Trade
One-Fifth of China’s Farmland Is Polluted, State Study Finds New York Times ...The Chinese government released a report on Thursday that said nearly one-fifth of its arable land was polluted, a finding certain to raise questions about the toxic results of China’s rapid industrialization, its lack of regulations over commercial interests and the consequences for the national food chain...
Progress but no deal in US-Japan TPP trade talks Agence France-Press ...The United States said Friday there had been progress but no final deal in talks with Japan that are crucial to advancing the ambitious 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal...
State Battles
Nebraska Joins States Banning Employers from Asking Job Applicants About Criminal History Alternet ...Gov. Dave Heineman signed a bill Wednesday making Nebraska the 11th state that bars employers from asking prospective employees if they have a criminal record. The prohibition is a provision in a law designed to reduce prison overcrowding...
War on Workers
The tea party radio network Politico ...conservative groups spent nearly $22 million to broker and pay for involved advertising relationships known as sponsorships with a handful of influential talkers including Beck, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin and Rush Limbaugh between the first talk radio deals in 2008 and the end of 2012...
Inmates to strike in Alabama, declare prison is “running a slave empire” Salon ...Inmates at an Alabama prison plan to stage a work stoppage this weekend and hope to spur an escalating strike wave...
Judge says American can't end retiree benefits yet Associated Press ...A federal judge has rejected an attempt by American Airlines to quickly cut off benefits for many of its retirees...
Job Loss Would Quickly Lead to Hardship for Many in U.S. Gallup ...A substantial minority of U.S. workers say they could go just one week (14%) or one month (29%) before experiencing significant financial hardship if they lost their job...
Princeton Study: U.S. No Longer An Actual Democracy Talking Points Memo ...Asking "[w]ho really rules?" researchers Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page argue that over the past few decades America's political system has slowly transformed from a democracy into an oligarchy, where wealthy elites wield most power...
Big banks lend to corporations over consumers CNN Money ...Lending was up in the first quarter, but that jump has hidden the fact that individuals are still having a tough time getting loans...
As we sweat government surveillance, companies like Google collect our data Guardian ...Google confirmed this week what many people had assumed: even if you're not a Gmail user, your email to someone who does use their services will be scanned by the all-seeing search and the advertising company's increasingly smart machines...
Miscellaneous
Keystone decision delayed yet again Politico Pro ...The State Department declined to specify how long the delay will last, saying only that it needs to extend its review because of an ongoing dispute in front of the Nebraska Supreme Court that could affect the project’s route inside the state...
Showing posts with label tea party. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tea party. Show all posts
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Today's Teamster News 02.05.14
Allegheny County, Teamsters reach tentative contract for road workers Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ...Teamsters Local Union 249 and the county Public Works Department reached a tentative agreement on a contract Tuesday, according to a statement issued by Teamsters president Joseph Rossi Jr...
Momentum building against Fast Track; thank you, Teamsters! TeamsterNation ...Tens of thousands of people are taking action to stop politicians in Congress from pulling a fast one and passing a Fast Track bill...
Corporations See an Income Divide, So Why Doesn’t Congress? teamster.org ...Income inequality is an issue that is receiving increased attention, especially after President Obama addressed the matter during his State of the Union speech last week...
Unsealed John Doe filings reveal roots of recall probe Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...From the outset, the probe focused on possible "illegal campaign coordination between (name redacted), a campaign committee, and certain special interest groups," according to a filing signed by the five district attorneys in the case. The campaign committee under the microscope? Almost certainly it's the Friends of Scott Walker, the governor's campaign committee. "Good guess," said one source familiar with the probe. "That's it."...
Scott Walker's big money comes from big donors outside Wisconsin The Cap Times ...the governor could at least show a little respect for the intellect of Wisconsinites when he makes claims about the money that he raises — which has, since 2010, tended to come in very large checks from very wealthy people in very distant states such as Texas and Florida...
Right-to-work would be an unnecessary and divisive fight in Ohio: editorial Cleveland Plain Dealer ...The divisive measure should not be enacted. Putting aside the likely partisan explosion, Ohio's voters signaled as recently as 2011 that they do not favor such measures...
Fast-Track Opponents Rally Support Wall Street Journal ...A coalition opposed to overseas trade agreements is building grassroots support, gathering more than half a million signatures and making tens of thousands of calls to lawmakers to argue against trade legislation in Congress...
Vermont Becomes 12th State With Legislation Targeting NSA Spying Truthout ...a transpartisan group of four Vermont state representatives introduced legislation that would block some of the practical effects of mass data collection by the National Security Agency (NSA)...
Trade deal is bad for working Americans (opinion) Nogales International ...There are two related issues to worry about. One is the agreement itself, which was written mostly by business lobbyists and helps the corporate bottom line at taxpayer expense. It also harms the environment, weakens labor protections and increases the price of medicines here in the U.S. The other issue to watch is what’s called trade promotion authority, which is often referred to as “fast track.” If the House and Senate approve fast track – and the House and Senate already have bills to do just that – it would make it impossible for members of Congress to offer any changes to the agreement before it’s approved...
Tea Party teams with union leaders to fight Obama’s trade plan The Hill ...The groups are at separate poles when it comes to taxes, ObamaCare and who should be the next president, but they agree that making it easier for the administration to negotiate and win congressional approval of trade deals is a bad idea...
The Farm Bill Still Gives Wads of Cash to Agribusiness. It's Just Sneakier About It. New Republic ...while the parties argued about how much food to take away from poor people, it’s just as revealing to look at the area where they both agreed. Democrats and Republicans alike have pointed to the repeal of $4.5 billion in annual direct cash payments, a long disfavored policy where farmers received a fixed amount of money for every acre they owned, regardless of whether it was planted...
Only About One-Third of Labor Force Dropouts Will Return Wall Street Journal ...Millions of people have dropped out of the labor force since the start of the recession in late 2007, and only about a third of them will come back in the years ahead when the economy is stronger...
Welcome Relief for Homeowners, Then the Tax Bill New York Times ...Come tax time, JPMorgan Chase will be able to write off the $1.5 billion in debt relief it must give homeowners to satisfy the terms of a recent settlement. But the homeowners who receive the help will have to treat it as taxable income, resulting in whopping tax bills for many families who have just lost their homes or only narrowly managed to keep them...
USW: Jail nun/nurse was fired for union organizing Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ...A nun who worked for five years as a registered nurse at the Allegheny County Jail infirmary was fired last week for spearheading unionization efforts, an organizer for the United Steelworkers union said Monday...
Momentum building against Fast Track; thank you, Teamsters! TeamsterNation ...Tens of thousands of people are taking action to stop politicians in Congress from pulling a fast one and passing a Fast Track bill...
Corporations See an Income Divide, So Why Doesn’t Congress? teamster.org ...Income inequality is an issue that is receiving increased attention, especially after President Obama addressed the matter during his State of the Union speech last week...
Unsealed John Doe filings reveal roots of recall probe Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...From the outset, the probe focused on possible "illegal campaign coordination between (name redacted), a campaign committee, and certain special interest groups," according to a filing signed by the five district attorneys in the case. The campaign committee under the microscope? Almost certainly it's the Friends of Scott Walker, the governor's campaign committee. "Good guess," said one source familiar with the probe. "That's it."...
Scott Walker's big money comes from big donors outside Wisconsin The Cap Times ...the governor could at least show a little respect for the intellect of Wisconsinites when he makes claims about the money that he raises — which has, since 2010, tended to come in very large checks from very wealthy people in very distant states such as Texas and Florida...
Right-to-work would be an unnecessary and divisive fight in Ohio: editorial Cleveland Plain Dealer ...The divisive measure should not be enacted. Putting aside the likely partisan explosion, Ohio's voters signaled as recently as 2011 that they do not favor such measures...
Fast-Track Opponents Rally Support Wall Street Journal ...A coalition opposed to overseas trade agreements is building grassroots support, gathering more than half a million signatures and making tens of thousands of calls to lawmakers to argue against trade legislation in Congress...
Vermont Becomes 12th State With Legislation Targeting NSA Spying Truthout ...a transpartisan group of four Vermont state representatives introduced legislation that would block some of the practical effects of mass data collection by the National Security Agency (NSA)...
Trade deal is bad for working Americans (opinion) Nogales International ...There are two related issues to worry about. One is the agreement itself, which was written mostly by business lobbyists and helps the corporate bottom line at taxpayer expense. It also harms the environment, weakens labor protections and increases the price of medicines here in the U.S. The other issue to watch is what’s called trade promotion authority, which is often referred to as “fast track.” If the House and Senate approve fast track – and the House and Senate already have bills to do just that – it would make it impossible for members of Congress to offer any changes to the agreement before it’s approved...
Tea Party teams with union leaders to fight Obama’s trade plan The Hill ...The groups are at separate poles when it comes to taxes, ObamaCare and who should be the next president, but they agree that making it easier for the administration to negotiate and win congressional approval of trade deals is a bad idea...
The Farm Bill Still Gives Wads of Cash to Agribusiness. It's Just Sneakier About It. New Republic ...while the parties argued about how much food to take away from poor people, it’s just as revealing to look at the area where they both agreed. Democrats and Republicans alike have pointed to the repeal of $4.5 billion in annual direct cash payments, a long disfavored policy where farmers received a fixed amount of money for every acre they owned, regardless of whether it was planted...
