I'm referring to the days here when myself and several other IL progressives were trying to warn this community that Roland Burris might not be all that people here might thought he was. I won't rehash all of the stuff that everybody else here is talking about now (quid pro quo stuff), though, because this bit of info is slipping through the cracks.
Roland Burris doesn't know where he stands on the Employee Free Choice Act.
The Chicago Tribune (I know, I know, the Irony!) reports that:
Dennis Gannon, head of the Chicago Federation of Labor, said he was frustrated after a recent meeting with a Burris aide who indicated that Obama's replacement in the Senate has not yet decided where he stands on the issue.
"The junior senator from Illinois has puzzled all of labor," Gannon said Monday. "You would think he would be out in front, agreeing to be a co-sponsor and saying he’ll vote for it. It’s time for him to step to the plate and make a decision on the most important piece of legislation for labor in 40 years."
A little more over the jump...
At least, the guy who was smart and honest enough to turn down Blagojevich, Danny Davis, D-IL, is a supporter:
Speakers scheduled to appear at the rally include U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Chicago), national AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, Laborers' International Union of North America President Terence O'Sullivan and Anna Burger, who heads the Change to Win labor coalition.
Full story here.
Those of us who knew what we were really getting with Roland Burris were often shouted down by other posters who made arguments that I still shake my head at. All I ask going forward is for the community to listen to some of local long-time progressives here in IL when the time comes to convince Roland not to run (it's going to be harder than you think), and maybe give us a hand when we ask for help for Quinn (maybe) for Governor and whomever (hopefully) becomes the progressive candidate for the Senate.
Thanks in the future for your help. It's not as satisfying to say "I told you so." as you might think.