You Can Run, But You Can't Hide.

From ThePlumLine.whorunsgov.com:

Senator Dianne Feinstein has already taken a hammering from Dems and health care reform advocates for casting doubts on the prospects of President Obama’s health care reform efforts. MoveOn, for instance, aired an ad against her in California, demanding she show some leadership and fight harder to get the president’s reform plan passed:

Now Feinstein has hit back at the criticism from the left in an article about lefty groups targeting Dems for waffling on key components of health care reform:

“I do not think this is helpful. It doesn’t move me one whit,” she said. “They are spending a lot of money on something that is not productive.”

(Editor's note: Your arrogance is stunning, Senator.)

That sharply dismissive tone won’t exactly smooth over tensions.

Feinstein’s claim that criticism from the left is “not productive” also raises an important question: What does the White House think of the lefty criticism? Do White House advisers agree with Feinstein, and want the liberal groups to muzzle themselves, or are they tacitly happy about it?

When liberal groups hit Dems during other policy fights earlier this year, the White House let it be known that it didn’t approve. In the case of health care, though, the White House hasn’t said word boo about the efforts by liberal groups to force Dems into line, suggesting the possibility that Obama advisers are perfectly content with it for the time being.

Feinstein may be running for governor of California next year. We already have a bad actor in Sacramento, and Feinstein lost my vote a long time ago by channeling California Republicans. She is a sell-out and her alleged "liberalism" is vastly overstated.

Feinstein has other credibility issues with Democrats and progressives in the Golden State. Matt Silver at FiveThirtyEight.com had a great piece in late March about Feinstein's "F.U." to labor regarding the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). She currently claims that she is in favor of a compromise, which is her way of saying that she doesn't want to piss off potential business donors if she does run in 2010.

He Ain't All That He's Cracked Up To Be.

    

     The anti-Employee Free Choice Act crew Americans For Prosperity has hired last fall's McCain campaign media invention and dipshit camera whore Joe the Plumber to shill for their union-busting efforts. Of course, Joe doesn't know a goddamn thing about EFCA (or any other issue, for that matter), and he continues to make a fool of himself at every stop, in every possible way. 

     But, hey: once the socialists take over the United States educational system, maybe Joe'll go get him some learnin': 

      

The Troubling Specter Of EFCA Without Specter's Vote.

From the AP:

In a setback for organized labor, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter said Tuesday he will oppose a bill that would make it easier for workers to form unions.

Specter was the only Republican to support the Employee Free Choice Act two years ago, and unions were hoping he might be the crucial 60th vote needed to overcome an expected GOP filibuster of the measure when it's taken up this summer.

Specter has faced unusually heavy pressure from both labor and business interests and is likely to face a tough Republican primary challenge next year from former Pennsylvania Rep. Pat Toomey. In a statement, Toomey called Specter's decision a "flip flop," prompted by the threat of primary opposition to the five-term senator.

In a floor speech, Specter called the organizing bill a "very emotional issue with labor looking to this legislation to reverse the steep decline in union membership and business expressing great concern about added costs, which would drive many companies out of business or overseas."

Business groups, who have already spent more than $20 million to lobby against the bill, applauded the decision.

"We are commending Sen. Specter for putting American jobs first and opposing card check legislation," said John Engler, president of the National Association of Manufacturers.

Specter said his vote to end a filibuster on the bill two years ago was not support for the merits, but instead for Congress to take up the issue of labor law reform.

Labor leaders quibbled with Specter's recollection of history, noting he was an original co-sponsor of the same bill in 2005. Specter, a moderate, has long been counted among the few GOP lawmakers who have supported unions.

"His statement today opposing an up or down vote and real discussion is inconsistent with his own record of support for working people," said Mary Beth Maxwell, executive director of the pro-union group, American Rights at Work.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney called Specter's position "frankly, a disappointment and a rebuke to working people, to his own constituents in Pennsylvania and working families around the country."

"We do not plan to let a hardball campaign from Big Business derail the Employee Free Choice Act or the dreams of workers," Sweeney said.

Make no mistake: the EFCA battle is old-fashioned country hardball--spitballs, brushbacks, high spikes and all. It's too bad that Arlen Specter is scared of the inside pitch.

It's On.

   Get ready for fireworks on Capitol Hill. The great EFCA debate is here.

   From the Wall Street Journal:

Three big retailers are expected to back an alternative proposal next week on a hotly contested bill that would make it easier to unionize workplaces, a move some experts said would bolster the legislation's chance of passage.

Costco Wholesale Corp., Starbucks Corp. and Whole Foods Market Inc. are supporting the alternative proposal, according to someone familiar with the effort. Ray Krupin, a management labor lawyer in Washington said the most likely compromise would allow employees to unionize if 70% of them sign union-authorization cards, as opposed to 50% as currently proposed in the Employee Free Choice Act.

On Saturday, a person close to the discussions denied that the proposal backed by the three companies included a plan to let unions organize workers if 70% sign cards. 

It's unclear whether the proposal addresses a thorny section of the bill that would have a government arbitrator draw up a contract if unions and companies can't agree to terms within 120 days. 

"We have had conversations with like-minded companies and are open to exploring alternative solutions to the legislation as it is currently written," said Deb Trevino, a spokeswoman for Starbucks. 

Libba Letton, a spokeswoman for Whole Foods, said, "We've been having conversations with other companies that have the same outlook that we do. We've been talking to them about finding fair alternatives." 

A Costco representative couldn't immediately be reached for comment. 

The bill is organized labor's top legislative priority and has the support of the White House and Democrats in Congress. But it is strongly opposed by most major corporations and industry trade groups.

The anticipated proposal was condemned by some business groups. "These huge companies are selling out hundreds of thousands of small ones under the guise of making some phony and misguided compromise with Big Labor," said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Committee, which has been campaigning against the bill. "We believe we have this draconian bill defeated outright, so these actions may well lead to the bill's passage."

Stewart Acuff, special assistant to the president of the AFL-CIO, said the labor federation hasn't been involved with any companies in crafting a compromise on the bill. "What we have heard consistently from the business community is that there is no compromise," he said. "We expect to pass it the way it's written now." 

The bill has the Chamber of Commerce completely freaked out, as noted in the Washington Post:

"The only thing that stands between this Draconian, game-changing legislation and your workplace is the filibuster," said Steven Law, the chamber's general counsel. "It is critically important to be very clear: There is no compromise."

(Chamber president Thomas) Donahue drove this point home: "On this deal... there's no compromise. There's no credit for amending the bill, the only credit anyone gets is for voting against cloture. Am I clear?"

Click here to support EFCA. Read a good argument for why we need it here.

Freedom's Just Another Word For Nothin' Left To Lose.

If you don't believe that the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) gives Big (and not-so-big) Business the heebie-jeebies, just ask an actual employee what their management has to say about it:      

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow has some facts:

Corporate Socialists Sure Do Hate EFCA.

     I wrote about the Employee Free Choice Act last week. Big Business is freaked out about the bill because in their world, the "trickle down" theory has always meant that it's shit that flows downhill, not that workers should get a nicer slice of the profit pie.

     Sam Stein on the Huffington Post has four sound bites from a conference call last October hosted by the bailed-out Bank of America. Conservative activists and executives from B of A bail-out buddy AIG took part in the call, as did the head of the household at Home Depot. I could sense the country-club entitlement and smell the cigar smoke through the audio feed. 

     EFCA has these boys rattled.

     Listen here.