Only About One-Third of Labor Force Dropouts Will Return Wall Street Journal ...Millions of people have dropped out of the labor force since the start of the recession in late 2007, and only about a third of them will come back in the years ahead when the economy is stronger...
Welcome Relief for Homeowners, Then the Tax Bill New York Times ...Come tax time, JPMorgan Chase will be able to write off the $1.5 billion in debt relief it must give homeowners to satisfy the terms of a recent settlement. But the homeowners who receive the help will have to treat it as taxable income, resulting in whopping tax bills for many families who have just lost their homes or only narrowly managed to keep them...
USW: Jail nun/nurse was fired for union organizing Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ...A nun who worked for five years as a registered nurse at the Allegheny County Jail infirmary was fired last week for spearheading unionization efforts, an organizer for the United Steelworkers union said Monday...
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Today's Teamster News 11.24.13
Teamsters contract to bring less than 2 percent raises Ironton Tribune ...The first Teamsters contract for employees of the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office will bring them raises over the next three years...
Anheuser-Busch InBev, Teamsters Conclude Round of Contract Talks CBS St. Louis ...Teamsters Local 6 Principal Officer Ron Shy says the three-week-long local talks wrapped up last night with what he says are a “couple of unresolved issues” they will take to the national talks that open in St. Petersburg, Florida on December 2...
Middletown Boro, Teamsters local reach agreement on holiday decoration volunteers Fox 43 ...Earlier this fall, Arnold announced the Borough would be forced to suspend the decorating activities this year after members of Teamsters Local 776 filed grievances seeking compensation for the work the volunteers did last year...Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the union recognizes the Borough’s right to use volunteers so long as such use does not result in employee layoffs...
Walmart Protests Promised To Be Even Bigger This Black Friday Huffington Post ...Walmart workers and their supporters are planning to kick off this year's holiday shopping season with protests at 1,500 Walmart stores around the country on Nov. 29...
Civil Society Groups Demand Transparency and User Protections in TPP Electronic Frontier Foundation ...Civil society groups are coming out in force against the secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, following Wikileaks' publication of the “Intellectual Property” chapter...
An Orgy of Thieves Counterpunch ...There was indeed a vast criminal class coming to full vicious potential in the 1990s: a group utterly vacant of the most elementary instincts of social propriety, devoid of moral fiber, selfish to an almost unfathomable degree. The class comes in the form of our corporate elite...
Analysis: U.S. businesses back Tea Party Republicans after shutdown Reuters ...Eight of the most active business PACs wrote checks totaling $84,750 to 56 Republicans in the Senate and the House of Representatives after they voted against an October 16 deal to re-open the government that had been shut down since October 1 and avert an imminent debt default...
End the 1 percent’s free ride: Taxing land would solve America’s biggest problems Salon ...Just tax the stuff that humans had nothing to do with creating, and therefore have no basis to claim ownership over at all. You’ll find that almost all of it is “owned” by the fabled 1 percent...
Robert Samuelson Is Upset that the Government Gives One Thousand Times as Much Money to Billionaires Like Peter Peterson as It Does to Poor Children Center for Economic Policy and Research ...we should look at the billions of dollars in interest paid out on government bonds to rich people like Peter Peterson without taking account of the fact that Peterson and his billionaire friends paid for these bonds...
Watch economic insecurity spread like a virus over a quarter-century Washington Post ...the two great transformations of the economy over the late 20th century have been the rise in inequality and the increasing risk that households and workers bear...
Caught in a Revolving Door of Unemployment New York Times ... joblessness lasting more than six months is a major factor preventing people from getting rehired, with potentially grave consequences for tens of millions of Americans...
Susan J. Demas: How the Democrats blew it after Right to Work (opinion) Michigan Live ...they filed a couple long-shot lawsuits and essentially decided to give up...
Ohio unions optimistic about shifting Right to Work landscape Keep Ohio's Heritage ...Following this month’s colossal failure of the Ohioans for Workplace Freedom Election Day signature push, labor groups believe that Ohio voters are beginning to make their choice clear at the ballots...
Anheuser-Busch InBev, Teamsters Conclude Round of Contract Talks CBS St. Louis ...Teamsters Local 6 Principal Officer Ron Shy says the three-week-long local talks wrapped up last night with what he says are a “couple of unresolved issues” they will take to the national talks that open in St. Petersburg, Florida on December 2...
Middletown Boro, Teamsters local reach agreement on holiday decoration volunteers Fox 43 ...Earlier this fall, Arnold announced the Borough would be forced to suspend the decorating activities this year after members of Teamsters Local 776 filed grievances seeking compensation for the work the volunteers did last year...Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the union recognizes the Borough’s right to use volunteers so long as such use does not result in employee layoffs...
Walmart Protests Promised To Be Even Bigger This Black Friday Huffington Post ...Walmart workers and their supporters are planning to kick off this year's holiday shopping season with protests at 1,500 Walmart stores around the country on Nov. 29...
Civil Society Groups Demand Transparency and User Protections in TPP Electronic Frontier Foundation ...Civil society groups are coming out in force against the secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, following Wikileaks' publication of the “Intellectual Property” chapter...
An Orgy of Thieves Counterpunch ...There was indeed a vast criminal class coming to full vicious potential in the 1990s: a group utterly vacant of the most elementary instincts of social propriety, devoid of moral fiber, selfish to an almost unfathomable degree. The class comes in the form of our corporate elite...
Analysis: U.S. businesses back Tea Party Republicans after shutdown Reuters ...Eight of the most active business PACs wrote checks totaling $84,750 to 56 Republicans in the Senate and the House of Representatives after they voted against an October 16 deal to re-open the government that had been shut down since October 1 and avert an imminent debt default...
End the 1 percent’s free ride: Taxing land would solve America’s biggest problems Salon ...Just tax the stuff that humans had nothing to do with creating, and therefore have no basis to claim ownership over at all. You’ll find that almost all of it is “owned” by the fabled 1 percent...
Robert Samuelson Is Upset that the Government Gives One Thousand Times as Much Money to Billionaires Like Peter Peterson as It Does to Poor Children Center for Economic Policy and Research ...we should look at the billions of dollars in interest paid out on government bonds to rich people like Peter Peterson without taking account of the fact that Peterson and his billionaire friends paid for these bonds...
Watch economic insecurity spread like a virus over a quarter-century Washington Post ...the two great transformations of the economy over the late 20th century have been the rise in inequality and the increasing risk that households and workers bear...
Caught in a Revolving Door of Unemployment New York Times ... joblessness lasting more than six months is a major factor preventing people from getting rehired, with potentially grave consequences for tens of millions of Americans...
Susan J. Demas: How the Democrats blew it after Right to Work (opinion) Michigan Live ...they filed a couple long-shot lawsuits and essentially decided to give up...
Ohio unions optimistic about shifting Right to Work landscape Keep Ohio's Heritage ...Following this month’s colossal failure of the Ohioans for Workplace Freedom Election Day signature push, labor groups believe that Ohio voters are beginning to make their choice clear at the ballots...
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Today's Teamster News 11.03.13
Canada's CN Rail reaches tentative deal with Teamsters union Reuters ...Canadian National Railway Co , the country's largest rail operator, agreed to a new labor contract for some 3,300 conductors, trainmen, yardmen and traffic coordinators represented by the Teamsters union, the railway said Thursday...
Arkansas Best, teamsters ok five-year contract Log Cabin Democrat ... The contract will take effect on Nov. 3, 2013 and run through March 31, 2018...
Portrait of the NSA: no detail too small in quest for total surveillance The Guardian ... It is indiscriminate in the information it is collecting. Nothing appears to be too small for the NSA. Nothing too trivial. Rivals, enemies, allies and friends – US citizens and 'non-Americans' – are all scooped up...
10 Corporations Control Almost Everything You Buy — This Chart Shows How PolicyMic ...It's not just the products you buy and consume, either. In recent decades, the very news and information that you get has bundled together: 90% of the media is now controlled by just six companies...
One Thing Major Media Hid From You During the Debate on Syria PolicyMic ...at least 22 of the commentators and seven of the think tanks that advocated for military action in Syria had ties to companies that would profit from such a strike...
More on secrets in trade…TPP Angry Bear ...“This really is a deal that’s being negotiated by corporations for corporations and any benefit it provides to the bulk of the population of this country will be purely incidental.” ... “There would be no reason to keep it so secret if it was in the interest of the public...
The Global Corporatocracy Is Almost Fully Operational naked capitalism ..."...we are witnessing the advancement of a new and unprecedented global project of transatlantic corporate colonization.“... as a recent leak of part of the TPP document has shown, the new rules would limit how governments regulate such public services as utilities, transportation, healthcare and education, including restricting policies meant to ensure broad or universal access to those essential needs...
Now Is Time To End Trade Deal Job Growth Lie teamster.org ...The recently implemented U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement was supposed to create 70,000 new jobs, yet in the 18 months it’s been in place it has cost this country 40,000...
You Can Go To Jail For An Overdue Library Book Consumerist ...A Texas man was arrested this week for failing to return a GED study guide he simply spent too long studying — three years — and was sent to jail to mull over his actions, or lack thereof...
Daily Meme: Congress Hits America's Poorest While They're Down American Prospect ...Nearly 1 million military vets use food stamps and will see cuts...
GOP 'extremist movement' prompts NC candidate to switch to Democrat Charlotte Observer ..."The government shutdown was simply the straw that broke the camels back. I guess being an American just isn’t good enough anymore and I refuse to be part of an extremist movement in the GOP that only appears to thrive on fear and hate mongering of anyone and everyone who doesn’t walk their line.”
