Democratic super PAC aided by secret money

New nonprofit helping Senate Majority PAC offset staff and office costs.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Sarah Palin's PAC burning through cash

Former Alaska governor using her committee as slush fund — not war chest for supporting conservative candidates, as it purports.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Donald Trump: "I never once asked that (Megyn Kelly) be removed" as a debate moderator.

The Truth-o-Meter says: False | Donald Trump falsely claims he 'never once asked' for Megyn Kelly's removal from debate If you read the news, Donald Trump's boycott of the Fox News/Google debate is the result of his ongoing war with anchor Megyn Kelly. Trump, however, says that's not true. He says a biting Fox News release is why he pulled the plug. "Well, I'm not a person that respects Megyn Kelly very much. I think she's highly overrated. Other than that, I don't care," he told CNN an hour before the debate. "I never once asked that she be removed. I don't care about her being removed. What I didn't like was that public relations statement where they were ... >> More

Via: Politifact.com: Statements from Donald Trump

State Integrity Investigation spurs proposals for reform

Lawmakers seek changes as result of State Integrity Investigation

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Kool & the Gang won't celebrate Republican National Convention

Legendary band nixes performance in Cleveland at party for politicians, lobbyists and corporate power brokers.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Koch-linked group blasts Kasich in ad buy

'Dark money' political nonprofit with ties to Kochs attacks Kasich for not being conservative enough.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Giant auto title loan firms fight to keep financial data secret

State panel in Virginia delays ruling on Center's request for records.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Trade groups to top corporations: Resist political disclosure

U.S. Chamber, Business Roundtable and National Association of Manufacturers say transparency efforts 'used to attack companies.'

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Donald Trump: Says Mexico can afford to build a wall because the country's trade deficit with America is billions of dollars.

The Truth-o-Meter says: False | Donald Trump says of course Mexico can pay for wall -- because of the trade deficit Donald Trump's critics say Mexico can't or won't pay for a wall at the border, which he says is hogwash. "When they say 'but Mexico can't pay for the wall,' I say of course they can," said the Republican frontrunner at a town hall in Norwalk, Iowa, on Jan. 20. "We have a trade deficit with Mexico that's unbelievably big. Humongous. It's a humongous number. It's billions and billions of dollars -- far more than what we're talking about for the wall. The wall's peanuts compared to that." Trump's statement prompted these questions: What is the amount of ... >> More

Origin: Politifact.com: Statements from Donald Trump

Commentary: The deeper meaning of Flint

High levels of lead in the Michigan city's water may be as much a product of environmental racism in America as corroding pipes.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Conservative national groups battle in the states over Constitution redo

Seven more states are needed to call a convention to change the Constitution.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Donald Trump: Says a Ted Cruz ad has "got me bull-dozing down a house. I never bulldozed it down. It's false advertising."

The Truth-o-Meter says: Half-True | Donald Trump calls out Ted Cruz ad about Trump bulldozing a widow's home as 'false advertising' Donald Trump's first words Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press were an attack on his biggest rival in the Iowa caucuses, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Before bringing on Trump, host Chuck Todd showed a new Cruz ad criticizing the real estate tycoon's support for eminent domain, the government's power to seize private property in order to make way for public development projects. The ad quotes Trump as saying, "I think eminent domain is wonderful." "It made him rich — like when Trump colluded with Atlantic City insiders to bulldoze the home of an elderly widow for a limousine parking ... >> More

Hat Tip To: Politifact.com: Statements from Donald Trump

Donald Trump: China has "total control, just about, of North Korea."

The Truth-o-Meter says: Mostly False | Donald Trump exaggerates when he says China has 'total control' over North Korea During the presidential race, Republican candidate Donald Trump has often criticized China, most often on economic grounds. But in the Republican presidential debate in North Charleston, S.C., on Jan. 14, 2016, Trump also took a shot at China over foreign policy -- specifically for not doing enough to rein in its neighbor, North Korea. Trump said, "China, they don't like to tell us but they have total control -- just about, of North Korea. They can solve the problem of North Korea if they wanted to, but they taunt us." With the secretive nation back in the news for its ... >> More

Origin: Politifact.com: Statements from Donald Trump

Donald Trump: Among Syrian refugees and migrants coming into Europe, "there look like very few women. Very few children."

