Hot Legal Topics » Barack Obama http://hotlegaltopics.com Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:08:18 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 The Future of the Labor Movement http://hotlegaltopics.com/2010/01/labor-law/the-future-of-the-labor-movement/ http://hotlegaltopics.com/2010/01/labor-law/the-future-of-the-labor-movement/#comments Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:36:14 +0000 Rob http://hotlegaltopics.com/2010/01/labor-law/the-future-of-the-labor-movement/ As election day draws near, it appears extremely likely that Barack Obama will be elected the next President of the United States. In addition, there is a general consensus, even among Republicans, that the Democrats will pickup seats in congress and may even obtain a “filibuster proof” majority in the Senate.

Currently, the Democrats have 49 seats in the Senate. In addition to those 49 seats, there are 2 independents, Joe Lieberman and Bernard Sanders, who caucus with the Democrats, effectively giving them a 51 seat majority. However, in order to get anything done in the Senate, 60 votes are needed to break Republican sponsored filibusters, the process of talking a bill to death and preventing action on urgently needed legislation.

There is general agreement, given the state of the economy, that 2008 will be a Democratic year. If Democrats pick up 5 seats in the Senate, the minimum they are projected to win, they will have 56 votes and will only need 4 Republican votes to break a filibuster. However, if the Democrats pick up 9 votes, difficult but not impossible, they will be able to shut off debate without crossover Republican votes.

What will it mean for the labor movement to have a filibuster proof, Democratic majority in the Senate?

First and foremost, it means that the Employee Free Choice Act will be enacted into law. The Democratic congress will vote for the Employee Free Choice Act and send that legislation to President Barack Obama who will sign it into law. Once the Employee Free Choice Act becomes law and management can no longer manipulate company based representation elections, it is a safe bet that there should be a significant increase in the number of union represented employees in the United States.

In addition to the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, a strong Democratic majority in congress can be counted on to periodically raise the federal minimum wage for the working poor. Hopefully, the days of having to wait nine years for small increases in the minimum wage should become a relic of the past.

Other areas where significant changes can be anticipated include revisions in NAFTA to make it more labor friendly, the elimination of tax incentives to encourage American businesses to relocate overseas, greater regulation of the home loan industry to prevent a reoccurrence of the “subprime” housing debacle, and tax breaks for middle income wage earners.

Another significant change will come in the area of job creation. Unlike George Bush, Senator Obama has made it clear that he intends to spend significant sums of money on promoting renewable energy such as wind, solar, and geothermal energy. The expenditure of these funds should create thousands of new jobs for working men and women.

Finally, it is my belief that it is absolutely inevitable that the Democratic congress and the new Democratic president will allocate significant resources for “public works” projects; i.e. repair of infrastructure such as roads, bridges, sewers, water treatment plants, etc. Rather than rely on the marketplace to generate wealth that will “trickle down” to the masses, Obama and the Democratic congress will take direct action to stimulate our economy and return our nation to prosperity by means of these job creating projects.

I believe that the next four years may very well be recorded by historians as labor’s new “golden age.”

Logged in as Darryl Cherness. Logout »

Darryl Cherness is a Labor Representative, who works for a public sector labor union, representing members in grievances, arbitrations, and civil service disciplinary proceedings.
In addition to his union activities, Mr. Cherness is actively involved in grassroots Democratic politics. He was a delegate to the Democratic Convention in 1992 and was named a “Democrat of the Year” in 2005 by the Los Angeles County Democratic Party.
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]]> http://hotlegaltopics.com/2010/01/labor-law/the-future-of-the-labor-movement/feed/ 0 Immigration Reform or More of the Same? http://hotlegaltopics.com/2009/08/immigrationlaw/immigration-reform-or-more-of-the-same/ http://hotlegaltopics.com/2009/08/immigrationlaw/immigration-reform-or-more-of-the-same/#comments Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:13:58 +0000 Rob http://hotlegaltopics.com/2009/08/immigrationlaw/immigration-reform-or-more-of-the-same/ By Thomas J. Joy, Esq. The national elections in November 2008 will result in a new President.  In addition, all of the seats in the House of Representatives and one-third of the seats in the Senate will be contested.  The focus is understandably on the race for President.  However, the elections in the House of Representatives and the Senate are just as important, if not more so, when considering the controversial issue of immigration.  As a general constitutional principle, neither the President nor the Congress can create new laws on their own.  Each needs the other in order for new laws involving controversial issues to be enacted.    At first glance on the major immigration issues being debated in the election, Barack Obama, the candidate of the Democratic Party, and John McCain, the candidate of the Republican Party, would seem to agree.  Both support securing the borders of the United States from illegal immigration.  Both support bringing the illegal immigrants already in the United States out of the shadows and into the mainstream.  Both support the implementation of an electronic employment eligibility verification system and enforcement against employers who hire illegal workers.  Both support reform of the immigration system to fill needed jobs in the United States while at the same time protecting the American labor market.  Finally, both support the need to reunite families.    Upon closer inspection, however, one can clearly see major differences in degree in their positions on the various issues.  Their political party affiliation has a major influence on how serious and committed they can and will be on the issues.  As members of the Senate, both supported the failed comprehensive immigration reform efforts in the recent past.  John McCain, however, has alienated the conservatives within the Republican Party for having co-sponsored a comprehensive immigration reform law with leading Democratic Party liberal Senator Edward Kennedy.  As a result of the conflict within his own party, John McCain has moved more to a “secure the borders first” position and away from a strong position on comprehensive immigration reform.  On the other hand, Barack Obama, while articulating a strong support for comprehensive immigration reform, must deal with a key group of conservative Democrats who tend to vote with the enforcement oriented Republicans on immigration issues.  At the far end of the Democratic Party spectrum are those few who want to focus only on legalization (otherwise called amnesty by some).  At the far end of the Republican spectrum are those few who want to change the 14th Amendment of the Constitution to deny United States citizenship to children born in the United States to illegal alien parents.    Meanwhile, there is presently proposed bipartisan legislation pending in Congress to increase the quotas for employment based immigrants and also to provide more immigrant visas in the healthcare industry.  If these proposed laws do not become law this year, they will almost certainly be reintroduced early in 2009 when the new President and Congress take office.    In summary, we must take a wait and see position concerning how successfully the new President will be able to bring together the different factions in his own party and work together with the other party to structure and pass a comprehensive immigration law.

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