Arkansas Best, teamsters ok five-year contract Log Cabin Democrat ... The contract will take effect on Nov. 3, 2013 and run through March 31, 2018...
Portrait of the NSA: no detail too small in quest for total surveillance The Guardian ... It is indiscriminate in the information it is collecting. Nothing appears to be too small for the NSA. Nothing too trivial. Rivals, enemies, allies and friends – US citizens and 'non-Americans' – are all scooped up...
10 Corporations Control Almost Everything You Buy — This Chart Shows How PolicyMic ...It's not just the products you buy and consume, either. In recent decades, the very news and information that you get has bundled together: 90% of the media is now controlled by just six companies...
One Thing Major Media Hid From You During the Debate on Syria PolicyMic ...at least 22 of the commentators and seven of the think tanks that advocated for military action in Syria had ties to companies that would profit from such a strike...
More on secrets in trade…TPP Angry Bear ...“This really is a deal that’s being negotiated by corporations for corporations and any benefit it provides to the bulk of the population of this country will be purely incidental.” ... “There would be no reason to keep it so secret if it was in the interest of the public...
The Global Corporatocracy Is Almost Fully Operational naked capitalism ..."...we are witnessing the advancement of a new and unprecedented global project of transatlantic corporate colonization.“... as a recent leak of part of the TPP document has shown, the new rules would limit how governments regulate such public services as utilities, transportation, healthcare and education, including restricting policies meant to ensure broad or universal access to those essential needs...
Now Is Time To End Trade Deal Job Growth Lie teamster.org ...The recently implemented U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement was supposed to create 70,000 new jobs, yet in the 18 months it’s been in place it has cost this country 40,000...
You Can Go To Jail For An Overdue Library Book Consumerist ...A Texas man was arrested this week for failing to return a GED study guide he simply spent too long studying — three years — and was sent to jail to mull over his actions, or lack thereof...
Daily Meme: Congress Hits America's Poorest While They're Down American Prospect ...Nearly 1 million military vets use food stamps and will see cuts...
GOP 'extremist movement' prompts NC candidate to switch to Democrat Charlotte Observer ..."The government shutdown was simply the straw that broke the camels back. I guess being an American just isn’t good enough anymore and I refuse to be part of an extremist movement in the GOP that only appears to thrive on fear and hate mongering of anyone and everyone who doesn’t walk their line.”
Monday, October 21, 2013
Today's Teamster News 10.21.13
Tea Party Rep. Farenthold To Disabled Vets Hurt By GOP Shut-Down: ‘You have to Make Sacrifices!’ aatp.org ...Congressman Blake Farenthold (R- Texas...) told veterans about to lose their disability checks due to the government shutdown, that they would have to make sacrifices...
Why Democrats Might Cave On Social Security Cuts Huffington Post ...Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Sunday opened the door to Social Security cuts as part of a budget deal with congressional Republicans...
Farmworkers Hit NYC to Protest Wendy’s Labor Practices The Nation ...The members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) had just arrived in the city from Immokalee, Florida, and were gathered to pressure Wendy’s to sign on to CIW’s Fair Food Program (FFP), an initiative that ensures fast-food chains purchase tomatoes from ethical produce suppliers...
How stores use your phone’s WiFi to track your shopping habits Washington Post ...in a retail environment, other in-store equipment can pick up your WiFi card, learn your device's unique ID number and use it to keep tabs on that device over time as you move through the store...
(In)Direct Slavery: We’re All Guilty Pivotfarm ...There are 29.8 million slaves in the world. They mostly work in developing and emerging countries producing goods that are destined for the Western world and our own markets...
Mexico cartel honcho reportedly killed by gunmen dressed as clowns Los Angeles Times ...Gunmen dressed as clowns burst into a children’s party and shot to death the eldest brother of one of Mexico’s erstwhile largest and feared drug-trafficking families, Mexican officials and press said Saturday...
In Greece, wisdom of privatizations under question Ekathimerini ...Unions have long warned that the planned offloading of stakes in utility and transport companies will impose higher water and gas prices to a population already struggling through a six-year recession. Wages have fallen by over 22 percent since 2010 according to state statistics, and unemployment has soared to over 27 percent of the active workforce...
The birth of Fox News Salon ...From day one, Rupert Murdoch's baby was louder and angrier than its competitors. The media has never recovered...
Meat So Cheap You Could Die Other Words ...The first known salmonella cases from this latest bout of bad chicken occurred in March. They continued through at least late September. That means consumers bought and ate contaminated meat for at least seven months before they learned that something might be amiss. Since it takes a few weeks to report and confirm a new case, it’s likely more people will get sick than the early numbers indicated....
The Abject Failure of Reaganomics (opinion) Consortium News ...If a large segment of the American public continues to buy into the Tea Party’s fake reality, then it is likely that both the political damage and the economic decline will continue apace, with fewer good-paying jobs, a shrinking middle class and more of the bitter alienation that has fed the Tea Party’s growth in the first place. In other words, the United States will remain in a vicious circle that is also a downward spiral...
Ohio's Hidden Bob Evans Subsidies CleveScene ... a just-released study … found that more than one in every eight Bob Evans employees qualifies for Medicaid, food assistance, or cash assistance from the state. The taxpayer cost is pegged at $14 million annually…
Why Democrats Might Cave On Social Security Cuts Huffington Post ...Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Sunday opened the door to Social Security cuts as part of a budget deal with congressional Republicans...
Farmworkers Hit NYC to Protest Wendy’s Labor Practices The Nation ...The members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) had just arrived in the city from Immokalee, Florida, and were gathered to pressure Wendy’s to sign on to CIW’s Fair Food Program (FFP), an initiative that ensures fast-food chains purchase tomatoes from ethical produce suppliers...
How stores use your phone’s WiFi to track your shopping habits Washington Post ...in a retail environment, other in-store equipment can pick up your WiFi card, learn your device's unique ID number and use it to keep tabs on that device over time as you move through the store...
(In)Direct Slavery: We’re All Guilty Pivotfarm ...There are 29.8 million slaves in the world. They mostly work in developing and emerging countries producing goods that are destined for the Western world and our own markets...
Mexico cartel honcho reportedly killed by gunmen dressed as clowns Los Angeles Times ...Gunmen dressed as clowns burst into a children’s party and shot to death the eldest brother of one of Mexico’s erstwhile largest and feared drug-trafficking families, Mexican officials and press said Saturday...
In Greece, wisdom of privatizations under question Ekathimerini ...Unions have long warned that the planned offloading of stakes in utility and transport companies will impose higher water and gas prices to a population already struggling through a six-year recession. Wages have fallen by over 22 percent since 2010 according to state statistics, and unemployment has soared to over 27 percent of the active workforce...
The birth of Fox News Salon ...From day one, Rupert Murdoch's baby was louder and angrier than its competitors. The media has never recovered...
Meat So Cheap You Could Die Other Words ...The first known salmonella cases from this latest bout of bad chicken occurred in March. They continued through at least late September. That means consumers bought and ate contaminated meat for at least seven months before they learned that something might be amiss. Since it takes a few weeks to report and confirm a new case, it’s likely more people will get sick than the early numbers indicated....
The Abject Failure of Reaganomics (opinion) Consortium News ...If a large segment of the American public continues to buy into the Tea Party’s fake reality, then it is likely that both the political damage and the economic decline will continue apace, with fewer good-paying jobs, a shrinking middle class and more of the bitter alienation that has fed the Tea Party’s growth in the first place. In other words, the United States will remain in a vicious circle that is also a downward spiral...
Ohio's Hidden Bob Evans Subsidies CleveScene ... a just-released study … found that more than one in every eight Bob Evans employees qualifies for Medicaid, food assistance, or cash assistance from the state. The taxpayer cost is pegged at $14 million annually…
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Austerity: The real winner of the government shutdown
But once again, savage cuts to social spending have won the day. Sure, the conflict may have been a terrible embarrassment for the GOP, but the Wall Street-backed tea party agenda of austerity came out unscathed.
The Los Angeles Times observed:
As the shadow of the shutdown passes, it's proper to be reminded again that this fight involved spending levels that are materially suppressing economic growth and hampering the recovery.
Specifically, the deal soon to be voted on leaves the sequester in place, at least until Jan. 15….The sequester is merely one manifestation of Congress's love for austerity in the post-recession era. From the inception, recovery programs have never been as large or robust as they needed to be, despite evidence that even harsher austerity regimes kept much of Europe mired in slumps.But the deal that was negotiated yesterday to reopen the government and suspend the debt ceiling didn’t just leave the austerity assault in place. It may end up escalating the assault on workers even more. Richard Eskow at the Campaign for America’s Future writes:
This deal will bend the next few months’ deliberations along the same misguided lines that have guided our political discourse for years now. House and Senate members will be encouraged to come up with a “deficit reduction plan” -- in other words, to impose another round of cuts just like those which have already wounded the economy and shredded millions of jobs.Specifically, Congress’s latest deal opens the door to further cuts that will target working Americans by establishing a bipartisan committee to deal with budget issues.
Yeah, another one of those! And you can be sure that this committee will try to hash out a “Grand Bargain,” which is basically Washington-speak for harsher cuts and “entitlement reform” -- “entitlement reform,” by the way, is Washington-speak for gutting Social Security and Medicare.
