Cain: I'm against 'collective hijacking'
Dubuque, Iowa (CNN) - Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain on Tuesday reiterated comments made a day earlier that he supports collective bargaining rights for public employees, which could put him at odds with some of his rivals and hurt him among some conservatives.
During an editorial board meeting Monday with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in Wisconsin, Cain said that he supported workers' right for collective bargaining. One day later following a campaign event in Dubuque, Iowa, he declared, "Let's clarify what I said. I am against collective hijacking."
The issue of collective bargaining is one that could pit the former businessman against his rivals in the race for the 2012 Republican nomination for president.
Support for the rights of workers to organize would directly conflict with the policies of Republican Govs. John Kasich of Ohio and Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who sought to limit the collective bargaining rights of state workers in an effort to reduce budget deficits in both states.
"Collective bargaining, they have the right but I don't support collective hijacking, that was the point," Cain argued.
He defines "collective hijacking" as an organization putting "so many demands on a state that it is going to force it to go bankrupt." When that happens, "they've gone too far," Cain said.
But the candidate who has recently taken a hit in polls said he supports collective bargaining "done the right way."
"Make sure you get this point in," he said. "It should not be mandatory. That is one of the problems that some states have. It should not be mandatory and they have a right to do so."
Cain declined to answer whether he supported efforts to restrict collective bargaining rights in Ohio, where voters last week rejected a law affecting public workers that had been passed by the Republican-controlled legislature and signed by Kasich.
But during the meeting in Wisconsin on Monday he said, "I think in that particular case, maybe they tried to get too much and as a result it failed…in this case, they may have tried to get too much in one bill."
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Just like with the abortion issue, Cain is finding it hard to deal with Tea Party hypocracy. As far as the abortion issue is concerned, the Tea Party wants the government to stay out of our private lives unless it goes against their version of Christianity, which abortion does.
In this case, the Tea Party wants the government to have less power and regulations except in the case of unions, where they want the government to have complete power over workers.
For Cain to come to terms with this level of hypocracy means that he must learn to speak out of both sides of his mouth. A talent he is learning quickly, but maybe not quickly enough. Time will tell.
Puleeze – kochCain is nothing but a steaming sack of cheesy soundbites. Stick a fork in him – he's done!
Was the idiot licking his lips and blinking incessantly when he was speaking,because you can always tell when Herman is lying, its when ever he opens his mouth.
LIAR, LIAR PANTS ON FIRE! This guy is a piece of crap for choice of better words.
It's so sad that Herman Cain is not even smart enough to know how dumb he is.
This guy is an idiot! Tries to always have it both ways because he doesn't know anything about either way.
I am not sure what I liked better. I can see Russia from here? or What is Libya?
time to stick a fork in cain's pizza
How many books are left? This guy is on a serious book tour and the teaparty folk haven't been able to figure this one out!!! WOW