EFCA Lite?

OK, so I think we're all familiar now with the fight over the Employee Free Choice Act (or EFCA) in DC. Basically the unions are fighting to get this passed so workers can choose over whether and how to unionize, while the "bidness lobby" is working hard to torpedo this legislation. The battle is heated now, especially with both sides amping up media advertising for and against EFCA.

But wait! What's that out on the horizon? A compromise! A compromise?

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.

Charles Lemos has more details about it at MyDD. But so far from what I've seen of this compromise, I'm calling bullsh*t on it.

Why? First off, 70% is too ridiculously high a threshold to ask union organizers to overcome. With all the power these giant corporations still have to intimidate workers, it can be notoriously difficult to get at least 70% of them to ask for an official vote to unionize.

Secondly, they continue to act as if compromise is needed to "protect workers' right to choose" when really it isn't. In fact, that's why we need the Employee Free Choice Act! It would give workers the choice on unionization instead of the corporate executives.

And worse yet, one of the companies involved in this compromise deal doesn't exactly have a history of friendly relations with unions. Whole Foods puts on a nice "socially responsible" front, but in reality they are nearly as brutal as Wal-Mart in their union busting. Perhaps Costco and Starbucks are looking for a fair compromise, but I don't think I can even trust them if they're teaming up with Whole Foods on an EFCA compromise that would radically diminish the integrity of the bill.

So what are we to conclude on this "EFCA Lite" proposal? It may sound reasonable, but it still places too many hurdles on the path for workers to organize. I'm glad some companies are realizing that they're better off negotiating than fighting, but they still need to give more before I can really agree to whatever they offer.

Reality Bites

Dammit. Paul Krugman has ruined my Valentine's Day!

[...] These aren't normal times, so normal political standards don't apply: Mr. Obama's victory feels more than a bit like defeat. The stimulus bill looks helpful but inadequate, especially when combined with a disappointing plan for rescuing the banks. And the politics of the stimulus fight have made nonsense of Mr. Obama's postpartisan dreams.
...

But it's now clear that the party's commitment to deep voodoo - enforced, in part, by pressure groups that stand ready to run primary challengers against heretics - is as strong as ever. In both the House and the Senate, the vast majority of Republicans rallied behind the idea that the appropriate response to the abject failure of the Bush administration's tax cuts is more Bush-style tax cuts.

And the rhetorical response of conservatives to the stimulus plan - which will, it's worth bearing in mind, cost substantially less than either the Bush administration's $2 trillion in tax cuts or the $1 trillion and counting spent in Iraq - has bordered on the deranged.

...

For while Mr. Obama got more or less what he asked for, he almost certainly didn't ask for enough. We're probably facing the worst slump since the Great Depression. The Congressional Budget Office, not usually given to hyperbole, predicts that over the next three years there will be a $2.9 trillion gap between what the economy could produce and what it will actually produce. And $800 billion, while it sounds like a lot of money, isn't nearly enough to bridge that chasm.

OK, no he hasn't. I still love him, and he's still 100% correct. The "post-partisan" illusion has been destroyed. We're starting to realize that $787 billion isn't nearly enough of a "stimulus" to bring our economy out of what may become another "great depression". Today's Valentine's Day, and all I can do is think about the massive hole we're in and what we can do to get out of it.

Dammit.

Stimulus Deal?

Maybe? Maybe not? I guess there may still be need for negotiation with Speaker Pelosi. Well, at least it's good that she isn't giving up on improving the bill.

The Skinny on the Proposed Stimulus Compromise

Here's the latest from Ambinder via Open Left:

The real (but technically fake) conference is almost finished, with House, Senate and White House negotiators -- (the three Republicans, Rahm Emanuel, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi) -- letting it be known that they've come to accord on at least $790 billion in spending. (ABC News has a precise figure of $789.5) The Republican Senators will pare back some of their preferred tax cuts, and the Democrats will get some of their education / state aid money restored, although both sides will have to sacrifice. The fake (but technically real) conference is slated to begin this afternoon, giving an illusion of broad bipartisan negotiation to the enterprise.

