Today's Teamster News 08.19.12

Mitt Romney's tax returns: the 'voter fraud' theory  Guardian   ...did Romney put his son's basement's address on the returns he filed in 2009 and 2010? Or did he truthfully use his real (non-Massachusetts) address, thus implicating himself in voter fraud?...
Detzner says Florida voter purge to resume soon  WFTV.com   ...Florida's top election official expects a purge of non-citizens from voter registration rolls to begin soon and be completed before the Nov. 6 election...
Paul Ryan's major private equity connection  Fortune   ...So we've now got a former private equity executive running for president alongside the brother of a current private equity executive. Perhaps one of these days we'll learn if either one of them supports the industry's favorite tax break, in which partner profits ("carried interest") is treated as capital gains, rather than as ordinary income...
Pre-Trial Slave Sues Jail for $11 Million—in Vermont  Yahoo News   ...McGarry’s charges were ultimately dropped, and he was released. In 2009, he pressed a suit against his former captors in Brattleboro, Vermont, federal court for $11 million—claiming he was made a slave in violation of his 13th Amendment rights...
N.H.L. Commissioner Not Impressed With Union’s Proposal  New York Times   ...Commissioner Gary Bettman on Wednesday effectively dismissed the N.H.L. Players’ Association proposal for a new collective bargaining agreement, saying that union and management remained far apart with one month to go before the current agreement expires...
CEO Pay is a Tax on You  Economic Populist   ...CEO pay at 26 firms is equivalent to a $46 dollar tax on every person in America, or $14.4 billion per year...

Today's Teamster News 08.18.12

US election: Mitt Romney may have breached ethics laws through company linked to Paul Ryan's brother  Telegraph   ...Mitt Romney may have breached state ethics laws as Governor of Massachusetts by holding a stake in a company that did lucrative work for his administration and was linked to the family of Paul Ryan, a Daily Telegraph investigation has found...
Analysis: Paul Ryan Voted to Add $6.8 Trillion to the Federal Debt  ThinkProgress   ...Ryan’s votes in Congress show that he is as guilty as anyone of running up the nation’s debt...
Why the prolonged economic slump? One word: Housing.  Bubble Meter   ...There is no easy way to replace the massive loss in demand associated with the collapse of the housing sector...
Long-Term Jobless Regroup to Fight the Odds  New York Times   ...With a state unemployment rate of 10.7 percent, California officials struggle to find ways to get people back to work. In the sprawling suburbs east of Los Angeles that make up the Inland Empire, the job market seems more upbeat than it has been for months, but unemployment remains at 12.6 percent...
Teamsters: Rejecting Hostess contract could end jobs  Kennebec Journal   ...The Teamsters said it cannot endorse the "final" contract proposal from bankrupt Hostess Brands, but warned members that rejecting it would likely result in the loss of their jobs...
Teamsters National Black Caucus Holds Annual Conference In Charlotte  IBT   ...More than 400 members of the Teamsters National Black Caucus (TNBC) are meeting this week in Charlotte for the group's 37th annual education conference. The theme of this year's event is "Mobilizing the Movement and Making a Difference."...

