Republicans Consistently Wrong !

Republican Senators Say, They Will Hold Up Solis Nomination
by James Parks, Jan 27, 2009

With unemployment at the highest level in decades, Senate Republicans are saying they will hold a vote on the nomination of a key Cabinet member in the fight to restore jobs in this ailing economy. Some conservative lawmakers are vowing to hold up a vote on Rep. Hilda Solis’ (D-Calif.) confirmation as labor secretary because of their opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act, which she supports. Solis, who comes from a union family, has been a champion of workers for more than 15 years combined in Congress and the California legislature, where she was the first Latina elected to the state Senate. Solis backers have created two Facebook groups in support of her nomination: ”Americans for Hilda Solis as Secretary of Labor,” and “1,000,000 Strong For Hilda Solis as Secretary of Labor“—and each has some 300 members who signed up in the past few days. The groups give information on how to contact your senators to urge that Solis be confirmed. Sign up for both is open to any Facebook member. Solis has a solid record on workers’ issues, says Art Pulaski, executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation. Solis, who was raised in a union family, is a serious, thoughtful, dedicated and result-oriented leader on working family issues. In her four terms in Congress, Solis co-authored the Green Jobs Act, which later became part of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. The Green Jobs Act authorized $125 million for workforce training programs targeted to veterans, displaced workers, at-risk youth and individuals in families under 200 percent of the federal poverty line. Before coming to Washington in 2001, Solis served as chairwoman of the California state Senate labor committee. In a letter to union leaders across the country, Pulaski outlines her accomplishments in the legislature: She advanced legislation to protect the most exploited of workers, including farm workers, garment workers and janitors. She strengthened penalties against child-labor law violators. She led the efforts to improve minimum wage, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation and state disability insurance. She established the first study on the viability of a state-paid family leave program, which paved the way for California to become the first state in the union to adopt such a program. During the huge campaign by corporate interests and anti-worker politicians to silence workers’ voice through the paycheck-deception Prop. 226, Solis contributed $100,000 to help in its defeat and Pulaski says “she led the way and surpassed any other elected official in support of labor’s battle.” Pulaski adds: For her experience and ability, she has the strongest possible support from the union movement in California for her confirmation as U.S. Secretary of Labor. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney also praised Solis’ nomination, saying: We’re confident that she will return to the Labor Department one of its core missions—to defend workers’ basic rights in our nation’s workplaces. She’s proven to be a passionate leader and advocate for all working families. In fact, she’s voted with working men and women 97 percent of the time. During her confirmation hearings, Solis cited her union family upbringing and said her vision of the Labor Department is “rooted in who I am”: My father was a Teamsters shop steward who regularly told us about the opportunities his union association would bring to help secure our family a place in America’s middle class. She pointed to four areas the Labor Department will address under her leadership: improving skills development and job creation programs, including development of “green-collar” jobs; assuring that workers get the pay they have earned working in safe, healthy and fair workplaces; addressing the retirement security crisis; and protecting every worker from job discrimination, regardless of race, sex, veteran status or disability.

Editorial : You must give the Republicans credit, they are consistent, consistently wrong ! Geeze, they had the "Dragon Lady" Elaine Chao, for eight years, now they can`t give up their hold on the senate or for that matter, US ! !