Today's Teamster News 08.03.11

Appeals court rules in favor of Right to Life  Associated Press   ...A federal appeals court has ruled that the state of Wisconsin cannot enforce a $10,000 limit on donations received by independent political action committees...
Ohio GOP Forgets Its Zero Tolerance Pledge After Three Members Get In Trouble With The Law  Think Progress   ... DeWine, Kasich, and other Republican leaders have not attempted to enforce that zero tolerance policy when it comes to the three members who have had legal problems this year... 
Detroit teachers union to fight cuts in potential test for Michigan's new emergency manager law  Mlive.com   ...The Detroit Federation of Teachers is preparing to fight a 10 percent wage cut imposed by state-appointed emergency manager Roy Roberts, setting up a potential test case for Michigan's newly-strengthened law...
Another bond rating agency takes dim view of state's budget solutions  Minneapolis Star-Tribune   ...On the heels of a "kick the can down the road" budget solution, Moody’s Investor Service placed Minnesota on a negative outlook for its bond rating...
Unions Joining Forces To Counter Christie  Wall Street Journal   ...In an unusual show of collaboration, New Jersey's public worker unions plan to join together to try to upend Gov. Chris Christie's signature accomplishment this year: cuts to their pensions and health-care benefits...
Region's jobless rate rises  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette   ...a confluence of factors -- including a rising number of jobs paired with an increase in the number of people interested in working -- may have pulled up the unemployment rate in the seven counties that make up the Pittsburgh metropolitan statistical area...

Today's Teamster News 08.01.11

Fire Destroys We Are Wisconsin PAC Offices in La Crosse; Recall Efforts Subdued   Hudson Patch   ...Fire officials in La Crosse are continuing to investigate a Saturday blaze that destroyed the regional offices of We Are Wisconsin, a union political action committee (PAC)...
Gov. John Kasich says Calisolar moving to Mississippi, cites economic climate  Mansfield News Journal   ...Gov. John Kasich said Friday that Calisolar was moving to Mississippi because of a friendlier economic climate. "We just lost Calisolar," Kasich said. "Calisolar's going to Mississippi, right to work, did you know that? Eight hundred jobs in Mansfield...
State Rep. Amanda Price's Private Chat with Governor Snyder Surprises Colleagues  West Michigan Politics   ..."I had a discussion with the Governor and he said he will not sign (Right to Work legislation)," Price said. "It's off the table..."
MinnPost poll: Minnesotans blame GOP for shutdown  MinnPost   ...By a whopping 2-1 margin, Minnesotans blame the Republicans who control both houses of the Legislature for the recent government shutdown more than they blame Gov. Mark Dayton, according to a poll taken this week for MinnPost...
'Right to work’ would impede economy  The Journal Gazette   ...What would Gov. Mitch Daniels and the Republicans think of a law that required businesses to provide goods and services to anyone who wanted them but made it optional to pay? Sound crazy? But that is exactly what Daniels and the Republicans are considering doing to Indiana unions...
The War on You  Economic Populist   ...Have no doubt: those in the upper ranges of the top 1% of wealth in this country (aka The Money Party) want to kick you to the curb...

Today's Teamster News 07.21.11

A look at turnout in the Wisconsin recalls: How high will it go?  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...turnout in the recall primaries held here over the past two Tuesdays was “amazingly high” given the nature of those elections...
Ohio Democrats Attempt To Tie Kasich To Murdoch  WLWT.com   ...Murdoch gave around $1.25 million last year to the Republican Governors Association, saying later that he hopes his contribution would directly help his former commentator on News Corp.'s Fox News, Kasich...
Snyder orders departments to prepare to fire state workers  Michigan Messenger   ...In preparation for the ongoing negotiations with state employee unions designed to force $145 million in concessions, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder ordered departments to prepare to fire some employees...
DFLers let loose with raft of complaints about agreement process  MinnPost.com   ...The 12 hour-plus session, which wrapped up after 3 a.m., rushed through each budget bill on largely party-line votes...
Poll shows Gov. Christie's approval rating dive after public worker benefits overhaul, budget cuts  Newark Star-Ledger   ...53 percent disapprove of the governor’s job performance and 43 percent approve, according to Public Policy Polling...
Teamsters Leader Says Wal-Mart Contributes to Economic Woes  IBT   ...“I urge the White House to reconsider its involvement with Wal-Mart unless Wal-Mart agrees to create the kind of good jobs that can provide its employees with a decent standard of living..."

