Washington Watch

Washington Watch

October 2009

 

 

Recent Poll Finds Card Check Lacks Support Among Registered Voters

A recent poll conducted by Voter/Consumer Research Group finds that the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) or Card-Check lacks support among registered voters in Arkansas . The poll, conducted in August, surveyed 502 registered voters and found that voters are paying attention to the issue and oppose the legislation.

 

Key Findings of the poll include:

  • 54 percent of the voters are aware of Card-Check. The issue has a 30 percent awareness level nation-wide (according to a similar poll conducted earlier this year). 
  • 60 percent of voters aware of Card-Check oppose it.
  • 48 percent of voters strongly oppose the issue.

 

" Arkansas voters understand the real-life ramifications of the so-called ‘Employee Free Choice Act' and how it will detrimentally impact our economy by hurting Arkansas businesses and workers," said Randy Zook , president and CEO of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce.  "The bill before Congress continues to lose support - both among law makers and the people they represent."

 

If passed, the Employee Free Choice Act (also known as EFCA or Card Check) would effectively overturn more than 70 years of precedent in U.S. labor laws by taking away workers' freedom of a government-supervised vote when determining union representation. Current laws allow all workers within a company to participate in a secret ballot vote before electing a union to represent them. The card-check system, however, forces the company to acknowledge a union after a majority of its workers sign union cards. Even those employees who have not signed the cards must recognize the union as the exclusive bargaining representative, and many of those who have signed may have been misled or intimidated into doing so.

 

The bill has additional drawbacks for employers. It stipulates that once a union is formed, the management and employees have just 120 days to reach a collective bargaining agreement. After that time, an outside arbitrator is allowed to set the terms of a contract that will be mutually binding for the next two years.

 

For smaller businesses, EFCA could result in higher costs or eventual bankruptcy. In larger ones, it may mean exporting jobs overseas.

 

In its consistent pursuit of promoting Arkansas ' economic development and the interests of Arkansas workers and employers, the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce has formed a coalition to combat the so-called "Employee Free Choice Act." The coalition, known as "Arkansans FOR the Secret Ballot: Protect Your Privacy at Work," seeks to defeat EFCA strategically through a grassroots campaign.

 

Coalition members, including managers, workers, business owners and former union employees, are working to inform Arkansas citizens of the dangers of the Employee Free Choice Act and encouraging Arkansans to ask members of Arkansas' Congressional Delegation to vote NO. Visit yoursecretballot.com for more information and to join the coalition.

 

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Senate Finance Committee Approves Healthcare Reform Legislation

 

The Chicago Tribune reported, "After months of wrangling over how to reshape the nation's healthcare system, the last of five congressional committees on Tuesday endorsed its sweeping blueprint for expanding coverage and containing costs." The "14-9 vote by the Senate Finance Committee sets the stage for the final legislative push amid intense lobbying by healthcare providers, consumer advocates, labor unions and other interest groups." The bill was "designed by committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) with an eye toward keeping moderate Democrats on board and creating the possibility of at least some Republican support." But most GOP lawmakers "blasted the healthcare campaign Tuesday, renewing complaints that they had been excluded from the process."

 

Noting that the bill passed with one GOP vote, the AP called the vote "a double-barreled triumph that propelled...Obama's signature issue toward votes this fall in both houses of Congress." Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe, who crossed party lines to support the Baucus plan, is quoted saying, "When history calls, history calls." USA Today said that Snowe's "decision...could have wide implications as Democrats seek the 60 votes needed to clear the next hurdle: a vote by the full Senate." Obama "thanked Snowe for her 'political courage and seriousness of purpose she's demonstrated throughout this process.'"

