This could be a big deal, the start of a trend. Notice that, in effect, the Union is calling out federal Dems as not being worth sending money to.

USA Today (h/t Sam Seder; my emphasis):

The International Association of Fire Fighters announced today it is freezing donations to federal candidates and party committees and will shift its money to fight anti-union efforts in state legislatures around the country. The decision could hurt Democrats, who received more than 80% of the money donated by the union’s political action committee in 2010’s midterm elections for Congress, according to data compiled by the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics. In all, the union said it spent $15 million on federal politics last year. General President Harold Schaitberger said the union faces legislative fights, ballot measures and recall elections that threaten workers’ rights in at least nine states. At the same time, the union’s traditional allies in Congress haven’t aggressively defended firefighters, he said.

They say they are flat out “shutting down any contributions going to any federal candidates or to any federal PACs or committees” until federal Dems are willing to stand up for them.

This is either a very smart act, and they will make it stick (federal Dems have been AWOL on union issues) — in which case, good for them. Or it’s the start of a negotiation with federal Dems — in which case, Don’t Wimp Out, say I.

If nothing else, it’s a conversation that needs having. This, along with the good single-payer news from Vermont, means that maybe the action really is shifting from the impossible Beltway to the doable states.

If so, a hopeful sign.

GP