After reportedly raising $800,000 from Democratic sources in March, including with the aid of Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) announced her opposition to a bill that would help working families boost their standards of living by joining unions.
Lincoln admitted in a statement this week that she had been less than forthcoming about her position on the bill, the Employee Free Choice Act, prior to the fundraising efforts. Just three months before raking in $800,000, Lincoln sent mixed signals about her position on the bill. Biden and the Obama administration strongly support passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.
“I cannot support that bill. I cannot support it in its current form,” Lincoln was quoted by the Associated Press as saying this week. “I may not have said that as clearly before, but I’m saying it now.” Lincoln accused the labor movement of promoting divisiveness on the issue and declared the issue to be a "distraction."
During the presidential campaign, candidate Obama described passage of the Employee Free Choice Act as a top priority for his administration. Since taking office, President Obama reiterated his support, sending Vice President Biden to meet with top labor movement leaders on the issue in March.
Other media reports revealed the Arkansas Senator's strong ties to Wal-Mart, the multinational retailer headquartered in her state. Last summer, the company earned strong criticisms for illegally pressing employees to vote for John McCain because of his opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act. A former staffer of hers now works as a lobbyist against the bill for Wal-Mart .
Notably, on a separate matter, Lincoln last week co-sponsored an amendment to the Senate version of the federal budget that would cut the top bracket of the estate tax. This move on the estate tax, which would benefit only the less than one percent of Americans who are millionaires and billionaires, also has a Wal-Mart connection. The wealthy family that owns most of Wal-Mart joined with 18 other millionaire and billionaire families to push for a cut to the estate tax.
The Employee Free Choice Act would remove barriers to unionization by giving workers the choice on how to certify a union in their workplace and by eliminating red tape exploited by employers to delay or stop union organizing efforts. The declining rate of unionization has been linked to stagnant wages for working families over the past decade and to the severity of the current recession.
Arkansas workers currently are members of unions at a rate far below the national average. In terms of average weekly earnings, Arkansas workers are ranked 44th in the country.
With friends like Sen. Blanch Lincoln, do working families need enemies? Instead of being the Senator from Arkansas, Lincoln my be more aptly titled the Senator from Wal-Mart. A primary challenge to Lincoln for the 2010 race may be needed to make real progress for working families and restore of measure of honesty from American politicians.
