From the Blog

• Feb 01 AFSCME Under 35 Members United in Demanding Jobs, Not Cuts Join a National Day of Action event to help end the budget showdown in Capitol Hill.
• Jan 22 Who Are the “Working Poor”? New study is sobering reminder of why we must protect the nation’s economic safety net.
• Jan 15 Register Now for Dynamic Legislative Conference Want to raise your voice for workers? Come to Washington, DC, and do just that.
• Jan 09 The Ever-Shrinking Paycheck Washington Post columnist Harold Meyerson explains the growing wealth inequality gap.
• Jan 03 Congress Passes Tax Cuts for Middle Class AFSCME will be vigilant about proposed slashing of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid.
• Dec 19 AFSCME Retiree, 92, Doesn’t Let Age Slow Activism Rosyln Sims, a former school librarian in Youngstown City, Ohio, has activism in her blood.
• Dec 19 Protect Medicare, Protect Nurses Cuts to Medicare would mean job losses for nurses. AFSCME is working to stop them.
• Dec 12 Call Congress to Protect the Middle Class – I Did Working men and women pay the bills of this country. We deserve a fair shake.
• Dec 06 A Competition with Very Few Winners An investigation by The New York Times reveals a race among state and local governments for the benefit of large companies
• Dec 05 White House Official Thanks AFSCME Members for Work Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett spoke with members of the union’s International Executive Board.
• Nov 29 Saunders on Fiscal Showdown: ‘Our Message Is Very Clear’ AFSCME Pres. Lee Saunders discussed the grassroots push for legislation that puts working families first.
• Nov 20 Union Ads Echo Voters’ Voices from Across the Country TV and radio ads by AFSCME, SEIU and NEA are airing in select states.
• Nov 15 Rising Income Inequality Revealed, State by State Report: States can mitigate inequality by raising minimum wage, reforming taxes and protecting union rights.
• Nov 14 In Meeting with Labor Leaders, Obama Vows to Stand behind Middle Class Pres. Lee Saunders says AFSCME is ready to “keep the pressure on” during budget negotiations.
• Nov 05 What’s At Stake in Massachusetts AFSCME volunteers getting out the vote for Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren.
• Oct 24 America’s Workers Fed Up With Romney’s Say Anything Strategy You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool AFSCME members any time.
• Oct 19 AFL-CIO Registers 450,000 Voters from Union Homes Labor group boosts its effort to re-elect President Obama and pro-worker candidates
• Oct 18 Romney’s Policies Put American Women in a Bind When it comes time to vote, women won’t forget Romney’s refusal to acknowledge our rights.
• Oct 15 In Ohio, the Next Chapter in a Fight for Workers AFSCME campaign volunteers speak up for Obama and fair Congressional representation.
• Oct 15 Vice Presidential Debate Highlights Fight for Fairness On MSNBC, Pres. Lee Saunders says Joe Biden made the case for the middle class.
• Oct 14 Meet the New Mitt. Same As the Old Mitt. With his campaign on the skids, Romney tries on a number of personas – none of them authentic.
• Oct 12 This Campaign Hits Home for Workers AFSCME members, president tackle 1% Mitt Romney’s attack on the 47%
• Oct 09 We Are AFSCME: Campaign Volunteer, Retiree Renita Hoover Wisconsin activist urges fellow retirees to get involved. She’s been doing it for decades.
• Oct 05 Romney Shakes the Etch-A-Sketch Again The candidate who doesn’t care about the poor or the 47% also disregards the truth.
• Oct 02 Romney Doesn’t See Richard and Temo. He Doesn’t Want to Pay Them Either. Videos give a face to the invisible people Romney is disregarding with his tax-avoiding acrobatics.
• Oct 02 Saunders: Trickle-Down Doesn’t Work On Current TV, AFSCME president says we must create jobs to grow the American economy.
• Oct 01 Meet Richard Hayes: He Collects Mitt Romney’s Trash Videos spotlight public service workers, underscore Romney’s arrogant dismissal of nearly half of all Americans.
• Sep 26 We Are Better Off Than We Were Before Economic reality forces presidential contender Mitt Romney to alter his campaign slogan.
• Sep 26 Rising Inequality the Direct Result of Policy Choices New EPI report highlights role of Congress in lives of working families and the poor.
• Sep 24 Secretary-Treasurer Reyes Urges Latinos to Vote in November AFSCME leaders address New York and DC audiences about hitting the polls on Nov. 6.
• Sep 21 Romney Attempts to Sweep Tax Returns under the Rug Campaign releases 2011 tax returns late on Friday in an attempt to minimize news coverage.