But austerity was the winner even before that part of the deal was conceived. That’s because the goalposts in Congress’s spending debates have already been moved to austerity’s side of the field.
Think Progress reports:
It may seem like ancient history, but sequestration was originally designed to be so unpalatable to both parties that the threat of its automatic budget cuts to both defense and non-defense programs alike would be enough to force lawmakers to come to a grand bargain budget agreement. As it first went into effect in March, Republicans tried to pin the blame for any negative consequences on President Obama. But they gradually came out in favor of sequestration’s devastating cuts and have now made it the baseline in the fight over funding the government.According to the Center for American Progress, Obama’s original budget for 2014 was $1.203 trillion. In 2010, Republicans took control of the House and deficit hawk Paul Ryan proposed a 2014 budget of $1.095 trillion -- that's 10 percent more than what Congress just passed to end the shutdown.
Outrageously, the justification for all these spending reductions is baseless. The country’s supposedly out-of-control debt has been falling significantly over the last two years.
But for tea party extremists, austerity was never about getting the deficit under control. It’s about shrinking government in a way that punishes workers and the poor. Even during the shutdown, what was deemed “essential” and “non-essential” gives you an idea of what parts of government right-wing elites think is important. So Congress’s gym – complete with heated pools and a sauna – was essential. Food assistance to low-income mothers and children? Non-essential.
Now, the latest agreement sets the stage for another budget and debt limit battle just in time for another round of sequester cuts. As we wrote at Teamster.org:
...our government will be funded at a significantly reduced level than it should be... because of sequester cuts that went into effect last year.For now, we’ve avoided default, reopened the government and hundreds of thousands of locked-out government workers are back to work. That’s definitely a good thing. But now anti-worker zealots in Washington are hoping that sharper austerity measures won't seem so bad compared to the pain caused by the shutdown.
Don’t be fooled.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Today's Teamster News 10.16.13
ABF Teamsters Approve Western Office Supplement teamster.org ...Teamsters at ABF, who work under the Western Office Supplement, have approved the supplement. Ballots were counted on Monday, October 14. About 67 workers are covered by the supplement...
A union against Inquirer publisher Philadelphia Inquirer ...On Tuesday, the battle over The Inquirer shifted to employees. Outside the newspaper's Center City headquarters, members of the Teamsters locals who package and deliver the paper inflated a 15-foot rat and protested for two hours against publisher Robert J. Hall...
Teamsters Warn of Possible Strike or Lockout at CN Rail Waterloo Region Record ...The Teamsters Union is warning of a potential strike or lockout at CN Rail starting on Oct. 28 after an offer to continue a conciliation effort was rejected by the company...
Unions, pension funds fight to kick Detroit out of bankruptcy court Detroit News ...All the big acronyms will be in federal court at 10 a.m. as labor unions, retirees, pension funds and others try to convince a judge that Detroit is not eligible for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection...
Bodies Double as Cash Machines With U.S. Income Lagging: Economy Bloomberg ...Hair, breast milk and eggs are doubling as automated teller machines for some cash-strapped Americans...
Here Are The Sleaziest Things Congress Has Done During The Shutdown Huffington Post ...After almost two weeks into the shutdown, recent polling has shown record levels of support for replacing every member of Congress, and lawmakers are now less popular than witches and dog poop...
Hypocrites! Corporate Leaders Bemoan the Default Crisis Created by Tea Partiers They Funded AlterNet ...Now big-wigs are begging these yo-yos not to crash the economy...
Support for GOP's Budget Strategy Falls Further Still Slate ...New poll, same takeaway: No one's winning the shutdown/debt ceiling blame game, but congressional Republicans are losing it worse than either congressional Democrats or President Obama...
Mrs. Ted Cruz: VP Goldman Sachs, Economic Policy Advisor to Bush-Cheney Daily Kos ...These people don't even hide their conflicts of interest anymore…
World Bank support for China solar and wind power may have cost U.S. jobs Washington Post ...As investment in alternative energy rebounded in 2011, U.S. wind and solar companies found stiff new competition — Chinese firms dominating the green industries that American officials looked to for growth...
Irish Unveil Austerity Budget, Seek Bailout Exit Associated Press ...Ireland unveiled its seventh straight austerity budget Tuesday, a plan to slash 2.5 billion euros ($3.4 billion) from next year's deficit and pave the way for the nation to escape from its international bailout...
Should Rich Kids Get Most of the Scholarships? Truthout ...it makes a heck of a big difference to your scholarship chances if you don’t have to work 25 hours a week...
Google’s Privacy Violations Under Fire Fire Dog Lake ...Everyone’s favorite tax dodger, Google inc., is trying to put out multiple fires concerning their seeming total disregard for user privacy. In an effort to snatch even more revenue in search – a category they may already be violating anti-trust laws in…
There's an International Plan to Censor the Internet in the Works -- Let's Stop It in Its Tracks AlterNet ...How the Trans Pacific Partnership making its way through Washington seriously undermines citizens’ rights to participate in a free and open Internet...
Burger Cooks Cost $7 Billion a Year in Government Aid Bloomberg ...Hamburger grillers and other fast-food workers at restaurants such as McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) and Wendy’s Co. get about $7 billion a year in U.S. government aid, a report recently published shows...
California Now Seventh State To Bar Employment Discrimination Against Domestic Violence Victims ThinkProgress ...On Friday, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed a law that bars employment discrimination against victims of domestic violence and those who experience stalking or sexual assault...
Petitions seek ‘right-to-work’ vote in 2014 Columbus Dispatch ...Supporters of a proposed “right-to-work” issue on Ohio’s 2014 statewide ballot said they have gathered 100,000 signatures and plan a big push next month for more names...
Scott Walker Creates Phantom Jobs To Boost Aides’ Pay ThinkProgress ...Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), who has so far fallen well short on his promise of 250,000 new jobs by 2015, at the same time has created phantom jobs to boost his employees’ pay, including some top aides...
A union against Inquirer publisher Philadelphia Inquirer ...On Tuesday, the battle over The Inquirer shifted to employees. Outside the newspaper's Center City headquarters, members of the Teamsters locals who package and deliver the paper inflated a 15-foot rat and protested for two hours against publisher Robert J. Hall...
Teamsters Warn of Possible Strike or Lockout at CN Rail Waterloo Region Record ...The Teamsters Union is warning of a potential strike or lockout at CN Rail starting on Oct. 28 after an offer to continue a conciliation effort was rejected by the company...
Unions, pension funds fight to kick Detroit out of bankruptcy court Detroit News ...All the big acronyms will be in federal court at 10 a.m. as labor unions, retirees, pension funds and others try to convince a judge that Detroit is not eligible for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection...
Bodies Double as Cash Machines With U.S. Income Lagging: Economy Bloomberg ...Hair, breast milk and eggs are doubling as automated teller machines for some cash-strapped Americans...
Here Are The Sleaziest Things Congress Has Done During The Shutdown Huffington Post ...After almost two weeks into the shutdown, recent polling has shown record levels of support for replacing every member of Congress, and lawmakers are now less popular than witches and dog poop...
Hypocrites! Corporate Leaders Bemoan the Default Crisis Created by Tea Partiers They Funded AlterNet ...Now big-wigs are begging these yo-yos not to crash the economy...
Support for GOP's Budget Strategy Falls Further Still Slate ...New poll, same takeaway: No one's winning the shutdown/debt ceiling blame game, but congressional Republicans are losing it worse than either congressional Democrats or President Obama...
Mrs. Ted Cruz: VP Goldman Sachs, Economic Policy Advisor to Bush-Cheney Daily Kos ...These people don't even hide their conflicts of interest anymore…
World Bank support for China solar and wind power may have cost U.S. jobs Washington Post ...As investment in alternative energy rebounded in 2011, U.S. wind and solar companies found stiff new competition — Chinese firms dominating the green industries that American officials looked to for growth...
Irish Unveil Austerity Budget, Seek Bailout Exit Associated Press ...Ireland unveiled its seventh straight austerity budget Tuesday, a plan to slash 2.5 billion euros ($3.4 billion) from next year's deficit and pave the way for the nation to escape from its international bailout...
Should Rich Kids Get Most of the Scholarships? Truthout ...it makes a heck of a big difference to your scholarship chances if you don’t have to work 25 hours a week...
Google’s Privacy Violations Under Fire Fire Dog Lake ...Everyone’s favorite tax dodger, Google inc., is trying to put out multiple fires concerning their seeming total disregard for user privacy. In an effort to snatch even more revenue in search – a category they may already be violating anti-trust laws in…
There's an International Plan to Censor the Internet in the Works -- Let's Stop It in Its Tracks AlterNet ...How the Trans Pacific Partnership making its way through Washington seriously undermines citizens’ rights to participate in a free and open Internet...
Burger Cooks Cost $7 Billion a Year in Government Aid Bloomberg ...Hamburger grillers and other fast-food workers at restaurants such as McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) and Wendy’s Co. get about $7 billion a year in U.S. government aid, a report recently published shows...
California Now Seventh State To Bar Employment Discrimination Against Domestic Violence Victims ThinkProgress ...On Friday, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed a law that bars employment discrimination against victims of domestic violence and those who experience stalking or sexual assault...
Petitions seek ‘right-to-work’ vote in 2014 Columbus Dispatch ...Supporters of a proposed “right-to-work” issue on Ohio’s 2014 statewide ballot said they have gathered 100,000 signatures and plan a big push next month for more names...
