Roll Call: Sen. Reid (D-NV) May Try to Railroad EFCA "Compromise" Through Senate
Today's ChamberPost blog quotes Roll Call regarding the possibility of a troubling Democratic legislative strategy in the Senate on EFCA:
As Senate Democrats struggle to hammer out a compromise bill on union organizing, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is sketching a process for railroading the bill through the floor as quickly as possible to prevent Republicans from rallying a major campaign against it, senior Democratic aides said...Cutting off debate on the bill would likely ignite a major partisan firestorm, and top Democrats will look to make their move as fast as possible, according to the Democratic aides. "This is not the kind of thing where we could have a long, drawn-out rollout. We'd have to say, 'Here's the deal,' and then get to the floor and get it passed before anyone can mobilize against it," one leadership aide said.
Ironic -- or disturbingly appropriate? EFCA proponents disallowing the stakeholders (legislators) in a vote ample time to consider and debate the merits of a decision on legislation designed to disallow stakeholders (employees) in a vote ample time to consider and debate the merits of a decision on unionization. Setting aside the particular elements of EFCA itself, this should be considered a troubling development in terms of our democratic (little "d") legislative process.
Regrettably, some of us expressed concern about this prospect some time ago: "'Workplace Democracy' Should Not Be Decided Behind Closed Doors."
