Sunday, November 10, 2013

Today's Teamster News 11.10.13

U.S. Economy Expanded At Surprising Rate Ahead Of The Government Shutdown  Associated Press   ...The U.S. economy expanded at a 2.8 percent annual rate from July through September, a surprising sign of strength ahead of the 16-day partial government shutdown. Exports rose, businesses stocked up, home construction increased and state and local governments spent at the fastest pace in four years…Analysts expect the shutdown will slow growth in the October-December quarter…
How the Koch Brothers Organized the Federal Shutdown  Buzzflash   ...The two chief contributors to Cruz's political career donated over a million dollars to it (and no other entity donated as much as $100,000 to it). These two top sources of contributions to Mr. Cruz's political career were Club For Growth, and Senate Conservatives Fund, which together donated over a million dollars to it...
Switzerland Weighs Radical Approach To Runaway Executive Compensation  ThinkProgress   ...A referendum is set for November 24 on a law called the “1:12 Initiative” that would impose a flexible cap on top employee compensation at Swiss companies. If approved, the highest-paid employee of any given Swiss firm could not earn more in a month than its lowest-paid employee makes in a year...
The Origins and Evolution of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)  Global Research   ...THE free trade agreement being negotiated by the regional bloc known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has provoked widespread opposition in the countries involved in its negotiation...
The TPP, If Passed, Spells the End of Popular Sovereignty for the United States  naked capitalism   ...TPP replaces popular sovereignty with transnational investor rule, in two ways...
US seeks $864m from Bank of America after mortgage fraud verdict  The Guardian   ...Countrywide's program emphasized and rewarded employees for the quantity rather than the quality of loans produced, and eliminated checkpoints designed to ensure that loans were sound...
A Fraying of the Public/Private Surveillance Partnership  The Atlantic   ...The publicity resulting from the Snowden documents has made companies think twice before allowing the NSA access to their users' and customers' data...
Wage theft outstrips bank, gas station and convenience store robberies  DailyKos   ...Fully 64 percent of low-wage workers have some amount of pay stolen out of their paychecks by their employers every week, including 26 percent who are effectively paid less than minimum wage...
The Scott Walker Effect: Helping Democrats Win and Republicans Lose  The Nation   ...Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli counted on Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to provide the conservative candidate with some of the “star power” he needed to get him elected November 5. It didn’t work...