Union Fox to Guard Postal Henhouse?

Chuck Muth

Hey, did you hear the one about the Democrat congresswoman who wrote to the United Nations requesting that it “monitor” this fall’s presidential election here in the United States? No? Well, it’s true. It actually happened.

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, misrepresenting the great state of Texas, along with a “dirty dozen” of her far-left, America-hating, Bush-whacking colleagues, have petitioned Kofi Anan expressing concern “that the right of U.S. citizens to vote in free and fair elections is again in jeopardy” and asked for a team of “international election monitors” to oversee the November 2 balloting.

Now, just consider this lunacy for a minute. As the American Conservative Union asks, “Can you imagine a delegation from China, Haiti, Uganda, and Libya traveling around the United States of America each November, poking their noses into polling booths, huddled with Teddy Kennedy and Hillary Clinton, screaming and waving their hands in front of TV cameras?” Insane.

So it should go without saying that anything Rep. Johnson proposes should never be taken seriously...though I can’t help but say it anyway. Based on this hair-brained idea alone (not that there aren’t plenty of other examples), anything proposed by this woman should automatically be rejected out of hand. Which brings me to the reason I brought this up in the first place.

There’s a vacancy on the Postal Rate Commission. The post office, as you know, is a government-protected monopoly. Among other things, the PRC is supposed to be an independent board overseeing the monopoly’s operations, approving rate hike requests and considering the closure of under-utilized facilities.

Now get this: The person the Senate is considering to fill the PRC vacancy, Mr. Dawn Tisdale, is a former post office employee and labor union leader.

Can you say “conflict of interest,” boys and girls? What are the odds that this man would vote in favor of closing an unneeded postal facility if that would mean putting some of his fellow union buddies out of work? And what are the odds that this fellow would vote against a rate increase which would boost the pay or benefits of those same fellow union buddies? Come on. We’re talking rubber stamp here.

And now the coup de gras: Who do you think sponsored Mr. Tisdale's nomination at his Senate hearing? You guessed it. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson! Need I say more?

No way this nomination should be approved by the Senate. It’s both bad policy AND bad politics. Yet that Senate committee voted the Tisdale nomination out...and it could come before the full Senate for a vote at any time.

By the way, did I forget to mention that Democrats in the Senate - those same Democrats who are supported OVERWHELMINGLY by the very unions Mr. Tisdale represents - continue to sit on and are holding up a half-dozen conservative judicial nominees who have absolutely no conflict of interest whatsoever? Oh, good. I wouldn’t want to leave anything out.

Folks, this is one of those inside-the-beltway political skirmishes which don’t usually get a whole lotta media attention...but which pose enormous dangers and potential negative consequences to the conservative movement for years to come. It appears the Democrats are trying to slide it in under the radar screen while no one is looking and before anyone raises a stink.

Well, a stink needs to be raised...and you’re just the folks to raise it. It’s time for conservatives to let Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist - who is keenly aware of the Democrat obstruction of the president’s judicial nominees and has in his power the ability to return the favor - know exactly what you think of the nomination of Rep. Johnson’s rubber stamp for the Postal Rate Commission.

You can reach Sen. Frist’s office by calling (202) 224-3344. Or send him an email by going to his website at: http://frist.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=AboutSenatorFrist.ContactForm

It’s bad enough the postal henhouse is protected by Uncle Sam’s monopoly; we sure don’t need to have it guarded by a union fox.

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Chuck Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, a non-profit public policy advocacy organization in Washington, D.C.

chuckmuth@earthlink.net