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Daily NewswireNational/PoliticalMaryland congressman pushes for economic stimulus Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen says he supports another fiscal relief package to help boost struggling state economies like Maryland's. Van Hollen says Maryland has been hit hard by the nation's recent economic downturn. He's citing a new report by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees as evidence that Maryland needs an economic boost. Related article in the Crypt blog at the Politico: Van Hollen: Second stimulus package coming in September 3 Reasons Pensions Need Less Funding per Worker Than 401(k)'s 401(k) plans save employers money because workers fund a portion of them. But a new analysis says 401(k)'s are an inefficient way to finance a secure retirement. The nonprofit National Institute on Retirement Security calculated that a 62-year-old with a final salary of $50,000 would need to have $550,000 in a 401(k) to have an adequate retirement income, determined by the authors to be $26,684 a year. To achieve the same income, a traditional pension would need to have only $355,000 set aside for that worker, nearly $200,000 less. Here are three reasons that traditional pensions need less funding than 401(k)'s. No oversaving. ... Allocation stays constant. .. Higher investment returns. Obama and McCain in a statistical tie John McCain has begun rallying dispirited Republicans behind him, while Democratic rival Barack Obama has made scant progress building new support, leaving the presidential race statistically tied, according to a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll. The survey highlights Obama's vulnerability on the question of his readiness to lead the nation. Less than half of the registered voters polled think the first-term Illinois senator has the "right" experience to be president, while 80% believe McCain, a four-term senator, does. Obama’s Ads in Key States Go on Attack Senator Barack Obama has started a sustained and hard-hitting advertising campaign against Senator John McCain in states that will be vital this fall, painting Mr. McCain in a series of commercials as disconnected from the economic struggles of the middle class. Labor, Film Co. Paint McCain as the ‘Real Elitist’ Updated The A.F.L.-C.I.O. and the Service Employees International Union have feuded plenty in recent years, but they have banded together to help distribute and publicize a new online video that characterizes Senator John McCain as elitist and out of touch. The four-minute video, produced by Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films, is called “ McCain’s Mansions: the Real Elitist” and showcases various McCain homes and condominiums in Arizona, California and Virginia, with one valued at $4.66 million. Labor ramps up anti-McCain efforts A labor coalition supporting Barack Obama announced this morning that it is launching a multimedia effort against John McCain that includes a "truth squad" touring the country, a new website that lets workers pose questions, and even comedy videos. Change to Win, comprised of seven unions with a total of 6 million members, says McCain's proposals would hurt workers and would be "worse than Bush." The Swamp: Layoffs at new high: Gallup Layoffs reported by employees across the United States have reached the highest level in five years, and 75 percent of Americans say now is a bad time to find a quality job, according to a new Gallup study. Thirty percent of Americans polled said their employers have made job cuts in the last six months. This percentage represents an 8 percent increase since 2007 and marks the highest level since August 2003, when 34 percent of Americans reported job cuts at their places of employment, Gallup reports. Lack of Insurance, High Medical Costs Put More in a Bind Americans are struggling to pay medical bills and are accumulating medical debt at an increasing rate, according to a survey released today. "A perfect storm of negative economic trends is battering working families across the United States," said the survey by the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that supports independent research on health care. "Health-care costs are climbing much more rapidly than incomes or the growth in the overall economy," said Sara R. Collins, assistant vice president of the foundation and one of the authors of the study. As gas and food prices have soared and real estate values have fallen, the federal minimum wage is now $3 an hour lower, in real terms, than it was 40 years ago, the study said. If I Were the Boss . . . When Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) or Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) starts work as president next year, he'll automatically get lots of perks without even passing a probationary period. He'll be able to fly without paying extra for baggage, food or decent leg room. He'll ride in a luxury car, but he won't have to pump fuel costing more than $4 a gallon. And he'll occupy the finest unit in all of public housing. On the other hand, he'll also have to deal with some tricky issues involving the federal workplace. We asked the candidates about some of those issues. We ran McCain's responses yesterday. Here is what the Obama campaign told us. Court Rejects E.P.A. Limits on Emissions Rules A federal appeals court on Tuesday threw out an Environmental Protection Agency rule limiting the ability of states to require monitoring of industrial emissions. The 2-to-1 ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is the most recent in a series of judicial setbacks to the Bush administration’s efforts to reshape federal policies under the Clean Air Act. All SEC financial data to be interactive within two years Investors will be able to access financial disclosures from all U.S. public companies and mutual funds in an interactive format within two years, as regulators replace a 1980s-vintage, text-based reporting system with an Internet-based platform. The new system, called Interactive Data Electronic Applications, or IDEA, was introduced at a news conference Tuesday by Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox. State/LocalTwo city school district unions authorize strike As a new school year begins for the Pittsburgh Public Schools, a labor dispute is threatening to disrupt operations for the second year in a row. Clerical workers represented by Local 2924 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees last night nearly unanimously authorized their negotiating committee to call a strike at any time. White-collar workers ratify one-year pact with city Philadelphia's white-collar union last night ratified a one-year contract with the city, becoming the third of four unions to reach agreements with the Nutter administration. District Council 47 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees voted during a meeting at Benjamin Franklin High School. The council represents 3,400 mostly white-collar workers. Legislators Are Negotiating to Cut Budget by $1 Billion Gov. David A. Paterson persuaded lawmakers to cut spending by $1 billion over the next year and a half, as legislators took