Throughout most of the world, Labor Day is celebrated on May 1st to commemorate the aftermath of the so-called “Haymarket Riots” when a mass strike for an eight hour working day in Chicago was crushed by the police. The police used a bomb that was thrown at a line of policemen that killed one and fatally wounded six more (thrown either by an agent provocateur or by a lone crazed anarchist) as an excuse to fire into a crowd of peaceable demonstrators. The deaths of the policemen served as a pretext to round up the city’s labor leaders who were put on trial in front of a packed jury as accessories to murder, despite the fact there was no evidence of any connecting them to the deaths of the policemen. Seven were sentenced to death, and although the sentences of two of them were commuted to life in prison, four innocent men were murdered by the State of Illinois (and a fifth committed suicide on the eve of his execution).
How do Mary Lundby and the other State Senate Republicans want to commemorate this hallowed day for the Labor Movement? They’ve introduced a bill to declare May 1 as Iowa’s Right To Work Day to remember the passage of Iowa’s anti-labor “Right To Work” Act. The resolution also praises the Taft-Hartley act, which enabled states to pass “right to work” legislation, and is the most anti-Labor legislation in American history. Taft-Hartley was described by Harry Truman as “a clear threat to the successful working of our democratic society.” As contemptuous as this resolution is, it’s just a resolution and merely a symbolic statement. However, it’s part of an ongoing effort by the Republican Party to undermine the Labor Movement and the rights of working people that goes back beyond Taft-Hartley. But Iowa Republicans aren’t limiting themselves to symbolic gestures.
The Republicans in the State House are also opposing the Fair Share Law in Iowa. This merely mandates that “all workers who receive union-negotiated benefits contribute to the cost of providing those benefits.” However, the Republicans claim that this will destroy business in Iowa. This is baseless assertion that was easily refuted by Peter Fisher, a University of Iowa economist, who pointed out, “Why would a unionized company care how many of its workers paid how much to the union? I can only conclude that firms who assert that they will not come to Iowa because of fair share are looking for a low-wage location and want weak labor unions to help ensure that it will remain a low-wage location.” It’s a shame that Republicans are continuing their efforts to undermine workers’ rights and thumbing their noses at those who actually work to help Iowa’s working families.
I’ve been meaning to post on Chris Dodd for a while and Century of The Common Iowan’s post on Dodd’s habeas corpus bill has finally spurred me to action. Dodd presents a very interesting profile as a candidate. He’s always good but never the best at everything. He has a lot of experience in the Senate, but not as much as Joe Biden. He has a terrific website but not the same Internet following as Obama. He has support from celebrities but can’t match Hillary Clinton or Obama in Hollywood. He can raise a lot of money but is not expected to raise anywhere near as much money as first tier candidates. Although Dodd has a lot of virtues as a candidate, he also has his faults like his close ties to the financial services and insurance industry. This adds up to presenting a solid profile of a candidate who should be able to successfully present themselves as everyone’s second choice. Dodd isn’t a frontrunner and can’t pretend to be one. But if he works hard and puts in the ground work, he’ll be able to establish himself as a solid contender who could end up surprising people, especially if a first tier candidate implodes.
The real question is will the Dodd campaign do that work? He hasn’t hired any Iowa staff yet and hasn’t been in Iowa since Chet Culver was inaugurated in January. Even if Chris Dodd starts making it to Iowa, it’s difficult to see right now where he will be able to gain traction here right now, especially when it can be tough for a second tier candidate to get media attention. Dodd has the potential to be a serious contender among the second tier of candidates right now but unless he starts getting serious about Iowa now, it’s difficult to see him making any headway. (Especially with indications that Bill Richardson is getting serious about competing in the Hawkeye State.)
Hotline On Call has a poll that shows Americans are just as likely to vote for a homosexual as they are to vote for a 72 year old for President. The poll also shows that Americans are significantly more uncomfortable casting their ballots for a Mormon or for someone on their third marriage than they are about voting for a African-American or a woman. This is not good news for Republicans. However, they can take hope from the fact that the poll doesn’t do anything to ascertain how Americans feel about voting for the children of millworkers.
But this age bias spells trouble for McCain. McCain hasn’t looked well in recent television appearances and considering that the rest of the major Republican contenders all look relatively youthful, it will not present a good contrast when McCain makes joint appearances with other candidates at debates and forums.
In other news, Ron Paul, a Republican congressman from Texas and possible Presidential candidate, introduced a bill to legalize growing hemp in the United States. The bill’s co-sponsors include senior Democrats like George Miller and Barney Frank as well as Dennis Kucinich. Paul also recently introduced a bill that would have the United States withdraw from the UN. However, Kucinich did not co-sponsor that bill.