Scott Walker Creates Phantom Jobs To Boost Aides’ Pay ThinkProgress ...Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), who has so far fallen well short on his promise of 250,000 new jobs by 2015, at the same time has created phantom jobs to boost his employees’ pay, including some top aides...
Thursday, October 3, 2013
How many Americans does it take to shut down the government?
That's an interesting theory considering less than 5 percent of the population actually voted for these hostage-takers.
Business Insider reports:
Let's look at the element of the House GOP that supports tying the continuing resolution to fund the government to an un-passable defunding of the Affordable Care Act. Judging by the number of people who signed freshman Rep. Mark Meadow's (R-N.C.) letter, 81 members of the 233 GOP caucus support this hardcore strategy.
Adding them up, we see that only 13.8 million Americans actually voted for the suicide caucus. That's only 11.7% of the people who voted in a congressional election in 2012, and an absolutely pathetic 4.3% of the U.S. population.How can such a small percentage of people stack Congress with enough sociopaths to shut down the government? The answer is gerrymandering -- self-serving congressional redistricting that allowed Republicans to get 33 more seats than Democrats in the last election despite getting fewer votes.
And Think Progress reports that Republican gerrymandering makes a quick resolution to the shutdown even more unlikely:
Obama garnered 48.8 percent of the vote or more in just 13 of the 218 other Congressional Districts currently represented by a Republican -- and even if the general public wants the government reopened, there is little political pressure in heavily GOP districts for Republican members to side with President Obama and the Democrats.
With a gerrymandered majority consisting of districts that do not represent the majority of Americans’ viewpoints, House Republicans can keep the government in a shutdown highly insulated from the anger and blame they are receiving.So when you hear the fanatics in Washington say they're carrying out the will of the American people, remember they're more likely carrying out the will of their heavily gerrymandered districts. They aren't satisfied with the anti-worker sequester cuts they got this year. To them, it's great to tear at the social safety net. But it's better to rip it to pieces and even better to make it look like your opponents are to blame for the crisis.
When that doesn't work the extremists are busy downplaying the crisis altogether. But the shutdown is much more than a few shuttered parks. It's an attack on federal workers, veterans' benefits, vaccine programs, food safety inspections, food assistance for women and children, disability benefits, Head Start programs, financing for small businesses, and tourism.
And it's all thanks to the shrill minority spawned from gerrymandered voting districts -- democracy (and the economy) be damned.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Today's Teamster News 09.29.13
McCord endorsed by Pa. Teamsters philly.com ...The Pennsylvania Conference of Teamsters on Thursday endorsed state Treasurer Rob McCord in the Democratic primary for governor, citing his personal story and record of battling Gov. Corbett’s policies in Harrisburg...
Shutdown Would Shave U.S. Growth as Much as 1.4 Pctg. Points in Q4 Bloomberg ...A shutdown would slow the expansion because output lost when workers are furloughed subtracts from gross domestic product. The combined prospect of a budget standoff between the White House and Congress and haggling over the debt ceiling could have a bigger impact on the economy as businesses hold off on investment and households delay spending...
TPP a Trojan Horse Asia Times ...The TPP agreement affects not only trade issues, but also non-trade matters that immensely impact lives of citizens in all participating countries. ... The areas at stake include, for example: Domestic court decisions and international legal standards (eg, overriding domestic laws on both trade and non-trade matters, foreign investors' right to sue governments in international tribunals that would overrule the national sovereignty)...
The Wall Street Takeover, Part 2 Baseline Scenario ...the fundamental issue ... is whether our political system will put the interests of society at large ahead of the interests of large financial institutions. On that score, there is little to be encouraged about...
JPMorgan chief meets Holder in bid for deal to end probes, avoid criminal charges Washington Post ...The deal that Dimon discussed with Holder would involve paying the government at least $11 billion … While it would be a historic amount, the fine would still represent a sliver of the damage wrought by the bank for selling mortgage securities that it allegedly knew were worthless...
The Wall Street Protection Racket: Pay the Government Fines and Bankers Don't Get Prosecuted Buzzflash ..."The single greatest innovation of the banking sector has been to convince the Justice Department and Treasury that if you prosecute us for our crimes we'll send the economy back into the abyss..."
Half Ounce of Pot Gets Louisiana Man 20 Years in Prison Truthout ...In Louisiana, a person can get up to six months in jail for first marijuana conviction, up to five years in prison for the second conviction and up to twenty years in prison for the third. In fact, the Louisiana Supreme Court recently overturned a sentence of five years as too lenient for a fourth possession of marijuana and ordered the person sentenced to at least 13 years...
Federal Regulator of Credit Unions Files LIBOR Charges Against Banks Wall Street on Parade ...the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas against 13 foreign banks and U.S. based JPMorgan Chase, charging the group with violating federal and state anti-trust laws through their manipulation of interest rates in the setting of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), a benchmark used to set rates on everything from student loans to interest rate swaps to adjustable rate mortgages...
Report: Unexpected rise in number of extremely poor elderly women msnbc ...Among women 65 and older, the ‘extreme poverty’ rate rose 18% in 2012. Extreme poverty is defined as an annual income of $5,500 or less for older individuals living by themselves...
Long-term unemployment is a catastrophe Washington Post ...The percentage of the labor force unemployed for 27 weeks or more is finally decreasing, after peaking at about 4.3 percent in April 2010 and hanging around 4 percent until September 2011. But it's unclear how much of that decline is due to those workers finding jobs versus dropping out of the workforce...
More people express uncertainty in chance to achieve the American Dream Washington Post ...Four years into an economic recovery in which most of the benefits have flowed to the top earners, a majority believe that the American Dream is becoming markedly more elusive, according to the results of a Washington Post-Miller Center Poll exploring Americans’ changing definition of success and their confidence in the country’s future...
The flimflam of this week’s Obamacare numbers Reuters ...premiums that are “lower than projected” are not the same as “lower than they are now...”
Tea Party Lawmaker Letter on Med Device Tax Repeal Authored by Lobby Group The Nation ...seventy-five right-wing lawmakers wrote a letter to Speaker Boehner demanding that a vote to repeal the device tax occur “as soon as possible.” The metadata of the letter shows that it was authored by Ryan Strandlund, a member of AdvaMed’s government affairs team ...
The No-Fly List: Where the FBI Goes Fishing for Informants ACLU ...Each of these Americans spoke to FBI agents to learn why they were suddenly banned from flying and to clear up the errors that led to that decision. Instead of providing that explanation or opportunity, FBI agents offered to help them get off the No-Fly List—but only in exchange for serving as informants in their communities.Our clients refused...
Philly Fed says Scott Walker, WMC offer misleading data on Wisconsin economy The Cap Times ...Top officials with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia are warning Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and others that they are misusing a monthly index produced by its top economists...
Militarized Mining in Wisconsin Wisconsin Citizens Media Cooperative ...Until quite recently, the deployment of private security companies was unheard of in the north woods of Wisconsin where Gogebic Taconite (GTac) has proposed a mountain top removal operation that will create the largest open pit iron mine in the world...
Take Willoughby's plea deal on Moral Monday arrest? No, thanks Charlotte News Observer ...If all of us Moral Monday arrestees go to trial, the Wake County Courthouse will be a very busy place for the next several years...
Shutdown Would Shave U.S. Growth as Much as 1.4 Pctg. Points in Q4 Bloomberg ...A shutdown would slow the expansion because output lost when workers are furloughed subtracts from gross domestic product. The combined prospect of a budget standoff between the White House and Congress and haggling over the debt ceiling could have a bigger impact on the economy as businesses hold off on investment and households delay spending...
TPP a Trojan Horse Asia Times ...The TPP agreement affects not only trade issues, but also non-trade matters that immensely impact lives of citizens in all participating countries. ... The areas at stake include, for example: Domestic court decisions and international legal standards (eg, overriding domestic laws on both trade and non-trade matters, foreign investors' right to sue governments in international tribunals that would overrule the national sovereignty)...
The Wall Street Takeover, Part 2 Baseline Scenario ...the fundamental issue ... is whether our political system will put the interests of society at large ahead of the interests of large financial institutions. On that score, there is little to be encouraged about...
JPMorgan chief meets Holder in bid for deal to end probes, avoid criminal charges Washington Post ...The deal that Dimon discussed with Holder would involve paying the government at least $11 billion … While it would be a historic amount, the fine would still represent a sliver of the damage wrought by the bank for selling mortgage securities that it allegedly knew were worthless...
The Wall Street Protection Racket: Pay the Government Fines and Bankers Don't Get Prosecuted Buzzflash ..."The single greatest innovation of the banking sector has been to convince the Justice Department and Treasury that if you prosecute us for our crimes we'll send the economy back into the abyss..."
Half Ounce of Pot Gets Louisiana Man 20 Years in Prison Truthout ...In Louisiana, a person can get up to six months in jail for first marijuana conviction, up to five years in prison for the second conviction and up to twenty years in prison for the third. In fact, the Louisiana Supreme Court recently overturned a sentence of five years as too lenient for a fourth possession of marijuana and ordered the person sentenced to at least 13 years...
Federal Regulator of Credit Unions Files LIBOR Charges Against Banks Wall Street on Parade ...the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas against 13 foreign banks and U.S. based JPMorgan Chase, charging the group with violating federal and state anti-trust laws through their manipulation of interest rates in the setting of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), a benchmark used to set rates on everything from student loans to interest rate swaps to adjustable rate mortgages...
