Blanche Lincoln Announces She Will Join GOP Filibuster Against Employee Free Choice

Last week, when Arkansas' reactionary Senator Blanche Lincoln (D) teamed up with Jon Kyl (R-AZ) to push another tax reduction for multimillionaires on behalf of her WalMart patrons, we looked at her abysmally corrupt record as a pawn of the wealthy and a bane to ordinary American working families. Today Lincoln made it clear to her financial supporters that they could count on her to oppose Employee Free Choice, the only Senate Democrat vowing to stab working families in the back on this.

"While I may not have been clear about my position in the past, I am stating today that I cannot support Employee Free Choice Act in its current form and I can’t support efforts to bring it to Senate consideration in its current form," Lincoln said in a statement late Monday afternoon.

"I will consider alternatives that have the support of both business and labor but my pledge today is to focus my full attention on the priorities I have mentioned that affect every working family in Arkansas."

"In its current form? Its current form was what she voted for on June 26, 2007. There are no changes to the bill. The only changes were Obama, a supporter who will sign the bill, replaced Bush, an opponent who had promised to veto it. That makes each vote all that much more crucial to Big Business' anti-union efforts. And the other thing that has changed since June 2007-- the immense amount of legalized bribes Big Business has poured into Lincoln's coffers.

WalMart may be one of her top 5 contributors but that doesn't even scratch the surface of this execrable person's boldfaced corruption. Every special interest with business before the Senate has lavished her with hundreds of thousands of dollars. In a saner society, Blanche Lincoln wouldn't be disgracing the U.S. Senate; she would be rotting in prison for taking bribes and selling her votes. HMOs, Big Pharma, Oil companies, lobbyists, Insurance, bankers, real estate... every special interest looking to feed at the public trough finds its way to Blanche Lincoln's office with a checkbook in hand. So far the current cycle has seen her gobble up $6,922,733, very little of it from Arkansas voters. (So far in her entire disgraceful political career she's taken in a hefty $12,305,217. And the sector which has doled out the most? FIRE-- finance/insurance/real estate-- $2 million.

Today's Hill confirms what Democrats in Arkansas have feared-- Lincoln has sold out completely. She will join McConnell and DeMint in filibustering the bill when it comes up to prevent it from being voted on.

The decision represents a bit of a turnaround for Lincoln, who voted to proceed to a debate on card check in 2007. The statement on Monday indicated she would not support efforts to bring it up for consideration.

“I consider both the labor and the business communities to be my friends.  However, now that we need all hands on deck, including business and labor, to get our economy moving again, this issue is dividing us,” Lincoln said in a statement. “While I may not have been clear about my position in the past, I am stating today that I cannot support Employee Free Choice Act in its current form and I can’t support efforts to bring it to Senate consideration in its current form.”

What a waste for labor unions to have donated $544,395 to her campaign. I wonder when they'll ever learn. Speaking for the SEIU, Jon Youngdahl expressed disappointment: “Senator Lincoln’s decision to stand with Big Business over working families at a time when CEOs make 344 times that of their average employee, and as jobs disappear by the minute, is disappointing at best. Yet we share Majority Leader Reid’s belief that our efforts to improve the working conditions and lives of millions of Americans through the Employee Free Choice Act will not be derailed." The anti-union Chamber of Commerce was breaking out the champagne bottles and, no doubt, the checkbooks. Steve Law, union busting attorney: “This makes opposition to cloture bipartisan. We hope this will encourage others to take a public stand against this increasingly radioactive bill."
The Arkansas Blog has some mighty pissed off reactions from local Democrats. But if Arkansas Democrats don't have a Democrat to run, there might as well be a Republican in that seat. She doesn't deserve a penny or a vote from anyone who gives a hoot about Democratic values or, for that matter, clean government.