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LOUISVILLE /JEFFERSON COUNTY
DEMOCRATIC PARTY NEWSLETTER
Week of January 20, 2008
The link to this electronic newsletter is being e-mailed to 4,000+
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CLICK HERE FOR CURRENT LIST OF EVENTS
Updated on a regular basis
Bulletin Board:
- The Louisville/Jefferson County Democratic Executive Committee meets the 4th Wednesday of every month at 5:00 pm at Democratic Headquarters,
- 640 Barret Avenue .
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VOTE
RS,
YOUR NEXT ASSIGNMENT
DITCH MITCH
A Tale of Two Senators from Coal Country: Byrd and McConnell, by Mike Hall
On Monday, we described how President Bush once again made an end run around the U.S. Senate and, with a bit of bureaucratic sleight of hand, kept Richard Stickler in the top post at the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). When Stickler’s recess appointment expired, Bush named him “acting” MSHA director, which doesn’t require Senate confirmation, something Stickler twice failed to receive.
Mine
Workers (UMWA)
President Cecil Roberts called the move “outrageous,” and yesterday, one of
the most respected media voices in the coalfields, the
Louisville Courier-Journal,
described the move as typical of Bush’s “arrogant approach” to governing.
If the White House can’t convince the Senate that it has proposed the right choice to head a major federal agency, then the thing to do is appoint him anyway. At least that’s President Bush’s arrogant approach.
The Courier-Journal went on to compare two senators from coal country: one who’s a friend of coal miners and one whose interests lie elsewhere:
Of course, you won’t hear any complaint from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the White House friend on Capitol Hill, to whose wife, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, Mr. Stickler reports. But a senator who cares about miners’ health and welfare, Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., blasted the Bush designation of Mr. Stickler as a “backdoor maneuver to appoint one of his controversial nominees.”
Click here to read the entire editorial.
Air Traffic Controllers to Recognize Rep. Yarmuth for Going Above and Beyond
Louisville Congressman Resolved Pay Issue
When Sam Murray transferred to
Bowman Field from Evansville, Indiana last year, he found that he was
erroneously being paid far below the rate required by the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) for an Air Traffic Controller with his experience and
qualifications. After e
xhausting
all other internal options, he turned to his local Congressman,
Representative John Yarmuth of Louisville, Kentucky. Yarmuth and his staff
immediately went to work to correct the the discrepancy, and after the FAA
initially claimed that it made no error, Yarmuth’s office ultimately
resolved the situation. Mr. Murray received his back pay and his salary was
adjusted to the proper level.
"It's a special occurrence to see this level of dedication to individual people from an elected official," said Bowman Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) Facility President Geoff Evans. "We felt that Congressman Yarmuth's devotion should be recognized. Louisville is lucky to have a congressman who is so devoted to his constituents." Continued Mr. Evans "The FAA refused to even look into this matter until Rep. Yarmuth became involved. If it weren't for the Congressman’s dogged inquiry, we'd still be fighting today to correct this issue."
Air Traffic Controllers from around the country will recognize Congressman Yarmuth at a ceremony in the main terminal of Louisville International Airport Wednesday at 10:00 AM.
Paul Krugman: Strong Unions Create a Strong Middle Class
Princeton economist and widely read New York Times columnist Paul Krugman spoke at the AFL-CIO breakfast during the annual meeting of the Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA) in New Orleans on Saturday. Krugman has authored 20 books, including the most recently published The Conscience of a Liberal, in which he endorses the Employee Free Choice Act.
AFL-CIO Voice@Work Campaign Director Fred Azcarate opened the breakfast with a brief update on the fight for the Employee Free Choice Act and urged the more than 300 participants—academics, graduate students and labor representatives—to join with the union movement in the struggle to pass this vital workplace rights legislation.
Speaking on the topic, “Unions and Inequality,” Krugman noted the percentage of workers in unions declined from a high of 35 percent in the mid-1950s to today’s level of 12 percent. As a result, the United States has “lost something that’s essential to maintain a decent society.” Krugman attributes the nation’s worsening economic inequality in large part to declining unionization and the erosion of legal protection of workers’ freedom to choose unions and bargain. He cited a finding that one-third of the difference in the rise in earnings inequality between the United States and Canada is attributable to the much faster rate of decline of unionization in this country. In fact, he says even this dramatic finding
almost certainly is a major underestimate.
