Aug. 20, 2010:NWLP
8/17/10
10:49 AM
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National AFL-CIO quick to approve anti-filibuster drive
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Frustrated
with Senate Republican filibusters that
stall nominations and block or kill leg-
islation that has majority support — no-
tably the Employee Free Choice Act —
the AFL-CIO Executive Council has set
out on a mission to inform citizens of
abuses in the parliamentary procedure
that do nothing but obstruct legislation,
much of it legislation helping workers.
At the labor federation’s Executive
Council meeting here Aug. 4-5, union
presidents announced plans to hold an
“Our Nation” rally at the Capitol Oct. 2
to spotlight the issue.
Starting when they lost the majority
after the 2006 elections, and escalating
after Democratic President Barack
Obama took office last year, the Sen-
ate’s 41 Republicans have used fili-
busters 113 times (so far) to bring key
legislation and appointments to a halt.
The Senate needs 60 votes to move for-
ward. Majority Leader Harry Reid, (D-
Nev.), leads 57 Democrats and two in-
dependents who lean Democratic.
Reid’s search for 60 votes has re-
sulted in a watering down of key legis-
lation, including aid to states for Medi-
caid, money to hire teachers, and the
original stimulus law. It has also killed
the Employee Free Choice Act, which
has majority support in the Senate.
“Filibusters have made it virtually
impossible to address the jobs crisis, en-
ergy policy or immigration reform,” the
AFL-CIO said. “The cloture statistics
AUGUST 20, 2010
alone actually understate the degree to
which the Senate is now effectively
controlled by a minority dedicated to
obstruction and delay.”
The AFL-CIO is calling on next
year’s Senate “to democratize its proce-
dures and its rules.”
The Communications Workers of
America (CWA) went a step further at
its recent convention, calling for abol-
ishing the filibuster altogether. CWA
President Larry Cohen, who chairs the
AFL-CIO’s Legislative Committee,
said the union will quiz U.S. Senate
candidates on the filibuster and decide
on its support depending on their
replies. “If they are for killing the fili-
buster, CWA will be for them,” Cohen
said. “If not, not.”
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, (D-OR), is
among a half-dozen or so lawmakers
who support reforming Senate rules that
allow silent filibusters. In an interview
with Huffington Post, Merkley said
he’s canvassing his colleagues to deter-
mine how strong support is for reform.
“I think we will be able to pull a cou-
ple dozen senators into the debate,” he
said. “Now is the time to heat up this
conversation. Going into this election
cycle with people running for office ... it
is important for people to remember
that there was no supermajority re-
quirement till 1917.”
Moreover, since 1992 senators
haven’t had to actually filibuster — talk
at length on the Senate floor. They sim-
ply tell the leadership that they are fili-
bustering a bill or nomination.
“It’s not constitutional. It’s not statu-
tory. It’s a rule,” Rep. Paul Hodes of
New Hampshire told HuffPost, adding
that he wasn’t certain what the new rule
should look like exactly, but the current
ones needed to be reformed. “Every-
where I go, they say, ‘Make ’em bring
out the cots and the telephone books.’
People are eager for real backbone and
some toughness from Democrats.”
At a Northwest Oregon Labor Coun-
cil breakfast meeting with Sen. Ron
Wyden, (D-OR), last month in Portland,
filibuster reform was one of the first is-
sues broached during a question and an-
swer period.
Wyden was hesitant to support out-
right reform, explaining that he has used
the procedure to defend causes “that
folks in this room hold very, very dear.”
Wyden used the filibuster to protect
Oregon’s voter-passed death with dig-
nity law, and he said he would use it to
stop privatization of Social Security if
it ever reaches the Senate floor.
“Our death with dignity law would
be in the trash can today if I hadn’t fili-
bustered it,” he said.
Wyden’s primary concern is that fil-
ibuster abuses can be done in secret.
“It’s one thing to have the guts to stand
up on the floor and say, ‘I don’t want so
and so to have a vote.’ But it’s another
thing to do it in secret.”
Wyden said he is a ringleader in the
Senate to pass legislation barring any-
one from doing public business in se-
cret. “They ought to have to go out on
the floor and identify themselves,” he
said.
Democratic candidates running for
the Senate told HuffPost that they hear
regularly from voters about abuse of the
parliamentary tactic.
“The use of the filibuster and the
way it’s led to backroom deals has cre-
ated the impression in the heartland that
the Senate is dysfunctional,” said Jack
Conway, a Democratic candidate facing
Republican Rand Paul in Kentucky.
“They don’t understand why Washing-
ton can’t address the issues people care
about. People in Kentucky wanted peo-
ple focused on jobs — 14 months [of
the health care debate] laid bare how
broken the system was.”
Conway was joined in his backing
of filibuster reform by Senate candi-
dates Elaine Marshall of North Car-
olina and Roxanne Conlin of Iowa, as
well as sitting Senators Tom Udall (D-
N.M.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), and Ben
Cardin (D-Md.)
Udall told HuffPost that support is
strongest among new members and
those running now. “They’re all tuned
into it,” said Udall, elected in 2008, of
the freshman and sophomore senators.
“The core of support will be those —
and whoever comes in in 2010.”
Washington State Labor Council endorses Heck
for Congress; Jacks, Probst, Chopp for state seats
TACOMA — Democratic congres-
sional candidate Denny Heck was en-
dorsed by the Washington State Labor
Council at its Constitutional Conven-
tion here Aug. 11.
Heck, who is running to succeed
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
Brian Baird in the Third District, did
not get the endorsement at the labor
federation’s Committee on Political
Education convention in May. In-
stead, the endorsement went to State
Sen. Craig Pridemore in a contentious
roll-call vote. Pridemore dropped out
of the race two weeks later, forcing the
WSLC to revisit the race.
Other candidates gaining labor sup-
port in the second round of endorse-
ments were incumbent state represen-
tatives Jim Jacks in Vancouver’s
District 49, Tim Probst in Vancouver’s
District 17, and House Speaker Frank
Chopp in Seattle’s District 43.
The three Democratic lawmakers
were not endorsed at the COPE con-
vention primarily because of their
votes on a state budget bill that were
contrary to the position of public em-
ployee unions.
Chopp also has been at odds with
labor, first for helping kill WSLC’s top
priority bill in 2009 — the Worker Pri-
vacy Act, which barred mandatory em-
ployee attendance at employer-called
anti-union meetings, and then for his
role with Democratic leadership to call
state police about an internal WSLC e-
mail that threatened to cut campaign
contributions to Democrats for killing
the bill. Chopp, Senator Majority
Leader Lisa Brown, and Gov. Chris
Gregoire said the e-mail crossed a line
by linking campaign contributions to
action on a particular bill. None of
them contacted the labor council for an
explanation of the e-mail before refer-
ring the matter to the Washington State
Patrol, which quickly cleared WSLC
of any wrongdoing.
In other political action, Jill Johan-
son was endorsed for Court of Appeals,
while Jim Johnson received a “no en-
dorsement” for State Supreme Court.
A “no endorsement” means the WSLC
will campaign against Johnson.
Endorsements can only be gained
with a two-thirds vote of the delegate
body. There were more than 420 dele-
gates in attendance at the weeklong
convention.
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