When the 111th Congress convenes in January, one of the first pieces of legislation Congressional leadership will bring to the floor is the Employee Free Choice Act, also known as "card check."

The House passed the bill last year 241 to 185 – over my opposition, but it was hung up in the Senate as the Democrats were unable to get the votes needed to pass it. Having made substantial gains in the House and Senate, "card check" is going to be a top priority in the new Congress. It's also another reason to keep your eyes on the outcome of the Senate races in Minnesota and Georgia. Democrat victories in both of those states likely means smooth sailing for the bill.

The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace has launched a nationwide campaign to educate the public on how dangerous this legislation really is.  It eliminates the secret ballot for workers.

In states like Minnesota, they have launched individual websites. Check out My Private Ballot - Minnesota to learn more about "card check," and to find out how you can take action and stand up for worker's rights. Also, if you're a Sopranos fan, I think you'll get a kick out of who they have as spokesman for the campaign.

Fresh off the $700 billion-plus financial service sector bailouts, including the most recent dole to AIG that upped their bailout total from $85 billion to $150 billion, the Democrat-controlled Congress is trying to rationalize a new $25 billion bailout for the auto industry.

For years, the American auto industry has struggled to keep up with foreign manufacturers like Toyota, Honda, and Nissan. CEOs at Ford, GM and Chrysler  have operated using outdated business models, failed to invest wisely in new products and technology, and were not prepared for the massive rise in gas prices that scaled back their truck and SUV sales dramatically. 

But besides the Big Three’s lack of innovation and mismanagement problems, the Big Three have labor costs that are far higher than their global competitors.  Their CEOs failed to take on union bosses – and as a result millions of jobs could be in jeopardy.  Ironic, isn’t it?

The Big Three pay out an average of $30/hour more than their competitors, including pension and health care costs for hundreds of thousands of retirees.

Take GM for instance, as Michael Levine from NYU School of Law wrote in the Wall Street Journal yesterday:  “GM is contractually required to support thousands of workers in the UAW’s ‘Jobs Bank’ program, which guarantees nearly full wages and benefits for workers who lose their jobs due to automation or plant closure.  It supports more retirees than current workers.”

Taxpayers are once again being asked to throw their hard-earned money behind a short-term, unproductive investment which will only prolong the companies’ failures at a cost that could be even greater later on down the road.  Throwing taxpayer money at Detroit’s spiraling problems will not fix their long-term management and productivity problems. Any urgency that would force the Big Three to make tough restructuring choices would be lessened if federal money is available. Like AIG, they will be back at the taxpayer’s trough in no time.  Let’s not forget that Congress already approved $25 billion in auto industry loans only a couple of months ago.

There are alternatives.  For instance, if the Big Three were able to restructure and reorganize under the protection of the bankruptcy courts, they could be saved without a taxpayer bailout and could fix many of their long-term management and labor problems.  Filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy does not mean a company has gone belly up, that it will be broken up and that all jobs and productivity are lost – it means a company actually has the ability to make structural changes to keep it afloat without the threat of outside lawsuits and through a comprehensive payment plan.

Once you cross this line and bail out the auto industry, where does it end? Are the airlines next?  We have already spent more than a trillion dollars in bailouts this year.  We must take a hard look at why the auto industry is in this position in the first place. Only then will our economy regain the stability it desperately needs.


Cross-posted at the Hill's Congress Blog

If you haven't applied for your bailout yet, what are you waiting for? The way the government's handing out money, why not jump on board the bailout train?

The World Newser, ABC World News' Daily Blog does a great job detailing how the Treasury Department is using the recently passed $700 billion appropriated for the "TARP," or Troubled Asset Recovery Program, to buy up bank stock.  As you will recall, Congress was sold on the bailout as a plan to buy up troubled assets, but that plan appears to be on a far back burner. That's one heck of a bait-and-switch.

Secretary Paulson even said on Wednesday that when the $700 billion bailout bill was signed into law he knew that purchasing troubled assets wasn't the right solution to the problem.

Remember the "urgency" to pass a bailout bill to buy up troubled assets or else face economic ruin the likes the world has never seen? Good thing we rushed to pass a bill on premises that we now know were wrong from the very start.

I voted against both versions of the bailout bill that came before the House of Representatives because they did nothing to address the fundamental root of the crisis, and that was the credit crunch. But the bill is now law, and America is paying for it dearly.  And, our children will pay still more dearly for it.

AIG hit us up for $85 billion in September, but apparently that wasn’t enough because they recently hit the taxpayer up again, upping the ante to $150 billion. And now the auto industry is knocking on the door for their next bailout. Could the airline industry be next? There is no end in sight and no rationale to determine who is and who is not deemed credible to be "bailed out." There is no oversight, and no accountability.  And, taxpayers deserve better.

Over the weekend, Obama's Transition Team Co-Chair John Podesta said on Fox News Sunday, “There is a lot that the President can do using his executive authority without waiting for congressional action, and I think we will see the President do that.”

What's being considered?

According to the Chicago Tribune, this could include locking up much of our nation's oil and gas leases.

When President Bush ended the executive moratorium on off-shore oil and gas leasing, it paved the way to accessing these resources. Allowing the Congressional moratorium on offshore and shale exploration to lapse on October 1 was the final step to unlocking these vital energy reserves. But just when gas prices have become affordable, Democrat leaders are about to lock up our energy resources once again, this time possibly even tighter.

This is not progress, and it's certainly not the change we deserve.

With Democrats about to take over the White House and control the Senate and House in greater numbers during the next session of Congress, the threat of the fairness doctrine becoming a reality is very, very real.

Here's what Senator Schumer has to say about it:



According to the Politico newspaper:

"Schumer’s comments echo other Democrats’ views on reviving the Fairness Doctrine, which would require radio stations to balance conservative hosts with liberal ones.

"In 2007, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), a close ally of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) told The Hill, 'It’s time to reinstitute the Fairness Doctrine. I have this old-fashioned attitude that when Americans hear both sides of the story, they’re in a better position to make a decision.'

"Senate Rules Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) last year said, 'I believe very strongly that the airwaves are public and people use these airwaves for profit. But there is a responsibility to see that both sides and not just one side of the big public questions of debate of the day are aired and are aired with some modicum of fairness.'"

Seeing as how the Democrats can not compete on the radio airwaves with conservative viewpoints, they are now pulling out all the stops. Remember Air America? It failed miserably. So essentially, liberal leaders in Congress are saying to America -- So you don't like what I have to say? Well, I'm going to make you listen to me anyway!