Blogwatch

Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) invoked Memorial Day and veterans in the latest salvo against the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), organized by a leading group opposed to the labor legislation.

Thanks for all the insightful comments this week on wage theft. Everywhere I speak I have folks, like T.A. Frank did, admit that they too were victims of wage theft. Three radio interviewers live on-air said, "Hey, I'm paid as an independent contractor." (Radio interviewers are employees not independent contractors.) During one editorial board meeting, an editor confessed that she thought the newspaper drivers were all paid as independent contractors.

Buried in this week’s Quinnipiac Poll of Pennsylvania is a stunning number that really leaves you wondering why Arlen Specter is holding out against the Employee Free Choice Act.

The poll finds that twice as many Pennsylvania Republicans want him to support the measure than want him to oppose it. Twenty six percent of Republicans say his opposition makes them less likely to back him; only 13% say it makes them more likely.

Sometimes an opportunity for reform comes along that is "strategic" in that it changes the playing field for efforts to win other reforms in the future. The passage of the National Labor Relations Act - establishing the right of American workers to organize unions and bargain collectively - was a strategic reform. It increased the power of people previously excluded from power, and thereby reduced the power of corporate interests.