Hernando County, Teamsters, tentatively agree to 3 percent raise Tampa Bay Times ...Hernando County employees represented by the Teamsters Union settled Monday on a 3 percent across-the-board pay increase, their first since 2007...
The “Debt Ceiling” Smokescreen Counterpunch ...The media is ratcheting up “debt ceiling” hysteria to launch a surprise attack on Social Security and Medicare...
Democrats and Republicans Pedal to the Metal in Debt Ceiling/Shutdown Game of Chicken naked capitalism ...Norquist has been making the rounds trying to give everyone, meaning those Democrats who need to get the message that they need to whack all sorts of spending, especially Medicare and Social Security, the outlines of where Republicans think a budget deal lies...
U.S. trade official says to seek TPP deal by year-end Reuters ...The United States maintained it hopes to seal an ambitious trade pact on schedule by year-end despite resistance in some countries and the absence of President Barack Obama from a regional summit that is ironing out differences on the pact...
Rich People Just Care Less (opinion) New York Times ...A growing body of recent research shows that people with the most social power pay scant attention to those with little such power...
8 states where student debt is out of control USA Today ...The surprising top of the list goes to New Hampshire, which, with a whopping average debt of $32,440 for graduates running a loan tab, comes in at nearly $2,500 more than its nearest competitor...
Enron billionaire expands craven plot to abuse workers Salon ...the word “reform,” is now the preferred euphemism for “rip-off scheme.” In the context of pensions, it means pleading poverty to justify cuts to public employees guaranteed retirement income, all while preserving massive corporate welfare and, in many cases, funneling pension cash to Wall Street hedge fund managers...
'Why Isn't Poverty Falling? Weakening of Unemployment Insurance Is a Pivotal Factor' Economist's View ...One key reason why poverty has remained virtually frozen despite continued economic growth is the weakening of unemployment insurance...
Wind turbine blade manufacturer adds U.S. production and jobs Salon ... Big turbine blade manufacturer LM Wind Power put out word that it is “adding more than 850 jobs to support increased volumes from major customers” in the United States...
At a Nissan Plant in Mississippi, a Battle to Shape the U.A.W.’s Future New York Times ...It has enlisted thousands of union members in Brazil to picket Nissan dealerships there as the company prepares to co-sponsor the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The union has sent a team of Mississippi ministers and workers to South Africa, where Nissan has an assembly plant, to try to embarrass the company with accusations that it violates workers’ rights at the Canton plant...
NYC Bridge and Tunnel Bosses Won’t Budge on Foreign Steel Portside ...New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority refused to change its plans to spend $34 million on Chinese steel to repair the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge...
America's police are looking more and more like the military (opinion) The Guardian ... Last week, in a small county in upstate New York with a population of roughly 120,000 people, county legislators approved the receipt of a 20-ton Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle, donated by the US Defense Department to the county sheriff...
Near-destitute woman unable to buy €1.20 bus ticket now told to pay €720 penalty ENet English ...A woman who was caught earlier this year travelling on an Athens bus without the required €1.20 ticket and who was unable to pay the €72 fine has been told she is now liable for a €720 penalty at her local tax office, in a move that has been described as a "gratuitous blow" by the country's most prominent voluntary health clinic...
Eastern Ohio legislators push for restoration of Homestead Exemption Youngstown Vindicator ...Starting in 2007, under Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, everyone 65 and over and permanently disabled Ohioans qualified for the exemption, which saves them about $400 per year on their property taxes...