Krugman explained that when a high percentage of workers are in unions and workers’ freedom to choose unions is protected, there is an “umbrella” effect in which all workers, union and nonunion, benefit. He cited work by economists Peter Temin and Frank Levy, who found that for a generation after World War II, the so-called “Treaty of Detroit” between the UAW and General Motors Corp. set standards for workers throughout the U.S. economy. (The Treaty of Detroit refers to the landmark contract the UAW negotiated after the war that has since been seen as the crowning achievement of the midcentury labor movement, with the largest automakers agreeing to generous benefit and compensation packages.) The bottom line, says Krugman:
To have a middle class society, you need a strong union movement.
Krugman also took issue with corporate spinners and extremist politicians who blame the steep decline in unions on the alleged loss of interest by workers in joining unions. Rather, Krugman says, the biggest culprit has been a hostile political environment that aided and abetted an aggressive, often lawless anti-union, anti-workers’ rights offensive by many of the nation’s employers. Corporate anti-union strategies that blossomed in the 1970s were given government approval in the 1980s Reagan era. This lethal combination has been “extremely effective in blocking unionization,” Krugman noted. He cited Bush era National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decisions, such as the 2006 ruling that expanded the definition of supervisor, as an example of how government has put its thumb on the scale against workers’ rights.
The importance of strong unions and protections for workers’ rights extends far beyond wages, health insurance, pensions and justice on the job, Krugman noted. Unions provide a crucial counterweight to the power of money in political campaigns. They also have a significant impact on the political consciousness and political participation of their members and their families. Krugman cited political science research that found voter participation would be 10 percentage points higher among people on the bottom two-thirds of the income ladder if the proportion of workers in unions had not declined since the 1950s.
Krugman, who has been dubbed “the most important political columnist in America” by the Washington Monthly magazine, concluded that the decline in unionization was caused largely by political factors, and it can be changed through political action. Polling indicates 53 percent of nonunion U.S. workers want unions today, but employer intimidation—aided by a hostile political climate and ineffective labor laws—prevents workers from exercising their free choice to form unions. Restoring workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain would change the political complexion of the country in a positive way. Krugman ended his presentation this way:
We’ve become a country where the interests of workers are hardly represented at the table.
And that’s got to change.
The AFL-CIO has hosted the annual LERA breakfast since the mid-1990s. Distinguished labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein was last year’s speaker.
Comments to the Editor:
To Whom It May Concern:
If you or anyone hasn't seen PBS's Home Video titled "Cheney's Law" I would be most happy to loan you my copy. It is really worth watching. Joseph G. Vick, 502-935-3053
MY OPINION:
Every time I see Dr. Donald Miller, director of the Brown Cancer Center, and Dr. Larry Cook, U of L’s Executive VP for Health Affairs prostituting for Mitch McConnell, I feel a sense of outrage that these two professionals have sold their good names and reputation for “30 pieces of silver”. What phonies they appear to be.
What do you think about their being in the commercials? -- Editor
DAILY GRILL
“God's going to give us
China. And China will be the largest Christian nation on the face of the
earth. They're going to come to Jesus." -- Christian broadcaster Pat
Robertson,
1/2/08, with his global predictions after this year's annual
conversation with God
VERSUS
"The fall elections will be inconclusive, but the outcome of the war and the
success of the economy will leave the Republicans in charge." -- Robertson,
1/06
***************
"I do not support and
have never supported a timed withdrawal [from Iraq]." -- Former
Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney,
1/5/08
VERSUS
"I would certainly sit down with al-Maliki as well as his government, plot
out a series of milestones, timetables as well."