The Truth-o-Meter says: False | Donald Trump's false claim that refugees, migrants are mostly 'strong, powerful men' Donald Trump repeated a false notion Thursday at the South Carolina Republican debate that the flight of Syrian refugees and other migrants is largely men. Trump was asked by Fox Business moderator Neil Cavuto about his proposal to ban Syrian refugees and others from entering the United States. Trump rattled off incidents around the world, including in Indonesia and France, and said that migration could be a "great Trojan Horse." "When I looked at the migration, when I looked at the line … where are the women?" Trump said. "There look like very few women. Very few children. ... >> More

Hat Tip To: Politifact.com: Statements from Donald Trump

Donald Trump: "We get practically nothing compared to the cost of" keeping U.S. military forces in South Korea.

The Truth-o-Meter says: Mostly False | Donald Trump mostly wrong that 'we get practically nothing' from South Korea for U.S. troop presence Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is saying it's time for South Korea to pick up more of the costs of having United States military forces in South Korea. During an extended interview with NBC's Meet the Press from Ottumwa, Iowa, Trump addressed the situation on the Korean peninsula, where North Korea re-emerged in the news in recent days with the purported test of a hydrogen bomb by the regime of Kim Jong Un. "We have 28,000 soldiers on the line in South Korea between the madman and them," Trump said, referring to Kim. "We get practically nothing compared to the ... >> More

Via: Politifact.com: Statements from Donald Trump

Donald Trump: The five Guantanamo detainees swapped for Bowe Bergdahl are "back on the battlefield."

The Truth-o-Meter says: False | Donald Trump repeats wrong claim that prisoners swapped for Bergdahl are 'back on the battlefield' President Barack Obama is one of the worst negotiators Donald Trump has ever seen, the real estate magnate and presidential candidate said. Take, for example, Obama's controversial decision to exchange five Guantanamo detainees for Taliban prisoner Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in May 2014, Trump said to NBC Meet The Press host Chuck Todd. "You look at these deals," Trump said Jan. 10 in Ottumwa, Iowa. "I always bring up Bergdahl. We get a traitor, they get five people that they've wanted for nine years, and they're back on the battlefield, trying to kill everybody, including us. And we get a ... >> More

Hat Tip To: Politifact.com: Statements from Donald Trump

Donald Trump: Canadian-born Ted Cruz "has had a double passport."

The Truth-o-Meter says: False | Donald Trump incorrectly says Ted Cruz has had a 'double passport' New Yorker Donald Trump told The Washington Post that uncertainty over whether Ted Cruz of Texas satisfies the citizenship requirement to be president puts Republicans in a precarious position. Hold on. Legal scholars concur that the Canadian-born but mostly Texas-reared Cruz, battling Trump and others for the Republican presidential nomination, likely fulfills the constitutional imperative that the president be a "natural-born citizen." But there's a note of uncertainty because the Supreme Court has never directly ruled on the citizenship provision for presidential office holders. The question circulates because Cruz was born in Calgary, Alberta, on Dec. 22, 1970, to his Delaware-born mother Eleanor ... >> More

By: Politifact.com: Statements from Donald Trump

Donald Trump: A Trump television ad shows Mexicans swarming over "our southern border."

The Truth-o-Meter says: Pants on Fire! | Donald Trump's first TV ad shows migrants 'at the southern border,' but they're actually in Morocco In a new television ad -- his campaign's first -- Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump shows footage of dozens of people swarming over a border fence. But the footage isn't as it seems. About halfway through the ad, a narrator says of Trump, "He'll stop illegal immigration by building a wall on our southern border that Mexico will pay for." Video footage shows dozens of people streaming across the border, as if they were ants fleeing an anthill. The clear suggestion is that the footage is of the "southern border" between the United States and ... >> More

Origin: Politifact.com: Statements from Donald Trump

Donald Trump: Says American polling shows Russian President Vladimir Putin has "an 80 percent approval rating."

The Truth-o-Meter says: True | Donald Trump is right about Putin's popularity in Russia Russian President Vladimir Putin recently called Donald Trump "brilliant" and "talented," and Trump wears those compliments as a badge of honor. On NBC's Meet the Press on Dec. 20, host Chuck Todd asked the real estate mogul and Republican presidential front runner why he is so comfortable praising Putin, noting that Trump has called Putin a "strong leader." "He is a strong leader. What am I going to say, he's a weak leader?" Trump responded. "He's making mincemeat out of our president." Then Trump turned to his reliable measure of a person's success: the polls. "He's got ... >> More

Credit: Politifact.com: Statements from Donald Trump

Donald Trump: The 9/11 terrorists' friends, family, girlfriends in the United States "were sent back for the most part to Saudi Arabia. They knew what was going on. They went home, and they wanted to watch their boyfriends on television."

