Hillary vs. Labor, Round II

[Omaha Steve]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20070607/cm_thenation/15203527

The Nation Thu Jun 7, 4:49 PM ET

The Nation --
Hillary Clinton's chief strategist, Mark Penn, is becoming a liability for her campaign. Following the publication of The Nation's article, Hillary Inc., the heads of two large unions wrote a letter to Clinton, first noted in the New York Times this week, expressing their displeasure that Penn's PR firm, Burson-Marsteller, was helping corporations block union organizing drives, including one their unions were involved in at Cintas, a highly profitable uniform and laundry supply company.

After the Times story, the two most important labor leaders in America--the AFL-CIO's John Sweeney and SEIU's Andy Stern--also contacted the Clinton campaign. According to AFL-CIO spokesman Steve Smith, "Sweeney had a conversation with the campaign and registered his concern about Mark Penn."

As a result, two days before Hillary is to speak before an AFL-CIO forum in Detroit, Penn is trying to draw separation from his company's anti-labor work, telling The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder that "he will cede all oversight responsibilities for his company's labor relations clients to other managers."

A few weeks back Penn told The Nation that he had "never personally participated in any antiunion activity." He said today, via email, that he is "sending a clear message that I have no role in this and as a matter of conscience will not."

Penn's statements raise the question: how does one recuse themselves from work they claim not to be doing?


FULL story at link.

[illinoisprogressive]

1. Ari is a hero. While the msm gives clinton a total pass, Ari is asking the hard questions.

[papau]

2. The Nation's job one is taking down Hillary it seems - Mark Penn gave up all

project duties except the Microsoft account when he signed on - but there was no formal chain of command change - he was still the CEO of the company - and the Nation is having fun pretending it does not understand the situation.

So Penn says that even the CEO duties - which are not direct oversight of each project in the hopper - will not include the general CEO duties for the union projects. - And this is somehow confusing? He did not resign from the company - he is still CEO - how hard is that to understand?

Have the folks at the Mation ever worked in or near a consulting corporation?

A silly question since they are not selling truth about Hillary or the Dem primary campaign - The Nation's job one is taking down Hillary it seems.

[Tom Joad]

3. It is Hillary and her PR people who are misleading the nation... and hurting working people.

Where was she when Billy backed the anti-labor Nafta & WTO?
What was she doing sitting on the board of one of the most anti-union companies of the nation? (Sam Walton loved the Clintons... and for good reason)
where is she when working people get sent off to a war of aggression she supported with all her heart?

[papau]

5. nonsense - under Sam Walmart was anti-union but pro-employee and Hillary was a loud voice for

the employees - especially women. The Walmart that shits on employees and tries to pass employee health costs onto Medicaid began post Sam's death and well past Hillary being on the board for the token $25,000 that Sam paid ($75,000 toward the end of her stay on the board - but a far cry from the money similar boards pay members).

How the hell did she have power to reform the WTO at anytime? And did she ever have the power to stop NAFTA - or would want to? At the time Trade was equal to jobs being created in the US, albeit with some the loss of some jobs in some industries but with those jobs plus a lot more being created. And initially it was a job creator. The latest studies I've seen indicate it has become after more than 10 years a wash on US jobs and that it destroyed Mexican agriculture via our massive subsidy to our corn producers under pricing Mexican farmers. But the side agreements that were made to address many progressive concerns were a new and good thing at the time - only later did folks find that those side agreements were ineffective and that hard rules needed to be in the actual trade agreements. Today we have "historic" rules being put into 2 agreements that have not been approved as yet because of a fear the rules are not hard enough as to enforcement - indeed the ILO rules provision appears great until the enforcement is discussed. But it has taken over 10 years to get here.

Piss on her for her Bush needs war power in order to get Saddam to negotiate war vote if you like (79 Senators voted "wrong" at the time) - but I'd suggest reading the October 2002 floor of the Senate remarks http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id= before the vote before you make up your mind.

[William769]

4. Thats strange.

http://www.nysaflcio.org/press_releases/2007/clinton_town_hall.htm

[papau]

6. LOL - AFL/CIO says " Senator has proven time and again to be a true friend of working men and women"

"the Senator has proven time and again to be a true friend of working men and women and a champion of labor’s causes." sort of kills the anti-labor canard, doesn't it.

:-)