National right to work act S504 – Referred To Committee

The National Right To Work Act, sponsored in the Senate by Jim DeMint (R-NC), and cosponsored by the following Senators: John Barraso (R-WY), Tom Coborn (R-OK), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), James Inhofe (R-OK), Mike Lee (R-UT), Paul Rand (R-KY), James Risch (R-ID), Pat Toomey (R-PA), and David Vitter (R-LA), has been forwarded as of March 8th 2011 to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. (Source, Library of Congress)

Now, it has to go through the Committee, with a rather long list of priorities, primarily the Health Care Reform Act and how to make it more palatable to the American people, although it has yet to pass Constitutional Muster. The following are the members of this committee:

Democrats by Rank
Tom Harkin (IA) (Chair)
Barbara A. Mikulski (MD)
Jeff Bingaman (NM)
Patty Murray (WA)
Bernard Sanders (I) (VT)
Robert P. Casey, Jr. (PA)
Kay R. Hagan (NC)
Jeff Merkley (OR)
Al Franken (MN)
Michael F. Bennet (CO)
Sheldon Whitehouse (RI)
Richard Blumenthal (CT)
Republicans by Rank
Michael B. Enzi (WY) (Ranking Member)
Lamar Alexander (TN)
Richard Burr (NC)
Johnny Isakson (GA)
Rand Paul (KY)
Orrin G. Hatch (UT)
John McCain (AZ)
Pat Roberts (KS)
Lisa Murkowski (AK)
Mark Kirk (IL)

The full text of the bill

112TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION S. 504
To preserve and protect the free choice of individual employees to form,join, or assist labor organizations, or to refrain from such activities.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH 8, 2011
Mr. DEMINT (for himself, Mr. COBURN, Mr. HATCH, Mr. LEE, Mr. PAUL,
Mr. TOOMEY, Mr. VITTER, and Mr. RISCH) introduced the following bill;which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education,Labor, and Pensions
A BILL
To preserve and protect the free choice of individual employees
to form, join, or assist labor organizations, or to
refrain from such activities.
1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Right-to-
5 Work Act’’.
6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT.
8 (a) RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES.—Section 7 of the Na9
tional Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 157) is amended
VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:15 Mar 09, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S504.IS S504 smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
2
•S 504 IS
1 by striking ‘‘except to’’ and all that follows through ‘‘au2
thorized in section 8(a)(3)’’.
3 (b) UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES.—Section 8 of the
4 National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158) is amended—
6 (1) in subsection (a)(3), by striking ‘‘: Provided,
7 That’’ and all that follows through ‘‘retaining membership’’;
9 (2) in subsection (b)—
10 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or to
11 discriminate’’ and all that follows through ‘‘re12
taining membership’’; and
13 (B) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘covered
14 by an agreement authorized under subsection
15 (a)(3) of this section’’; and
16 (3) in subsection (f), by striking clause (2) and
17 redesignating clauses (3) and (4) as clauses (2) and
18 (3), respectively.
19 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO THE RAILWAY LABOR ACT.
20 Section 2 of the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. 152)
21 is amended by striking paragraph Eleven.

Currently, 22 States have Right To Work Laws, a majority of those states with right to work laws, as of January this year, had lower unemployment than that do not. Although there are many occupations that would suffer without the right to unionize, individuals wishing to belong to a union should have a choice, not be forced into an organization in order to gain employment.

Anyone Wishing to put in their two cents, can contact a Senator on the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions at senate.gov/general/contact-information/senators

Media in Snit Over Slow Start of 2012 Debates – Democrats First To Roll Out Pre-Fall Presidential Debates in 2003 – Enter Last - Finish First

Obama and a field of "potential GOP Contenders", image: The State.com

The New York Timesis wondering why there may be few if any Republican Presidential Contenders at the first televised debate on May 2nd. They cite the standard “Republican Strategist” as saying GOP potential candidates may not want to face a hostile media (NBC and politico), the Times wonders if the GOP Candidates would dare not appear at a Fox News Debate scheduled 3 days later on May 5th. They also offer the dire warning of entering the race later than sooner, as being somewhat of a political disaster for a candidate, pointing out the brief candidacy of Republican Fred Thompson.