The Truth-o-Meter says: False | Trump repeats tale of flights home of 9/11 hijackers' wives, girlfriends, families In the confrontation with ISIS, Donald Trump has staked out perhaps the hardest of the hard lines among the Republican presidential field. He has called for blocking virtually all non-American Muslims from entering the country. He said America should "take out" the families of terrorists. During the Republican debate in Las Vegas on CNN, the moderator used a question from the public to press Trump on this policy. "How would intentionally killing innocent civilians set us apart from ISIS?" asked Josh Jacob from Georgia Tech. Trump did not repeat his call to "take out" family members but insisted ... >> More

Hat Tip To: Politifact.com: Statements from Donald Trump

Donald Trump: "We're practically not allowed to use coal any more. What do we do with our coal? We ship it to China and they spew it in the air."

The Truth-o-Meter says: Mostly False | Donald Trump exaggerates how much coal in U.S. has been phased out Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough broke from questions about Muslims and immigration recently to ask Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump about another issue: what he would do about climate change. Trump initially responded by saying he wanted clean air and water. When Richard Haass, Council on Foreign Relations president and a panelist on the show, noted those are environmental concerns not directly related to climate change, Trump went on to tout the "many" environmental awards his company had won for building projects. After more prodding, Trump said,"Remember this. We're practically not allowed to use coal any more. What do we ... >> More

By: Politifact.com: Statements from Donald Trump

Donald Trump: In 2000, "I wrote about Osama bin Laden, 'We've got to take him out.'"

The Truth-o-Meter says: Mostly False | Trump's hyped claim that he called for rubbing out bin Laden in 2000 Almost two years before the Sept. 11 terror attacks, Donald Trump says he urged the United States to eliminate Osama bin Laden. "Remember that in 'The America We Deserve,' I wrote that book in 2000, I wrote about Osama bin Laden: 'We've got to take him out,'" Trump said during a Dec. 2 rally for his presidential campaign in Manassas. Trump rarely leaves a rally without saying that well before the Sept. 11 attacks, he was among the first to recognize bin Laden's danger. We wondered whether his claim about the warning in his book is accurate. "The America We ... >> More

Via: Politifact.com: Statements from Donald Trump

Federal Trade Commission seeks $1.3 billion in damages against former race-car driver

The Federal Trade Commission has asked a judge to assess $1.3 billion in damages against former race-car driver Scott Tucker

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Commentary: The consequences of our secret elections

What's happened in the six years since 'Citizens United' is disturbing.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Is 'dark money' boosting Bernie Sanders?

A nonprofit that accepts anonymous donations is behind ads touting the senator and Democratic presidential candidate.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Change the Rules, Be the Power: Dr. King Honored with Recommitment to His Ideals

The partnership between minorities and labor has never been more vital than it is today. More than 1,000 labor and community activists explored the power of this solidarity during the 2016 Martin Luther King Jr. Civil and Human Rights Conference, Jan. 15-18, sharing tactics to build a collective civil, human and women's rights agenda for 2016. Sponsored by the AFL-CIO, the conference honored the legacy of Dr. King with workshops and panels on a variety of topics ranging from political activism, gender equality, racial justice, and organizing communities and workers of color. Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968 while helping striking sanitation workers – members of AFSCME Local 1733 – gain a voice on the job. He strongly supported unions. "[Labor] was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress," said Dr. King. The opening panel, Change the Rules, described how labor and Planned Parenthood joined together to fight for all working families. Speaking of the super wealthy, AFL-CIO Pres. Richard Trumka warned, "When they divide us up, they can beat us. When we stick together, they can't." Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, agreed, recounting how labor supported the organization during attacks on...

