SEIU Chief Gets Deficit Panel Nod
Pres. Obama will include a top labor leader on a commission aimed at reforming fiscal responsibility, giving GOPers another chance to attack a panel they have opposed from the start.
SEIU pres. Andy Stern is one of 6 members tasked with studying ways to reform the nation’s fiscal health, the WH said today. Stern’s union plays a pivotal role in funding Dem campaigns, a factor that has some GOPers crying foul.
Appointing Stern “sends a clear message that the White House is not serious about this commission,” said Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), a member of the House Budget Committee. “It’s irresponsible.”
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), ranking GOPer on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, plans to pen a letter expressing his concerns with Stern’s appointment, a spokesperson told Hotline OnCall today.
Issa considers SEIU “part of the ACORN political machine,” spokesperson Frederick Hill said, pointing to a committee report released last week that enumerates links between the union and the embattled community action group. “This is their man on the fiscal commission.”
Given SEIU’s close ties to Dems — the union spent $60M on behalf of Dem campaigns in ’08 and brag about winning 17 of 19 states on Obama’s behalf, according to Stern himself — McHenry said the appointment means more for Dems’ electoral chances than it does for hopes of solving the nation’s debt crisis.
“It makes sense for Obama’s election efforts and funding for his election, but not about truly getting our deficit under control,” McHenry said. “This is more of an electoral insurance policy than a deficit reduction plan.”
Later today, the RNC will send out a research document attacking Stern as overly partisan.
Stern himself sounded vagueling political notes in accepting the post.
“We have an administration that understands that the path from this crisis to long term economic health doesn’t lead backwards toward the failed policies of the past,” Stern said in a press release. “A vision that is grounded, first and foremost, in the acknowledgment that the foundation of a strong economy is the creation of good jobs, with decent wages, and a vibrant middle class.”
Obama also named 3 other members of the committee. Honeywell CEO Dave Cote, a GOPer, and Ann Fudge, the former chair and CEO of Young & Rubicam Brands, will serve on the commission alongside ex-CBO head/ex-Fed vice chair Alice Rivlin, now at the Brookings Institute. Ex-Sen. Alan Simpson (R-WY) and ex-WH CoS Erskine Bowles will chair the 18-member panel.
Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Max Baucus (D-MT) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) will serve, while Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Min. Leader John Boehner and Senate Min. Leader Mitch McConnell have yet to name their appointees; they each have 3 seats to fill.
The panel has until Dec. 1 to come up with ways to balance the budget by FY ’15. Any agreement they reach must be ratified by 14 of the 18 commissioners.