Labor's "Secret Weapon" In Trouble

Democrats were ready to seat Craig Becker, a union lawyer working for the AFL-CIO, to the National Labor Relations Board. It was a done deal . . . until Scott Brown showed up and demanded to be seated. With Brown, the Democrats lose their supermajority in the Senate.

But the fight over Becker, a labor activist, who has written that he believes employers have no part to play in whether or not their employees are represented by unions, is not over. He likewise has intimated that card check could be implemented by the Board without the necessity of legislation.

Confronted with his earlier writings, Becker reversed positions saying that card check would have to be accomplished by legislation and professing that he would be "practical" while serving on the NLRB. That would be a first and unlikely considering how hard labor leaders are pushing his nomination.

The question is whether the Republicans are up for filibustering Becker's nomination. After being unable to pass card check legislation, Big Labor is going ballistic about the likely failure of Becker's nomination. According to Sam Stein at the Huffington Post, labor leaders are "fuming" since Becker's nomination to the head of the NLRB was supposed to be considered while Democrats still had 60 votes.

And it would have happened that way but for delays engineered primarily by Sen. John McCain (R-Ari.), who pushed consideration back. Now a full Senate vote on Becker will not take place before Brown is granted a vote.

More to come . . .