's coming. NT

[readmoreoften]

11. UNIONS don't vote "union members" vote. And you say UNIONS deserve what's coming?!

Just because 49% of the teamsters and teachers represented by unions are manipulatable and naive doesn't mean that UNIONS deserves anymore shit, thanks. And you call yourself a LEFTIST?!

[LeftyAndProud60]

15. The only way for them to learn is for the unions to suffer. It needs to happen. It's the only way

for them to see the light.

[WillyT]

21. "The Unions Need To SUFFER" ???

Whet the FUCK are you talking about???

:wtf:

:banghead:

[WillyT]

12. Yes They Did... And Here's Why...

<snip>

BILL MOYERS: You spoke at the National Press Club with this tough warning to the President, the Democrats on the 11th of January.

RICHARD TRUMKA: We worked to preserve a Democratic majority in 1994 because we knew what the alternative was. But there was no way to persuade enough working Americans to go to the polls when they couldn't tell the difference between the policies of the two parties. So politicians who think that working people have it too good, too much health care, too much Social Security, too much Medicare, too much power on the job - are actually inviting a repeat of 1994.

BILL MOYERS: Is that exactly what happened when the Republican Scott Brown defeated the Democrat Martha Coakley in the Massachusetts Senate race.

RICHARD TRUMKA:It was a wakeup call. And we were predicting that. We said, "Look, they're angry. They're frustrated. And if you're not on the side of creating jobs, jobs, jobs. If they don't believe that, and you're not acting that on the scale that they think is necessary, you're going to face a bad time." And that's exactly what happened.

BILL MOYERS: The Senate vote showed that 49 percent of union households in Massachusetts voted for the Republican.

RICHARD TRUMKA:Here's what they were saying. Here's what our members were saying. Here's what the general public said. Here's what working America's saying. That wasn't about Obama's agenda. They were saying, "You haven't overreached. You've under-reached. You haven't produced enough change. So, we're going to help you. You think the status quo's great. We'll show you." They want change. They want their problems solved.

BILL MOYERS: They voted for the Republican.

RICHARD TRUMKA:They did. But they did it because they were angry and they were frustrated and they wanted to demonstrate that change wasn't happening fast enough. And they were going to help it along.

BILL MOYERS: What do you think they want?

RICHARD TRUMKA: They want jobs. That's one thing they want. They do want health care reform. They still want it. But they don't want their benefits taxed in the process. And remember, Massachusetts has universal health care in the state. They were worried about losing what they did have. So, that played into it. Here's a startling figure. For people who thought that their benefits were going to be taxed in Massachusetts, they voted 64 to 32 for Brown.

<snip>

Link: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/01292010/transcript2.html

:shrug:

[Make7]

20. Senator Brown voted against the cloture motion regarding Becker's NLRB nomination.

If the union members in Massachusetts voted for change, they certainly got it.

I will have to wait and see some other votes by Senator Brown to see how labor friendly he turns out to be. Perhaps he will be the Republican vote that helps get some of the cloture motions passed concerning these problems the union members in Massachusetts want solved faster.
 

[WillyT]

23. It Was A Protest Vote...

They didn't give a shit about Brown, they were pissed at the Democrats!

The sent them a message.

It goes like this:

*******************************************************************************
SPFPAUNIONYES1 on 09.02.2010 at 12:13 (Reply)

Senator SELL-OUT Bob Nelson

If Sen. Bob Nelson Dem Backs #GOP Filibuster of Craig Beckers #NLRB nom I WILL Quit The Dem Party & Vote Republican in 2010 !

At Least When I Get Screwed It Will Be In My Face and Not From Behind!

*******************************************************************************

From: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7680654

:shrug:

[Make7]

25. Perhaps they should have given a shit about Brown. Protest votes can have repercussions.

It remains to be seen if this protest vote makes things better or worse for unions. The latter seems much more likely to me, but you may see it differently.
 

[WillyT]

26. You Ever See A Riot Where People Loot And Set Fire To Their Own Community ???

When people are frightened and furious, they don't always act wisely.

They sometimes lash out...

:shrug:

[thunder rising]

9. The Blue Tics and Repbublicons have no trouble installing an ex CEO I'll bet.

[Fumesucker]

13. That's different..

Installing a CEO on the NLRB would be "bipartisan"..





















:sarcasm:

[Jennicut]

14. Obama threatened to use recess appts today, he has the next recess coming up to prove it.

[Fire1]

16. Here's hoping he does it. n/t

[Jennicut]

I think he will, why else bring it up today.

[theothersnippywshrub]

19. If he doesn't make the appointment he will be mocked for making an empty threat today.

The story line will be that he has no power other than what republicans are willing to grant him. He needs to make several recess appointments, including some relating to national security, to show he was serious today. And after making the appointments he should make a statement to the press and take questions. During that process he should rip the republicans a new one. Today's vote has given him an enormous opportunity. He should take advantage of it.

[Yurovsky]

17. This guy's hardly a "radical"...

good grief it didn't take long for the spines to soften after the debacle in Mass.

Now is NOT the time to go soft people... that's exactly the WRONG thing to do if you want to win this fall an in 2012.

[w4rma]

18. I hope unions take note that it is the DLC / Blue Dogs pulling this BS and vote against them.

While rewarding Democrats who voted in favor of cloture.

I'm talking about in the general election, also, now. A Democrat that filibusters with the Republicans is worthless to the Democratic Party. They might as well be replaced with a Republican.

[MadBadger]

22. You mean Ben Nelson may have just lost Labor

[WillyT]

24. I'm Not Conviced That They Are Going To Make That Distinction...

Link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7680654

:shrug:

[patrice]

27. Since Unions were included in the recent Supreme Court decision on Corporate Speech does that play

into this?