Source: AFSCME Blog Feed

Middle Class Fall Tied Directly to Union Decline

How important are unions to the health of the middle class in the United States? They are vital, according to a new study by the Center for American Progress. In fact, more than one-third of the decline in the middle class during the past 30 years is explained by the decline in union coverage. "Our main findings are that the decline in union coverage accounts for 35 percent of the falling share of middle-class workers and that the combination of the shrinking share of union workers and the reduction in the union equality effect explains almost half of the decline in middle-class workers," the authors conclude. The "union equality effect" refers to the extent that union-induced wage increases spill over from union to nonunion workers and how union advocacy produces economic and social policies that benefit all workers, the authors explain. The study is written by Richard Freeman and Eunice Han of Harvard University, and by Brendan Duke and David Madland of CAP. The shrinking of the American middle class has been well documented. In its study released in December, the Pew Research Center pointed to a four-decade trend in which the middle class has fallen from 61 percent to 50...

Original: AFSCME Blog Feed

Tracking TV ads in the 2016 presidential race

Who is on the air, and where?

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

How to track presidential race TV ads

Center for Public Integrity app unpacks who's behind messaging blitzes.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Meet the GOP congressman who wants to overturn 'Citizens United'

Walter Jones says fundraising has 'gotten out of hand' in Washington.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Choosing to Grow in Florida's 'City of Choice'

Bordered on one side by the Atlantic Ocean and on the other three by suburban sprawl, Florida's Hallandale Beach has marketed itself as Broward County's "City of Choice." For the hardworking women and men of AFSCME Local 2009 who have turned that marketing phrase into a strong sense of community, the choice they faced when negotiating a new contract was to either accept the status quo or to win recognition for the hard work they do. "Some people just want to accept whatever they get in a contract because they think the city knows how hard we work and whatever they offer is obviously what is fair," said Local 2009 Pres. Paulemond Mompremier, a park maintenance technician for almost 18 years. Since almost two-thirds of eligible workers are already members, and Local 2009 has been at the forefront of fighting to protect community services and their jobs, the focus was on getting a large turnout for the ratification vote. The three-year contract, overwhelmingly approved by the membership, is retroactive to Oct. 1, 2015. It allows members to keep up economically while fully maintaining city-paid, quality health coverage. It also continues the popular education reimbursements for both undergraduate and post-graduate studies so...

Original: AFSCME Blog Feed

AFL-CIO Sees Positive Movement on Wages

Working people last year won significant victories in efforts to improve wages and working conditions, reports the AFL-CIO in a new study that also points the way forward to create an economy that "serves all of us," including organizing new members as AFSCME has been doing. "From collective bargaining victories to organizing in new sectors of the economy and new regions to local legislative victories and executive action at the national level, 2015 was a year of working people rising," says the report, titled "Fighting for a Better Life: How Working People Across America are Organizing to Raise Wages and Improve Work." The report details successes by working people nationwide since the AFL-CIO's first-ever Raising Wages Summit in January 2015, including efforts to place the debate over income inequality squarely before the public and lawmakers. Since the summit, it reads, "income inequality has shifted from a problem we discuss to a problem we can solve." "One year ago, we made clear that raising wages for all working people was our number one priority," said AFL-CIO Pres. Richard Trumka. "In 2015 we came together in collective voice and action, and made significant progress." Despite a number of victories at the local, state...

By: AFSCME Blog Feed

Paramedic Rushes In, Saves Elderly Woman from Fire

NEW YORK – Lt. Michael Daddona, a paramedic for the city fire department, had to think quickly and make a critical decision. He could wait a couple of minutes for firefighters to arrive at the home of 91-year-old Winifred Miccio to rescue her from a burning bedroom, or he could take matters into his own hands.                                                  Daddona decided he couldn't wait another second and rushed into the two-story house on Cross Bay Boulevard with only one thought in mind: saving Miccio from the smoke and flames. "I did have some trouble breathing because of the smoke," said Daddona. But the big challenge was getting Miccio, who uses a walker, safely out of the house. Daddona decided there was no time to waste looking for her walker and managed to carefully guide her out of the house and onto the street. The fire was limited to the bedroom and no further damage was done to the Beach Channel home. "He went beyond and above the call of duty and we're proud of him," said Vincent Variale, president of...

Original: AFSCME Blog Feed

What is political 'dark money' — and is it bad?