 

ABC World News led its broadcast reporting, "In 1912, almost 100 years ago, Teddy Roosevelt called for universal health care. It now may be closer than at any time since then." The CBS Evening News said "healthcare reform cleared a major hurdle." CBS added, "With this vote, health care reform legislation has now passed through all five relevant congressional committees, a feat that eluded President Clinton when he tried to revamp health care." NBC Nightly News said "the White House and top Democrats will write the final version of the Senate bill, combining" the Baucus plan "with an earlier one that did have that public option. So the President will have to decide if a public option is a must have."

 

Bloomberg News reported that "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will meld the finance panel bill with one approved by the Senate health committee in July, forcing him to resolve differences over a host of issues that divide both political parties and risk rupturing Democratic unity." According to Reid spokesman Jim Manley, "the health-care bill should be on the floor the week of October 26." The Washington Post said Reid, Baucus and Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, "who shepherded a competing bill through the Senate health committee in July, expect to meet there with senior White House officials."

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Democrats Crafting Set of Economic Relief Measures

 

The AP reported on Friday, "Confronted with big job losses and no sign the U.S. economy is ready to stand on its own, Democrats are working on a growing list of relief efforts, leaving for later how to pay for them, or whether even to bother." The measures, "taken together...look a lot like another economic stimulus package, though congressional leaders don't want to call it that." The AP added that "some of the proposals come from the Republicans' playbook and focus on tax cuts, even though they, too, would swell the deficit."

 

CQ reported, "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that she is considering a long menu of options for stimulating an economy dogged by high unemployment and a slowly easing recession." She said "consideration is being given to extending and possibly expanding the $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers that is currently due to expire Nov. 30." Pelosi said "other simulative tax breaks could also be extended or expanded." She said, "The issue of a net operating loss carryback to five years rather than two is an idea that has some currency." She also mentioned "a possible extension of accelerated depreciation for business purchases of new equipment." On Wednesday, Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., "met with President Obama at the White House to discuss new job-creating measures." House Republicans also spoke up Thursday, "disclosing they had sent a letter to Obama outlining six steps that Minority Leader John A. Boehner , R-Ohio, said would 'help small businesses create jobs and get our economy moving again.'"

 

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New Claims for Unemployment Drop to Lowest Level Since January

 

The AP reported, "The number of new claims for jobless benefits fell last week to the lowest level since early January." The Labor Department said [last] Thursday "that first-time claims for unemployment insurance dropped last week to a seasonally adjusted 521,000, from the previous week's upwardly revised total of 554,000." Thursday's total "was the second-lowest this year. Claims have been slowly declining since the spring, but remain well above the 325,000 that economists say is consistent with a healthy economy." The number of people "continuing to claim benefits declined by 72,000, to 6.04 million. Analysts expected continuing claims to rise slightly." In another report, the Commerce Department said [last] Thursday "that wholesale inventories fell 1.3 percent in August, worse than the 1 percent drop economists had expected. That followed a 1.6 percent drop in July initially reported as a 1.4 percent decrease."

 

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U.S. Trade Deficit Decreased in August

 

The New York Times reported on its website, "The United States trade deficit shrank in August as oil imports fell and American businesses sent more automobiles and industrial goods to foreign markets, the government reported on Friday." The trade deficit "dropped to $30.7 billion." The Commerce Department's "report on trade provided another hint that global markets were waking up after a sharp downturn, and that export growth could add to the country's total economic output in the final months of the year." The level of trade between the U.S. "and the rest of the world has been picking up since the spring, as oil prices have rebounded from their winter lows of $33 a barrel and demand for consumer products and big industrial goods slowly returns." It remains to be seen "how the falling value of the dollar will affect trade as the economy recovers."

 

The AP reported, "The fourth straight rise in exports was an encouraging sign that the global economy has started to recover from a severe recession that began in the U.S. and quickly spread to other parts of the world." But many economists "expect the deficit to rise in coming months on the back of a rebounding U.S. economy, which will start importing more foreign products." For August, "exports of goods and services edged up 0.2 percent to $28.2 billion, the highest level since December." The strength "reflected higher sales of American farm products including soybeans and wheat, and increases in sales of autos and related parts, industrial engines and telecommunications equipment." The rise in exports is "being aided by a weakening dollar, which is down nearly 12 percent against a range of other currencies since the beginning of the year. The dollar is expected to remain under pressure in coming months, due partly to soaring U.S. budget deficits."