MN shutdown officially ends

This morning Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton signed the state budget, ending the nation’s longest state shutdown in a decade. He said:

It’s not what I wanted, but it’s the best option that was available and would be for any time.

Dayton compromised with Republicans over spending and taxes in order to get Minnesotans back to work. The two-week shutdown resulted in the layoffs of 22,000 state workers, stopped road projects, closed state parks and rest stops and brought nearly all state services to a halt. It will still take a few weeks for workers to get back to work and all state operations to return to normal.

Dayton had wanted to include a tax increase on the wealthiest 2 percent of Minnesotans to close the budget gap, but Republican legislators would not have it. Dayton compromised by bringing $1.4 million into the budget through delaying payments to schools and selling tobacco payment bonds. In an lopsided exchange Republicans agreed to drop policy changes they wanted, including cutting the state’s work force by 15 percent.

In the end, Republicans were willing to shut down the state government, lay off over 22,000 workers, costing the state $23 million a week, in order to avoid asking Minnesota’s 7,700 millionaires to pay their fair share in taxes.

Despicable.

Today's Teamster News 07.20.11

Democratic senator Hansen retains seat in recall attempt  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ..."A win like this, in my mind, creates momentum for the next eight recall races," Hansen said...
S.B. 5 foes say petition drive made it  Columbus Dispatch   ...More than 800,000 valid signatures have been found on the Senate Bill 5 referendum petition, opponents of the law said as yesterday's deadline passed for county elections boards to turn in signature totals...
Poll: Voters would reject Emergency Manager law  Michigan Messenger   ...The poll found strong opposition to the law in both union and non-union households...
Conferees reconcile 4 spending bills  Minneapolis Star Tribune   ...Four days after reaching a global budget agreement, GOP leaders and the governor hammered out a deal Monday on four spending bills...
Report says N.J. to have painfully slow economic recovery  Politics Patrol   ...New Jersey gained 11 percent of jobs lost during the recession compared to 20 percent nationwide...
Standing Up for Economic Rights Is a Human Right  Huffington Post   ...As Arab citizens take to the streets, at great risk, to secure economic rights and democratic voice in their respective countries, several extremist governors and advocates are stripping American workers of their economic rights and voice by working to eliminate or weaken collective bargaining and voter protections...

Today's Teamster News 07.19.11

Wisconsin Recall: Sen. Dave Hansen (D) looking dominant for tomorrow's election  DailyKos   ...If PPP's poll over the weekend is accurate, Democratic recall target Dave Hansen is set to blow out his Republican opponent, David Vanderleest...
Stop sign or green light for Kasich's bus? (opinion)  Toledo Blade   ..."I don't want to live in the Ohio envisioned by Governor Kasich. We are in a class war and for now, the wealthy are winning...
50-something Michigan pensioners take biggest hit under new tax plan  mlive.com   ...Taxpayers in just about every income group and age category will pay higher income taxes in 2013 under the tax overhaul Gov. Rick Snyder and the Republican-led Legislature pushed through last spring...
SEIU tears apart budget deal, calls compromise ‘irresponsible’  Minnesota Independent   ... the union does not believe Dayton should have given ”in to the demands of the GOP leadership, who have refused to negotiate in good faith, and who would use the state’s children, middle class and working families as a human shield to protect 7,700 multi-millionaires from having to share any of the burden of the state’s fiscal problems,...
Goldman Sachs slashes economic forecast  Market Watch   ... Do we just muddle along with slow growth or do we sink into another recession?...
Fall in Property-Tax Revenue Squeezes Cities   Wall Street Journal   ...Local governments have endured the first back-to-back declines in quarterly property-tax revenue on record, Census Bureau data show, in part because some have been unable or unwilling to raise tax rates fast enough to offset drops in home prices...

