Deal in the works on EFCA?

Keeping with his new found tradition of lining up to support President Obama’s major legislative goals, Senator Arlen Specter suggested to a group of labor leaders last week week that a new version of the Employee Free Choice Act has been hammered out, and will be passed sometime after the enactment of health care reform.

Many Democrats are skeptical that the president can accomplish both of these goals this year, but I…

September 21, 2009 at 8:29 pm | Comments (1)

Specter has a point on EFCA and consistency

Although his opponents may try to make political hay out of his supposed flexible position on the Employee Free Choice Act, Senator Arlen Specter has a point with his assertion that his views have been consistent.

Back in 2007, when Specter cast the deciding vote for cloture on the bill that had come before the Senate, he both stated and wrote that he did so not on…

July 30, 2009 at 9:46 am | Comments (8)

Why I support EFCA

Considering the responses we’ve received to my earlier posting about the questionable polling data released by Susquehanna Polling & Research regarding Pennsylvanians’ attitudes toward “card-check,” I thought it would be a good idea to flesh out my position on the Employee Free Choice Act.

I’m sure it goes without saying that I wholeheartedly support the rights of workers to unionize to protect their interests and stand up…

June 12, 2009 at 10:02 am | Comments (0)

A tale of two polls

This was certainly not a great week for Democrats, as two polls released week from Rasmussen and Susquehanna Polling & Research suggest that an increasing number of voters have had enough of the liberal, big government policies of the Democratic Party, and are instead turning toward the principles of limited government and personal freedom supported by the Republican Party.

On Monday, a national poll released by…

June 11, 2009 at 11:40 am | Comments (0)

Do Pennsylvanians really oppose EFCA?

In a story yesterday on pa2010.com, Susquehanna Polling & Research is said to be reporting that 55 percent of Pennsylvanians are opposed to the Employee Free Choice Act, with a full 40 percent said to be “strongly” opposed.

Right.

The first thing you need to keep in mind here is that, as the story points out, Susquehanna Polling & Research is a Republican firm, and Republicans are nothing if not dead-set…

June 10, 2009 at 9:49 am | Comments (3)

Poll: Pennsylvanians opposed to card-check

A sizable majority of Pennsylvania voters oppose passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, which is quickly becoming issue No. 1 in the 2010 Senate race, according to a new poll.

The survey of 700 registered voters, conducted by the GOP firm Susquehanna Polling & Research, found 55 percent of voters opposed to the “card-check” bill and only 29 percent in favor. Forty percent were “strongly” opposed while only 15 percent were “strongly” in favor,…

June 9, 2009 at 4:33 pm | Comments (4)

Labor leader: Specter needs to vote ‘more like other Democratic Senators’

PITTSBURGH—Though many political insiders expect organized labor to eventually line up behind Senator Arlen Specter in next year’s Democratic primary, AFL-CIO head Bill George said that’s far from a given.

“He’s gotta vote more like other Democratic Senators in the northeast,” Geroge told pa2010.com Friday evening, comparing Specter’s labor voting record with other area Democrats.

How important is the Employee Free Choice Act in that picture?

“Nothing is more important than that,” George said.

June 5, 2009 at 8:01 pm | Comments (0)

ANALYSIS: Voting is now a high-stakes proposition for Specter

Even before Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7) became a likely Senate candidate, Arlen Specter was in the unenviable position of having his every word—and every floor vote—scrutinized by liberals skeptical of the party-switching Senator.

But now, with Sestak looming and repeatedly criticizing Specter as a faux Democrat, every vote, even procedural ones, could prove to be a veritable high-stakes bonanza that could make or break his reelection campaign. And if Specter, ever the political survivor, triangulates…

June 4, 2009 at 11:37 am | Comments (7)

ANALYSIS: Once again, Specter’s fate could hinge on card-check

In March, Senator Arlen Specter was under an extraordinary amount of pressure regarding the Employee Free Choice Act. With attacks from the right becoming more fierce and his primary reelection prospects looking more and more difficult, Specter said he would oppose the “card-check” bill to ease worker unionization. And for a moment, he seemed to have quelled conservative anger against him and secured his political survival…

May 20, 2009 at 10:22 am | Comments (0)

Specter may need to waffle again on the Employee Free Choice Act just to stay afloat

Senator Arlen Specter told The Associated Press recently that “prospects are pretty good” for a compromise on the Employee Free Choice Act. Specter also told The AP that he is “hard at work trying to find some way to find an answer,” a tough task considering the political quandary he is in after wavering on his original stance toward the card-check bill.

Pretty soon, Specter’s office won’t be working hard just to find a compromise.…

May 15, 2009 at 10:28 am | Comments (0)