John Cole uses this video of Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) to highlight some unfortunate behavior on the part of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.):
You see, McCain put a hold on Craig Becker, a nominee for the National Labor Relations Board, back in October, but never submitted any questions for Becker in all that time. The point of Franken’s questions, which get at the fact that Becker is a former labor lawyer, is to point out that nominees for something like the NLRB are very likely to be from one side or the other—in this case, either management or labor.
Republicans, who generally take management’s side, are going to oppose the labor-type nominees. And Democrats are going to oppose the management-type nominees. And because the minority’s opposition to someone is often enough to block that person’s confirmation (because of holds and the filibuster), you have a real problem. Elections are supposed to determine who runs the country. But the way the system works currently is that winning a presidential election gives you the right to determine foreign policy and assassinate Americans but gives you very little power over domestic governance. Winning a presidential election should at least give you the power to hire people to help you run the country. It should also probably give you a better shot at actually implementing your agenda. Right now, both those things are impossible.
Kevin is traveling today.
