The Party of No Holds Progress Hostage

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By Wes Rackley

There is no way to misinterpret the peoples mandate for progressive change. When we elected President Obama we elected to take a course away from supply side economics to a wider more progressive wealth distribution that tips the scales in favor of America’s workers. And yet a handful of Republicans are holding the Presidents nominations for the National Labor Relation Board (NLRB) hostage. Key nominations needed on the the ground to put forward the policies we voted for.

Today the Senate will vote on whether to end debate—or stop a filibuster—on the Becker nomination at 5 p.m and allow a vote on one of President Obama’s most important labor nominees to the NLRB. Craig Becker was nominated 7 months ago and has answered hundreds of questions from senators on both sides. He is a highly respected labor law practitioner and scholar with an impressive 27-year record of advocating for low-wage workers.

Becker has wide support from the legal community, including a letter signed by 66 law professors from our top law schools. Last October, Becker received bipartisan support in a Senate committee vote, but now the Party of No has decided to obstruct his nomination.

The simple truth is that the corporate interest have made working Americas labor nominations a litmus test for Republicans seeking their financial support. The filibuster is no longer used as a legitimate method to insure that the interest of the minority is heard but as an obstruction tactic for corporate special interest to gum up the process as the people work to reclaim their democracy and salvage this economy.

According to Harry Reid’s office three of George W. Bush’s nominations were held up by Democrats in his first year for more than three months compared to more than 46 of president Obama’s nominees having waited at least three months and nine for at least twice that long.

That’s where the real difference lies between the two parties, the Democrats held up nominations on genuine good faith concern for a minority without another avenue to be heard. While the Republicans are obstructing for nefarious reasons on behalf of an over powered corporate “minority” something they dare not say out loud. Republicans not sighting particular concerns over the qualifications of the nominee and instead using issues that amount to blackmail such as Richard Shelby putting a blanket hold on more than seventy of the Presidents nominations for a ransom of some big ticket concessions from the administration, make their true intent pretty clear.

“This is unconscionably outrageous. If it were occurring anywhere else but the Senate chamber it would be extortion. A felony. It is an egregious misuse of minority power, easily the most flagrant example in years.” Wrote Dylan Loewe for the Huffington Post last week.

Our government has been broken by the influence of consolidated wealth masquerading as a true minority wearing out the filibuster to obstruct rather than as a last resort to protect the minority from controversial nominations or legislation. For more than a year, Republican delay tactics have resisted implementing our more progressive mandate by blocking nominees from taking their positions to represent workers on the NLRB. It’s time for Republican obstructionism to come to an end.

There’s a strong case to be made that the senate filibuster rule has outlived its usefulness and that parliamentary procedures that gives the minority and opportunity to object but not obstruct may be in order. As far fetched as it sounds at first blush I think Annie Lowery may be on to something by electing Senators according to income brackets. “Imagine a chamber in which senators were elected by different income brackets — with two senators representing the poorest 2 percent of the electorate, two senators representing the richest 2 percent and so on.

Based on Census Bureau data, five senators would represent Americans earning between $100,000 and $1 million individually per year, with a single senator working on behalf of the millionaires (technically, it would be two-tenths of a senator). Eight senators would represent Americans with no income. Sixteen would represent Americans who make less than $10,000 a year, an amount well below the federal poverty line for families. The bulk of the senators would work on behalf of the middle class, with 34 representing Americans making $30,000 to $80,000 per year.”

But we do know for sure that the Republicans abuse of the current senate parliamentary procedures demands that action be taken to correct for the misuse if we ever hope to break the gridlock in Washington and get the peoples work

This is the second week of a new daily series on News Junkie Post known as the Progressive Unity Project. Every day, there will be a new article published from the perspective of the environment/ecosystem, labor/unions, LGBT, immigration reform, science, legalization of marijuana, or secularity.

Wes Rackley spent thirty plus years working in Arkansas’ air-conditioning and energy management industries as a blue collar worker, corporate officer, and small business owner, but was forced into early retirement by a ‘pre-existing’ medical condition in 2001. As I imagine was the case for most progressive democrats during that period, politics went from a compelling hobby to an all-consuming compulsion as we watched the GOP shred the very fiber of our country. Over the intervening years he narrowed his focus from the general economy and despising the GOP to just specifically strengthening labor, through Universal Health Care the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), and Campaign Finance Reform, and despising the GOP.

Editor’s Note: Please follow  Wes Rackley on Twitter, and to stay updated on all of our articles  follow The News Junkie Post on Twitter.

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