Union Bashing Isn't Working For Republicans-- And A Few Of Them Even Figured It Out

Yesterday a key Boehner ally, Steven LaTourette (R-OH), the guy who was asked to escort the Speaker to the House Floor to be sworn in, and was asked to take the gavel and preside after the ceremony, bolted from the suicidal GOP jihad against working families and-- despite threats from GOP leadership-- offered an amendment that would have stripped away Boehner's obsession with taking away the right of public sector employees to bargain collectively. Keep in mind that the White House issued a statement saying the bill "would undermine a fundamental principle of fairness in union representation elections-- that outcomes should be determined by a majority of the valid ballots cast. By treating non-votes as 'no' votes, the provision would prohibit workers in the airline and railroad industries from voting whether to join a union on the same basis-- majority rule-- as most other industries... If the President is presented with a bill that would not safeguard the ability of railroad and airline workers to decide whether or not they would be represented by a union based upon a majority of the ballots cast in an election or that would degrade safe and efficient air traffic, his senior advisers would recommend that he veto the bill.” That's pretty strong-- and LaTourette's amendment would have taken out the offensive section.

Would have... but it was defeated 206-220, every single Democrat (even the most reactionary Blue Dogs like Dan Boren and Mike McIntyre holding firm for a change) voting with LaTourette. What was more interesting is that even with intense anti-worker pressure from Cantor, Boehner and McCarthy, 16 Republicans defected and voted with Pelosi:

Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL)
Jo Emerson (R-MO)
Chris Gibson (R-NY)
Michael Grimm (R-NY)
Tim Johnson (R-IL)
Walter Jones (R-NC)
Peter King (R-NY)
Steven LaTourette (R-OH)
Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ)
Todd Platts (R-PA)
Dave Reichert (R-WA)
David Rivera (R-FL)
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)
Jon Runyan (R-NJ)
Chris Smith (R-NJ)
Don Young (R-AK)

Also interesting was that quite a few Republicans who normally try to pass themselves off as "mainstream" and would have been expected to vote against something this extreme, buckled to Cantor's threats, including Charlie Bass (R-NH), Judy "Stop Talking About Jobs" Biggert (R-IL), Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), Charlie Dent (R-PA), Robert Dold (R-IL), Jimmy Duncan (D-TN), Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), Jim Gerlach (R-PA), Richard Hanna (R-NY), Dean Heller (R-NV), Leonard Lance (R-NJ), Tom Petri (R-WI), and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA).

Rodney Frelinghuysen IV (R-NJ), John Campbell (R-CA) and C.W. Bill Young (R-FL) were too frightened to go on the record and avoided the vote-- probably by hiding out in the men's room while it was being taken. Apparently they're more aware of the new Gallup poll findings that show far more Americans back unions than the GOP ideologues like Walker, Snyder, Kasich and Scott who are trying to wreck them. Or maybe they were reading Daily Kos on their iPads:

One of the main reasons Republicans are facing a strong backlash over their attempts to bust public-sector unions is that many members of public sector unions are-- or at least were-- Republicans. As these normally Republican union members hear the candidates for whom they voted attack them viciously and try to take away their collective bargaining rights, they are turning away from Republicans in large numbers.

This is especially the case among firefighters, police officers and the building trades... Roughly 12% of Republican votes in 2010 came from self-identified union households. That is a pretty significant percentage of your base to piss off. A 10% increase in Democratic support among union households would represent a 3.4% shift in the national poplar vote, half of the 6.8% Republican margin in the 2010 national House vote.

With Frelinghuysen hiding out and with Chris Smith, Frank LoBiondo and Jon Runyan joining the Democrats in opposing Boehner's union busting strategy, we called 2010 New Jersey Democratic candidate Ed Potosnak to ask why Leonard Lance was siding with the extremists rather than the more mainstream conservatives. Here's what he told me:

I am shocked and appalled by Speaker Boehner's continued efforts to eliminate collective bargaining for workers including today's Federal Aviation Administration reautherization. The bill that passed includes a union-busting provision that I do not support, nor does the Senate, or President Obama. Instead of passing meaningful legislation, the Speaker and his party line followers passed a dead-end bill pandering to the far-right wing of their party. This bill forces unions to conduct unfair and undemocratic elections.

Luckily, some GOP members of Congress stood up to Speaker Boehner and joined Democrats to oppose this irresponsible policy. Rep. Runyan and Rep. LoBiondo were among the NJ Republicans who stood up to Mr. Boehner. Rep. Lance was noticeable absent from this group. Instead of voting to protect the rights of New Jerseyans, Congressman Lance voted to disadvantage transportation workers and undermine their elections. I am very disaapointed in Mr. Lance, he has changed since going to Washington, and this pandering is just another example of how far off track he has gotten.

Before the final vote was taken on the GOP April Fools bill Friday-- ironically, they call it the "Government Shutdown Prevention Act"-- the Democrats offered a Motion to recommit which stipulates that if Republicans force a government shutdown, Members of Congress and the President should not get paid. Americans’ elected officials should not receive their taxpayer-funded paycheck if they can’t do their jobs and keep public services up and running." Republicans didn't like this one bit. One Texas Democrat, Charlie Gonzales, voted with 236 Republicans against the motion.