-By Warner Todd Huston
Traitors to the right of them, traitors to the left of them, traitors in front of them… behind them, around them within them… in the they-just-can’t-win department, unions held a soiree for the traitor Republicans that voted in favor of some of the pro-union provisions in last week’s temporary budget and their pals in the donkey party were heehawing in rage to beat the band over the whole thing. The news is quite revealing in a number of ways, really.
On March 10 Politico reported that 15 labor groups held a little “thank you” party on Capitol Hill for those Republicans that voted in favor of the few pro-union amendments to the CR. Only those Republicans that voted in favor of the unions were invited.
Of the pro-union amendments, one would have repealed the Davis Bacon prevailing wage law and the second would have prohibited the federal government from observing project labor agreements (PLAs). The latter failed by a 210 to 210 tie vote. Some Republicans claimed that they voted in favor of the PLA amendment by accident due to the flurry of amendments offered in a short space of time before the votes came due.
Democrats on the Hill were not amused by the union’s reaching out to the GOP, though.
“House Republicans are rushing to defend Gov. Scott Walker’s union busting in Wisconsin, and here in D.C., labor is rushing to thank House Republicans,” a House Democratic source said. “So much for standing by the brothers and sisters who stand with you while Speaker [John] Boehner and House Republicans continue their attack on organized labor.
So what is “telling” about all this? What is telling is the fact that Democrats were so upset by this little union celebration in the first place. Why, exactly, should the Democrats be so upset that these Republicans voted their way? The ire from Democrats at the unions for daring to be happy that the “other side” voted in their favor goes to show that Democrats are so filled with hate that they cannot be happy when Republicans even vote their way! They are so filled with bile that even agreement disgusts them.
It’s pretty sad, really.
In the meantime conservatives have their own bone to pick with these recalcitrant Republicans. For conservatives, unions are the root of all evil, so these Republicans better have some darn good reasons to have sided with the anti-capitalist left on these two union amendments.
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“The only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.”
–Samuel Johnson
Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer. He has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and before that he wrote articles on U.S. history for several small American magazines. His political columns are featured on many websites such as Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com, BigHollywood.com, and BigJournalism.com, as well as RightWingNews.com, RightPundits.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, AmericanDaily.com, among many, many others. Mr. Huston is also endlessly amused that one of his articles formed the basis of an article in Germany’s Der Spiegel Magazine in 2008.
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