-- Romney,
4/4/07
***************
“Listen, my friend, we're
going to be there [in Iraq] for five or six years." -- Sen. John McCain
(R-AZ),
2/25/04
VERSUS
"[I am prepared to keep troops in Iraq for] one hundred years, one thousand
years, ten thousand years or until the earth collapses under global climate
change." -- McCain,
1/6/08
*****************
"Iraqis are beginning to
see political progress that is matching the dramatic security gains for the
past year."
-- President Bush,
1/8/08
VERSUS
Seeing "such significant progress in security with only the foundations of
progress in reconciliation is a bit disheartening, not to mention sobering."
-- Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle Eastern Affairs Mark
Kimmitt,
1/8/08
Quotes of the Day
Economist Stephen Rose, defining the middle class as households with annual incomes between $30,000 and $100,000, says a smaller percentage of Americans are in that category than in 1979 -- because the percentage of Americans earning more than $100,000 has doubled, from 12 to 24, while the percentage earning less than $30,000 is unchanged. "So," Rose says, "the entire 'decline' of the middle class came from people moving up the income ladder." Even as housing values declined in 2007, the net worth of households increased. Source
On Fox News' The Live Desk, Republican strategist Christine O'Donnell responded to host Martha MacCallum's question about whether Republicans would prefer to run against Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton or Sen. Barack Obama by asserting, "I would prefer Barack Obama because he is so liberal, that -- he's anti-American."
Recent Senate Votes
The Senate is not in session; reconvenes for business on Jan. 22.
Recent House Votes
The House is not in session; reconvenes for business on Jan. 15.
HUMOR
"Well,
congratulations to
Barack Obama, the big winner of the Democratic caucus. ... Stunning
victory. He got 57% of the youth vote, 35% of the female vote, and 100% of
Iowa's black vote, a guy named Larry." --Jay Leno
"And congratulations to
Mike Huckabee. He was a big winner on the Republican side. He won as
well, yeah. ... I tell you, Mike Huckabee won. Isn't it amazing? The impact,
just one appearance on the 'Tonight Show.' ... Tuesday, he was unknown,
boom, the next day!" --Jay Leno
"And
Hillary Clinton came in third. ... So, apparently she picked the wrong
late-night talk show to do the other night. Big mistake!" --Jay Leno
"Hillary Clinton soundly beaten by both Barack Obama and
John Edwards,
or, as she's now calling it, a vast left wing conspiracy." --Jay Leno
"I was watching MSNBC and all the pundits, and one of Hillary Clinton's
campaign people said that last night's defeat was just a bump in the road. A
bump in the road. Kind of like the scene in the 'Titanic' when the guy goes,
'What was that? Oh, just an iceberg.'" --Jay Leno
"Chris Dodd dropped out of the presidential race after Iowa. He got 0% of
the vote. In fact, did you know the Secret Service turned down Senator Dodd
for Secret Service protection on the grounds that no one could pick him out
of a crowd anyway?"
"As you may have heard, earlier this week, the price of oil closed at $100 a
barrel. You see, I don't think
President Bush
really understands this issue. In fact, when they asked him what effect this
would have on average Americans, President Bush said it wouldn't have much
effect at all. He said, 'Most Americans buy their oil in little cans.'"
--Jay Leno
"A new Japanese government report says that Japan could have nuclear weapons
within three to five years. And the report also says that the Japanese
nuclear weapons would be similar to American nuclear weapons, but smaller,
and more fuel efficient" --Jay Leno
IRAQ -- McCAIN: 100 YEARS IN IRAQ 'WOULD BE FINE WITH ME,' EVEN 'A
MILLION YEARS': During a town hall meeting in Derry, New Hampshire last
night, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) told a crowd of roughly two hundred people
that it "would be fine" with him if the U.S. military stayed in Iraq for "maybe
a hundred years." "We've been in Japan for 60 years.
We've been in South Korea 50 years or so," added McCain. Asked about the
remark later by Mother Jones's David Corn, McCain reaffirmed it, "excitedly
declaring that U.S. troops could be in Iraq for
'a thousand years' or 'a million years,' as far as he was concerned."
