Mickey Kaus: Obama's Approach to EFCA is Evidence of Enigma
At kausfiles, Mickey Kaus suggests that the recent town-hall anger expressed toward the Obama administration may be fueled, in part, by the President's relatively unknown political persona. His theory is simple: unfamiliar issues plus unfamilar President lead to increased public paranoia. As a prime example of this phenomenon, Kaus points to the President's position on EFCA's interest arbitration provisions:
For example, a few months ago I went to a discussion of the pending "card check" bill Obama has endorsed (enigmatically!). Talk turned to the bill's astoundingly intrusive provision for federal arbitration of initial labor contracts, which would iinevitably involve not only the setting of wages but also the organization of work itself. A conservative law prof said he knew Obama as a colleague, and the Obama he knew wouldn't really want that level of detailed and pervasive (if uncoordinated) government direction of economic enterprises. Was the prof right? I have no idea. In contrast, I think I have a pretty confident idea of where Bill Clinton would come down on that issue. I even have a clear idea of where Jimmy Carter would come down on the issue.**
Kaus drops a footnote to editorialize further on the prospect of mandatory private-sector interest arbitration:
**--Of course, one reason a voter might not have a clear idea is that it's been heretofore hard to imagine that mandatory federal arbitration would even be an issue--in recent decades it's been beyond the mainstream pale. If unions didn't like a deal they could strike and try to get a better deal. Then labor got desperate and came up with mandatory arbitration.
