Specter on EFCA: Yes. No. Maybe.
The Associated Press reported yesterday that the fresh, new face of the Democrat party, Senator Arlen Specter (hat tip to POTUS for that line), has been meeting with organized labor groups to develop an alternative to the Employee Free Choice Act, or card check bill. He said yesterday that prospects were "pretty good" that a compromise would be reached that would allow workers to unionize more easily. Unions have been waiting for years for the right moment to push on card check. After the 2008 election, many felt this year was it, and that Specter would provide the critical 60th vote. But in March, Specter announced that he'd oppose the bill, leaving chances for its passage at almost zilch. Specter did say back then that he could possibly support an alternative bill, but since joining the Democratic party, unions have stepped up the pressure. Complicating matters for Specter is the emergence of Rep. Joe Sestak as a likely primary opponent, and one who unions could easily throw there support behind if they aren't getting results from Arlen.
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Katie Connolly joined NEWSWEEK in June 2007, working for NEWSWEEK's international editions. In September 2007, she was assigned to cover Republican presidential candidates for Newsweek's special election issue and book. For this project, Katie was detached from the weekly magazine and her reporting was embargoed until after election day. As a result, she gained exclusive, behind-the-scenes access to the McCain campaign.
Now based in DC, Katie was named Political Correspondent in November 2008 and covers the White House and Capitol Hill.
Katie received her Master of Public Policy from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, where she was the 2005 Menzies Scholar. She received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland and completed her honors thesis on media representations of the East Timor conflict at the University of Melbourne. She was born and raised in Brisbane, Australia.
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