Meanwhile, the latest Gallup poll shows Huckabee with the lead over a field of seventeen potential, but yet to officially announce, candidates. In the Gallup Poll, Huckabee leads, followed by Romney and Palin, with Trump on the Gallup rolls, 2 points behind the candidate most likely to announce first, Tim Pawlenty. There are four candidates in this particular scenario that garner double digits: Huckabee, Romney, Palin and Gingrich. The Gallup articles states there are no clear frontrunners this late in the game, and notes that the 1000 people polled, apparently are not galvanized behind any one candidate.

Talk about stating the obvious. If, for example the field included ten officially announced candidates, one would bet that, in the reality of this extremely early stage in presidential contests, the results might be the same.

Going far back into the history of Presidential Debates and announcements to run, one finds that for the 2004 presidential contest, the earliest recorded debate took place on May 3rd, 1999 in California. This was the DNC debate noted as the earliest recorded and featured Howard Dean, John Edwards (considered the front runner), John Kerry (who eventually won the nomination and lost to President George W. Bush, and rounding out the field were Gephardt and Lieberman. Source WSWS.org (World Socialist Web Site) Prior to the Democrats starting the trend of the screamingly early debate, debates for both major political parties were held later in the year preceding the general election, and in some instances, candidates did not attend nor announce their intent to run, until after the first two debates were held.

On November, 29, 1999, George Bush entered the debate arena, skipping two prior debates. (McCook Daily Gazette). The first GOP debates of the 2000 General were held in the later half of October 1999, two weeks apart. (Washington Post) On the DNC side, Bradley did not announce his intent to run against Gore until December of 1999, even though Gore had announced earlier in the year. In that case, Gore, who was the sitting Vice President under Bill Clinton, did not anticipate a serious challenge. In this one scenario, with Bradley entering “late” in that year, Gore did go onto win the nomination. However, one might have anticipated it a given, as he was, again, the sitting Vice President and therefore “heir to the throne”.

In the case of the GOP nominees, and their late to the debate, Gorge W. Bush, all should know the outcome; G.W. Bush went on to two terms in the White House.
Therefore, the media and its close alliance with the DNC (or preference for), may stem from the fact that, although ideologically wedded to the Democratic Party, they also gain from early announcements and debates in “content”. Otherwise they may be forced, at this point, to cover other stories such as the fact that the Pentagon has announced that the U.S. will continue military operations in Libya. (AP) Additionally, the U.S. now has boots in the form of the Marines, on the ground in Libya(National Review), or that the military under Obama’s watch, was involved in murdering civilians and then posing for photos with the deceased”> (Guardian-UK)

Unfortunately, the general media cannot run these stories every day, on several pages within a printed piece, or on the network news, as it would, in all likelihood, make their case for a second Obama Presidential bid a bit more difficult. (Unlike the way any move made by George W. Bush or Ronald Reagan was put under the media microscope and beat to death by the press.)

The fact that Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Donald Trump, Mitt Romney and whoever else may end up jumping into the cesspool left behind by the current administration has yet to announce, is moot and in keeping with the traditional time to announce, rather than the earlier announcements and debates set by the DNC in the 2004 general. On the face of it, the later the date, the better for those weary of politicians from the on-set, additionally, from a Machiavellian point of view, the later the GOP nominees enter the fray, the more difficult for the competition (in this case the President), in terms of having the time to define themselves against a known enemy – with the help of a few friends, consistently beating the drums against the ineptitude of this Pastor, or that Mayor, or God Forbid, the man who wants to tell the President: “Your fired!”. (However, these barbs are available in media daily, just in case).

Should Huckabee skip the first 4 debates for that matter, or Palin or Romney or Gingrich or Trump, they have had the time to meet with constituents, world leaders, small and large businesses, and get a real sense of the magnitude of the task at hand. In addition, should an announcement come in say July of 2011 that gives the public 17 months of speculation to deal with, which might still be too much. Imagine announcement in July and debates in October! Less is more, and in this case, perhaps history will repeat itself (as it is want to do), with the last man in, taking the prize. As Gallup noted in the above reference article, once there are actual announcements of an intent to run, a front runner will appear, in due time, at the right time, just not at a time that is convenient for journalist, pundits and political junkies.

