Friday, December 28, 2012

Today's Teamster News 12.28.12

"Fiscal Cliff": There is no Drop Dead Date and more thoughts  Calculated Risk   ...The "fiscal cliff" is about too much austerity too quickly (cutting the deficit too quickly). The "cliff" is a combination of expiring tax cuts (income taxes, payroll taxes, and more will increase), and forced spending cuts (mostly for defense). This has NOTHING to do with other long term fiscal issues, primarily related to medicare...
Meet the Grandfather of the Fiscal Cliff: He Works for ALEC  Alternet   ...Through his work for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and a host of other outlets, (Arthur) Laffer’s prescriptions have gained purchase in several tax debates around the country, including in Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee...
Forget The Fiscal Cliff: Three Bigger Perils Lie Ahead  Business Insider   ...The “fiscal cliff” is a metaphor for a government that no longer responds to the biggest challenges we face because it’s paralyzed by intransigent Republicans, obsessed by the federal budget deficit, and overwhelmed by big money from corporations, Wall Street, and billionaires...
Minimum wage indexing protects nearly a million low-wage workers this New Year  Economic Policy Institute   ...On Jan. 1, nearly a million workers in 10 states will see the value of their paychecks preserved against inflation. Workers in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington are protected each year by automatic indexing of their state’s minimum wage...
Apple loses another copyright lawsuit in China: Xinhua  Reuters   ...Apple is to pay compensation to eight Chinese writers and two companies for violating their copyrights, the Beijing No.2 Intermediate People's Court ruled on Thursday, Xinhua said...
Financial controls lacking at state jobs agency  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...When Gov. Scott Walker and lawmakers created the state's partly independent jobs agency 18 months ago, they left out a basic legal requirement put on similar state authorities and commonly practiced by private businesses: to compile and audit its financial statements...
Is Scott's plan to create jobs working? Record proves mixed  Sun-Sentinel   ...Democrats argue the governor has been claiming credit for job creation while simultaneously damaging it with massive spending cuts that led to layoffs of teachers, state employees and workers at companies such as road builders that rely on government contracts...