Education & Labor Committee Republicans

As if there were any doubt about how prominent a role Democrats’ favorite special interest group plays these days in Washington, D.C., a pair of news items out today reaffirms the oversized clout of union bosses.

The White House blogs today that the first annual report of the Middle Class Task Force is out. Not surprisingly, union expansion is a major theme, with special attention paid to the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), a noted job killer.

Meanwhile, President Obama announced that Service Employees International Union President Andy Stern will serve on his debt commission. Stern, it may be recalled, is already a favorite around the White House, appearing on the 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue visitor logs more than any other individual in the first half of 2009.

Stern is also a champion of the card check scheme known as EFCA – a bill that would disenfranchise workers and empower federal bureaucrats to impose wages, hours, benefits, and other work rules. Workers and employers both lose under EFCA. But it would be a major coup for labor bosses who have invested heavily in Democrats and are looking for legislative payback.

For now, they’ll have to settle for appointments to commissions and shout-outs in task force reports. Not bad for one day – but it’s all to be expected in the culture of union favoritism.

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