This week, the White House floated the idea of putting the SEIU’s Andy Stern on its deficit commission. Presumably because labor unions are renowned for their skill in holding down costs.
Earlier this year, the labor boss showed up at the White House so often as to raise lobbying legal concerns, reported on by CNN.
When Democrats were considering a tax on so-called “Cadillac” health-care plans, the most lavish of which have been snagged by unions, union bosses promptly marched into the White House to have an exception carved out for them.
So, what might the American people think of all this fraternization? According to Pew:
Among all-important independents?
This echoes the shift among even union members in the Massachusetts Senate election. Union members defied leadership and voted for Republican Scott Brown in what an AFL-CIO pollster dubbed “a working-class revolt.”
The finding, disclosed during an AFL-CIO conference call about the poll, represents a fresh problem for Democrats, who count on union leaders and union members as a pillar of the party’s base.
Luckily, DNC spokesperson Brad Woodhouse thinks it would be “foolhardy” to draw conclusions from the Brown election, and the AFL-CIO thinks moving ahead with a “very progressive political program” is the remedy for this break between union leadership and membership.
