Video: Blue Dog speaks out against Card Check

It’s more symbolic than significant, at least at the moment, since Nancy Pelosi presumably has the votes to pass Card Check, but Dan Boren has broken ranks and publicly opposed it. Boren (D-OK) spoke at a meeting of local businessmen at a Chamber of Commerce meeting, explaining exactly why Card Check is so objectionable, and not just for its elimination of the secret ballot from organizing elections. Greg Sargent at Plum Line reports that the unions have taken notice:

The SEIU hit Boren hard for favoring CEOs over his hard-working constituents.

“Boren chose to turn his back on the needs of struggling Oklahomans,” SEIU political director Jon Youngdahl said in a statement sent to me. “If the Employee Free Choice Act passes, 900,000 Oklahomans would see a 14% raise -– bringing more than $410,000,000 straight back into the state economy, every year. That’s math even Dan Boren can understand.”

I’m told that the SEIU will follow up next week with an aggressive campaign against Boren. Battle lines are drawn.

The SEIU apparently didn’t hire too many mathematicians, accountants, or people with common sense. How exactly does that translate to “bringing” that money into the state economy? It doesn’t get created at the moment workers cash their checks. It comes from employers, meaning that the money was already in the state economy.  The SEIU just wants government to forcibly distribute it differently.  That’s an absurd argument on its face.

And as we discussed yesterday, the true impact of Card Check means massive job losses, as many as 3.5 million over the next few years, as investors hold back and employers have to make up losses from increased labor costs.  It’s not rocket science; the more labor costs, the less labor business will be able to buy unless they can raise prices to generate more revenue.  With the economy stalled, price hikes will almost certainly be out of the question.

Expect Big Labor to come after Boren — hard.  If he stays publicly opposed, other Blue Dogs may follow suit.  That will give moderate Senators like Blanche Lincoln, Mark Pryor, and Mary Landrieu reason to withdraw their support, which is the real risk of allowing Boren off the reservation.

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