Today's Teamster News 07.18.11

The ad wars heat up in the Wisconsin recall campaigns  Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel   ...Some insiders expect combined spending of all kinds to top $20 million for the nine recall elections, much of it outside money, much of it undisclosed...
Kasich goes on Meet the Press… and claims Strickland’s record as his own  Plunderbund   ...They credit the 2005 tax reforms that were fully implemented before Kasich took office and the fact that personal income has fallen relative to other States...
Minnesota leaders report progress toward ending shutdown  Reuters   ...but did not say when a special legislative session might be held to end a 17-day government shutdown...
Iowans Protest Outside Terrace Hill  KCCI8   ...Protesters: 'We Want To Stop Gov. Branstad's Corporate Agenda'...
Scott's small-business agency less effective than one he axed, critics say  Orlando Sentinel   ...despite his campaign pledge to rein in government overreach, Scott has also quietly killed an office lawmakers created in 2008 to ... watch out for Florida's 1.9 million small businesses when new regulations could hit them in the wallet...
Local legislators rail against Christie budget vetoes  NJ.com   ...Democrats in the Legislature haven’t cooled much in the two weeks since Gov. Chris Christie exercised his line-item veto power to slash nearly $1 billion from the state budget...

Today's Teamster News 07.17.11

Wisconsin's Walker concedes mistakes, defends policies  Reuters   ..."The mistake I made early on is, I looked at it almost like the head of a small business: identify a problem, identify a solution and go out and do it," Walker told Reuters...
Count on SB5 being on ballot  Columbus Dispatch   ...It's (not quite) official: Ohioans will have the chance to vote yes or no on the controversial public employee collective-bargaining bill known as Senate Bill 5...
Anger lingers over Minnesota shutdown  Associated Press   ...The abrupt agreement on a budget deal to end Minnesota’s government shutdown, in which Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton dropped his call for new taxes and Republicans agreed to spend more than they wanted, has some people wondering why it had to happen at all...
Gov. Chris Christie's pension and a health care reform a gift to liberals  NJ.com   ...Gov. Chris Christie’s budget cuts are so harsh toward vulnerable people, you wonder what he could do for an encore...
Fight over labor mural removal by Gov. LePage not over yet   Bangor Daily News   ...Judge Woodcock is expected to rule on the motion for summary judgment later this summer...
We're Spent  New York Times   ...The notion that the United States needs to begin moving away from its consumer economy — toward more of an investment and production economy, with rising exports, expanding factories and more good-paying service jobs — has become so commonplace that it’s practically a cliché. It’s also true....

Today's Teamster News 07.16.11

The governor has a rough week  Milwaukee Biz Times   ...Shouted down at Gateway, 0 for 6 in recall primary, poll  numbers tanking, unemployment rose and he had to sleep on floor at Denver Airport...
Gov. John Kasich spends $2 million off-the-cuff; unexpected cash is for the state's children's hospitals to collaborate  Cleveland Plain Dealer   ...Kasich spent the money in about 60 seconds while calling for one of his staffers to get his budget director Tim Keen on the phone...
Detroiters get 30% fewer DPS construction jobs than promised  Detroit Free Press   ...So far, contractors have hired residents for 46% of the skilled trades jobs, though companies agreed to 65% during the campaign...
Dayton, GOP finally reach budget deal  Minneapolis Star-Tribune   ...The deal raises the revenue Dayton sought -- $1.4 billion -- but without raising taxes, which Republicans opposed...
Outside Special Interest Group Wrote NH's Right to Work for Less Legislation, and Much, Much More  Blue Hampshire   ...HB 474 - a bill that attributed to thousands traveling to Concord in protest - is nearly VERBATIM to the ALEC sample legislation!...
Fight corporate greed! March to the Marriott! August 5  Protest Alec   ...They meet in secret. They write our laws. And they want us silent...

Deal reached to end Minnesota shutdown. Sigh.

