House passed H.R.800, Employee Free Choice Act to amend the National Labor Relations Act to establish an efficient system to enable employees to form, join or assist labor organizations and to provide for mandatory injunctions for unfair (who's unfair, union or management) labor practices during organizing. The main provision of the bill is to disallow secret ballot for the workers when voting whether or not to join the union. Secret ballot has always been the case in every local and national election. Having been on both sides, employer and union member, this change would be giving unions an unfair advantage over management.

Bill was passed on party line vote with Democrats 228 ayes and 2 noes with all Republicans opposed. This is naturally expected because according to Federal Elections Commission , labor union PAC donations go more than 90% to Democrats. This can be seen at www.opensecrets.org/pacs/topacs.asp.

Editorial: Move forward with Colombia free trade

Web Posted: 03/26/2008 06:42 PM CDT

San Antonio Express-News

Free trade is never an easy sell in Congress. When the political interests of 50 states and 435 districts are at stake, someone will always be able to point to this factory or that industry as a victim of “unfair” international competition.





Those parochial indictments sometimes overwhelm the simple truths of free trade. A system where individuals and markets prevail is better than one in which governments and special interests establish protectionist tariffs and trade barriers. And despite its occasional shortcomings, free trade does the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people — consumers and workers, here in the United States and abroad.

This election year, free trade has become a particular whipping boy of the Democratic leadership. Even erstwhile supporters of the North American Free Trade Agreement are working to distance themselves from their free trade pasts, in spite of the facts.

Since NAFTA went into effect on Jan. 1, 1994, the U.S. economy has grown by more than 50 percent, the American workforce has added 26 million jobs and the unemployment rate has dropped from 6.6 percent to 4.8 percent. No state has derived more economic benefit from the expansion of free trade than Texas.

Now Congress has an opportunity to expand free trade even further and bolster a democratic ally in the process. President Bush is pushing leaders on Capitol Hill to pass a long-delayed free trade agreement for Colombia. When they return from Easter recess next week, they should do so.

More than 90 percent of Colombian imports currently enter the United States duty free. But most U.S. exports to Colombia face tariffs, with an average rate of 14 percent. A free trade agreement would level the playing field for American business by immediately eliminating tariffs on more than 80 percent of U.S. exports.

Critics contend that the agreement doesn't do enough to protect labor unions and the environment in Colombia or displaced workers in the United States. That's an example of the perfect being the enemy of the good.

At the very least, it's an argument in favor of Congress entering into forthright negotiations with the White House — as it did last year on a free trade agreement with Peru — rather than merely running out the legislative clock.

Colombia has made impressive political, judicial and economic strides in recent years. And it has done so under difficult circumstances, battling narco-terrorists in a region that has become increasingly inhospitable to democratic reform.

Passage of a free trade agreement with Colombia would benefit the United States while also sending a strong message about the American commitment to such reform. Even in an election year, that's the right message to send.

We would all agree that government cannot solve every problem. Yet when the heat is on, most politicians are willing to blow past all limits and promise the full faith and credit of Uncle Sam.

U.S. Sen. John McCain, the likely presidential nominee of the Republican Party, should be credited for resisting this impulse. He told an audience in Los Angeles this week that the federal government may not be able to bail out homeowners and investors who have been hurt by the downturn in home prices and the epidemic of home foreclosures.

"It is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers,'' McCain said during a California campaign trip. He did not close the door on possible government help but said "any assistance must be temporary and must not reward people who were irresponsible at the expense of those who weren't.''

The two Democratic contenders, U.S. Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, have called for federal programs to help homeowners and communities hit by foreclosures. They have focused on the lending industry's role in the crisis. McCain said "some Americans bought homes they couldn't afford.'' He called on lenders to voluntarily help borrowers and said he opposed a plan being considered by the Bush administration to reduce the down payment required for federally backed loans.

The economic issues related to housing are significant and widespread, and it would be

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irresponsible to lock into a no-new-funding approach. McCain said he does approve of one housing-related bailout — the Federal Reserve's assistance in arranging the sale of Bear Stearns, badly damaged by its housing investments. He said he favored government intervention to prevent a larger "systemic" economic meltdown.
We are not sure whether McCain or his Democratic rivals have the right approach. That will depend on how "systemic" this crisis becomes. We do believe that the Democrats have a fondness for designing an expensive government solution for every constituency's problem. At the end of such litanies, we are left with the conviction that little will change. So it is refreshing to hear one of the candidates say "no" — or at least, no for now.

The minute a candidate says "universal health coverage,'' he or she has created a huge future obligation. It may be needed at some point. But when the candidate adds in an open-ended housing bailout, lower college tuition, middle-class tax cuts and what-all-else, the issue becomes credibility. We know that all these things ain't gonna happen.

Good on you, Sen. McCain, for resisting the impulse to dive into the latest crisis. We certainly expect him to be open to the possibility that conditions can change. In the meantime, it would be nice if one of his rivals could demonstrate that he or she understands what we all know: that government cannot solve every problem.

Islam teaches that Muslims must wage war to impose Islamic law on non-Muslim states.

American Muslim groups are engaged in a huge cover-up of Islamic doctrine and history. Rep Keith Ellison of Minn. 4th congressional district has yet to speak up against Jihad terrorism.

Today's Jihad Terrorists have the same motives and goals as the Muslims who fought the Crusaders.

The crusades were defensive conflicts on the part of the Christians.

Muslim persecution of Christians has continued for 13 centuries, and still goes on.

Islam prayer- "May Allah rip out his spine from his back and split his brains in two, and then put them both back, and then do it over and over again. Amen"

Some years ago when a high ranking official of the Nation of Islam was being interviewed on TV, he was challenged to denounce another prominent member of the Nation who had called Jews “bagel-eating vermin who had escaped from the caves of Europe to pollute the world.”
In politics, and in much of the rest of life, being held responsible for your own words comes with the territory. Once you’ve opened your big mouth, others have a perfect right to ask, “Do you really mean that?” or “What did you mean by that?” or “If you say that, would you also say…?” (a question that usually has you frantically disassociating yourself from Hitler). I report, U decide.