McCain's embrace of an indefinite presence in Iraq modeled on South Korea
contradicts what he told PBS's Charlie Rose in late November. "Do you think
that this -- Korea, South Korea is an analogy of where Iraq might be?" asked
Rose. "I
don't think so," replied McCain. "I think because of the nature of the
society in Iraq and the religious aspects of it that America eventually
withdraws."
RADICAL RIGHT -- NOVAK: OBAMA'S A 'STRONG' CANDIDATE
BECAUSE HE'S 'CLEAN' AND 'NOT A ST
ADMINISTRATION -- BUSH REAPPOINTS MINE SAFETY CHIEF WHO BUNGLED CRANDALL CANYON MINE DISASTER: The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) came under severe criticism for its mismanagement of August's Crandall Canyon mine collapse in Utah. Nine men died, including six trapped after the initial cave-in and three rescue workers. Many safety experts questioned why the MSHA allowed "anyone, including rescuers, into the still-dangerous mine." Overseeing the effort as head of the MSHA was Richard Stickler, a former Murray Beth Energy executive. The Senate had twice rejected his nomination to the post, in part because the mines he had previously managed "incurred injury rates double the national average." Stickler's term as assistant secretary expired on Dec. 31. His bio was quickly removed from the MSHA website earlier this week, and on Thursday, MSHA officials revealed that they had a new chief, John Pallasch. Pallasch's tenure was short-lived. Just three days later, Bush renamed Stickler as acting assistant secretary. Stickler's bio has also reappeared on the MSHA site. With his acting title, he will be able to serve 210 days. The White House has also renominated him for the permanent position. As The New York Times recently noted, Bush "has left whole agencies of the executive branch to be run largely by acting or interim appointees," who have not been approved by the Senate.
HEALTH CARE -- NEW
HEALTH CARE AD: 'EVERY AMERICAN DESERVES CHENEYCARE': Last
month, the California Nurses Association and the National Nurses Organizing
Committee
ran ads in Iowa newspapers advocating for a single-payer
health-care
bill, highlighting the fact that Vice President Dick Cheney has
benefited from his government-provided coverage. "If he were anyone else,
he'd probably be dead by now," considering his long history of health
problems, claimed the ad. The group's newest round of ads, which ran "in
eight New Hampshire papers" last Friday and went "national" yesterday,
dubbed a new name for "guaranteed, publicly-funded health care for all
Americans":
CheneyCare. They ask "readers to go to
CheneyCare.org and sign a petition in support of CheneyCare for all
Americans." Cheney's office "did
not respond to a request for comment" by the Washington Examiner, but in
December, when the original ads ran, Cheney spokesperson Megan Mitchell said
that "something
this outrageous does not warrant a response." As The Progress Report
noted at the time, what is actually outrageous is the fact that there
are
roughly 47 million people in America without health insurance, including
3.2 million children. President Bush has
twice vetoed legislation that would have expanded coverage to four
million more children.
JUSTICE -- DOJ OPENS INQUIRY INTO NO-BID CONTRACT FOR ASHCROFT: The Department of Justice's Criminal Division has opened an internal inquiry into a multi-million-dollar, no-bid contract awarded by New Jersey U.S. attorney Chris Christie to former attorney general John Ashcroft. Christie awarded the contract for a federal monitor position, worth as much as $52 million,last fall, but it only recently came to the attention of the Justice Department. Christie said he chose Ashcroft "because he trusted him" and insisted that the contract -- awarded to monitor a $311 million settlement among manufacturing companies -- "will be a real bargain at the end of the day." As Blue Jersey notes, Ashcroft was Christie's former boss and may have helped get him the U.S. Attorney job. "[Christie's] office has made a significant dent in the massive problem of public corruption in our state, but also has made a significant dent in the non-partisan image of the US Attorney's office," the website noted. In November, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) wrote to Christie saying he was "troubled" by reports of the contract, telling Christie that he should have hired a third party "to remove even the appearance of impropriety that is so easily created when such a large amount of money is being directed to a former employer or colleague."
Think Fast
$4,100: The pay hike that members of Congress will receive in 2008, boosting their salaries to $169,300.