Minnesota’s two-week government shutdown that left 22,000 state workers without a job will end soon, after Governor Mark Dayton (D) and Republication legislators agreed to a deal to close the budget gap.

The ongoing shutdown has resulted in huge layoffs of state workers, the shuttering of the Capitol, the closing of state parks, and cuts in funding to many social service programs. The shutdown cost the state more than $20 million a day and has lowered the state’s bond rating, making it more difficult to borrow money.

Dayton wanted to include a tax increase on the wealthiest 2 percent of Minnesotans to close the gap, but Republican legislators would not budge. Dayton sacrificed to end the crippling shutdown, accepting an offer by Republicans to bring $1.4 billion into the budget by delaying payments to schools and selling tobacco payment bonds. Dayton said in a letter to GOP leaders:

Despite my serious reservations about your plan, I have concluded that continuing the state government shutdown would be even more destructive for too many Minnesotans. Therefore, I am willing to agree to something I do not agree with — your proposal — in order to spare our citizens and our state from further damage.

In return, the Republicans agreed to drop policy changes they held the state’s workers hostage for wanted, including banning state aid to stem cell research, restrictions on abortions and cutting the state’s work force by 15 percent.

The workers suffer, while the millionaires still don’t have to pay their fair share.

Same old story.

Today's Teamster News 07.15.11

Dayton, Republicans end budget impasse; shutdown to end 'very soon'  St. Cloud Times   ...Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton and top Republicans agreed Thursday to end a budget impasse that prompted the longest state government shutdown in recent history, after the Democratic governor surrendered on raising taxes...
Jobless claims fall nationally, but rise in Wisconsin  Biz Times Daily   ...In Wisconsin, initial claims for unemployment surged last week to 13,547, up from 11,973 in the previous week, according to the state Department of Workforce Development...
Ohio GOP repeals online voter database over Secretary of State Jon Husted's objections    Cleveland Plain Dealer  ...Two weeks after passing a sweeping election overhaul package, Ohio lawmakers on Wednesday repealed portions of the new law that had the support of the state's elections chief...
Michigan House Speaker Jase Bolger says pension reform is next on K-12 education agenda for lawmakers  mlive.com   ...Bolger and other Republican lawmakers are being vilified in education circles for cutting $700 million from the state’s K-12 budget in fiscal 2012...
'Right to work' on lawmakers' summer calendar  The Franklin Online.com   ...An out-of-session legislative study committee chaired by Sen. Phil Boots, R-Crawfordsville, will sit down this summer to take a longer look at controversial “right to work” legislation...
There’s Hidden Union Busting in Congressman Issa’s Postal Reform Bill  Center For American Progress   ...Rep. Darrell Issa’s (R-CA) recently introduced postal reform bill closely follows the strategy of Republican governors who are using budget problems to attack collective bargaining rights and weaken political opponents... 

Today's Teamster News 07.14.11

Wisconsin Democrats say likely to recall governor in 2012  Reuters   ...Wisconsin Democrats are increasingly confident that efforts to recall the state's Republican governor in 2012 will succeed, a top official said on Wednesday...
Referendum Petition Drive To Overturn Parts Of HB 194 Begins  ProgressOhio   ...State Legislators, voting rights advocates, labor unions, progressive organizations, and concerned citizens across the State of Ohio have begun a referendum petition drive to overturn parts of a measure passed by the Republican-controlled Ohio legislature. HB 194 would limit access to voting...
Impacts from Minnesota shutdown piling up  USA Today   ...an ever-increasing number of state employees, businesses and non-profits are feeling the consequences of the stalemate over how to solve the state's $5 billion deficit...
Florida GOP effort to boost Scott's image not working according to Sunshine State poll  Palm Beach Post   ...A poll released Wednesday by the usually right-leaning Sunshine State News shows Republican Gov. Rick Scott's approval rating at 27 percent among Floridians...
Key component of YRC-Teamsters plan okayed   Today's Trucking   ...Embattled LTL carrier YRC got the green light from the Teamsters and lenders for an asset-based lending (ABL) agreement that would maintain operational funding to keep the company afloat...
Dunmore distributor closing in September; 200 jobs lost  (Local 229)  citizensvoice.com   ...Ocean Logistics notified state officials on Tuesday its warehouse will cease operations by Sept. 25 at the Keystone Industrial Park...