Report: Unexpected rise in number of extremely poor elderly women msnbc ...Among women 65 and older, the ‘extreme poverty’ rate rose 18% in 2012. Extreme poverty is defined as an annual income of $5,500 or less for older individuals living by themselves...
Long-term unemployment is a catastrophe Washington Post ...The percentage of the labor force unemployed for 27 weeks or more is finally decreasing, after peaking at about 4.3 percent in April 2010 and hanging around 4 percent until September 2011. But it's unclear how much of that decline is due to those workers finding jobs versus dropping out of the workforce...
More people express uncertainty in chance to achieve the American Dream Washington Post ...Four years into an economic recovery in which most of the benefits have flowed to the top earners, a majority believe that the American Dream is becoming markedly more elusive, according to the results of a Washington Post-Miller Center Poll exploring Americans’ changing definition of success and their confidence in the country’s future...
The flimflam of this week’s Obamacare numbers Reuters ...premiums that are “lower than projected” are not the same as “lower than they are now...”
Tea Party Lawmaker Letter on Med Device Tax Repeal Authored by Lobby Group The Nation ...seventy-five right-wing lawmakers wrote a letter to Speaker Boehner demanding that a vote to repeal the device tax occur “as soon as possible.” The metadata of the letter shows that it was authored by Ryan Strandlund, a member of AdvaMed’s government affairs team ...
The No-Fly List: Where the FBI Goes Fishing for Informants ACLU ...Each of these Americans spoke to FBI agents to learn why they were suddenly banned from flying and to clear up the errors that led to that decision. Instead of providing that explanation or opportunity, FBI agents offered to help them get off the No-Fly List—but only in exchange for serving as informants in their communities.Our clients refused...
Philly Fed says Scott Walker, WMC offer misleading data on Wisconsin economy The Cap Times ...Top officials with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia are warning Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and others that they are misusing a monthly index produced by its top economists...
Militarized Mining in Wisconsin Wisconsin Citizens Media Cooperative ...Until quite recently, the deployment of private security companies was unheard of in the north woods of Wisconsin where Gogebic Taconite (GTac) has proposed a mountain top removal operation that will create the largest open pit iron mine in the world...
Take Willoughby's plea deal on Moral Monday arrest? No, thanks Charlotte News Observer ...If all of us Moral Monday arrestees go to trial, the Wake County Courthouse will be a very busy place for the next several years...
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Today's Teamster News 09.03.13
Five reasons for optimism about unions this Labor Day (opinion) The Hill ...most Americans hold favorable views of unions. According to a June 2013 poll by the Pew Research Center, 51 percent of Americans hold favorable views of labor unions, a 10 percent increase from the number in the same poll conducted two years earlier...
9 Ways We're Better Off Now Than We Were On The First Labor Day (And 5 Ways We're Not) Huffington Post ...The federal minimum wage, which currently stands at 7.25 an hour, is not enough to keep American families out of poverty, according to the Center For Economic And Policy Research...
Union Busting Ended My Love Affair with a Beer Huffington Post ...Yuengling had illegally busted their union...
Labor Day message: We can fix this (opinion) NWI ...We must embrace the new worker activism we see popping up at places like fast-food chains and retail establishments whose workers merely hope to raise their families on a livable wage...
"What's Outrageous? Poverty Wages!" The Role of Religious Leaders in Worker Justice Huffington Post ...The faith leaders now rallying to support fast food workers' demands for a living wage are reviving one of America's oldest and most powerful arguments for social justice, one deeply rooted in religious ideals...
GDP drag from State and Local Governments Calculated Risk ...However state and local government spending has made a negative contribution for 13 of the last 14 quarters...
Wall Street Eager to See Larry Summers Nominated Fed Chair Real News ...if you had to trace the collapse of the 2007-2009 financial crisis on one person--and, of course, you can't really trace it to one person--but if you did, I think you could make a fair argument that Larry Summers is more to blame for the financial crisis that we experienced than any other person...
9 Ways We're Better Off Now Than We Were On The First Labor Day (And 5 Ways We're Not) Huffington Post ...The federal minimum wage, which currently stands at 7.25 an hour, is not enough to keep American families out of poverty, according to the Center For Economic And Policy Research...
Union Busting Ended My Love Affair with a Beer Huffington Post ...Yuengling had illegally busted their union...
Labor Day message: We can fix this (opinion) NWI ...We must embrace the new worker activism we see popping up at places like fast-food chains and retail establishments whose workers merely hope to raise their families on a livable wage...
"What's Outrageous? Poverty Wages!" The Role of Religious Leaders in Worker Justice Huffington Post ...The faith leaders now rallying to support fast food workers' demands for a living wage are reviving one of America's oldest and most powerful arguments for social justice, one deeply rooted in religious ideals...
GDP drag from State and Local Governments Calculated Risk ...However state and local government spending has made a negative contribution for 13 of the last 14 quarters...
Wall Street Eager to See Larry Summers Nominated Fed Chair Real News ...if you had to trace the collapse of the 2007-2009 financial crisis on one person--and, of course, you can't really trace it to one person--but if you did, I think you could make a fair argument that Larry Summers is more to blame for the financial crisis that we experienced than any other person...
Making ‘Too Big To Fail’ Banks Help Poor Borrowers (opinion) The National Memo ...Predatory lenders are folding fast in New York State, thanks to a savvy banking regulator who takes his duty to protect the public as seriously as his duties to the financial industry — and knows how to use the law to get quick action...
DIA Director: Selling Art Tantamount To Closing Museum CBS Detroit ...Detroit’s Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr has stated that the some of the art could be sold as part of the city’s bankruptcy deal Beal says the art being considered as “assets” are those that were bought by Detroit between 1922 and 1931– that’s about 3,300 pieces...
Ohio GOP grassroots lead to billionaire Plunderbund ...Americans for Prosperity. … That’s the right-wing outfit whose work is fashioned by billionaire David Koch...
Ohio GOP grassroots lead to billionaire Plunderbund ...Americans for Prosperity. … That’s the right-wing outfit whose work is fashioned by billionaire David Koch...
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
How the media hyped an IRS non-scandal
The mainstream news media misses some of the biggest stories in North America today. You know, drug war in Mexico. Or the criminal bankers who don't go to prison. Or the impoverishment of the working class. R.J. Eskow writes in "Where the Hell Is the Outrage?"
Conditions continue to become objectively worse for the great majority of Americans. But these ongoing changes — in actual wages, in employment, in social mobility and wealth equity — have received very little media attention or meaningful political debate.Eskow explains why that's a bad thing:
It’s not that things aren’t changing. It’s that people don’t know they’re changing. And without that knowledge the public becomes a canary in a coalmine, only aware of its declining oxygen supply when it keels over and dies.
It’s an almost classic state of alienation, in which people may be acutely aware of their own increasing difficulties (although sometimes they can be numb to that as well) but experience them in a state of isolation. That turns the anger inward, leading to crippling reactions like guilt and despair. And repeated individual failures — failures made increasingly likely in a skewed system — lead to a sense of learned helplessness.If mainstream media reporters don't miss a story, they may well get it wrong. Like the IRS "scandal," where supposedly "liberal" IRS employees investigated "conservative" Tea Party groups.
Only, it didn't happen. (And, by the way, even if it did, there's plenty of evidence that radical billionaires like the
Alex Seitz-Wald in Salon blows the whistle on how the mainstream media "outrageously blew the IRS scandal."
...we know that in fact the IRS targeted lots of different kinds of groups, not just conservative ones; that the only organizations whose tax-exempt statuses were actually denied were progressive ones; that many of the targeted conservative groups legitimately crossed the line; that the IG’s report was limited to only Tea Party groups at congressional Republicans’ request; and that the White House was in no way involved in the targeting and didn’t even know about it until shortly before the public did.As a result of the media's misreporting, half of the American people wrongly thought the White House ordered the IRS to target Tea Party groups, Seitz-Wald writes.
Have reporters corrected the record?
We think you know the answer.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Greedy tea party millionaire owns company that turns away cancer patients
Stephenson made his money by founding a for-profit cancer treatment company, Cancer Treatment Centers of America. The company boasts of a better-than-average cure rate.
Today, Reuters issued a special report exposing just how CTCA manages to have such a successful track record: It turns away patients it can't cure. Reports Reuters:
What sets CTCA apart is that rejecting certain patients and, even more, culling some of its patients from its survival data lets the company tout in ads and post on its website patient outcomes that look dramatically better than they would if the company treated all comers.CTCA cherry picks its patients. It turns away older, uninsured cancer patients (which of course makes health care more expensive for the rest of us). Again, Reuters reports:
It has relatively few elderly patients, even though cancer is a disease of the aged. It has almost none who are uninsured or covered by Medicaid - patients who tend to die sooner if they develop cancer and who are comparatively numerous in national statistics.
Carolyn Holmes, a former CTCA oncology information specialist in Tulsa, Oklahoma, said she and others routinely tried to turn away people who "were the wrong demographic" because they were less likely to have an insurance policy that CTCA preferred. Holmes said she would try to "let those people down easy."
Equally significant, CTCA includes in its outcomes data only those patients "who received treatment at CTCA for the duration of their illness" - patients who have the ability to travel to CTCA locations from the get-go, without seeking local treatment first. That means excluding, for example, those who have exhausted treatment options closer to home and arrive at a CTCA facility with advanced disease.CTCA treats far fewer Medicare patients than the nation's cancer treatment facilities as a whole -- 14 percent vs. 53 percent. And it treats almost no Medicaid patients. (Read the whole report here.)