Secret cash is influencing elections. Here's how.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Super PACs get free pass to hide donors

Iowa, New Hampshire voters are blind to last-minute bankrollers of big-spending political groups.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Park Worker Comes to Rescue of Slashed Officer

NEW YORK – Parks worker Joanna Zeno had just finished blowing leaves in Cunningham Park on Oct. 16 when she heard screams for help coming from the bathroom.                       "I saw a woman bleeding. She said, 'That lady stabbed me,'" said Zeno, a member of AFSCME Local 1505 (DC 37). Without hesitating, Zeno followed the slight-built woman in red, who had slashed her victim across the face and neck, as she headed deeper into verdant Fresh Meadows Park. "I wasn't afraid. I knew I could take her. I wanted to help," said Zeno, who has worked for the Department of Parks and Recreation since 2007. "I recognized her as one of the homeless people who hang around Cunningham Park." Zeno also knows the victim, who is an off-duty police officer. "She comes here to walk her dog and exercise. I say hello to her all the time," she said. Driving a Parks Department cart, Zeno led police to the attacker and they made an arrest. "I'm happy they caught her; she could have hurt the children in the park," said Zeno, who once helped another victim who was attacked in Flushing...

Via: AFSCME Blog Feed

Tea-Party Frontrunner Cruz Called Out for Pro-Millionaire Economic Policies

CHARLES CITY, Iowa – While Ted Cruz toured small Iowa towns last week, telling Iowans he understands their values and concerns, protesters followed the tea-party candidate's bus to spotlight his dirty little secret: His economic policies are aimed at helping millionaires and corporations get more tax breaks. AFSCME volunteers greeted Cruz in Webster City and Charles City last week to criticize his plans to eliminate corporate and estate taxes and slash the capital gains tax – none of which help middle-class Americans. "Not one part of his economic plans addresses issues facing middle-class Iowans," said Paula Martinez, a member of AFSCME Iowa Council 61 who attended the protests. "He has no plans to address income inequality or close the growing wage gap facing working families." In fact, Cruz's tax policies would cost America nearly $800 billion in lost revenue if it were adopted.

Via: AFSCME Blog Feed

Virginia officials offer auto title loan firms a chance to keep information secret — they take it

Center's request for records granted with heavy redactions.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Experts warn that nuclear risks may be increasing

A nuclear watchdog issues a warning about the possibility that terrorists could obtain nuclear explosives or provoke a dangerous meltdown.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

From Samuel Olekanma

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Hat Tip To: Hilarious Jokes - News - Digest

Center for Public Integrity hires state politics reporter

New hire will bolster Center for Public Integrity's state money in politics reporting

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

New pro-Cruz ad blitz bankrolled by mysterious super PAC

Stand for Truth takes, funded in part by a prominent Texan, takes aim at Marco Rubio.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

The State of Our Union: AFSCME Strong!

In his State of the Union speech last night, President Obama emphasized the importance of unions in building a strong economy. "Middle-class families," he declared, "are not going to feel more secure because we allowed attacks on collective bargaining to go unanswered."  Those words, though brief, tell volumes about the importance of strong unions in building the middle class and why we need to stand strong in the face of such attacks coming from Wall Street and corporate interests that are more concerned, as President Obama noted, about their quarterly earnings than improving the wages of hard-working people who help them make those profits.  The most recent of these attacks on workers' rights was brought before the U.S. Supreme Court this week by a corporate-backed group determined to stack the decks on behalf of the wealthy. This case, called Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, is aimed specifically at public employees nationwide who work every day to improve their communities. They are teachers, fire fighters, police officers, emergency personnel and people who ensure that our neighborhoods are clean and safe. Many of them are members of AFSCME, and they will not let these attacks against their collective bargaining rights go unchallenged. President...

By: AFSCME Blog Feed

NY Gov. Cuomo proposes changes to ethics, campaign finance laws

Proposals come in wake of scandals, D- grade from State Integrity Investigation

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Groups decrying 'dark money' use shadowy money themselves

The Center for Public Integrity found 21 political groups that decry anonymous donors in politics but fail to fully disclose own funders.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Workers Stand Up for Voice Threatened in Supreme Court

WASHINGTON – Hundreds of workers assembled outside the U.S. Supreme Court today to protect their voice on the job and protest the ongoing attacks against working families from wealthy special interest groups. Inside, the Court was hearing oral arguments in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, an attack on public-sector unions from wealthy special interests that could harm workers' ability to have a voice on the job. The case has generated support for workers from various quarters, from states' attorneys to editorial writers. "We know that without a strong voice on the job, we'll lose the ability to advocate for the safety and training our communities rely on," said Dovard Howard, a certified control systems technician and AFSCME member from Riverside, California. "It is only through a strong union that we have been able to win improvements in training and safety systems at my worksite." Howard joined a dozen other public-sector workers who spoke publicly about the need for unions to remain strong. Dovard Howard speaks in front of the Supreme Court (Photo by Kevin Contee) "I'm a conservative myself, but I certainly don't agree with the plaintiffs in this case," he said. "No one is required to join a union and...

