Glenn Beck And Corporate Front Man: Employee Free Choice Equals ‘Tyrannies And Socialism’

Yesterday, House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA) said that the Employee Free Choice Act “would be unveiled in a matter of days or weeks.” The same evening, Fox News’ Glenn Beck hosted Mark McKinnon of the Workforce Fairness Institute, in a segment that amounted to nothing more than a screed against the bill.

After saying that people who want to hear pro-Employee Free Choice guests need to “turn to PBS,” Beck gave McKinnon free rein to spew talking points:

Well, we call it the Forced Choice Act, Glenn. It’s the most radical rewrite of labor law in 80 years. And it is a political nightmare and a public policy disaster. It’s a Trojan horse for labor to put through everything they have ever wanted. It is just a huge goody bag…[I]t eliminates the ability for workers who are being organized to cast a secret ballot, a democratic principle that we hold dear…They have private ballots in America, but not in other countries where there are tyrannies and socialism.

Watch it:

Not surprisingly, Beck failed to identify McKinnon for what he really is: the head of a corporate front group — “founded by several longtime Republican operatives” — that is lobbying against the Employee Free Choice Act.

According to the National Journal, the Workforce Fairness Institute will not identify its funders, “but sources familiar with its creation speculate that such big retailers as Wal-Mart and Home Depot — which are high-profile opponents of EFCA — are likely among the group’s donors.” It seems odd that someone so concerned with safeguarding the democratic process is willing to engage in lobbying using dollars from secret corporate interests.

Beck also didn’t challenge McKinnon’s false assertion that the bill would eliminate the secret ballot, or note that the Employee Free Choice Act would simply allow workers to decide how they want to form a union, instead of leaving the choice up to their employers. But maybe hearing the truth is also something for which viewers should “turn to PBS.”