Bloomberg News writes that the halting progress of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's (R-CA) $14 billion-a-year plan to provide health insurance to everyone is showing the power of interest groups to resist change. "Businesses are fighting a new payroll tax to fund coverage."
Attorney General Mike Mukasey announced yesterday "that he's appointing Chicago federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald to the Attorney General's advisory committee of U.S. attorneys." As attorney general, Alberto Gonzales "did not re-appoint Fitzgerald to the advisory panel," which counsels on law enforcement issues.
Yesterday was the last day on the job for Fran Townsend, Bush's top homeland security advisor. "The White House has not announced any replacement, raising questions about the future of the position." There is speculation that the office will be folded into the National Security Council.
Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Vice President Cheney aren't the only well-known politicos who are distantly related. The Washington Post reveals that former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee is also ninth cousins with President Bush, and the 10th cousin once removed to his rival, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.
"Alarmed at the increasingly populist tone of the 2008 political campaign," U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue said his organization "would spend in excess of the approximately $60 million it spent in the last presidential cycle" to defeat "anti-business" candidates. The organization will be "so strong that when it bites you in the butt, you bleed," said Donohue.
On Sunday, former senator Mike Gravel spoke at New Hampshire's prep school Phillips Exeter Academy. "We've all got addictions," Gravel said to the students. "Anyone in here not taking any drugs?" Looks. Laughter. Chuckles. "Tylenol, aspirin, we're all druggies! ... I'm on painkillers!" He then added, "I'm sure that a lot of you have tripped out on alcohol. Well, it's a lot safer to do it on marijuana."
INTERESTING
Romney: 47 Million Uninsured Americans Just Want Free Health Care, by Seth Michaels
With the New Hampshire primary up tomorrow, Republican and Democratic presidential candidates gathered for another round of debates over the weekend.
While the candidates sparred with rivals in their own parties, the debates also illuminated the significant differences between the two parties, especially on the crucial issue of health care.
Former Republican Gov. Mitt Romney (Mass.) starkly illustrated the difference between Republican and Democratic candidates. Blaming the nation’s uninsured for the state of health care in the country, he asserted:
The reason health care isn’t working like a market right now is you have 47 million people that are saying, “I’m not going to play. I’m just going to get free care paid for by everybody else.” That doesn’t work.
Most of the Republican candidates showed a similar lack of concern over the problems in America’s health care system. Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani (N.Y.) and former Sen. Fred Thompson (Tenn.) were both quick to say the United States has “the best health care system in the world.”
Yet, as Princeton economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman notes:
The United States spends far more on health care per person than any other nation. Yet we have lower life expectancy than most other rich countries. Furthermore, every other advanced country provides all its citizens with health insurance; only in America is a large fraction of the population uninsured or underinsured.
Thompson also suggested that “we’re probably never going to achieve total coverage.” Thompson made the argument that health care was just a consumer good like any other and that an unregulated market would serve consumers best.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) claimed that controlling the cost of health care requires placing the burden on individuals.
We have to make the recipient of the health care more responsible. We have to have outcome-based results for health care. We have to emphasize wellness and fitness.
Like Thompson, Romney claimed that “the market will work” and praised pharmaceutical companies for their role in the U.S. health care system.
Giuliani said the best option was individual “health savings accounts” (HSAs)—the same seriously flawed plan proposed by President Bush, one that would increase costs and risks for working families. Romney also advocated HSAs.
Romney, Giuliani, Thompson and McCain all claimed their health care plans were the only alternative to a “government takeover” or “socialized medicine.”
In comparison, former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.), whose health care proposal is not comprehensive or detailed, at least acknowledged that there’s a crisis in the system. But as blogger Matthew Yglesias noted, the fact that Huckabee stands out is a testament to the weakness of the Republican field.
[Huckabee’s] policy solutions are empty or crackpotty, but since his rivals don’t deign to engage with him, that doesn’t come across during the debates. Meanwhile, his empty or crackpotty solutions are aimed at real problems real people have. The others often seem to be living on another planet.
During the Democratic debate, candidates took part in a serious discussion of the merits of their health care plans and the work needed to achieve those plans. The question was not whether a health care crisis existed, but whose proposal would do the most to provide coverage, and who would stand up to the entrenched interests, like insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies.