Stephenson is said to be reclusive. We understand why.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Today's Teamster News 02.12.13
Corrupt Consumer Credit Scoring Exposed Economic Populist ...a new study ... shows 1 in 5 credit reports is chock full of errors. That's 20% of Americans with gross errors on their credit report with 10% of Americans having their credit score lowered as a result.
Home Prices Rise in 88% of U.S. Cities as Recovery Gains Bloomberg ...An improving job market and low interest rates are driving up prices by fueling demand for a tightening supply of listings. The national median price for an existing single-family home was $178,900 in the fourth quarter, up 10 percent from the same period last year...
China asks US to lift sanctions against defence firm The Economic Times ... The US today imposed sanctions on a Chinese defence firm, prompting a strong reaction from China which sought immediate lifting of the punitive action...
Bill to Limit Too-Big-to-Fail Risk Is Readied in U.S. House Bloomberg ...U.S. Representative John Campbell said he plans to offer legislation intended to shrink too-big- to-fail banks by requiring them to hold more capital including long-term debt...
Firefighters, teachers face smaller retirement safety net CNN Money ...While some of the changes and cutbacks impact current state workers and retirees, the most significant ones affect new hires....
Study Confirms Tea Party Created by Big Tobacco and Koch Brothers Huffington Post ...The study, funded by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institute of Health, traces the roots of the Tea Party's anti-tax movement back to the early 1980s when tobacco companies began to invest in third party groups to fight excise taxes on cigarettes...
Seniors and Vets to Crash ‘Fix the Debt’ Party Hosted by Honeywell CEO The Nation ...They will demand that Cote, a spokesperson for Fix the Debt, answer the question: Why are you demanding that we reduce the deficit by cutting critical social programs, when your own company practices tax-dodging that has contributed millions to the national debt?...
Public money for private schools? ALEC strikes again Anchorage Daily News ...The notion of "school choice" isn't some brainstorm from Rep. Keller or his like-minded buddies in Juneau. This is another bit of robo-legislating brought to us by the Koch-brothers-funded American Legislative Exchange Council...
Ex-Florida GOP leader Jim Greer pleads guilty to grand theft TampaBayOnline ...The plea deal avoids would could have been an embarrassing trial for the state GOP. Some of Florida's most powerful politicians were scheduled as witnesses, including former Gov. Charlie Crist...
Michigan AFL-CIO files federal lawsuit seeking to stop right-to-work law Michigan Live ...The 8-count complaint alleges that Michigan's right-to-work law violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution by allowing the state to levy civil and criminal penalties for behaviors regulated by the federal National Labor Relations Act and by purporting to apply to areas under federal jurisdiction, such as dock-yards and forts...
Right-to-work legislation offers freedom to freeload (opinion) St. Louis Post-Dispatch ...the freedom to freeload — that is, gain increased wages and other benefits negotiated by the union without paying for them...
Minimum wage inches closer to New Jersey 2013 ballot with Senate approval ballotnews.org ...On February 7, the New Jersey State Senate voted to approve a measure that would raise the minimum wage in the state by $1, sending it to the General Assembly. The General Assembly must approve the measure before it can be sent to the ballot. There, it will face the voters of the state...
Pension plan has Pa. state workers worried philly.com ...The pension reform package Gov. Corbett proposed last week to address the state's $41 billion pension debt leaves 386,000 state employees and teachers wondering how it would change their retirement income...
ACLU sues state over Capitol protest rules Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin sued Gov. Scott Walker's administration in federal court Monday to stop arrests of the daily protest singers in the state Capitol...
State lawmakers propose paid sick leave mandate SoMdNews.com ...Citing risks to public health and economic growth, Maryland lawmakers are proposing a mandatory standard by which workers can earn paid sick days...
Teamsters Alert Investors To TPG Capital's Risky Practices IBT ...Teamster members distributed educational materials to investors at the conference. Investors learned that since TPG took over NEXEO, several facilities – and the communities surrounding those facilities – have been endangered...
Home Prices Rise in 88% of U.S. Cities as Recovery Gains Bloomberg ...An improving job market and low interest rates are driving up prices by fueling demand for a tightening supply of listings. The national median price for an existing single-family home was $178,900 in the fourth quarter, up 10 percent from the same period last year...
China asks US to lift sanctions against defence firm The Economic Times ... The US today imposed sanctions on a Chinese defence firm, prompting a strong reaction from China which sought immediate lifting of the punitive action...
Bill to Limit Too-Big-to-Fail Risk Is Readied in U.S. House Bloomberg ...U.S. Representative John Campbell said he plans to offer legislation intended to shrink too-big- to-fail banks by requiring them to hold more capital including long-term debt...
Firefighters, teachers face smaller retirement safety net CNN Money ...While some of the changes and cutbacks impact current state workers and retirees, the most significant ones affect new hires....
Study Confirms Tea Party Created by Big Tobacco and Koch Brothers Huffington Post ...The study, funded by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institute of Health, traces the roots of the Tea Party's anti-tax movement back to the early 1980s when tobacco companies began to invest in third party groups to fight excise taxes on cigarettes...
Seniors and Vets to Crash ‘Fix the Debt’ Party Hosted by Honeywell CEO The Nation ...They will demand that Cote, a spokesperson for Fix the Debt, answer the question: Why are you demanding that we reduce the deficit by cutting critical social programs, when your own company practices tax-dodging that has contributed millions to the national debt?...
Public money for private schools? ALEC strikes again Anchorage Daily News ...The notion of "school choice" isn't some brainstorm from Rep. Keller or his like-minded buddies in Juneau. This is another bit of robo-legislating brought to us by the Koch-brothers-funded American Legislative Exchange Council...
Ex-Florida GOP leader Jim Greer pleads guilty to grand theft TampaBayOnline ...The plea deal avoids would could have been an embarrassing trial for the state GOP. Some of Florida's most powerful politicians were scheduled as witnesses, including former Gov. Charlie Crist...
Michigan AFL-CIO files federal lawsuit seeking to stop right-to-work law Michigan Live ...The 8-count complaint alleges that Michigan's right-to-work law violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution by allowing the state to levy civil and criminal penalties for behaviors regulated by the federal National Labor Relations Act and by purporting to apply to areas under federal jurisdiction, such as dock-yards and forts...
Right-to-work legislation offers freedom to freeload (opinion) St. Louis Post-Dispatch ...the freedom to freeload — that is, gain increased wages and other benefits negotiated by the union without paying for them...
Minimum wage inches closer to New Jersey 2013 ballot with Senate approval ballotnews.org ...On February 7, the New Jersey State Senate voted to approve a measure that would raise the minimum wage in the state by $1, sending it to the General Assembly. The General Assembly must approve the measure before it can be sent to the ballot. There, it will face the voters of the state...
Pension plan has Pa. state workers worried philly.com ...The pension reform package Gov. Corbett proposed last week to address the state's $41 billion pension debt leaves 386,000 state employees and teachers wondering how it would change their retirement income...
ACLU sues state over Capitol protest rules Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin sued Gov. Scott Walker's administration in federal court Monday to stop arrests of the daily protest singers in the state Capitol...
State lawmakers propose paid sick leave mandate SoMdNews.com ...Citing risks to public health and economic growth, Maryland lawmakers are proposing a mandatory standard by which workers can earn paid sick days...
Teamsters Alert Investors To TPG Capital's Risky Practices IBT ...Teamster members distributed educational materials to investors at the conference. Investors learned that since TPG took over NEXEO, several facilities – and the communities surrounding those facilities – have been endangered...
Saturday, February 9, 2013
David Koch brings his gospel of selfishness and billionaire empowerment to Arizona
...don’t want the 21st Century to be “America’s Century.” They want it to be the “Billionaire’s Century.” And if they succeed, then the middle class in America - and through most of the developed world - will go extinct.David Koch is the
Don't believe us? We got our hands on AFP's agenda for Arizona, which we suspect is very similar to their agenda in the other 49 states. Here's what they want to accomplish:
1) Make sure low-income people don't get health care (Stop Arizona from Expanding Medicaid/AHCCCS under ObamaCare
2) Cut essential government services (Restrain Arizona State Government Spending)
3) Tax breaks for big business, higher taxes for the poor (Enact Pro-Growth Tax Reforms, Including 100% Investment Expensing, Killing the Inflation Tax, Conforming the State & Local Sales Tax Bases)
4) Destroy unions, lower wages (Pass Paycheck Protection)
5) Destroy unions, lower wages (Reform Abuses in Taxpayer-Funded Union Release Time)
6) Cut essential government services (Refer "Truth-in-Spending" Budget Transparency Bill to the 2014 Ballot)
7) Eradicate public education (Expand AZ’s Private School K-12 Tax Credits, Strengthen ESAs)
8) Eliminate retirement security, allow Wall Street to loot the middle class (Pension Reform, Convert EORP to a Defined Contribution Pension Plan)
9) Strangle the clean energy industry in its cradle to protect the Kochs' oil and gas business (Prevent Enactment of New Corporate Welfare-Tax Credits / Loan Guarantees)
10) Destroy unions, lower wages (Mandate Transparency in Collective Bargaining ("Meet and Confer")
11) Give corporations free rein to harm people without any consequences (Enact Regulatory Reform (AZ/Local/ACC), Licensing Reform & Tort Reform)
12) Eliminate public lands and facilities such as parks and pools (Restrain the Creation of Special Local Government Taxing/Bonding Districts)
13) Increase Price Transparency in the Health Care Industry (This one we don't have a problem with!)
