Reid Keeps Pro-Union Bills on Senate Agenda (puts Senators on record for fall election!)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000002885836

May 30, 2008 – 2:42 p.m.
Reid Keeps Pro-Union Bills on Senate Agenda
By Kathleen Hunter, CQ Staff

No matter how slim the odds of getting the bills on organized labor’s wish list through the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid is going to keep queuing them up for floor action.

Organized labor and its Democratic backers may fall short of the 60 votes needed to move anything controversial through the Senate, but in an election year, putting senators on the record with roll call votes can be enough.

“It shows who’s for working families and who’s not,” said Democrat Robert Menendez of New Jersey.

In some instances, swing-state Republicans might even be persuaded to cast a vote that lets them avoid being targeted in a campaign ad — a possibility that only adds to GOP annoyance with Reid’s agenda choices.

“Even a blind person could see a concerted strategy of pro-union legislation coming to the floor,” said Richard M. Burr , R-N.C.

“Everything we’ve had has a labor component,” said Tom Coburn , R-Okla. “They’re buying the Congress.”

A bonus, from the Democratic point of view, is that the votes will show that their presidential nominee has a different philosophy from that of GOP Sen. John McCain of Arizona. Every pro-union vote on the agenda will give Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York a chance to burnish their labor scorecards.

FULL story at link.