U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (Ohio), who was not invited to the debate, is proposing a single-payer health care system.
We’ve written before about the gap between Republicans and Democrats on health care. We’ve also created a comprehensive chart (PDF) to explain each candidate’s proposals and how they stack up against the principles of the AFL-CIO health care campaign.
Numerous blogs covered the debates.
TAPPED, the blog of The American Prospect, live-blogged the debates and wrapped up the Republican and Democratic debates from Saturday.
DhinMI of Daily Kos also offered thoughts on the debates and the contrasts between the parties.
The Carpetbagger Report covered the Republican and Democratic debates on Saturday night.
Chris Hayes of The Nation commented on the media coverage of the debates and the race in general.
Talking Points Memo has a wrap-up and video highlight reel of last night’s debate.
The New York Times has complete transcripts of the Republican debate and the Democratic debate on Saturday. For more information about the presidential race, visit Working Families Vote 2008.
Jobless Rate Worsens to 5 Percent. Bush Economy Tanking Fast, by Tula Connell
Unemployment worsened to 5 percent—sinking a whopping three-tenths of a percentage point, from 4.7 percent in November, the largest single jump since the slowdown following Sept. 11, 2001.
Not even one week into the New Year, the Bush administration has brought our nation the worst unemployment rate in two years, a stock market that lost more than 200 points on the first day of 2008 trading—its worst trading day since Sept. 11, 2001—and oil that reached the dreaded $100-per-barrel mark.
Heckuva job, Mr. President.
Shockingly, only 18,000 jobs were created in December, according to the monthly U.S. Department of Labor report released today—and the private-sector actually lost 13,000 jobs. Some 150,000 jobs need to be created a month just to accommodate new entrants into the labor force, and economists had predicted around 70,000 new jobs last month.
The U.S. mortgage crisis now is reverberating big time in construction jobs, with the Labor Department’s household survey finding a 49,000 drop in employment in construction. With home owners unable to tap into second mortgages and housing prices falling, consumer spending slowed this holiday season, and retailers cut 24,000 workers in the seasonally adjusted estimate. Manufacturing continues to struggle, losing 31,000 jobs last month.
As AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says about the jobs data:
It’s especially disheartening that good, middle-class supporting jobs in manufacturing and construction were cut last month, continuing a disturbing trend.
It is astonishing that President Bush and his advisers won’t take their heads out of the sand long enough to realize our economy faces serious threats that need immediate action.
This latest economic data is the more visible aspect of trends that have been occurring nearly unnoticed in recent years: the widening income gap and the increasingly besieged middle class. This growing economic imbalance slices many ways, one of which is illustrated by soaring CEO pay. In 1980, CEO pay was 42 times that of the average blue-collar workers’ pay. By 2006, CEO pay was 364 times the same workers’ pay—the largest gap in the world.
Mainstream economists have been dancing around the R word for months now. Maybe it’s time to spell it out: Recession.
Giuliani: It Would Have Been ‘Impossible’ to Give Firefighters Working Radios, by Seth Michaels
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Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R-N.Y.) continues to come under fire for his failures during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. During an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” Giuliani again was challenged over the faulty radios used by firefighters and other first responders during the attacks. Even though the flawed radio system first malfunctioned in 1993, Giuliani claimed it would have been “impossible” to upgrade the radios during those eight years.
In fact, during that time, Giuliani, according to an investigation by Brave New Films, allegedly gave Motorola a no-bid contract to provide new radios that also turned out to be faulty. According to Alternet:
…the firefighters on 9/11 were forced to use old equipment that had malfunctioned eight years earlier, during the 1993 attacks on the World Trade Center.
But it wasn’t “impossible” to get new radios to these firefighters, as Giuliani tried to claim. After the 1993 incident, Giuliani gave Motorola a $1.4 million no-bid contract. Despite this exorbitant sum, the radios were faulty and had to be taken out of service in March 2001, after a “distress call from a firefighter trapped in a burning house” went unheard.