Thursday, January 24, 2013
One vast right-wing conspirator bites the dust in Mont.
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| Here's the misleading mailer ATP sent out through a front group. The Teamsters endorsed Reilly Neill. |
ATP was a shady group that fought for secret big-money campaign donors, attacked unions and smeared candidates who disagreed with its extremist agenda. In November, the group sent out campaign mailers full of lies -- with the Teamsters logo on it -- through a phony nonprofit. (The Teamsters got a cease-and-desist order.)
There are many, many more of these conspirators to go -- including ALEC, ALEC lawmakers, propaganda mills like the Mackinac Center and phony tea party groups like the
According to the Associated Press, ATP is no longer active. Here's why:
A state judge ruled this month that ATP acted as a political committee that must report its spending and donors, and is not the purely educational organization that it claims to be...(He ruled ATP) violated state campaign finance laws and used its corporate status to avoid compliance with those laws...We've said for a long time that the way to fight this vast conspiracy is to expose who's behind it. That's exactly what happened with ATP:
The Associated Press reports the group fought hard to keep secret its donors and spending. Now it's shutting down because Judge Jeffrey Sherlock ruled it has to reveal where it gets its money and how it spends it.
We do know a few things about American Tradition Partnership. According to SourceWatch,
ATP has joined tea party lobbying efforts, signing at least two letters to Congress in the last year urging an end to an end to tax credits for wind power and natural gas-fueled vehicles. The letters were signed by Koch-funded groups including Americans for Prosperity and tea party boosters FreedomWorks, Club for Growth and Art Pope’s John Locke Foundation.
In its 2008 application for tax-exempt status as a 501(c)(4) “social welfare” organization, ATP listed its “primary donor” as Jacob Jabs, Colorado’s largest furniture retailer and a donor to Republican candidates and causes. Jabs pledged a $300,000 contribution to get ATP on its feet, according to IRS records obtained by the Center for Public Integrity. Jabs's spokeswoman said he did not make a donation and has "never heard of" ATP or the group's previous incarnation. Jabs also poured money into a failed “right to work” ballot initiative in Colorado, becoming a television spokesman for the 2008 anti-union effort.Sounds all too familiar...
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
How Walker's criminal aide stole from widows and veterans
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| Would you trust this man with a charity for veterans? |
Perhaps Russell's real crime was that he didn't steal on a large enough scale. We're reminded that a Koch brothers company, Koch Oil, systematically stole oil from federal and Native American lands. In 1999, a jury recommended the company to pay a half-million dollar fine for the theft. Ultimately Koch Oil settled for $25 million.
What is striking about Russell's crime is how he maneuvered to gain control of a state-supported organization that operated for the public good. Once he had it in his power, he looted it -- for luxury vacations and to advance political goals. He showed no interest in supporting the goals of the veterans' charity.
Does that sound like the Koch brothers to you? Or any number of extremist anti-worker billionaires who want to cut Social Security and Medicare, eradicate public education and privatize government services?
They are all products of what economist James K. Galbraith calls "The Predator State."
". . .a coalition of relentless opponents of the regulatory framework on which public purpose depends, with enterprises whose major lines of business compete with or encroach on the principle public functions of the enduring New Deal...
They assuredly do not adopt any of society's goals as their own ... the very concept of public purpose is alien to, and denied by the leaders and the operatives of this coalition ... In the predator state, the organization exists principally to master the state structure itself...their reason for being is to make money off the state -- so long as they control it."In Russell's case, the state's sentencing memorandum describes a sociopath who brazenly stole more than $20,000 from the charity called Heritage Guard Preservation Society. It was set up to help veterans families -- and to make County Executive Scott Walker look good:
...the County Executive's Office had sponsored "Operation Freedom," an event to honor active military personnel and veterans. Held at the Milwaukee County Zoo, the event was made possible by the work of Milwaukee County employees and the donations of private individuals. The County Executive's Office ... produced and coordinated the event. Always closely identified with Scott Walker... the event was aggressively marketed throughout the State ...The sentencing memorandum then explains that an American Legion post managed the money from the event. But in 2009, Walker directed the Legion post to turn over the money to the Heritage Guard Preservation Society, which Tim Russell -- then Walker's deputy chief of staff -- now controlled.
The Center for Media and Democracy reports,
Prosecutors noted that Russell held "exclusive control" of the Heritage Guard, and the fraud arose because Operation Freedom funds were not subject to outside audit or accounting. (Similar criticisms have been lodged against the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, a quasi-public economic development corporation created under Walker which lost track of $12 million in 2012).And then, this:
Tim Russell quickly set about stealing from HGPS once he gained control of the profits from the 2009 Operation Freedom event.Russell wasted no time. Within four months, he used HGPS money to fund two tropical vacations. And then it gets even better: He stole more money so he could fly to Atlanta to discuss Herman Cain's campaign for president.
The Center for Media and Democracy tells us:
"You have no true regret, remorse, or repentance," Milwaukee County Circuit Judge David Hansher told Tim Russell in announcing the sentence today. "You don't even have any shame."That sounds familiar, as well...
Let's take the fight to ALEC, let's investigate the Kochs
The best weapon we have against these predators is exposure. They have a knack for selling their dangerous ideas as somehow helpful for working families. But the public is less likely to be fooled when they know the true identity of groups like ALEC that are linked to the
Activists around the country are trying to force ALEC into the sunshine. Last year, Democratic lawmakers in Wisconsin and Arizona filed legislation called The ALEC Accountability Act. According to The Huffington Post,
Democratic lawmakers in Arizona and Wisconsin have introduced state legislation seeking public disclosure of who funds the conservative group known as the American Legislative Exchange Council.
ALEC, as the group is known, finances trips for Republican state lawmakers to learn about model legislation it pushes at the state level. Arizona tate. Rep. Steve Farley (D-Tucson) and Wisconsin state Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison) have separately put forward legislation designed to disclose ALEC's funding sources. The bills, called the Alec Accountability Act and pending in their respective Republican-controlled legislatures, would redefine ALEC as a lobbying organization since it develops model legislation.We hope they do it again this year. And that the bills become law.
This year in Minnesota, a bill was filed that would require anyone who promotes cut-and-paste legislation (ALEC's signature tactic) to register as a lobbyist. And legislators would have to disclose any ALEC "scholarship" (i.e., luxury vaction) money they accept. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported last week,
DFL senators on Monday proposed expanding who is a lobbyist and what lobbyists need to disclose.
If the measure became law, anyone who promotes or distributes model legislation would be required to register as a lobbyist. Under the measure, lobbyists and lawmakers would have to disclose any scholarship funds they get to attend events or meetings.
"It is aimed at ALEC," said Minneapolis DFL Sen. Scott Dibble, the bill sponsor. "ALEC is a very strong influential entity."
The measure would also apply to other national groups that push model legislation, that is, bills that are proposed and written outside of Minnesota and then tailored to the state.Virginian activists are fed up with ALEC's initiatives to eradicate public education, roll back clean air and water protections and suppress voting. They've drafted a petition to disclose ALEC conference materials if lawmakers spend tax dollars to attend. Progress VA reports,
Virginia legislators have spent over $230,000 traveling to ALEC conferences where they meet behind closed doors with corporate lobbyists and don't have to tell us a thing about it.
We've tried to get the records from those meetings, but even though our tax dollars paid for legislators to attend, the conference materials aren't public. Transparency and disclosure have always been the bottom line of Virginia government. So, we've worked with Senator Don McEachin to introduce SB1143, a bill that would require ALEC conference materials to be disclosed to the public if legislators spend our tax dollars to attend.Sign the Virginia petition here.
Oregonians have their own petition to force ALEC to register as lobbyists (ALEC is claiming it's a "charity.") The petition says:
We demand public disclosure on the workings of American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in the state of Oregon and that ALEC operate within the rules established for lobbying organizations.Sign the Oregon petition here.
A state senator in New York, Daniel Squadron, has a petition to force lawmakers to disclose their ties to ALEC:
Since ALEC won't comply with lobbying laws, we're asking legislators to do it for them. If you're a state legislator or candidate for state legislature, sign this pledge to disclose whether ALEC helps shape any legislation that you introduce.
Are you a constituent? Click here to sign the petition urging your legislator to take the pledge. Sign the petition here.In Iowa, lawmakers are trying to pass a bill to enshrine No Rights At Work in the state constitution. Activists see ALEC's fingerprints all over it. They've drafted a petition demanding the bill's sponsors represent Iowa and not ALEC. You can sign that petition here.
Ordinary citizens are blowing the whistle on ALEC through individual efforts. For example, Judith Wiancko of Ennis, Mont., wrote a letter to the editor of the Billings Gazette denouncing ALEC:
There are members of ALEC in our Montana Legislature, working not for the people of Montana, but for corporations.
There should be no gifts or trips from any lobbyist, and full disclosure from our legislators. After all, if we the people want big money out of elections, we would want big money out of our legislator's vote.The Center for Media and Democracy is leading the fight to expose ALEC, the corporations and the billionaires behind it. Unfortunately, ALEC isn't the only shady group laundering big money in order to lower America's standard of living. CMD wants you to send an email to your U.S. senators asking them to investigate the Koch brothers, their sham corporations and dark money non profits. You can start by going here.
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