In Minn., there is no beer (thanks to the shutdown)

There won't be soon, at any rate. Because of the state shutdown (we're in Day 13) Miller-Coors couldn't get the paperwork for its licenses processed in time. According to the Wall Street Journal,

MillerCoors was told by Minnesota officials that it must remove its 39 brands of beer from shelves statewide because the company's brand license registrations weren't processed before the state government shut down June 30 for budget reasons.

An even bigger concern, however, is that hundreds of bars, restaurants and retailers may run out of alcohol before the government goes back to work. Such outlets need a "buyer's card" in order to purchase products from wholesalers, and cards for 424 buyers will expire by Aug. 1, according to Minnesota Department of Public Safety spokesman Doug Neville. The sellers can work through their remaining inventory, he said, but won't be able to replenish with new bottles and kegs.

As the peerless blog Wonkette tweeted,

We in MN hope that the liquor lobby will succeed where those boring social service orgs failed.

In case you're not familiar with the backstory, Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton and the Republican Legislature couldn't agree on a budget by June 30. So the state shut down -- except for essential services, which are ordered by a court to continue. The reason for the budget impasse is that Republicans staunchly refused to raise a tiny tax on Minnesota's 7,700 millionaires to pay for the budget shortfall.

At least 22,000 people were laid off. Disabled people can't use public transportation to get to their doctors. Businesses that depend on public worker spending and tourism are suffering. Road construction has stopped dead in its tracks.

Still, there was no end in sight. But the prospect of MillerCoors removing beer from shelves may just force a compromise. By Happy Hour on Friday.

Here's a petition you can sign to tell Minnesota Republicans to do their job.

MN gov goes on offense in shutdown

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton is a scion of the Target family, but we forgive him for his ties to the union-busting behemoth. Dayton wants to raise taxes by a tiny amount in order to balance the budget without savagely cutting setate services. The GOP is refusing to compromise.

The state has been shut down since July 1, and today Dayton is taking his case to the public (today he's in St. Cloud) with a series of roundtables along with the youtube video above. In it, he said,

I believe the future of Minnesota is at stake. Our way of life, what makes Minnesota special and successful, hangs in the balance.

(Sound familiar?)

Marketplace explains how the shutdown affects ordinary Minnesotans (not much, but it will get worse):

Critical functions like highway patrol, health services and even the zoo are still open. But political scientist Steve Smith says the inconveniences are mounting: like trouble getting a building inspection or a driver's license.

And, we learn, from MPR,

About 300 bars, restaurants and liquor stores around Minnesota are unable to buy alcohol right now because of the government shutdown. A court appointed referee overseeing the shutdown will take up their case today.

The Minnesota Independent -- a newspaper in a very Republican area -- supported Dayton's budget if it did as much as possible to protect state services and prevent cuts to social programs. Opines the independent:

Our policymakers need to protect those services because doing so will protect our vulnerable residents. The Independent spoke with two people Friday who rely on public transportation for social and health reasons. A woman from Marshall feared that her way of living, her quality of life, will suffer because she wouldn't have a way to get around to do her volunteer work or get her meds. A man who lives outside of Tracy worried about how he will get his wheelchair-bound wife to Marshall every day for treatment and therapy.

There'll be a rally tomorow at the Statehouse in St. Paul, according to the tweetosphere. @DubMasterC tweets:

Spread the word. If u r sick of the #mnshutdown come to the capitol on wed @ noon. Dem, rep or indie, dont care.

Follow Dayton's  roundtable today live here at the uptake.

