Today's Teamster News 02.05.13

U.S. Accuses S.&P. of Fraud in Suit on Loan Bundles  New York Times   ...The Justice Department filed civil fraud charges late on Monday against the nation’s largest credit-ratings agency, Standard & Poor’s, accusing the firm of inflating the ratings of mortgage investments and setting them up for a crash when the financial crisis struck...
Land Battles Rise as U.S. Eyes 450,000 Miles of New Pipe  Bloomberg   ...With the natural gas industry estimating that 450,000 miles (724,000 kilometers) of pipelines need to be built in the next 25 years, a distance to the moon and almost back to earth, conflicts will multiply over eminent domain, or the legal power to condemn private property...
30,000 Golden Dawn Supporters March in Athens Under Neo-Nazi Banners  International Business Times   ...The party has been able to capitalise on the harsh austerity that has been imposed as a condition of Greece maintaining its Eurozone membership. As Greece's economic fortunes have plummeted, so Golden Dawn's fortunes have soared...
UK Declares New Powers to Break Up Banks  TIME  ...Britain’s treasury chief warned the country’s banks on Monday that they face being broken up if they fail to protect their retail operations from their riskier investment arms...
Google CEO Warns about China's hacking  manufacture this   ...In a world that is becoming increasingly digital, the willingness of China’s government and state companies to use cyber crime gives the country an economic and political edge, they say...
Everybody’s working for the…health care benefits Washington Post ...Three-quarters of retirees said they worked longer than they would have otherwise to maintain access to their health plan...
Koch-Funded Rand Paul Introduces National ‘Right To Work’ Bill To Senate  Bold Progressives  ...Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) just introduced a federal so-called “right to work” law that would undermine labor organizing nationwide...
Beltway-aired Super Bowl ad goes after union card check  MSNBC  ...Football fans in the Washington, D.C. area were treated to an anti-card check ad from the conservative Center for Union Facts (CUF) right before kickoff...
Ohio Gov. John Kasich's budget would slash income taxes, lower and broaden the sales tax and revamp oil and gas tax  The Plain Dealer  ...Kasich's sweeping tax reform plan calls for a 50 percent income tax reduction for almost every small business over the next two years, and a 20 percent cut for individuals. The 5.5 percent sales tax rate would drop to 5 percent, but more services would be subjected to the tax, helping to make up for the lost revenue...
Wisconsin: State pension board rejects request for $200M for economic development initiatives  Pioneer Press  ...The board that oversees Wisconsin's pension program for public employees has rejected a request by the head of Gov. Scott Walker's semi-private economic development agency to tap $200 million from the fund to invest in risky startup businesses...
Voter Advocacy Groups Say Mo. ID Bills Unfair, Unconstitutional  KBIA   ...This week lawmakers in Jefferson City are taking another crack at requiring Missouri voters to show a photo ID when they go to the polls...
Unions promise legal battle if pension benefits touched, leading lawmakers wary  WITF   ...The two largest public sector unions in Pennsylvania said Friday that they’ll sue the state if their members’ pension benefits are changed...
Fighting continues over anti-union bill  Lawrence Journal World   ...House Bill 2023 would prohibit the ability of teachers and public union members to have automatic payroll deduction that would go to a political action committee...
LePage again warns schoolchildren off newspapers  Bangor Daily News   ...“My greatest fear in the state of Maine: newspapers,” LePage told children at the St. John Catholic School...
Walmart Workers Get Organized—Just Don't Say the U-Word  Mother Jones  ... UFCW pledged to the NLRB that it would not try to unionize Walmart workers and would ease up on picketing for 60 days... OUR Walmart wants the same things a real union wants, but it is not a union. It can't bargain with management or bring grievances on behalf of workers. But it is a new toehold for the union...
Talks to resume between Durham, school bus drivers' union  WCSC  ...Negotiations between Durham School Services and the Teamsters Local 509 union representing many of the company's drivers were set to resume on Monday...

ME's wingnut governor tells jobless 'get off the couch'

He took down Maine's labor mural, too.

We think it's time for Maine Gov. Paul LePage to join the ranks of the unemployed. He shot his mouth off again on Sunday, according to TheHuffington Post, saying,

...all able-bodied out-of-work Americans need to "get off the couch" and go find employment.

His fellow Republicans gave him a standing ovation.

They are perhaps unaware that the real unemployment rate is over 16 percent. That's people who need a full-time job and can't find one.

Replied some angry Mainers:

Mike Tipping, communications director for the Maine People's Alliance, said LePage's comments were "downright offensive to Maine people searching for work in a difficult economy, especially considering his embarrassing record of failing to invest in programs that create jobs and cutting assistance for the unemployed while at the same time giving massive new tax breaks to the wealthy."

Christine Hastedt, public policy director at Maine Equal Justice Partners, called them "a gross insult to working people who get up every day and become discouraged by the end of the day, because there's not a job for them."

"We talk to people every day," said Hastedt. "There are not enough jobs for the people who want them. There aren't enough hours in the jobs for people who need them. These are jobs that don't provide health care, and certainly don't provide child care. Those are services that people need to get even the jobs that they could get. Nevertheless, he's cutting those safety net benefits that make it possible for people to work."

LePage is so out of touch we think he must be spending time with Mitt "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt Romney."