Source: AFSCME Blog Feed

Does Bernie Sanders have a Jeb Bush problem?

Hillary Clinton's Democratic rival is crushing the TV airwaves, but his poll numbers aren't budging much.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Kentucky State Workers in Crosshairs of Tea Party Governor

In one of his first policy decisions after being inaugurated, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin set his sights clearly on state employees. He reversed an executive order from the Beshear administration that raised the minimum wage for state employees, and abolished the governor's employee advisory council (GEAC), which allowed state employees certified union representation. He also ordered a state hiring freeze. Currently ranked 41st in pay for state workers by the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis, Kentucky state employees, and workers employed by state government vendors, would have seen their minimum wage raised to $10.10 per hour, up from $7.25, under the executive order issued by then-Gov. Steve Beshear last June and set to go in effect Jan. 1. Bevin's abolishment of the GEAC strikes down state employees' access to united representation. The council allowed employee representatives to discuss wages, hours and terms of employment for merit employees. "Bevin's decision to eliminate the GEAC is a bad one for the state of Kentucky," said Debra Garcia, executive director of the AFSCME Indiana/Kentucky Organizing Committee 962, which represents thousands of state employees across Kentucky. "Through the GEAC process, state employees worked collaboratively with the state to resolve workplace issues that affect both employees and...

Original: AFSCME Blog Feed

AFSCME Member from Ohio Delivers Petition: Stop the Attacks!

Stephanie Wiley is a child care attendant in Ohio. Every day, she wakes up before the sun rises to help children with special needs who ride the bus to school. But this week she did something unusual. She flew to Washington, DC, to deliver a petition signed by more than 100,000 workers across the nation, demanding that a special interest group stop its attacks on America's middle-class families. Wiley has been doing her job for 25 years and does it because she cares about her community. Across the country, millions of public service workers like her – teachers, firefighters, nurses and more – are keeping our communities safe, healthy and running smoothly each day. But corporate CEOs and wealthy special interests who manipulate the economic rules in their favor are trying to make it even harder for working people to come together, speak up and get ahead. They've pushed a case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court called Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association that could make it harder for public workers to serve their communities. Workers across the country are speaking loudly and clearly to defend their right to a voice on the job. Many signed the petition, which Wiley...

Via: AFSCME Blog Feed

Ethics reform placed on November ballot in South Dakota

Ethics initiative crafted in response to Center's State Integrity Investigation

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

How to use our State Integrity interactive to find solutions, 'best practices'

As state legislatures head back into session, here's how to compare your state with others.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Pro-Rubio super PAC causing Chris Christie problems

The millionaire-backed group filled with Bush family defectors slams ascendant New Jersey governor in new ad volley.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Report underlines recent worker hazards at old weapons plants

A compensation program for former workers at Energy Department sites assumes safety improved significantly after 1995. That may not be true.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Federal Election Commission may vacate headquarters

The agency's lease expires in 2017, and it could move to new facility — even one outside of D.C.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Report says Virginia should require school police training and alter laws to reduce arrests

Special-needs students and black pupils have been especially hard hit by Virginia codes that encourage school police intervention.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

New Law Protects EMS from Assaults

NEW YORK – A two-year battle for legislation that would help stop assaults on Emergency Medical Services Paramedics and Technicians (EMS/EMT) has ended in a victory for the dedicated first responders throughout the state of New York. Attacks on EMS and EMT workers have been on the rise since EMT Teresa Soler captured national attention when she was choked and punched in the face several times after she helped a man who was drunk and walking along the Brooklyn Bridge. The man was an assistant district attorney and managed to plea bargain his way out of jail time. Instead, he received only 10 days of community service. Thanks to the new legislation, the next time someone assaults a paramedic they will be charged with a felony and could face as much as seven years in prison. "Medics and EMTs go to help people, and sometimes they find themselves in harm's way because the law has been weak," said 20-year EMT Oren Barzilay, who is recording secretary of Uniformed EMTs and Paramedics Local 2507 of AFSCME's DC 37. "Now it sends a message to would-be perpetrators." New York State Sen. Martin Golden and Assemblyman Joseph Lentol sponsored the legislation with major backing...

