As Igor Volsky laid out earlier, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) are circulating a series of proposed cuts to the economic stimulus package. According to Nelson spokesperson Clay Westrope, “Senator Nelson feels like this has to be passed, and they’re working to make sure this is a bill that’s truly stimulative.”

The cuts are still in working draft form, but if this is any indication of the direction that the Senators are moving in, it is troubling. For Nelson, who has a personal net worth about $10 million, this is also a case of kicking Main Street while its down, as the proposed cuts are in areas like health care, education, and aid to the states. Adding insult to injury, Collins and Nelson are nitpicking important stimulus funding that would benefit working Americans and their children, after they voted for giving $700 billion to Wall St. with no oversight.

As Marc Ambinder noted, “the big, perhaps ultimate battle will be over education funding for states.” Just a few weeks ago, education was a “favorite channel” for stimulus. Nelson and Collins, though, have cut about $15 billion in state incentive grants for education and another $14 billion in Dept. of Education funding. These are important forms of stimulus that need to be included.

They also propose eliminating $24 billion in state education stabilization money. This is funding that would go to prevent layoffs for teachers and other school staff; essentially, the people on Main Street who are directly affected by the economic crisis and bearing the brunt of debilitating state budget cuts. From these actions, it’s pretty easy to see where Nelson and Collins’ priorities lie.

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.”