As Mike Eastman foreshadowed yesterday, today California Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) officially unseated longstanding Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell (D-MI), shaking up a decades-long Democratic hierarchy in the U.S. House of Representatives, and setting Capitol Hill abuzz. 

Waxman’s colleagues elected him by a margin of 15 in a secret ballot vote. It’s a good thing that those 15 members enjoyed the protection of a secret ballot or their colleagues could have subjected them to all sorts of pressure and undue influence to change their minds. 

If only Rep. Waxman would use his newfound pull to stand up for the same right for America’s workers, but it appears he believes in "vote as I say, not as I vote."  Waxman has co-sponsored the Card Check bill which would effectively end workers’ freedom to decide whether to form a union by secret ballot.  In opposing the bill, former Democratic Presidential Candidate George McGovern says it would open up the potential for employee "intimidation and coercion" since union organizers, coworkers, and employers would all know how each person decided.

Perhaps Rep. Waxman and Card Check sponsor Rep. George Miller (D-CA) should refer back to Rep. Miller’s own letter in 2001 to Mexican government officials:

[However], we feel that the secret ballot is absolutely necessary to ensure that workers are not intimidated into voting for a union they might otherwise not choose.

I couldn’t have said it better.  Hopefully, when it comes time to vote on this issue, Members of Congress won’t turn their backs on these same principles for America’s workers.