Original: AFSCME Blog Feed

New Year Resolutions: Stick Together!

Exercise more. Eat healthier. Spend more time with family. Most of us already have these on our list of 2016 New Year resolutions. But as AFSCME members, we want to make the most of the year ahead. We want to make sure it's not just a good but a great year for our families, our jobs and our futures. The year 2016 has been shaping up to be the most important for AFSCME members in a long time. A key labor case to be heard next week before the U.S. Supreme Court and the November general elections offer opportunities to strengthen our families and our union. If we commit to work hard, we can make 2016 a memorable year, one in which, working together, we can win.   Here are five resolutions we'll commit to this year as union members: Never quit. Public service is not just a job, it's a calling. And because as public workers we never quit, our union never quits either. Because we do our jobs to serve our communities, as union members we'll never quit. We will join together and fight to improve the services we provide, ensure our rights in the workplace are respected, and...

Source: AFSCME Blog Feed

National liberal groups to push 'record' number of 2016 ballot measures

Liberal groups plan to push 'record' number of measures in 2016, while conservative groups plan to counter them.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

AFSCME Smooths Cross-Country Moves

Sam Blittman understands that the key to a cross-country move is to find those things that make you feel at home. That's why joining a union was one of the first things he thought of as he moved to Anchorage, Alaska. And it's also the first thing he thought of as he made his most recent move – again cross country – to the Tallahassee, Florida, area. "My father was in a strong union, so my whole life I've known the importance and value that having a strong union has in a successful career, as well as helping better the community," said Blittman. Blittman moved to Anchorage after a 27-year career with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Forensic Laboratory (ATF) in the San Francisco Bay area. By then he had been instrumental in ensuring that representation through the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) – available to ATF laboratory staff in Maryland – was extended to the ATF forensic chemists and labs in San Francisco and Atlanta. When he arrived in Alaska, Blittman was pleased to find out that the powerful voice representing him there was AFSCME Local 52 (ASEA). "Local 52 members were always active and dedicated...

Source: AFSCME Blog Feed

What you need to know: U.S. Supreme Court to Decide Anti-Worker Case

This article was first published in the 2015 Fall Edition of AFSCME Works. Click here to download the full magazine. America's economy is out of balance, with an economic recovery that's creating record wealth for the top 1 percent while leaving working people behind. Corporate CEOs and the wealthy benefit from rules skewed in their favor, and the U.S. Supreme Court will decide a case next year that could make it even harder for average Americans. This case could undermine the right of workers to negotiate together for better wages and benefits to sustain their families. Here is a brief Q & A to explain why. Q: What is this case really about? A: This case, called Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, is really all about corporate CEOs and wealthy special interests working through the court system to make it harder for teachers, firefighters and other public service workers to come together through a union to have a voice on the job to sustain their families and get ahead. Q: What's at stake for working people? A: Our union is required by law to negotiate for everyone in a workplace, and employees who don't want to belong to our union contribute...

Hat Tip To: AFSCME Blog Feed

Taking Back Our Union: Here's How We're Growing Stronger

This article was first published in the 2015 Fall Edition of AFSCME Works. Click here to download the full magazine. Chicago's cab drivers are making history, and in the process making themselves AFSCME Strong. For the first time in more than 30 years, they have a union — a driver-led AFSCME local chartered with the goal of solving tough problems that range from burdensome revenue-raising regulations to police harassment. It's quite an accomplishment, especially since it was just early last year that more than 3,500 city cab drivers began organizing themselves into Cab Drivers United, part of Illinois Council 31. Then, in July 2014, delegates to the 41st AFSCME International Union Convention in Chicago rallied near City Hall, demonstrating solidarity with the drivers' campaign to win a voice in the regulatory process that controls their livelihood. Now the drivers have that voice. Their new union, Cab Drivers United/AFSCME Local 2500, received its charter on Aug. 1, with hundreds signing up to become full dues-paying members of our AFSCME family. "We have a saying, 'AFSCME Strong.' Sisters and brothers, you are the strength in AFSCME,"  Council 31 Exec. Dir. Roberta Lynch told the new members. Lynch, also an AFSCME International vice president,...