Giuliani’s performance before, during and after the Sept. 11 attacks has come under serious scrutiny during the campaign. The Fire Fighters (IAFF) union has released a video, “Rudy: Urban Legend.” In the video, New York firefighters talk about the malfunctioning radios and other mistakes made by Giuliani, which resulted in lost lives.
Three Iowa firefighters tried to confront Giuliani about his record in a diner in Des Moines, Iowa. As they describe in this video, the former mayor and presidential hopeful avoided their questions and left the diner without speaking to them. (The Fire Fighters union has endorsed Sen. Chris Dodd [D-Conn.] for president.)
Giuliani also angered Ground Zero rescue workers, who risked their health at the site of the attacks, by claiming he had been at the site so often he was “one of them.”
Throughout this election cycle, Giuliani has had a record of misleading and exaggerated statements, so it’s no surprise to see him make the claim that giving firefighters the equipment they needed was “impossible.” It’s also no surprise that his support is collapsing.
Chao Misses Mine Safety Deadline. Bush Appoints Stickler—Again, by Mike Hall
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao missed the Dec. 15 deadline to issue new federal rules for better trained mine rescue teams at the nation’s coal mines. The Charleston Gazette reports:
In 2006, spurred by what would become the highest coal mine death toll since 1996—including the deaths of 19 coal miners at the Sago, Aracoma and Darby mines in West Virginia and Kentucky—Congress passed and President Bush signed the MINER Act that mandated several mine safety improvements, including rescue teams.
The June 2006 mine law gave the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) 18 months to finalize the new rescue rules. It took the safety agency 15 months to write the proposed rules and now the Bush administration says it can’t provide a timeline for issuing them.
Our friends at Hillbilly Report point out that:
Elaine Chao is quick to give American workers advice, but slow when it comes to doing her own job. I suggest we have a skills gap here.
Meanwhile, Bush once again circumvented Congress and reinstated MSHA administrator Richard Stickler to head the agency. Stickler, a former coal company executive, twice failed to win Senate confirmation, but in late 2006, with Congress out of session, Bush used a recess appointment to install Stickler in the post, officially known as the assistant labor secretary for mine safety and health.
The recess appointment expired at the end of 2007. In a somewhat bizarre
chain of events, MSHA removed Stickler’s bio from the agency’s website and
announced Jan. 3 that Stickler’s assistant was the acting assistant
secretary. But his tenure was brief: On Jan. 4, Bush named Stickler the new
acting assistant secretary, a move that does not require congressional
approval and is likely to last until the end of Bush’s term. After press
reports that Stickler’s bio had been removed, it’s
Mine Workers (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts says:The appointment of Richard Stickler to be acting assistant secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health, just days after his term in that position expired because he couldn’t be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, demonstrates the deep level of contempt the Bush administration holds for the Senate and the constitutional role that body holds.
The UMWA’s position on Mr. Stickler has remained consistent from the day he was first nominated in 2005. We do not believe someone who has spent the majority of his working life as a coal company manager, supervisor and executive ought to be appointed as head of MSHA
Smintheus at Daily Kos provides a good look back at controversy surrounding the Stickler appointment.
Bush Veto Killed Paid Family Leave for America’s Veterans, by Tula Connell
President Bush can send America’s men and women to war—but he doesn’t think their sacrifice is worth giving them a few days of paid family and medical leave from work.
This from today’s Daily Labor Report (subscription required):
Bush has vetoed defense authorization legislation (H.R. 1585) that included provisions that would have extended the Family and Medical Leave Act to family members of wounded service members and provided whistleblower protections to employees of defense contractors.
Following President Bush’s surprise veto of the defense spending bill on Dec. 28, House leaders are considering both a veto override and a legislative fix to respond to White House objections, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told BNA Jan. 7.
This isn’t the only outrage the Bush administration has perpetrated against military veterans. When it comes to ensuring vets have access to housing, health care and even jobs, the administration has failed to provide the follow-up support they need.
As the Center for American Progress notes today, when a reporter asked White House Press Secretary Dana Perino about the Bush administration’s “most important priorities” for 2008, Perino took the opportunity to bash Congress for not holding hearings on Bush nominees.
