DeMint holds up nomination for TSA chief - to prevent workers from unionizing (WaPo)

[jefferson_dem]

Republican senator DeMint holds up nomination for TSA chief

By Margaret Talev
Tuesday, December 29, 2009; A13



An alleged attempt to blow up a transatlantic flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas would be all-consuming for the administrator of the Transportation Security Administration -- if there were one.

Instead, the post remains vacant because Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) has held up President Obama's nominee in an effort to prevent TSA workers from joining a labor union.

DeMint, in a statement, said Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's alleged attempted attack in Detroit "is a perfect example of why the Obama administration should not unionize the TSA."

For now, DeMint said, the TSA has "flexibility to make real-time decisions that allowed it to quickly improve security measures in response to this attempted attack." He said that if organized labor were involved, union bosses would have the power "to veto or delay future security improvements at our airports."

Two Senate committees have given their bipartisan blessing to Erroll Southers, a former FBI special agent and a counterterrorism expert who is Obama's nominee. But DeMint has objected to a full Senate vote, saying he wants additional testimony to clarify Southers's stand on unionizing the TSA, a shift Democrats support.

An acting administrator is in place at the TSA, the division of the Department of Homeland Security that oversees airport security.

Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) had not scheduled a floor vote on Southers before the Senate left town on Christmas Eve, and the Senate will not be back in session for another three weeks.

Reid spokesman Jim Manley said Monday the majority leader is working with the White House to get Southers confirmed "as quickly as possible." Manley charged that "Republican obstructionism has prevented TSA from having the leadership in place that the organization deserves."

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/28/AR2009122802131.html

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. DeMint is a twit

[Cha]

2. KICK

[IndianaGreen]

3. Have the Democrats called for repeal of Taft-Hartley? No.

What ever became of EFCA and the all important card check? Deep freeze, alongside DADT and DOMA repeal.

So while we rightfully condemn DeMint's hold on Erroll Southers appointment, and its impact on airline safety, let's not forget that anti-labour forces are on both sides of the political aisle.

[TheKentuckian]

4. Yeah, our Republican wing has killed all that "labor stuff" in the crib

and the Republican wing of the party is unmovable on this because they almost all come from either anti-labor states or states that are labor neutral. That fucking Ben Nelson is only attackable from the right and if you go to his right you end up with Orin Hatch or somebody like that.

[high density]

5. The AP has a completely different spin

Obama and Health Care Reform are to blame! (Oh yeah DeMint is in there, finally, in the fourth paragraph)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091229/ap_on_go_ot/us_airliner_attack

WASHINGTON – Two federal agencies charged with keeping potential terrorists off airplanes and out of the country have been without their top leaders for nearly a year.

It took the Obama administration more than eight months to nominate anyone to lead the Transportation Security Administration and the Customs and Border Protection agency.

The attempted Christmas Day terrorist attack on a Detroit-bound airliner has prompted a review of U.S. security policies. The acting heads of those agencies — both created in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks — will be at the forefront of these discussions.

Bogged down with health care reform, the Senate has yet to set a date to hold hearings for the Customs position. And Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., has placed a hold on the president's choice to head the TSA over the senator's concern that the new leader would let TSA screeners join a labor union. This has some Democrats blaming politics for the vacancy.

Yes, "some Democrats" blaming politics. Everything has to be red vs. blue with this blissfully ignorant AP.