Today's Teamster News 07.12.11

Recall season opens in Wisconsin  Wall Street Journal   ...A series of recall elections begins Tuesday in Wisconsin as voters decide the fate of nine state senators, in the latest fallout from Republican Gov. Scott Walker's decision earlier this year to curtail public employees' collective-bargaining rights...
Group airs ads against Brown in Ohio  Columbus Dispatch   ...A group affiliated with former President George W. Bush’s political strategist Karl Rove is airing commercials bashing Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio...with $7 million worth of ads on network, cable TV and Internet ads...
Maine Democrats decry voting measures  Bangor Daily News   ...Maine Democrats say they’re bothered by two voting bills that came up during this year’s legislative session (that) ... attack Mainers’ voting rights...
Gridlock deals gut punch to businesses  Minneapolis Star-Tribune   ...Nearby shops that cater to -- and rely on -- state workers find themselves struggling to survive...
Union sues governor to get pay raises  Chicago Tribune   ...Quinn moved to block the pay hikes when he made changes last week to the state budget that lawmakers sent him, saying they did not set aside enough money to cover the increases...
NJ Democrats fail to override 15 of Gov. Christie's vetoes  Neward Star-Ledger   ...In one vote after another, the overrides failed along party lines 24-15, with one exception when state Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth) broke ranks and voted with Democrats to restore funding for family planning clinics...

Today's Teamster News 07.11.11

Counties Want Feds To Stop Walker Freeze Of Family-Care  WSAU.com   ...The popular program offers a variety of health services designed to keep the elderly out of nursing homes, and disabled younger people out of institutions...
Minn. employees seeking work elsewhere  Associated Press   ...Many of the 22,000 public employees out of work in Minnesota’s budget impasse say they will get through the extended layoff by tapping into personal savings, making household spending cuts, and relying on a spouse’s income or unemployment checks...
GOP legislator sponsors Great Lakes water bill to fatten his own wallet  Plunderbund   ...Republican Rep. Lynn Wachtmann ...is employed as the President of Maumee Valley Bottling, Inc....Now why on earth would the bottled water industry care about unregulated daily withdrawals of millions of gallons of water from the Great Lakes?...
Is selling state services responsible?  Scripps-Howard   ...The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says 46 states and the District of Columbia have made severe cuts in state services, including health care (31 states), services to the elderly and disabled (29 states and D.C.), K-12 education (34 states and D.C.) and higher education (43 states)...
No, We Can’t? Or Won’t?  (Opinion)   New York Times   ...The truth is that creating jobs in a depressed economy is something government could and should be doing...
Economy Faces a Jolt as Benefit Checks Run Out  New York Times   ...Unless hiring picks up sharply to compensate, economists fear that the lost income will further crimp consumer spending and act as a drag on a recovery that is still quite fragile...

(VIDEO) Meanwhile, in MN

Here's a video of a rally in St. Paul on Day 6 of the shutdown. Demonstrators think it's a good idea to raise taxes on the wealthy to help pay for the state budget.

Today, the shutdown enters Day 10 as Republicans refuse to consider making Minnesota's 7,700 millionares pay their fair share. The impasse may go on for months.

According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the impact of the shutdown includes:

...bars and restaurants could start feeling the pain as state-issued cards that allow them to buy liquor begin to expire.

When its previous two-year budget ended last month, the state was forced to lay off 22,000 workers, close state parks and halt hundreds of road projects...

A string of court orders now temporarily funds K-12 schools, the court system, health and human services and local government aid -- about 80 percent of state spending.

And because there is no new budget, the court is paying out funds based on older, higher spending assumptions. That means the state treasury is beginning to burn through what could become hundreds of millions of dollars more than it is taking in

Talk about a baby with a nail gun....

Minnesotans for a Fair Economy has a solution to the impasse:

The secret politicians aren't telling is that the ultra rich in Minnesota are taxed at a LOWER rate than the rest of us!

Very Richest – 9.7% effective tax rate

Working Families – 12.1% effective tax rate

If the richest Minnesotans paid their share it would generate enough revenue to end the shutdown today!

Campaign for America's Future has a great take on why Minnesotans should be proud of Gov. Mark Dayton. Read the whole thing here.

