Secret ballot vote will decide Lieberman’s fate
In today’s Hartford Courant Jesse Hamilton reports the United States Senate will handle Joe Lieberman’s future within the Democrat leadership with a … secret ballot. Lieberman currently holds the chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, a powerful position that some Democrats – including two senators from Vermont – think should be stripped from the Connecticut junior senator.
Here is the funny part. Democrats are going to be using a secret ballot to determine Lieberman’s fate.
Going to have a little fun here today. … Quickly from the Courant.
Senate Democrats will decide by secret ballot Tuesday whether to take away Sen. Joe Lieberman’s chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee — a post from which he oversees U.S. security issues, as well as the operations of a wide segment of the federal government.
The anger over Lieberman’s campaigning for the Republican presidential candidate is still boiling — fueled by memories of his undercutting Barack Obama, including in a nationally televised speech at the Republican National Convention.
Majority Leader Harry Reid met with Lieberman two days after the election, telling him that his chairmanship might be on the line.
But just as it looked as if his future in the Senate could be as a political hermit, the backlash against him has faltered. So Tuesday’s vote — the talk of Capitol Hill — has become as uncertain as a stock market investment.
So what do other Democrats think of secret ballots? Well, if you’re an employee about to vote if your shop should be unionized or not, Democrats side with unions, convinced no voting is needed at all. Unions want to set it up more or less as a petition drive. Hey man, why don’t you sign right here – it’s the best thing to do ya know?
No secret ballots for you.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) were outspoken concerning Lieberman’s fate. They want him stripped of his chairmanship, and the Democrats are going to do that using a secret ballot. This protects Obama since he says he does not want Lieberman punished, but by allowing a secret ballot, Obama is quietly giving his OK to throw Joe under the bus.
In June of 2007, both senators voted for a bill – the Employee Free Choice Act that did not make it to the Senate floor – that would amend the National Labor Relations Act and, in part, ditch the secret ballot.
From the section on “streamlining union certification.”
If the Board finds that a majority of the employees in a unit appropriate for bargaining has signed valid authorizations designating the individual or labor organization specified in the petition as their bargaining representative and that no other individual or labor organization is currently certified or recognized as the exclusive representative of any of the employees in the unit, the Board shall not direct an election but shall certify the individual or labor organization as the representative described in subsection (a).
Secret ballot good for them, but not for us.
Yes, this story is a bit of a stretch, but I wanted to have a little fun today. The Democrats can handle this any way that they would like since it is a political party and not really part of the official government structure.
The GOP has made it clear that Lieberman is welcome to caucus with them if he’s tossed out on the street. He could rightly claim that he did not leave the Democrat party, but the party left him.
Update: If you are interested in learning more about the Employee Free Choice Act – it’s stupid how some of these bills are named – Hinderaker has more today at Power Line.
Update: Ed over at Hot Air picked up on this today as well. I mentioned that I was having a little fun with this post, but I’m glad someone else with a bit more stature in the blog word was thinking the same thing I was thinking.
5 Comments
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Jim, this is not that much of a stretch. Why shouldn't we all see, since we're almost like the Union Mgt folks, with out the thuggery, who voted him out or was just present…….
We have this article on our We're Getting Hosed Alert page – this is an important issue and people need to understand that allowing Secret Balloting for things like this is one way we can see our freedoms being taken away from us. It is up to the people to see and take an active part in what their congressman do in Washington. We elect them to a job, this is a job they are given through our voting – hiring of sorts. We are giving them a job for us – to speak for US – We The People – and we should never let them forget this. I think that the congressman think they are given this position and once they are they are free do do what they want to with no regards for what their constituents want. We have for too long allowed this misconception to take place and it is up to us now to keep them in line.
I have urged our readers on our site to go to Let Freedom Ring page to hit the Tell your Congressman – and tell them a thing or two about how disgusted you are with them for supporting this Secret Ballot to oust Lieberman. They need to know you are watching them. They need to know that them must vote to keep Lieberman and keep bipartisanship in congress. And they need to speak out against Secret Balloting for such things, that is what needs to be ousted!
I could not help but notice the absense of Senator Lieberman at the get together with John Mccain and Mr. Obama.I did notice Lindsee Gramn was there though. Did Joe not go because he was not invited or was Joe doing what Joe does best looking after himself..Now that he has been what ever I have to offer this … Joe the race for VP in 2001 is over,Your Presidency run in 2004 is over. You have moved back sort of to Conecticut from New Haphiser. Joe you have traveled ever whaer in the world and to every state many times over. The Rebpublican party said no way no how no Joe on the ticket. The democrates of the state the party you use to be in said no way no how no more JOe. The party you claim to side with nealy went to war to throw you out and be gone with you for good. I am sensing a pattern here that you have a very high oppinion of your self but the vast majority of the country on both sides of the political spectrum just are sick and tried of you and your so called self rightous moral autority and really do hate you. So how about spending the last four years of your term maybe coming home and representing the people of this state.
@Gary,
You’re totally off topic. The thread concerns secret ballots and Lieberman was used as an example.
Future off topic responses will probably be deleted without notice.
Maybe this is a strech but I could not help but notice this story on Joe Lieberman is more a cover of a story to bash honest hard working union people and there representives who are voted in by a secret ballot.As the unions go so do the rest. Keep up the bashing it has done so many so good. You have no pensions or health care your wages are near falt for decades your company sponsered matching 401 k are now fully employee paid and going non matching,Your holidays or sick time is being taking away your expected to take as much work home with you and do it on your time but are docked for missing a hour to go to the doctors so go ahead keep on tearing them unions down as you become third world workers.Just remeber over the years it has blacks and hispacnics and gays and the Irish and illegal aliens gay marige and on and on as more and more what was fought for to make this a great country for both Owners and workers becomes a owners paridise.I feel this is on topic because of the amount of union bashing that I feel was taking place in this forum.