Rep. John Kline (R-MN), the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee’s Senior Republican Member, today delivers the weekly Republican address on the Democrats’ health care legislation moving through Congress “like a runaway freight train.” In his address, Kline calls on congressional Democrats and President Obama to “press the reset button” and pursue commonsense, bipartisan solutions that will fi... Read more »
The U.S. Department of Labor reported this morning a loss of 216,000 jobs in the month of August, bringing the national unemployment rate to a 26-year high of 9.7 percent. Rep. John Kline (R-MN), the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee’s top Republican, issued the following statement: “This morning’s jobs report proves what struggling American families already know – the American economy is f... Read more »
You know eliminating the secret ballot is a bad idea when even card check’s biggest backers start cooling off to the assault on worker’s rights. Richard Trumka, the next president of the AFL-CIO, has indicated his union could live with a version of the Employee Free Choice Act that drops the heinous “card check” provision of the bill, which can leave workers open to intimidation. The AFL-CIO has b... Read more »
Rep. John Kline (R-MN), the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee’s Senior Republican, was joined by House Republican Policy Committee Chairman Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI) in requesting public release of President Barack Obama’s upcoming national address to elementary and secondary school students. Citing the importance of parental involvement and transparency in education, the lawmakers sent a le... Read more »
There’s more than one reason to oppose the Employee Free Choice Act. There’s its notorious ability to set aside secret ballots for workers through “card check,” of course. But there are other aspects of the bill – and of supposed “compromises” that drop the “card check” provision and replace it with other misguided changes to workplaces rules – that are equally troubling. In an essay for The News ... Read more »
Even if supporters dropped the “card check” provision of the Employee Free Choice Act, it would still be inhospitable to the economy. That’s what George Glover says in a Monday essay for The Tampa Tribune. Glover knows a thing or two about hospitality. He’s the chairman and CEO of the BayStar Hotel Group, which develops, acquires, operates, and sells hotels in the southeastern United States. Here’... Read more »
It’s been a quiet summer for card check – and here’s hoping it stays that way. The Employee Free Choice Act has been in legislative limbo since the spring as Democrats try to rally 60 votes to stop a possible filibuster if the proposal ever comes to the Senate floor for a vote. Since then, there have been rumors and hints of “card check lite,” a compromise version of the bill that, theoretically, ... Read more »
Ask Larry Getts how much “free choice” there is in the Employee Free Choice Act. Chances are, he’ll say “not much.” Getts is an employee of the Dana Corporation in Fort Wayne, Ind. He has seen firsthand the pressure, badgering, and intimidation that come with the card check process for union organization, a major part of the act. In March, he testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, E... Read more »
The American economy is sick and the best cure is jobs. The national unemployment rate is currently 9.4 percent. That’s a slight improvement from the previous mark of 9.5 percent, but that’s like saying a 102-degree fever has improved … to 101. The Employee Free Choice Act will not reduce that fever. If anything, it will only make it worse. Experts have studied the act and have concluded that its ... Read more »
Rep. John Kline (R-MN), the top Republican on the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, today expressed new doubts about pending legislation to eliminate the private sector’s role in student lending, arguing that the bill’s massive new entitlement spending initiatives may cost taxpayers far more than expected. Kline’s comments come after the Obama Administration’s Office of Management and Budg... Read more »
