Not checking out

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce knows elections have consequences and so is using its clout to try to shape next year’s Senate, spending millions of dollars on pro-business, mostly Republican candidates.

For the nation’s top business lobby, a Democratic landslide could mean a dramatic re-shaping of the way unions can form. A Senate Republican minority of more than 40 could be the only bulwark against labor’s top priority: doing away with the requirement that a secret-ballot election be held to form a union. The card-check bill would allow workers to form unions by checking authorization cards instead.

The closer Democrats get to 60 Senate votes, the more likely it is that card-check will become law. So the Chamber is highly active in bitter election battles in Minnesota, New Hampshire, Oregon and other states.
Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), chairman of the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, says his entire conference is upset with the Chamber, which he accuses of becoming a wing of the Republican Party. Democrats often say the business community on K Street has yet to understand that Democrats are in power in Congress.

It is true that conversations with lobbyists can leave one wondering whether some trade groups optimistically believe the Democratic takeover of the House and Senate in 2006 was a blip. If so, they will soon be disabused. Even if Barack Obama loses the presidency, which seems unlikely, Republican minorities seem certain to shrink on Capitol Hill.

Still, Democrats should accept there’s nothing wrong with the Chamber’s robust campaigning on card-check.

Whatever one thinks of the issue’s substance, the nation’s business lobby should be as fully involved as organized labor. The issue will produce winners and losers; it would be odd to expect the probable losers to shut up.

The Chamber’s endorsement this week of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) is surely both a peace offering to Schumer and a pragmatic move. Baucus is a card-check sponsor but also a centrist who works with business on tax and trade issues.

The Chamber’s endorsements of Baucus, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Virginia Senate candidate Mark Warner (D) show that despite bitterness over card-check, the nation’s business lobby intends to remain an important player next year.