Today's Teamster News 01.02.13

House approves 'fiscal cliff' deal, rescinding broad tax hike  Los Angeles Times   ...It blocked income tax hikes for roughly 99% of households, but allowed rates to rise for those with incomes above $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for couples. It also renewed tax credits aimed at low-income households and college students, extended unemployment benefits, delayed automatic spending cuts in defense and other government programs for two months...
Eight corporate subsidies in the fiscal cliff bill, from Goldman Sachs to Disney to NASCAR  naked capitalism   ...Sec. 306 provides tax credits to certain railroads for maintaining their tracks. It’s unclear why private businesses should be compensated for their costs of doing business...
Congress Averts 'Dairy Cliff'  Wall Street Journal   ...The fiscal-cliff bill that cleared Congress Tuesday includes a measure to avert the "dairy cliff," a sharp rise in consumer prices for milk that could have been triggered by the expiration of the 2008 farm bill...
House pulls plug on Sandy aid bill  Reuters   ...Absent a change of heart, the upshot now is that the Senate bill will die with this Congress on Thursday at noon. And the whole affair is sure to bring back memories of the famous Daily News headline in 1975—“Ford to City: Drop Dead...”
Minimum Wage Gap Grows Wider Between States  Associated Press   ...Automatic increases designed to compensate for inflation have steadily pushed up wages in some states, even through the recession, expanding the pay gap between areas that make annual adjustments and those that don't...
Lake-water infusion to delay Mississippi closing  Chicago Tribune   ...The drought-hit Mississippi River will stay open to commerce a few days longer than expected following the release of water from a lake in southern Illinois, a group of shippers said Friday...
Major banks close to big settlement on home loans  Reuters   ...U.S. regulators are close to securing another multibillion-dollar settlement with the largest banks to resolve allegations that they unlawfully cut corners when foreclosing on delinquent borrowers...
Why did a Train Carrying Biofuel Cross the Border 24 Times and Never Unload?  Oil Price   ...The cargo of the train was owned by Bioversal Trading Inc., or its US partner Verdero, depending on what stage of the trip it was at. The companies “made several million dollars importing and exporting the fuel to exploit a loophole in a U.S. green energy program.”...
Right to Work panned  Blackburn News   ...A labour studies professor at the University of Windsor fears Ontario may be next to contemplate Right to Work legislation. Michigan became the 24th U.S. state to pass Right to Work legislation earlier this month, and the Ontario Progressive Conservatives have publicly said they think it would be a good step forward for Ontario...
Court: Hutterites Must Pay Workers' Compensation  Associated Press   ...A sharply divided Montana Supreme Court has ruled that forcing a Hutterite religious colony to pay workers' compensation insurance for jobs outside the commune is not an unconstitutional intrusion into religion...
Scott Walker still hasn't issued a pardon  Wisconsin State Journal   ...Senate Minority Leader Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, said Walker is shirking his duties. "Maintaining an effective and fair pardon process is an important fail-safe to an imperfect judicial system..."
Nonprofit Pays Top Executive $1.2 Million  Miami Herald   ...A nonprofit company that holds two dozen state contracts to care for troubled juveniles in Florida pays its chief executive more than $1.2 million a year in salary and benefits, most of it courtesy of taxpayers...

Today's Teamster News 12.29.12

Promoting Made in U.S.A., but Very Carefully  Trade Reform   ...Perception Research Services International, in a September study, found that four out of five shoppers notice a “Made in the U.S.A.” label on packaging, and 76 percent of them said they would be more likely to buy a product because of the label...
The Mississippi River's Water Levels Are Dropping, And Could Shut Down Trade Next Week   Associated Press   ...The Coast Guard remains confident that the nation's largest waterway will remain open. But officials with two trade groups — the American Waterways Operators and Waterways Council Inc. — said in a joint news release that even if the river is open, further limits on barges will bring commercial traffic to a halt...
$60B Sandy aid package clears Senate  Politico   ...Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) flatly predicted the Senate package would die in the House given the little time left to this session of Congress...
Congress Almost Certain To Blow Unemployment Deadline  Huffington Post   ...According to the National Employment Law Project, a worker advocacy group, more than 2 million Americans will stop receiving benefits after Dec. 29, when the federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation program will cease to exist...
For Grieving Father Struggling With Dead Son’s Student Debt, Resolution Comes Four Years Late  ProPublica   ...Debt collectors harassed him. His son's federal student loan was forgiven upon his death, but because the bulk of the loans were private, Reynoso was left at the mercy of unfamiliar financial firms, Wall Street investors, and even the central bank of a foreign country...
BOMBSHELL! Florida Judge Finds US Bank in Contempt of Court! (US Bank v. Jansen)  Matt Weldner   ...A circuit court judge found one of the largest banks in the country in contempt of court on Friday over a foreclosure case that has dragged through the system for several years...
Number of Homeless Iraq, Afghan Veterans Doubles  firedoglake   ...Through the end of September, 26,531 of them were living on the streets, at risk of losing their homes, staying in temporary housing or receiving federal vouchers to pay rent, the Department of Veterans Affairs reports...
Teamsters Urge UNFI Product Boycott  Supermarket News   ...Teamsters Local 117, which is striking a United Natural Foods warehouse here, has called for a consumer boycott of the distributor’s products at Whole Foods Market...
Teamsters Strike At BlueLinx Expands To California  Teamsters Local 769   ... An unfair labor practice strike by Teamsters at Local 769 in Miami at BlueLinx Corp. has spread to Northern California, where members of Teamsters Local 853 are now honoring picket lines...