Sen Pryor Seeks to Broker "Card Check" Deal

The Hill reports that:

Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) said he intends to approach Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) on the Senate floor this week to see if there’s another way to come at the labor issue, also known as the Employee Free Choice Act. Specter, whom many view as the decisive vote on the issue, announced last week on the Senate floor that he could not support moving to a debate on the legislation in its current form. Specter strongly opposed a key aspect of the bill that would deny businesses the right to insist on a secret-ballot election before a union is certified. Instead, workers could organize if a majority sign petition cards."

Pryor said that he had been talking with Specter and other Democrats about finding another direction prior to Specter’s announcement, and that he intends to seek him out during the budget votes and see if there’s an opportunity to try again. “I see this time now as really an opportunity for compromise or for a new approach on addressing some of the issues that revolve around that issue,” Pryor said. “I’m not sure it is over yet. It may be. I’m going to talk to Sen. Specter this week and see where he wants to go.”

When told that Pryor was interested in discussing a possible alternative bill, Specter only said, “Well, he hasn’t done it yet.”

Why would Sen Pryor from a right to work state in anyway promote Card Check and actions that could ruin one or more of Arkansas major employers (e.g, Wal-mart Corp) or support taking away worker's rights to a secret ballot? Also what deal (bribe or pork project) is Pryor so confident about that he would say he would seek out Specter "during the budget votes and see if there’s an opportunity to try again"?

As identified by the Workforce Fairness Institute:

A secret ballot is a sacred American tradition. It protects workers from being intimidated into voting for a union they don't want. And workers shouldn't be stuck with a union contract written by government bureaucrats that employees can't vote up or down.

The fact that Congressional leaders are even debating this proposal during this economic crisis is just crazy, and it reminds us how out of touch they really are.

Mark Prior is now willing to 1) work to advance "card check" and 2) support a budget that will in debt our Nation and our children's children with more debt than than was accumulated in 220 prior years added together, Arkansas will look back with regret on the day we trusted Mark Pryor with another six years. We all need to tell Sen. Mark Pryor to stop trying to make compromises concerning Card Check and to vote NO. Card Check is a bad deal. If there is something that Pryor really believes needs to be reformed in labor law and the National Labor Relations Board, then he can address that later and stop dabbling with the workers right to a secret vote. Pryor is a senator not a congressman. He is supposed to be seeking to be a statesman who stands up for the people of Arkansas and stops excessive Federal government expansions and encroachment on Arkansas through big government spending programs. But that is not happening.

Pryor may believe he "won" his congressional race, but the fact is he was handed an uncontested race except for a Green Party candidate. His party's presidential candidate Barrack Obama received less than 40% of the votes in Arkansas. Even conservatives and independents were fooled into believing that Mark Pryor was a "blue dog" and would stand up against Sen. Harry Reid and whichever candidate became President. We did not envisioned, that Pryor would climb into bed on the socialistic programs advanced by Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.

Arkansans were obviously fooled. Now we have a growing number of TEA Parties. The number one question asked by everyone attending these rallies (Democrats, Independents, and Republicans) is who are the Republicans going to run against Sen. Blanche Lincoln? Good question! The followup question, especially by independents, is why didn't the Republicans run someone against Mark Pryor? At first, Republicans hung their heads. They had rationalized that Sen. Pryor had in the last two years leading up to the election, a "middle of the road" approach and sometimes a right of center position on family issue. He was allowed a lot of leeway from his fellow Senators who knew he had a race in 2008. However, since reelection and the election of Barack Obama, Pryor has moved from center to left in a few short months supporting enormous tax and spend programs. Now the Arkansas Republicans Party leadership knows it was wrong in not running a candidate and forfeiting another six-years to Pryor.

Sen. Pryor now seems to do the bidding of Sen Harry Reid with respect to the federal budget and federal spending. Can we even trust that Pryor would be attempting to broker a deal with Specter, an outgoing RINO, without the prior approval of Reid, the administration and the Washington Union bosses? Pryor needs to support the majority of his Arkansas constituents and oppose "Card Check" and to stand up for the Arkansas working families by opposing the expansionism of socialism via big tax and spend programs.

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