CNBC isn't exactly a shining example of responsible journalism. The financial news network has been ridiculed for enabling the financial crisis with flawed reporting and fawning coverage of failed CEOs.

Well, CNBC is at it again. Yesterday, CNBC's Jim Cramer and Erin Burnett made a ridiculous, irresponsible statement. Cramer and Burnett compared the aftermath of Iran's recent election to what would happen under the Employee Free Choice Act.

Huh?

This is the height of irresponsible journalism. Jim Cramer and Erin Burnett need to hear from you now about their reckless reporting.

Click here to send an email directly to Cramer and Burnett. They need to get the message that this kind of coverage is unacceptable.

Here's what Burnett and Cramer said yesterday while discussing the Iran election:

BURNETT: And it wasn't a secret ballot. I think that's important. They're going to know - they know everybody and how they voted. CRAMER: Absolutely. BURNETT: It makes a strong point for this whole union conversation we're having in this country. CRAMER: The card check, the card check.

Let's get our facts straight.

Despite Erin Burnett's delusions otherwise, the Employee Free Choice Act does not take away the secret ballot. To suggest otherwise is just plain wrong.

But to extend that delusion to the Iran election is more than inaccurate. It's irresponsible. It has no place in our national dialogue, and CNBC needs to know that.

Let Erin Burnett and Jim Cramer know what you think. Click here to send them an email now.

Burnett and Cramer need to know that today's union elections are undemocratic. They bear no resemblance to democratically-held elections that we would all recognize in a free country.

The Employee Free Choice Act is an important piece of legislation that reforms the rigged system that prevents employees from having a free choice to improve their lives. The aftermath of the Iran election is proof of what happens when voters don't have a free choice, when the deck is stacked against the electorate.

For some reason, CNBC doesn't understand the difference. Make sure they do.

Thanks for writing to CNBC - with your help, we'll make sure they get the message.

Sociology professor Daisy Rooks of the University of Montana put the Employee Free Choice Act in its proper perspective with her glowing endorsement atop the editorial page of The Missoulian.

Too often the forces against America's working families derail true debate by posing false -- but seemingly powerful and righteous -- concerns. Does Free Choice deprive workers of the secret ballot?

No. Under today's laws, the "secret ballot" requested by employers is a sham. It's a way for employers to intimidate and fire pro-union workers to rig the election.

Ever wonder how, exactly unions are formed? The Center for American Progress is out with a new video that explains the process step-by-step.

Watch it here:

The main point of the video is simple: it's really, really hard to join a union. Only one in seven union drives will ultimately reach a point where they get a first contract within a year.

Here's the gist:

When a group of co-workers decide that they want to form a union, they sign cards that say they'd like to join. The process continues until at least 30% of the employees sign the cards, but most unions wait until around 50% or even 70% of employees sign them, for reasons that will become clear in just a moment.

At this point, the boss gets to make a choice. If the signed cards totals 50% plus one, then the employer can choose to recognize the union, since there's a majority. We call that "majority signup."

But if the boss chooses not to recognize the union through majority signup, they have a second option - even though a majority have said they want a union, forcing a process called the "secret ballot."

This is what the Employee Free Choice Act is all about: we want employees to make the choice, not their bosses.

In a secret ballot election, the boss gets to decide how, when and under what conditions the process is held. Many employers use the "secret ballot" method as a way to drag the process out. This election can be delayed for weeks, months, even years - enough time to scare employees into changing their minds.

During a "secret ballot" election, here's what a typical employee might face:

• 91% of the time, workers experience one-on-one meetings with their bosses, who may threaten anything from changing their hours, shipping their job overseas, or even closing down the company completely.
• In 82% of cases, workers may be observed or receive visits from union-busting public relations firms and lawyers.
• In 25% of cases, employees are illegally fired during the course of trying to join a union.
• 40% of the time, there's simply never a vote.

The Employee Free Choice Act gives employees - not CEOs - the free choice to join unions. It's designed, not to stifle your rights, but to level the playing field so that it's the workers who get to decide: they can choose to organize under either the majority signup method, or the secret ballot method.

Corporate front groups' one-line attack on the Employee Free Choice Act is the false claim that it somehow eliminates the secret ballot option for workers to join unions. Although it's blatantly false and dishonest, desperate corporate interests continue to hammer that argument without shame.

But it seems one of their closest allies is finally willing to acknowledge the truth. In this morning's Wall Street Journal, the corporate-friendly editorial board admits:

"The bill doesn't remove the secret-ballot option from the National Labor Relations Act," wrote the WSJ.

There you have it. The Employee Free Choice Act "doesn't remove the secret ballot."

This revelation comes after the same editorial board repeatedly pushed the "Big Lie" for months. Think Progress has the dirt:

The acknowledgment by the WSJ that the legislation doesn't eliminate the option of a secret-ballot election is surprising given that it has been one of the most aggressive pushers of the false meme:

- "Democrats in the House passed the Employee Free Choice Act, a measure that rewrites the rules for union organizing by eliminating secret-ballot elections." [WSJ, 3/8/07]

- "Labor wants to trash the secret-ballot elections that have been in place since the 1930s." [WSJ, 10/17/08]

- "Mr. Pryor knew the GOP would block the bill, which gets rid of secret ballots in union elections." [WSJ, 1/2/09]

- "Big Labor's drive to eliminate secret ballots for union elections has united American business in opposition." [WSJ, 3/11/09]

It's great to see the Wall Street Journal has seen the light. Next time you hear a corporate-funded front group pushing this lie, tell them to read the Wall Street Journal to get the facts.