It's becoming clear that Republicans are going to make their valiant Last Stand around the Employee Free Choice Act, even though it's becoming clear their talking points fall apart readily and the facts are not on their side.

The biggest indicator: Even though Hilda Solis was nominated to become the new Labor Secretary on Dec. 19, and the thinly veiled obstruction of her confirmation became clear shortly after Obama's inauguration, Republicans continue to block her -- this time raising the phony issue of her husband's back taxes to cause a delay.

John Nichols in The Nation observes:

Hilda Solis has had experiences that are very different from most of the people with whom she would serve in Barack Obama's cabinet. But her experiences are not so very different from those of working Americans, including the small business owners who struggle to get by on main streets in cities and towns across this country--communities that look and feel a lot more like Irwindale than Washington. That is what makes Hilda Solis such an attractive nominee.

In fact, far from disqualifying Solis, the minor tax troubles related to her husband's small business confirm the congresswoman as a more attractive nominee than most of those advanced by Obama. Those members of the Senate who fail to recognize this fact--and their amen corner in the media--are merely confirming the extent to which they are dramatically disconnected with the experience of working Americans.

Barack Obama made the right pick when he chose Hilda Solis to serve as his secretary of labor. The president should not be dissuaded by the silly spin that would equate the circumstances of a Tom Daschle with those of Hilda Solis. Obama and his allies in the Senate need to inject a measure of perspective--along with realism--into the Washington discourse by demanding that this worthy nominee be confirmed before the week is done.

Change to Win has created at FreeHilda.com site, which has a a petition you can sign.

Here's SEIU's Andy Stern: