Turning all of America into the domestic auto industry

Senate rushing to do favors for Big Labor before Brown is seated
By: Mark Hemingway

Yesterday, Senate Democrats rushed through a party-line cloture vote on Obama's nominee for Solicitor General, Patricia Smith. Smith got 60 Democratic votes even though a Republican senator produced damning evidence that she lied in Senate testimony regarding her role in a controversial program that unfairly benefited labor unions while she was New York State Labor Commissioner.
Today, the Senate is again trying to perform as many favors for Big Labor as it can before newly elected Republican Senator Scott Brown is seated and Democrats lose their supermajority. Senate Democrats are now trying to rush through the nomination of Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Becker would be the first union-employed lawyer to be confirmed by the Senate to the NLRB and is very cozy with and has received many paychecks from big politically active unions like the SEIU and AFL-CIO.
The Chamber of Commerce is very disturbed by this development and how Becker's vociferously pro-union presence on the NLRB would stack the deck against businesses. Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President for Labor, Immigration, and Employee Benefits, Randel K. Johnson issued the following statement on Becker's nomination:
“For the first time since 1993, the Chamber is taking the unusual step of opposing a nominee to the NLRB,” Johnson said. “It would be an egregious mistake and would set a dangerous precedent for the Senate to push this nomination through during a lame-duck period. The NLRB has the ability to unduly increase union power and leverage it without intervention by Congress. Confirming Becker will tilt the balance in labor law dramatically in favor of union special interests.”The Chamber has cited concerns over Mr. Becker’s prolific writings which suggest that his views on American labor law are far outside the mainstream and that his confirmation would disrupt years of established precedent and the delicate balance of law. In addition, we have serious concerns that Becker could try to do an end run around the legislative process by administratively imposing card check, as suggested by former NLRB Chairman Gould.“While a hearing on Mr. Becker is very important, it is shameful that organized labor and their supporters in the Senate are trying to confirm the president’s controversial nominee to the NLRB, Craig Becker, before Senator-elect Scott Brown is sworn in,” said Johnson. “The Senate is leaving just enough time to jam Becker’s nomination through before Senator-elect Brown comes to Washington.”