Returning veterans clearly aren’t a Bush priority.
Fletcher's legal defense fund raised $91,750
RUDOLPHS PROVIDED BIGGEST CONTRIBUTION
Former Gov. Ernie Fletcher filed a list of 13 people who contributed a total of $91,750 to his legal defense fund, including his former running mate Robbie Rudolph and wife, Lisa, who gave $24,000.
Fletcher's legal defense fund, set up by supporters to help him cover legal costs related to the state hiring investigation, was disclosed as part of Fletcher's required financial disclosure filings to the Executive Branch Ethics Commission. State officials who leave office must file their disclosure forms 30 days later.
The other donors to Fletcher's fund are:
- Don Ball, founder of Lexington homebuilding company Ball Homes and longtime Fletcher supporter: $12,000
- Mira Ball, executive with Ball Homes and one of Fletcher's appointees to the University of Kentucky board of trustees. Mira Ball helped administer the legal defense fund: $12,000
- James and Linda Booth of Lovely: $12,000
- J. Chester Porter of Mt. Washington: $10,000
- Jess Correll, a Stanford banker and longtime Fletcher supporter: $6,000
- Ward Correll of Somerset, who owns Lake Cumberland Shell: $6,000
- Stan Chesley of Cincinnati: $5,000
- Stan Cave of Lexington, Fletcher's former chief of staff: $3,500
- Eugene Goss of Harlan: $1,000
- Brian Nolan of Lexington: $250
- Ryan Alessi
It seems like yesterday that 15,000 working family voters crowded into Chicago’s Soldier Field to ask questions and hear what the seven major Democratic presidential candidates had to say about jobs, health care, workers’ rights, the war in Iraq and more.
At the AFL-CIO presidential forum in August, retired United Steelworkers member Steve Skvara wanted to know: “What’s wrong with America, and what will you do to change it?”
Since that time, his call for change has become a rallying cry.
Working families are fed up with the direction the Bush administration has taken the country.
Voters are desperate for new leadership--63 percent of Americans think we’re headed in the wrong direction.
They’ve been taking this passion to the polls. A record turnout at the Iowa caucuses showed just how determined voters are to take our country down a different path. And most signs point to a record turnout today in New Hampshire.
The energy we’re seeing represents an emphatic, exhilarating rejection of the Bush agenda.
Last year, working families came out in huge numbers on Election Day to volunteer in Virginia, Kentucky, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and elsewhere. The reason? Like Steve Skvara, they want life to be better for working families.
And last March, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill meant to level the playing field and allow workers the freedom to form unions without management intimidation, threats and harassment. Unfortunately for America’s working families, they will have to wait because anti-worker Republican senators were able to block the bill, even though a bipartisan majority passed the Senate legislation.
The energy’s been building for some time now, as 2007 became an important year for the labor movement.
Congress gave a raise to 13 million of our lowest-paid workers by passing the first increase in the federal minimum wage in a decade—up to $7.25 from $5.15 an hour. On New Year's Day, workers in 14 states saw a pay boost starting with their first checks of 2008.
Millions more students and families can now afford college because Congress passed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, making higher education affordable for every qualified student who wants to attend.
And many workers successfully
organized their workplaces in 2007. Despite the best efforts of some
employers to bust organization efforts, teachers, nurses, bus drivers, child
care workers, casino dealers, analysts in the Government Accountability
Office and
many more workers fought back and won their right to
form unions.
It was a good year, but we need to keep looking to the future.
Together, we can make sure that
in America, no one goes without health care.
Together, we can create a country with an economy
that works for all.
Together, we can ensure
no worker's rights are
trampled when he or she tries to join a union to win a
better life.
Together, we can accomplish so much, but only if we get involved and work hard until November, when we have the chance to make sure our president and Congress fight for working families.
If we continue to fight, we can make 2008 an historic year of change.
In solidarity,
John Sweeney, President, AFL-CIO
Child calls O’Reilly on mistake, but he won’t admit error
Watch Barack's victory speech in Iowa
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