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Breaking: Ben Nelson publicly opposes Card Check
Hot Air » Top Picks — ... This looks promising : Ben Nelson will once again be playing a key role in Senate negotiations over a major legislative drive. The centrist Nebraska Democrat told reporters Tuesday afternoon that he does not currently support the Employee Free Choice Act — also known as card check — a bill that would allow workers to choose to unionize either through a secret ballot or by signing cards of support.“I’m not in favor of the bill as it — I haven’t seen exactly what was put in, but if what was put in is the same as it’s been described, I’m not in support of that,” he said. Nelson, ...

Moderate Democrats Look To Serve Their Special Interests And Thwart Obama’s Agenda
Think Progress — ... in the omnibus. He also opposes the Employee Free Choice Act. Additionally, Nelson opposes a provision in Obama’s 2010 budget proposal that would overhaul the federal student aid program to ensure that Pell grants increase each year to keep pace with college tuition increases. Nelson opposes the measure, in short, because it could ...

Dems Giving Geithner Time As Pelosi Opens Door to Another Bailout
TPM Election Central — ... But Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE), a potential thorn in the administration's side on several key issues, gave the Obama team the benefit of the doubt on the markets. Nelson told me that the health of the Dow is not "the indication that the program the secretary's pursuing is successful or not," but rather "a measure" of Geithner's ability to calm the economic waters. ...

Ben Nelson isn’t the Employee Free Choice Problem–Mike Johanns is
Firedoglake — There's a rather misleading headline over at the Huffington Post: Ben Nelson Opposes Employee Free Choice Act "I'm not in favor of the bill as it -- I haven't seen exactly what was put in, but if what was put in is the same as it's been ...

Leaked slides show Obama EPA is fast-tracking global warming endangerment finding.
The Hollywood Liberal — ... in the omnibus. He also opposes the Employee Free Choice Act. Additionally, Nelson opposes a provision in Obama’s 2010 budget proposal that would overhaul the federal student aid program to ensure that Pell grants increase each year to keep pace with college tuition increases. Nelson opposes the measure, in short, because it could ...

The Life and Times of EFCA, Part I
FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right — Yesterday was an eventful day in the life of the Employee Free Choice Act. Nebraska's Ben Nelson came out against the bill, one of a half-dozen Democrats rumored to have done so. Harry Reid, undaunted, insisted that he had 60 votes for cloture -- at which point he'd only need 51 votes for the bill itself. And amidst all the madness, a Citibank analyst named Debroa Weinswig, who just last month had scored Wal-Mart stock as a "9.5" on a scale of 1 to 10, downgraded her assessment for the retail giant over fears that EFCA would pass, in spite of ...

Democratic Infighting
Booman Tribune — ... makes a point: Moderate Democrats aren't a tough breed, but they've begun to question many of Obama's policies. They don't strike fear in Pelosi's heart. But if their ranks swell, they could cause trouble for her, Reid, and especially Obama. And Barnes is right. On Tuesday, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) came out against the Employee Free Choice Act even though he had no problem voting for it in 2007. Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) ...

Saturday Night With Cotton-Eyed Joe Biden
Firedoglake — ... And they aren’t all backing it: Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson said Tuesday he does not support the bill, and other moderate Democrats, particularly Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, have also expressed reservations. For EFCA to pass, all of these Democrats must come on board, along with one Republican – most likely Pennsylvanian Arlen Specter, who backed the bill last year but whose support this time around is far from certain. ...

Why Is Dianne Feinstein Stiffing Labor?
FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right — ... on the bill, that's nothing if not predictable. And if Ben Nelson of Nebraska, who has generally been the most conservative Democrat in the Senate, opposes the measure, that would pretty much be par for the course. ...

Feinstein, Specter Compromises Pave the Way for Passage of Employee Free Choice Act
Firedoglake — ... and has incentives to get both parties to quickly make their best, most reasonable offer. Bill Samuel of the AFL-CIO says "we're open to that." Labor will no doubt be disappointed with such sacrifices to the bill, but if it means getting something passed, they will probably be happy to make these concessions which satisfy the demands of critics like Blanche Lincoln, Mark Pryor, Jim Webb, Michael Bennet, Mark Udall and Ben Nelson. George McGovern was recently dis-invited to the Progressive Magazine's 100th ...