Source: AFSCME Blog Feed

For Younger Workers, Creeping Doubts

This article was first published in the 2015 Fall Edition of AFSCME Works. Click here to download the full magazine. Once upon a time, there was retirement security... If that sounds like the opening of a fairy tale, it's not: More and more, it's the story a new generation of workers is telling their children about a time when a majority of Americans had retirement pensions. Real pensions are still common in the public sector, even though only 18 percent of private-sector workers are covered by these "defined-benefit" plans. But ever since the Great Recession of 2008, when many state budgets were in the red, pensions in the public sector are under attack. In cities and states across the nation, corporate-backed politicians would like nothing better than to usher in a new era of uncertainty for the middle class — and big profits for Wall Street — by doing away with real pensions and replacing them with risky "defined-contribution" savings plans, like 401(k)s. Pensions Are Still Hip Isaac Harry, AFSCME Local 371 Many employers would like us to believe that pensions are for a bygone generation. They say young people crave the flexibility of a 401(k), taking it with them as...

By: AFSCME Blog Feed

ISIS and fumbling control of nuclear materials: Center's investigations into global threats in 2015

Stories from the past year about ISIS and securing nuclear materials from terrorists worldwide.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

The Center for Public Integrity's year in video

The Center for Public Integrity's best multimedia projects from 2015.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Election 2016 by the numbers

30 fun facts about the money behind the 2016 presidential election.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

The Center for Public Integrity's year in impact

Center and ICIJ investigations that made a difference in 2015.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

The Center for Public Integrity's year in graphics

Australia's African footprint, failing grades in the states and who gave money to what to political campaigns.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

2015: A strange year in investigative journalism

Surprises and head scratchers from a year of investigative reporting

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Commentary: The unseen toll of workplace disease in America

Work-related illnesses kill an estimated 50,000 people in America each year. Few seem to notice or care.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Super PAC fetishist strikes again

A Florida man is giving regulators headaches after creating dozens of odd political committees.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Virginia officials deny Center access to reports from auto-title lenders

Virginia officials admit no legal basis to keep reports secret, but allows firms more time to argue

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Tea party groups see win in end-of-year omnibus bill

New law makes it easier for nonprofit groups to receive a tax break — or sue the IRS to avoid legal limbo.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Shattered victims of 'La Bestia' seek help for their desperate countrymen

Deperate to find work in the U.S., migrants are being maimed riding freight trains north through Mexico

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Two new board members join Center for Public Integrity

The Center for Public Integrity adds two new members to its board of directors

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Commentary: A view of the future for "quality journalism"

Commentary: A view of the future for "quality journalism"

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Environmental award for Center reporting, impact

Note from the Center: Our CEO on what we're up to and thinking

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Steel mill that never was 'casts a shadow' on EPA Office of Civil Rights

Some say the EPA's Office of Civil Rights relies too heavily on science to weigh discrimination complaints.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Some Medicare Advantage plans overcharged the government by billions of dollars and got away with it

Medicare Advantage plans overcharged the government by billions of dollars-and got away with it

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

New FEC chairman aims to calm agency at war with itself

How life at the turbulent FEC will change as Republican Matthew Petersen takes the reins.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

U.S. lobbying, PR firms give human rights abusers a friendly face

Countries with the worst human rights violation records have spent $168 million on U.S. lobbyists and public relations specialists.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

Upended by America's 'third wave' of asbestos disease

25 years ago, experts predicted asbestos already in place would trigger a 'third wave' of disease. Kris Penny is among the casualties.

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

India's nuclear explosive materials are vulnerable to theft, U.S. officials and experts say

Washington has chosen not to press for tougher security while its trade with India is booming

Source: The Center for Public Integrity Latest Stories

From Samuel Olekanma

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By: Hilarious Jokes - News - Digest

From Samuel Olekanma

• Hilarious Jokes Benefits of Being a Woman 1. We got off the Titanic first. 2. We get to flirt with systems support men who always return our ... more ... Statistics : 1 Post || 2 Views Post by sachinshrm619 #
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Source: Hilarious Jokes - News - Digest