the rare step Tuesday of returning to the capital in the late summer to re-open a budget they passed in April. .. The deal reached Tuesday night includes cuts in aid to hospitals that will probably be in excess of $200 million over the next 18 months, when federal matching funds are included, legislative leaders said. Brookhaven OKs adding GPS to town vehicles Brookhaven Town last night became the latest in a growing number of Long Island governments using GPS devices to save taxpayer money. .... Before last night's meeting about 30 members of the local Civil Service Employees Association chapter rallied on the steps of Town Hall and called for Foley to back off GPS. They said Brookhaven could monitor its vehicles at a fraction of the cost if it enhanced the Vehicle Identification Transmitter systems it uses to monitor gas usage. UI union schedules rally to protest raises on move-in day Union members unhappy with raises awarded to University of Illinois employees will stage a rally Thursday – in the middle of move-in day for new students. UI President B. Joseph White last month announced raises averaging 2 percent for UI faculty and 1.5 percent for other staff, citing a tight budget and increasing costs, particularly on the energy front. Union leaders – some involved in contract negotiations with the university – don't quibble with giving faculty an extra half-percent but argue that both numbers should have been higher. The state gave the UI nearly 3 percent more for personnel services this year, or about $19.2 million, argued Jim McGuire, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 698, which represents about 400 employees. Pontiac won't give up prison fight One thing can be said about this city's mayor: He's not giving up without a fight. When the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability meets at Pontiac Township High School this afternoon on the proposed closing of Pontiac Correctional Center, Mayor Scott McCoy will be ready to paint a picture of not only the long-term damage, but of the damage already done by the mere suggestion the prison would close. ... Representatives of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the union representing prison employees, will testify about the validity of the Illinois Department of Corrections report and more specifically its claims that Pontiac is too old and needs to be shut down. Related article from the Daily Leader: ‘Mind blowing’ hearing expected DSI joins fight against IDOT move The list of plaintiffs in a legal fight to keep 150 Illinois Department of Transportation jobs in Springfield grew by one Tuesday. Downtown Springfield Inc. contends a year-old law that requires central business and historic districts be given preference for state facilities when economically feasible has been ignored. ... The Quantum Growth Partnership campaign of the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce has agreed to pay 50 percent of initial legal costs. Teamsters Local 916 and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 would split the remainder. Gary council takes heat from workers Workers already fed up with their 20 percent pay cuts unloaded on the City Council Tuesday night, pleading with them to solve Gary's budget crisis without cutting employees' pay. "We're talking about your 30-year workers," Ayanna Wright, president of AFSCME Local 4009, said. "We're talking about your 25- and 20-year workers." ... Ed Johnston, AFSCME's staff representative in Northwest Indiana, complained about use of credit cards by members of the City Council. Records obtained by the Post-Tribune last week revealed council members spent $50,000 traveling to conferences in the first six months of 2008. Related articles:
Report: Myanmar refugees waiting months for aid FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Myanmar refugees resettling in Fort Wayne are waiting months to receive Medicaid, food stamps and other welfare benefits that used to take an average of just two weeks, a newspaper report said. .. A coalition of companies led by IBM Corp. and Affiliated Computer Services Inc. has a 10-year, $1.16 billion contract to take over eligibility services for Medicaid, food stamps and other benefits received by about one in six Indiana residents. State could pay employees $8.5M to settle lawsuit For 20 years, the state required some of its employees to work more hours than those in other state agencies yet paid them the same. Now it appears the state is going to pay for that decision -- as much as $8.5 million. The state reached a tentative agreement Monday on a class-action lawsuit that could affect an estimated 15,000 state employees who, from 1973 to 1993, worked 40-hour weeks but received the same pay as others in similar jobs who worked 37.5 hours a week. Parks tax to go before voters A proposed parks operations-and-maintenance tax will go to Kalispell voters in November. The Kalispell City Council delayed other action Monday on the town’s 2008-09 budget expenses until Sept. 2 — leaving everyone still puzzled about how to deal with a predicted shortfall of roughly $500,000. .. The layoff talks of the past few weeks have spooked many city employees. “A lot of employees are really wondering, really scared about this budget issue,” Mike Nicholson, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local No. 256, told the council. “They’re wondering if they’re going to have a job tomorrow morning or not.” Local No. 256 represents 77 of Kalispell’s roughly 200 employees. Nicholson did not know Monday how many AFSCME members are in jobs that face potential cuts. Court rejects California's Medi-Cal cuts A federal judge has ordered a temporary halt in the state's 10 percent reduction in Medi-Cal reimbursement rates, improving access to care for 6.5 million low-income patients but throwing a new wrench in already difficult budget negotiations. If That Ain’t Class Warfare, What is It? AFSCME's Strike Against the University of California The recent 5-day tactical strike called by AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) against the University of California is yet another example of the difficult road facing organized labor, particularly those unions who represent low-end or unskilled workers. Tiverton school support workers approve contract Support staff in the Tiverton schools have agreed to a three-year contract with the Tiverton School Committee that will result in pay increases over the period of the contract of between 1.5 and 2.5 percent in each year. ... Eleanor Byrne, president of Council 94, Local 2670 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), said she is happy with the contract, and that “when we ratified it we had people come up and say they were happy we put something together.” 439,000 more get health coverage / State shows big gains in landmark program Nearly three-quarters of previously uninsured Massachusetts residents now have medical coverage under the state's landmark campaign to extend health insurance to virtually all Bay Staters, according to a report released yesterday by Governor Deval Patrick's administration. Previous Daily Newswires |
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