Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com
Published - Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Clannin just not right about Walz
In a recent letter criticizing Rep. Tim Walz’s support of the Employee Free Choice Act, Tom Clanin tries to smear the congressman by saying “Freedom shouldn’t be for sale.”
First, you will be interested to know that discredited corporate front groups are waging a major campaign to stop this bill. They think workers should not have the freedom to choose for themselves whether to bargain through unions for better benefits, working conditions and wages. One of these front groups is the so-called Center for Union Facts led by lobbyist Richard Berman, who gained fame fighting against drunk driving laws and consumer and health protections.
Second, I have news for Clanin: Walz spent 24 years in the Army National Guard, rising to the rank of command sergeant major and serving overseas with his battalion in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Walz is the highest ranking enlisted soldier ever to serve in Congress. Clanin’s attempt to smear Walz and to impugn his commitment to freedom says nothing of truth about Walz. But it does speak volumes about Tom Clanin.
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