Per Ed Morrissey, I see the Wall Street Journal is indulging its fantasies about Employee Free Choice once again:

The Senate Goes Wobbly on Card Check

It’s hard to defend taking away the secret ballot.

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Arkansas Democrat Blanche Lincoln voted for cloture in 2007 but is now messaging Mr. Reid that she’s not eager for a repeat. She recently said she doesn’t think "there is a need for this legislation right now," that the country has bigger problems. What she didn’t mention is that she is also up for re-election next year, and that one potential GOP challenger, Tim Griffin, is already vowing to make card check an issue. South Dakota’s Tim Johnson, Nebraska’s Ben Nelson and others face similar pressure.

I’ve said before I think too much has been read into Blanche Lincoln’s comments, and frankly I’m just not that worried about Ol’ Ben:

“Sometimes you see something so dumb you know the creators thought they had a brainstorm. But it really was just a drizzle. That’s how I reacted when I saw sleazy and intentionally confusing advertisements running in Nebraska media outlets that mention me.

“The ads, paid for by a Washington special interest group that hides its donors, are an insult to Nebraskans who are interested in a proposed bill, the “Employee Free Choice Act,” and have shared their thoughts with me. While I have expressed concerns about the legislation and continue to weigh it, these ads are unfair to those who deserve an honest, fact-based debate if it is considered next year by Congress.

“The good news is I know Nebraskans are smarter than this special interest group thinks they are. We Nebraskans certainly know a snow job from a snow storm.

“The ads apparently address a provision that would eliminate the rights of employees to cast secret ballots on union organizing petitions. There are clear views for and against this idea. But the ads cook up a stew of innuendo linking Illinois’ embattled governor to political campaign contributions, to unpopular “bailouts” for the banking and auto industries, and to the bill somehow being a bailout. This has nothing to do with the “Employee Free Choice Act.”

“If Americans for Job Security, which paid for the ads, is convinced that the legislation has enough support to pass, I can’t imagine how this demeaning and misleading media campaign would persuade any member of Congress to vote no. I can take debate and criticism on the merits of issues before Congress, and believe that Nebraskans deserve to know where I stand when I cast my vote.

“But smear tactics that insult me and my fellow Nebraskans?

“These folks shot themselves in the foot. While aiming.”

Ed concludes that "the prevailing winds at the moment run against the unions." He must not have caught Steny Hoyer on Fox yesterday, saying that Employee Free Choice will pass in the spring.

Moveover, its opponents now know that there is a good chance it will pass — which is why we’re seeing all these measures in states like Missouri to "Save Our Secret Ballot" (never mind that Employee Free Choice doesn’t take away secret ballot, it just gives workers a choice). The best chance they have now is to try and water down Employee Free Choice with amendments, such as one which guarantees a state’s right to legislate on the matter themselves.

As I wrote yesterday, the Dems are pissed about the stuff that Rick Berman, the Chamber of Commerce and NAM have done to them on this front. They seem to be of a mind to just pass it and get it over with, rather than letting things drag on.

Nice try, though.


Related posts:

  1. Chamber of Commerce’s “Buy an Economist” Health Care Strategy Identical to its Anti-Employee Free Choice Campaign
  2. The Downturn is Over for Wall Street, but Main Street’s is Still Going On
  3. Reid, Wyden, Baucus Reach Agreement on Version of Free Choice Amendment
  4. Seance on Wall Street
  5. Failed Models are a Fixture on Wall Street