Whatever your feelings about unions, you have to give organized labor credit. Using a stealth campaign, they almost got the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) passed with no one noticing. Sure, it was widely reported by the media in the run up to the November election, but the bill passed the House way back on March 1, 2007, nearly two years ago! If not for a Republican filibuster in the Senate, the bill would have been passed while U.S. business leaders were asleep at the wheel.

Senate passage is uncertain, but there was no question of President Obama’s avowed support during the campaign. And his choice for Labor Secretary, albeit an obscure one, certainly underscores his support for organized labor, and should raise concerns by manufacturers, retailers, and any other business with large employee populations that will be in union crosshairs if the EFCA passes.

Hilda Solis is a four-term congresswoman from southern California with an unblemished record of support for anything union. Of course she voted for the EFCA, but in her four terms in Congress she has achieved a perfect lifetime "Liberal Quotient" score of 100 from the left-leaning Americans for Democratic Action. The AFL-CIO has given her a lifetime score of 97%, meaning she has voted the "right" way on union-favored legislation in nearly every instance, and the right-leaning American Conservatives Union gives her a score of only 2% for support of conservative legislation.