Yep. You thought you were losing Jobs Abroad before, wait until Obama is through with you...
You will be lucky if you could get a Job at McDonald's. On Nov 7, 1:47 am, "mike [move on] 532" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Big Business Prepares for a Less Friendly > Washingtonhttp://www.truthout.org/110608B > Washington - After years of playing offense, big business is getting > ready for the less familiar role of playing defense following > President-elect Barack Obama's victory and legislative gains by other > Democrats. > > Corporate America enjoyed favorable treatment under the Bush > administration for almost eight years and for most of the era of > Republican control of Congress from 1995 to 2007. > > Now unions may gain a stronger hand, and business is bracing for > greater financial regulation, worker-friendly policies and an > emphasis > on social spending. > > From a guarded view on trade to expanded collective-bargaining > rights, there's a new wind blowing through the Capitol and big > business groups are bracing for a storm. > > One reason they're sure to find a less sympathetic ear is that > members of groups such as the National Association of Manufacturers > and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent big bucks trying to defeat > Democrats in congressional races. > > Instead, Democrats expanded their numbers in both chambers. That > left these groups on Wednesday trying to put a bright face on results > that gave Democrats at least five more Senate seats and 18 new > members > of the House of Representatives. > > "There are many areas of potential cooperation," John Engler, a > former Republican governor of Michigan and now the president of the > manufacturers' group, said in an optimistic morning-after news > conference. > > Greg Casey, president of the Business-Industry Political Action > Committee, offered: "It's an opportunity for the American people to > ask for competence in government." > > Business lobbies can take solace in one important development: > Democrats appear to have failed to win enough Senate seats to reach > the 60-vote margin needed to cut off debate and force votes on > controversial legislation. > > This numbers game is important because unions have their eye on > rapid passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, which was supported by > Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden. The legislation would end > seven decades of secret balloting during union drives and instead > allow organizers to collect signatures from a majority of workers to > form a union. This process is called "card check." > > "We're very optimistic about an Obama presidency. The Employee > Free Choice Act is our number one legislative priority for next year > and we are going to be pushing very hard," said Thea Lee, the chief > economist for the AFL-CIO. "It was the centerpiece of our electoral > efforts . . . we are very confident that it will happen." > > Less than 24 hours after the election, both unions and big > business were busy identifying who they'd be pressuring if the issue > goes to a vote early next year. Many House members voted for it > earlier this year, knowing that it wouldn't pass the Senate. > > Now, with a president who won't veto the pro-union legislation, > more Democrats in the Senate and Republicans in disarray, it's a > different ballgame. > > "Next time out its not going to be considered a 'free vote' by > anybody, so that's a changing dynamic," said R. Bruce Josten, > executive vice president of government affairs for the Chamber of > Commerce. "I am still positive that we can defeat it." > > Manufacturers fear an early vote on the question. > > "This is not the time and certainly not the issue to build a > relationship," Engler said, suggesting that Obama and Democrats will > need big business to help turn around the economy. He identified > Virginia's Democratic senator-elect, Mark Warner, a pro-business > centrist, as a Democrat he'll be lobbying to block the card-check > measure. > > While recognizing that unions will have a voice in the White > House > for the first time in many years, the Chamber's Josten wasn't worried > that he won't be heard. > > "I had to fight for two years with the Republican majority in > Congress on immigration (reform) . . . the majority of people we were > fighting were Republicans," he said. He also recalled that the > business group also fought a losing battle against complicated new > accounting rules after energy giant Enron's collapse. > > With the jobless rate expected to rise above 7 percent before > Obama takes office and the economy expected to contract sharply over > the 10 weeks until inauguration, Josten thinks that reversing the > economic slump will trump any activist agenda. > > "It's the economy, the economy and the economy," he said. "Obama > is a smart guy and he knows his policies depend on the economy > growing." --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