Today's Teamster News 08.14.12

Paul Ryan: Bankrolled by the Banksters, the Privatizers, and the Kochs  PR Watch   ...FIRE (finance, insurance and real estate) poured $2.8 million into his races over the years so he could go mano-a-mano with the likes of John Heckenlively, an unemployed reporter who spent exactly $0 in his 2010 run against Ryan...
Two Dark Money Groups Outspending All Super PACs Combined  Pro Publica   ...Two conservative nonprofits, Crossroads GPS and Americans for Prosperity, have poured almost $60 million into TV ads to influence the presidential race so far, outgunning all super PACs put together, new spending estimates show...
Nuclear ruse: Posing as toymaker, Chinese merchant allegedly sought U.S. technology for Iran  Washington Post   ...Last month, the Justice Department announced indictments against two people, one Chinese and the other Iranian, for conspiring to acquire maraging steel and other restricted American technology. U.S. officials say the case is part of a broader effort by Iran to dramatically expand its capacity to enrich uranium — with Chinese firms serving as willing accomplices...
State ordered to reverse itself on some unemployment claims  Atlanta Journal Constitution   ...Thousands of Georgia bus drivers, cafeteria workers and private school teachers, who this year were denied usual summertime unemployment checks, may get that money after all, according to the U.S. Department of Labor...
Infamous Waukesha, WI Election Clerk Threatens to 'Destroy' Historic Walker Recall Ballots Amid Statewide Public Hand Count Effort  The BRAD BLOG   ...they have been allowed to examine ballots in 10 other counties across the state ... In a number of those counties, the group has explained to The BRAD BLOG, hand-counted tallies "have differed, sometimes significantly, from the recorded numbers," tallied on Election Night by the computer tabulation systems...
Striking Teamsters return to beer distributorship jobs  The Press-Enterprise   ...Union workers in Riverside vote to accept Anheuser-Busch’s offer. Leaders call it probably the best deal they could get...

Today's Teamster News 08.13.12

Long Term Unemployment is the Crisis of Our Time  Economic Populist   ...We have millions of people out of a job with years of experience, skills and advanced education, currently all going to waste...
China’s Economy Now Growing at a One Percent Rate?  Iacano Research   ...Recent news reports make the situation in China sound somewhat dire, what with exports tumbling in large part due to the recession sweeping over continental Europe and with the government’s efforts to cool a red-hot housing market apparently meeting with too much success over the last couple years...
Paul Ryan Only Passed 2 Bills Into Law In More Than A Decade  Huffington Post   ...Thanks to Ryan, the post office on 1818 Milton Ave. in Janesville, Wis., is now known as "Les Aspin Post Office Building..."
'I'm sick to my stomach': anger grows in Illinois at Bain's latest outsourcing plan  The Guardian   ...The Sensata plant in Freeport is profitable and competitive, but its majority owner, Bain Capital, has decided to ship jobs to China – and forced workers to train their overseas replacements...
Brockton Saves $ and Protests Foreclosure Misdeeds by Moving $170 Million Account from Bank of America  naked capitalism   ...the City of Brockton, which has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the state of Massachusetts, decided to save money and send a message by moving its payroll account from Bank of America...
Nice Memorial, But No New Mine Safety Laws  Washington Post   ...Despite the enormity of the Upper Big Branch disaster, the tragedy has not led to any significant new federal legislation to stop a serial safety violator such as Massey from cutting corners and causing the deaths of more workers...

Today's Teamster News 08.11.12

National labor rally to focus on middle class  Philadelphia Inquirer   ..."This is about changing the conversation in America," said Liz McElroy, secretary-treasurer of the Philadelphia AFL-CIO. "It's about making sure politicians of all stripes hear us."...
Hallelujah, It May Be Ryan!  The New Republic   ...a president handed the opportunity to run against a GOP ticket that's unabashedly in favor of abolishing Medicare--something even the Tea Party opposes--would probably win in November...
Jon Huntsman Sr., longtime Romney backer, calls on him to release tax returns  Washington Post   ...“Mr. Romney ought to square with the American people and release his taxes like any other candidate,” Huntsman said...
Four GOP House Staffers From Michigan Indicted for Election Fraud  Alternet   ...Four congressional aides to Michigan Republican U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter have been indicted for falsifying nominating petitions for McCotter's 2012 re-election bid, Michigan’s Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette announced Thursday...
Ohio Limits Early Voting Hours In Democratic Counties, Expands In Republican Counties  ThinkProgress   ...Early voting stations in Ohio’s heavily Democratic counties will only be open between 8 am and 5 pm, while Republican counties have expanded their hours to allow voting on nights and weekends...
Three Thousand San Francisco Janitors Prepare for a Strike  Truthout.org   ...The national confrontation between janitors and some of the world's richest property owners has arrived in San Francisco where, on Wednesday, over two thousand building cleaners shut down the city's main artery, Market Street, in a huge march...