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Obama Faces Renewed Pressure to Address Climate Plan

 

The Washington Post reported, "President Obama is coming under renewed pressure internationally and in the United States to throw his weight behind climate-change legislation, which advocates fear has suffered in light of the president's sweeping domestic agenda." The recent announcement of his Nobel Peace Prize win "was a fresh sign that much of the world expects him to lead the way toward a global climate pact." In addition, "in Washington , advocates are clamoring for more evidence that Obama will make good on his campaign promise to impose the first-ever national cap on greenhouse gases."

 

The AP reported, "In Ohio, and across much of the heartland from Michigan and Indiana to the Dakotas, and in Missouri and Arkansas, where agriculture and manufacturing are the business engines, the government's effort to curb climate-changing pollution is viewed widely through an economic prism: Will it increase energy costs and drive businesses and jobs overseas to countries such as China that may not commit to similar controls on fossil energy?" As a result, "President Barack Obama and congressional leaders need centrist Democrats from those states to overcome solid Republican opposition to climate legislation passed by the House and awaiting Senate action."

 

On the other hand, Politico reported, "South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham announced his support for a climate bill this year on Sunday - but Democrats still face a steep climb to gain broad bipartisan backing for the legislation." Now, "Democrats need just a handful of Republicans to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a Senate filibuster - if they can persuade skeptical coal- and manufacturing-state Democrats to support the bill" however, "while environmentalists heralded Graham's support as a 'game changer,' any climate bill still faces steep obstacles in the Senate."

 

In a separate article, Politico reported that Senate Environment and Public Works committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer said Tuesday that the "Senate climate change bill is written and ready to be debated" before the committee, and that "it will mirror cap and trade legislation passed by the House in late June with, she noted, 'a few tweaks.'" Said Boxer, "Our bill will reflect the priorities of our committee...Once it gets out of the committee it will be taken up by the whole body and people will be speaking to Senator Reid for what they want." However, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus "also plans to draft legislation dealing with the pollution allowances." Of which Boxer said, "My position is that's great, he should do that as well...At the end of the day this should be a collaborative process."

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Support Said to be Growing for Tax Credit for Firms that Create Jobs

 

The New York Times reported last week, "The idea of a tax credit for companies that create new jobs, something the federal government has not tried since the 1970s, is gaining support among economists and Washington officials grappling with the highest unemployment in a generation." The Times added that "Barack Obama -- like Senator John Kerry before him -- proposed a job creation tax credit during his presidential campaign, and then in discussions for the stimulus package. The proposal was eventually killed because of concerns that employers would exploit the tax credit."

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Business Coalition Issues Letter, Statement on Derivatives

 

In an October 2 letter to Congress signed by more than 170 organizations, the Coalition for Derivatives End-Users asked policymakers to preserve companies' ability to manage risk “by providing access to reasonably priced and customized over-the-counter (OTC) derivative products.” Some derivative proposals under consideration would place an extraordinary burden on end-users in every sector of the economy. The Coalition, which was formed this summer by several business groups, noted in a statement for the record at an October 7 hearing that “by insulating companies from risk, customized OTC derivatives provide businesses with access to lower cost capital — enabling them to grow, make new investments and retain and create new jobs.” House Financial Services Committee Chair Barney Frank (D-MA) has proposed draft legislation that addresses many industry concerns. His committee plans to mark up its derivatives bill this week.

 

Bloomberg News reported that the battle over derivatives legislation "is a test for the Obama administration's efforts to tighten financial regulation to prevent a repeat of the financial crisis that shook the global economy." The House Agriculture Committee "approved legislation in February granting the CFTC or SEC oversight of clearinghouses backing credit-default swaps."

 

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