Repubs are holding up Hilda Solis because she favors the WORKER, not the boss

[BurtWorm]

Seems like someone you might want to lead the LABOR department. :grr:

From dailykos.com:

http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/lQ45_7qs_Qc/693423

Hilda Solis: Guilty of the GOP's Unforgivable Sin

Tim Geithner has been confirmed as Treasury Secretary, despite his failure to pay taxes on substantial income while employed by the IMF. Tom Daschle probably would have been confirmed at HHS had he not withdrawn from the process -- Senate Democrats and most Senate Republicans appeared ready to overlook both his serious tax delinquencies and his financial ties to the health care industry. Eric Holder was easily confirmed as Attorney General, despite a lot of chest-thumping from Senate Republicans over his role in the Marc Rich pardon.

But Hilda Solis -- the California Congresswoman appointed by President Obama to head the Labor Department -- remains in limbo, unable to get a committee referral vote until today, and likely doomed to remain in a holding pattern for some time thereafter due to the imminent threat of a GOP "hold" on a full confirmation vote.

What did Solis do to earn this opposition to her nomination? What monstrous crime or scandal was she involved in that furnishes Republican Senators with the moral authority to delay her from attending to the serious work at the Department of Labor? Could it be misogyny, or bias against Latinas, or against lowly House members?

Well, there's no crime or scandal. And there's no evidence that Solis is being discriminated against on the basis of her sex or ethnicity (though there's little doubt that she'd be confirmed by now if she were a member of the United States Senate Racquet and Social Club rather than the House). No, the Senate Republicans have a simple reason for trying to torpedo Solis's nomination: the nominee for Secretary of Labor favors labor law reform supported by a majority of Americans -- the Employee Free Choice Act.

Underscoring the bitter debate over a proposal to make it easier for workers to form unions, Republican senators are suggesting that President Obama's pick for Labor secretary must recuse herself from lobbying for the bill's passage. . . .

In her initial public hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions last month, Solis faced criticism for sidestepping questions about the union-organizing issue. She was more forthcoming in subsequent written replies, saying she intended to work for passage <of the Employee Free Choice Act> if confirmed as Labor secretary.

In the written exchange, Republican senators asked if that would run afoul of Obama's new ethics policy.

So in a nutshell, Solis's opponents are arguing that the US Secretary of Labor should recuse herself from advocating for passage of the most important labor law reform measure facing the United States. Needless to say this is completely insane -- it's akin to saying that the HHS Secretary shouldn't be involved in the health care debate, or that the Defense Secretary shouldn't talk about Iraq. But it's indicative of just how completely scared the Republican Party and its corporate masters are about the workplace democracy promised by the Employee Free Choice Act. No cabinet appointee other than Solis has been subject to such an assault, and it's because Solis is guilty of the GOP's unforgivable sin -- supporting the right of working people to join together and fight for their share of this country's wealth. And if that kind of opposition from the lackeys of the multinationals isn't a sign to you of how good the Employee Free Choice Act would be for working Americans, I don't know what is.

Once Solis is referred out of committee, Reid needs to move the nomination to the Senate floor. She's got work to do -- and she shouldn't be held in limbo by some cowardly Republican Senator afraid to take her on in an open forum.

[liberal N proud]

1. Remember who the republicans represent

It is not the workers, never has been, never will be.

[LakeSamish706]

2. The Corporate World is scared shitless of Employee Free Choice Act....

They do not want anything to do with the possibility of making it easier for Unions to come into their work places. Can you imagine how great it would be to have a Unionized Walmart? This totally freaks them out!