December 18, 2008

Hilda Solis

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HILDA SOLIS….Rick Warren may have left a bad taste in the leftosphere’s mouth, but we’re all thrilled with his choice of Rep. Hilda Solis as Labor Secretary. Here’s Jonathan Stein:

Quit yur bellyaching! Obama’s pick for Secretary of Labor is reportedly California Rep. Hilda Solis, the proud daughter of a union mom and union dad. In addition to a background as a management analyst at the Office of Management and Budget and a 100 percent rating from the AFL-CIO in 2007, Solis brings a reputation as one of Washington’s leading proponents of green jobs….If you were to sketch an ideal Labor Secretary, you could hardly do much better.

Solis sounds great, and her one-minute tribute to the Employee Free Choice Act (above) is terrific. If I have any cautionary note to add, though, it’s this: what did you expect? Of all the senior-level appointments Obama had to make, this was the only one that was virtually assured from the beginning of being a gift to the left. And it was. So I wouldn’t take this as any slam dunk indication of how seriously he’s going to take labor issues.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not trying to throw cold water on Obama’s choice of Solis. It’s just that his overall cabinet picks have been mainstream enough that it’s probably not wise to take anything big away from any one of them. Hopefully Solis will help prod Obama to appoint some good NLRB members and put some serious political capital behind the push for passage of EFCA, and that’s what I’ll be watching for. A labor-friendly pick for Secretary of Labor is just a start.

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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