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 CEOs at Ford, GM and Chrysler  have operated using outdated business models, failed to invest wisely in new products and technology, and were not prepared for the massive rise in gas prices that scaled back their truck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

For those who want to learn some more about the roots of the financial markets crisis we are experiencing today, check out this editorial from Investors Business Daily. I think it's important to examine the past to prevent a similar crisis in the future.

'Crony' Capitalism Is Root Cause of Fannie and Freddie Troubles

"In the past couple of weeks, as the financial crisis has intensified, a new talking point has emerged from the Democrats in Congress: This is all a "crisis of capitalism," in socialist financier George Soros' phrase, and a failure to regulate our markets sufficiently."

The country is buzzing with news of a potential $700 billion bailout of our financial services sector by the taxpayer. I've received hundreds of calls this week from constituents who share my skepticism about this potential bailout. Most of them have asked how we got into this problem in the first place, and they deserve an answer.

Fox News has does a nice job tracing the steps of this crisis. You'll notice that many of the Congressional leaders responsible back then are now the ones trying to steer us out of this mess. Scary, huh?

The nonpartisan Tax Foundation has made a pretty interesting case that those states with a forced employee/union system not only pay higher taxes than those states with Right to Work laws which protect employees from being fired for refusing to join or pay dues or fees to a union, but household incomes in Right to Work states are also higher.

This year, Americans celebrated their "Tax Freedom Day" on April 23. This is the day when Americans have earned enough money to cover their total federal, state, and local tax bill for the year, on average.

The Tax Foundation and U.S. Census Bureau data have found that in 2008, the average Tax Freedom Day in the 22 states with Right to Work laws was April 18, five days earlier than the national average. For the 28 non-Right to Work states as a group, their Tax Freedom Day came nine days later than the average in Right to Work states.



In addition to a higher tax burden, forced-union states’ cost of living is higher as well. Economist Barry Poulson from the University of Colorado figured that living costs average nearly 18% higher in metro areas in non-Right to Work states than in Right to Work states.

Why?

The National Right to Work Committee says that "where forced dues are legal, union officials use their power to disrupt labor markets, jack up costs, and bankroll regulation-happy, Tax-and-Spend state legislators and governors."

Hopefully the Minnesota state legislature will come to understand the benefits of a Right-to-Work state and come on board for the sake of all Minnesotans.

For more information on the report, click here.

Today, as a Member of the House Financial Services Committee, I'm hearing testimony from the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson regarding the U.S. economy and the potential government bail-out of mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

While the mortgage market is already precariously balanced and this added instability is cause for concern, it is imperative that Congress wait and examine all the facts before jumping in to assist Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Far too often, the government over-reacts and involves itself in market matters, preventing the free market from correcting itself and making things much worse.

It is important that before legislation is considered, Washington carefully looks into the financial situation of Fannie and Freddie. We must ensure that our nation’s taxpayers, who are already struggling because of skyrocketing food and gas costs, are not left shouldering an increased burden due to a massive bail-out bill. We must balance that with care that these taxpayers are protected in case this situation leads our economy to take a tumble for the worst. 

You have to give credit where credit is due, and the FBI and the Department of Justice deserve to be recognized for their effort to crack down on mortgage fraud schemes. From March 1 to June 18, 2008, more than 400 defendants were charged for roles in mortgage fraud schemes as part of operation "Malicious Mortgage." The FBI estimates that approximately $1 billion in losses were inflicted by the mortgage fraud schemes employed in these cases.

Most recently, two senior managers of failed Bear Stearns Hedge Funds were indicted yesterday in separate mortgage-related security fraud cases.

Since July 2002, the DOJ has made almost 1,300 corporate fraud convictions, including the convictions of more than 200 chief executive offices and corporate presidents, more than 12 corporate vice presidents, and more than 50 chief financial officers.

These efforts are crucial for the benefit of American homeowners and taxpayers and the housing market. All the agencies involved deserve a great deal of respect for their efforts.

On Wednesday, I appeared on the O'Reilly Factor to discuss the Countrywide Mortgage Scandal involving “VIPs” Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND). Take a look.

Having fallen short yesterday, the Democrats have brought H.R. 5749, the so-called "Emergency Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 2008" back to the floor for a vote. Under their parliamentary maneuver yesterday, the Democrats needed a two-thirds majority to pass the bill yesterday -- it fell 3 votes short. The Democrats are pretty much assured to succeed the second time around using a floor procedure that requires only a simple majority for passage. However, the shortfall yesterday doesn't look good against the looming veto threat from the White House.

This bill is another example of how Democrats take a decent idea that could help desperate Americans who need it the most, and in the process of hijacking it for political gain they ruin it.

Clearly, some states are feeling the unemployment crunch more than others, but this legislation makes no distinction for that. Even states with low unemployment rates would receive the 13-week extension. The White House and Republicans are willing to accept a targeted exception, but the bill as it is now is simply irresponsible.

Furthermore, this bill allows someone with as little as two weeks of work to qualify for up to 52 weeks of unemployment benefits -- a dramatic cut from the 20 weeks currently required by law. H.R. 5749 would increase entitlement spending by $12.8 billion over five years and increase the deficit by $12.2 billion.  However, the bill contains no spending cuts to offset this new spending.

This is something I just had to share with all of you now that I received the pictures. Last week, I got to stop by the New York Stock Exchange and meet with their new CEO, Duncan Neiderauer. Despite the meeting starting in the early AM, this was one of the most interesting and worthwhile experiences I’ve had during my time in Congress. We met for almost an hour to discuss ways to enhance America’s global competitiveness.

Soon I’ll be posting a recent column I sent to the local Chambers and Rotaries in my district that highlights ways to put America’s economy on the fast track to greater prosperity.