2012 Update: Palin Shores Up Foreign Alliances, Attacks begin from the Right, Trump enters the Fray in Iowa, Odds are on Palin.

Palin in Israel with the Netenyahu's, photo Ben Gershom gpo

As 2011 begins to shape up, although few have announced an actual intent to run for the 2012 GOP nominations, pundits are picking sides, and trips are being made both at home and abroad, to shore up alliances and “test the waters”. Palin’s recent swing through the nations that represent perhaps, our two most stalwart allies outside of Great Britain, India and Israel, made quite the impression according to Irish Central.com. The Indian Press appears to be in agreement as Positive Palin stories abound in India, and more so now that she has set foot in the country. In Israel, Palin met briefly with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, making the promise to return for a lengthier visit in the near future. The Prime Minister – however, what is more interesting is that Netanyahu chose to meet with Palin over a Left Wing American Lobby:

J Street officials, who are in Israel for a meeting of the Knesset Diaspora Affairs Committee, complained on Monday that Netanyahu had refused a request to meet with them but had chosen to meet with Palin.

The left-wing American lobby’s president, Jeremy Ben-Ami, said he had wanted to meet with Netanyahu “to introduce ourselves and explain how we can work together as allies.”

This denotes the respect the Prime Minister has for certain American Dignitaries who carry more weight than say, a left-wing American lobbyist.

Back home, Palin’s first stop in Florida was to a sold out crowd of over 1,000, Naples News Press), where, once again, she noted she was weighing a run in 2012.

Meanwhile, the barbs come from the right National Review reports on pundit Bill Kristol as spouting “"I think she's unlikely to be the Republican nominee, and to be honest I think she probably shouldn't be the Republican nominee for president." in reference to a question posed about a potential Palin run in 2012. Conservative activist, Andrew Breitbart, believes that Palin should be akin to an Oprah, in other words a cheerleader for a particular candidate. His choices: Congresswoman Michelle Bachman and Alan West(Politico) Although more than meeting the conservative criteria, both are, at this point, about as relevant as either Ralph Nader or Ron Paul entering the race, perhaps less so, given national name recognition. West and Bachman have exemplary Tea Party Credentials, and Bachman, to her credit, has a stellar voting record in the Congress – that said, Bachman is being taken seriously by ABC News, where she parrots Palin, as saying “she wants to be part of the conversation in 2012” and goes on to note a decision will be made by summer as to her intent to enter the race for the White House

While in India, Palin noted it was time for a woman to be President of the United States, however, to be clear, she did not mention which woman. (See Irish Central link in first Paragraph as source).


All in all, the odds are currently in favor of a Palin run and win, literally she is, as of now, tied with Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination, and is the leading Republican candidate in offshore betting on the overall 2012 Presidential race at Sportsbook.com Having watched the line in previous elections, the odds on favorite at this point is normally the incumbent, however, the closer one gets to 2012, and the candidates begin to own their positions within the two political parties, the odds tighten. As those bets are placed from both within and outside of the U.S. the fact that Palin is the top choice for the nomination, is interesting in itself. A side note: Odds in 2007, on the 2008 election, Barack Obama has a slightly lower line than Palin does now, with Hillary Clinton in the lead and McCain as the top choice for the Republican ticket, with odds being slightly less than 5,000. It is interesting to see who those in Vegas and elsewhere are willing to put their money on in the hopes of a win, of course, the greater the odds, the greater the payoff, but the point is to be paid off. Of note: Hillary Clinton and Mike Huckabee are tied for White House win, both slightly behind Mitt Romney (who is right behind Palin) and Trump is now on the board.

Speaking of which, Trump will be making a foray into Iowa for the June Iowa Republican Dinner (Des Moines Register), this, along with his recent Face Book notes to fans about his patriotism and his love of country (as in I want to be able to do this for our country), indicates that “The Donald” is serious about the run.
Stock up on popcorn, this is going to be one of the best GOP presidential hopeful debate years in history.