I'm not so sure if this move will be much of a power change in the Senate.
Specter was facing a nearly impossible primary challenge from his conservative nemesis, Pat Toomey, whom he defeated by just 17,146 votes (or 1.6% of the vote) in 2004. Specter's unpopular vote in support of Obama's stimulus package in February drove many of Pennsylvania's diminishing Republican votes to Toomey, giving him an edge of 41%-27% in one recent poll.
So he cut his losses and crossed the aisle. He still seems to be a moderate and against such abuses as the card check that allows unions to form at Best Buy or Wal-Mart or wherever. If you want to see the power of unions they now own 55% of the nearly bankrupt Chrysler. If you can honestly say that a company that has UAW members on the board (so they will *never* get rid of their wage and benefits baggage) will actually be able to compete on costs with Nissan and Toyota then you are crazy.
If Wal-Mart or Best Buy unionized then we get stuck with the wage increases in the form of higher prices. I guess it will be a great time to go long Amazon because their pricing advantage will be enormous.
Specter might be behind Obama's "rip off the unborn grandkids" budget scheme because he supported the bailout but I'm not so sure. He seems to be a fairly moderate spender compared to some on the Dems. They sure won't be getting a far-left liberal in that job that's for sure.
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