Puh-leese. Again, why are the MSM so obsessed over the "bipartisan" BS? Oh yeah, ratings! Whatever.

The important news here is that a deal seems near. And although the final package may end up costing less than the Senate bill (and maybe even the House bill), the good news is that some of the most egregious corporate fat cat tax breaks passed in the Senate bill will likely be excluded in the final conference bill in favor of more of the direct aid to working-class people included in the House bill. And if this is what emerges in the final bill, I can live with a smaller price tag if more of the aid goes directly to more of us working stiffs.

So let's keep up the pressure on President Obama & the Congrescritters to make it happen!

Finally! Payback for Obstructionism!

This is the new ad in support of President Obama's stimulus plan about to be broadcast nationwide. And really, it's about time that our side starts applying pressure and stops allowing The Bush Party (aka Rethuglicans) to keep framing the debate on economic recovery. After all, the American people just voted for Democrats to take this nation in a new direction of balanced, sensible, Keynesian, progressive economics. So really, Dem leaders in DC need to stop being afraid of what the big, bad corporate media villagers will say and tell them & their GOP buddies who's in charge now!

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis?

That's what it looks like. Finally, some good news today! Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA) is a solid progressive who's always been pro-worker. She'll be awesome at the Department of Labor.

Now It Looks Like Recession

Damn. 533,000 jobs lost in just one month. 6.7% unemployment. Our economy is in a downward spiral.

And again, this is why we can't afford "fiscal conservatism" now. We don't need "belt tightening" now. We need to stimulate this economy!

President Obama must be ready to tackle this on January 20. He must be ready to get people back to work & put money in people's hands ASAP. This is recession now, and we can't afford to continue falling down much lower.

Obama Talks Economics

Frankly speaking, I've been amazed as Barack Obama hass rediscovered his own voice this week. After the many days of "lipstick" and "kinder-sex" and "bitter" and lordy knows what other ridiculous distractions the McBush campaign was tossing out and the corporate media were parroting, it's been remarkable to see how the news of the last few days has reminded everyone about what's really at stake in this election. Here's what Obama said today on the economy.

We did not arrive at this crisis by some accident of history. What led us to this point was years and years of a philosophy in Washington and on Wall Street that viewed even common-sense regulation and oversight as unwise and unnecessary; that shredded consumer protections and loosened the rules of the road. CEOs and executives got reckless. Lobbyists got what they wanted. Politicians in both parties looked the other way until it was too late. And it is the American people who have paid the price. The events of this week have rendered a final verdict on that failed philosophy, and it will end if I am President of the United States. We must build upon the ideas I have laid out over the last several years about how to modernize our financial regulation in this country, and establish commonsense rules of the road for our financial system to help restore confidence in our financial system.

While his speech may seem "post-partisan" at first glance, read it again to see what Obama is really saying. He's actually placing the blame for this crisis directly where it should be: on the failed Reagan-Bush-McCain "supply side, trickle down, laissez-faire" philosophy of governance. For decades, the GOP has scared us with their "tax and spend lib'rul!" dogma while they've practiced a "Reverse Robin Hood" way of stealing from the working class to bequeath upon the oligarchs.

Even during President Clinton's years in the White House, the Republicans were sometimes able to scare him into submission by using cheap political tactics to get their way and deregulate the market even more. And ever since Bush II has been in office, too many Democrats have still been too afraid to actually challenge him on his economic record. So for Barack Obama to actually stand up and call out the Republicans for what they've done to cause this crisis, good on him.

I just hope we don't see Obama lose his voice ever again this year. If he wants to win, he needs to continue pointing out how McCain is more of the same economic failure, and how Obama will bring about real change that will not only undo what Bush broke, but also bring about economic justice by restoring our middle class and the safeguards that protect it. Obama's on the right track now, and I hope this is only the beginning.