Today's Teamster News 07.09.11

Republican recall candidates whine about taxes but pay little to nothing  Wisconsin Gazette   ...voters deserve an explanation as to how most working people pay more in a single paycheck than some of these whining Republicans have paid over the course of several years...
The Public-Private Indiana Toll Road Is in Trouble  Bloomberg Business Week   ...The problems facing the nation’s largest public-private road venture show how difficult it can be to apply business principles to sprawling public projects...
Dems call for investigation into fundraiser invitation email sent from Snyder representative  Associated Press   ...a recent Michigan Supreme Court decision determined that the use of even one taxpayer-funded keystroke for political fundraising violates state law...
Top earners cool to paying more  Minneapolis Star-Tribune   ...Gov. Mark Dayton wants these 7,700 people making more than $1 million a year to pay higher income taxes, either permanently or as a two-year surcharge...
Lawsuit seeks to block Missouri photo ID ballot measure  St. Louis Today   ...
A ballot initiative that would amend the state constitution to allow a photo ID requirement to vote contains deceptive language and should not appear on the ballot, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday by a coalition of groups...
Senate President Sweeney calls for 'a vote of conscience' by legislators against Gov. Christie's budget  NJ.com   ...Senate Democrats Thursday challenged their Republican colleagues to buck Gov. Chris Christie and join them to override his budget veto of several social welfare programs...

Today's Teamster News 07.08.11

Small donors, unions give Democrats cash edge in Wisconsin recall elections  DailyKos   ...this is a very strong showing for the Democratic candidates...
Clock is ticking for counties to validate SB5 signatures  Fox19   ...now it's up to local jurisdictions like Butler County to validate each signature by July 18...
Minnesota Shutdown May Cost State Economy $23 Million Weekly  Bloomberg   ...The economy in Minnesota, whose debt was downgraded today by Fitch Ratings, may lose about $23 million a week in spending power from public and private workers idled by the shutdown of its government...
Gov. Rick Scott’s plutocratic Florida (Opinion)  Miami Herald   ...this guy isn’t so much the governor of Florida as he is one of several interchangeable ideologues elevated to state and federal government in part thanks to the faux grassroots “tea party movement.”...
Law increasing bargaining units in NH takes effect  Associated Press   ... A new law requires a bargaining unit to have at least 10 members...
Teachers union leaders say they'll become active in recall campaigns against state House members  MLive.com   ...State teachers union leaders say they will now be actively involved in recall campaigns, calling the recent tenure reform package “the tipping point.”...

Today's Teamster News 07.07.11

Scott Walker’s bogus `mission accomplished’ moment  Washington Post   ...There are 424 school districts in Wisconsin, and as the AP recently noted, Walker’s policies mean draconian budget cuts to 410 of them, with labor officials and school districts predicting increased class sizes and layoffs...
Silence leads to more of the same  (Opinion)  Newark Advocate   ...Gov. John Kasich and ...Republican lawmakers...insist they are doing what voters hired them this past November to do ...Evidently, this means Ohio taxpayers want their state government to transfer wealth from middle-class, working-class and poor families to the state's richest individuals and businesses...
Gillman brings 'right-to-work' to board  Traverse City Record-Eagle   ...Commissioner Jason Gillman will ask the board to adopt a resolution to encourage Gov. Rick Snyder, state Rep. Wayne Schmidt and state Sen. Howard Walker to support legislation to make Michigan a so-called "right-to-work" state...
State legislators have heavy lift with reapportionment  (Opinion) Sun-Sentinel   ...Sixty-three percent of the voters approved last fall's ballot initiative that saw the passage of Amendments 5 and 6 (which) ... make it more difficult for the Legislature to draw boundaries favoring incumbent politicians or party interests over the voters...
Teachers sue over Indiana school voucher law  Associated Press   ...Indiana’s largest teachers union is attempting to block a new statewide vouchers program that would allow parents to use tax dollars to send their children to private schools...
Little progress emerges from first post-shutdown talks  Minneapolis Star-Tribune   ...Leaders at the Capitol emerged Tuesday from the latest negotiations since the shutdown began with little progress to announce...