• Sep 21 Smoke, Mirrors and Mitt Romney’s Economic Deceptions The candidate’s economic plan just doesn’t add up. Our proof? Studies he cites.
• Sep 18 Romney Uninterested in Half of Country He Wants to Lead Candidate calls 47 percent of the country freeloaders because they voted for President Obama.
• Sep 07 Obama: The Choice for a Stronger America Is Now Ours A vow to strengthen Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid.
• Sep 06 AFSCME Pres. Lee Saunders on MSNBC’s Jansing & Co. Saunders discussed the stark differences in this election and how AFSCME will make a difference.
• Sep 06 DNC Speakers Emphasize Message of Inclusion Bill Clinton, Richard Trumka and Benita Veliz among those who addressed the convention’s second night.
• Sep 03 Saunders on the GOP Convention: “All Lies and No Solutions” Pres. Lee Saunders appeared on “Washington Watch” to discuss attacks on working families and unions.
• Aug 30 Gingrich Takes Both Sides on the Same Issue The Republican also-ran praises big government – then calls for smaller government.
• Aug 30 Paul Ryan Acceptance Speech Light on Reality Wisconsin retirees: Paul Ryan would “tear seniors’ safety net to shreds.”
• Aug 29 Warren to Christie: Not So Fast Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren calls out Gov. Chris Christie on his RNC keynote speech.
• Aug 23 GOP Convention Theme: Another Distortion of the Truth The Tampa Bay Times Forum, site of the Republican Convention, was built with public financing.
• Aug 15 Romney-Ryan Ticket Raises Question: Do We Still Believe In Community? Mitt Romney’s choice of Rep. Paul Ryan confirms contempt for working people and public services.
• Aug 14 Paul Ryan’s Real Motivation: Cutting, Privatizing Public Services, Programs Ezra Klein says Rep. Paul Ryan would radically change the way government provides public services.
• Aug 11 Romney Taps Medicare-Slashing Paul Ryan as VP Pick Congressman designed a budget that hurts seniors, working families.
• Aug 03 Things Are Looking Up for MSNBC Host Chris Hayes One-time labor reporter swapped his notepad for a TV studio, kept his pro-union, progressive politics.
• Aug 02 Romney’s Tax Plan: Give to the Rich, Take from the Poor Presidential candidate’s latest scheme for “tax reform” is neither new nor helpful.
• Aug 01 American Taxpayers Foot the Bill for Congressional Inaction Report shows last summer’s fight over whether to raise the debt ceiling cost $1.3 billion.
• Jul 27 Taxes, Offshore Accounts and Corruption Serious questions remain about Mitt Romney’s tax returns and use of offshore accounts.
• Jul 20 Jon Stewart Speaks Out for Public Sector Unions Daily Show host thinks we should look closely at LIBOR scandal when discussing economic woes.
• Jul 19 Romney Protest Shines Light on Why He’s No Good for America Union members, allies, protest Romney’s policies at GOP Presidential candidate’s fundraiser in Toledo, Ohio.
• Jul 13 Romney: “I Believe in America,” but Bank in Switzerland Why would a man who says he believes in America need a Swiss bank account?
• Jul 09 AFSCME Applauds Extension of Middle Class Tax Cuts President Saunders says it’s time for tax breaks for the wealthy to expire.
• Jul 06 Obama Levels Playing Field for U.S. Workers, Says No to China’s Unfair Trade Fees President Obama took action to level the playing field for American workers by filing an unfair trade complaint against China with the World Trade Organization.
• Jun 20 Vice President Biden to Public Workers: ‘We Owe You’ Responding to attacks on public employees, Biden thanks AFSCME delegates for the work they do.
• Jun 12 Romney, Allies Target Public Service Workers Presidential hopeful claims fewer teachers and first responders is what taxpayers want.
• May 10 Public Job Losses Hit Women, African-Americans Hardest New EPI report reveals the human costs of cuts to public services.
• May 01 May Day Commemoration Calls Attention to Workers’ Rights and Economic Justice Occupy protesters organize nationwide actions against corporate greed.
• Apr 25 President Obama Slow Jams a Scary Truth About College Costs Behind the laughter on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon was a serious message to Congress.
• Apr 19 Tax Day Protesters Call on Congress to Be Fair to 99% Hundreds of working families nationwide chastised Congress for failing to pass the Buffett Rule.
• Apr 17 Senate Fails to Pass Buffett Rule Making Super-Wealthy Pay Fair Share Millionaires and billionaires exploit loopholes in the tax code to pay a lower tax rate.
• Apr 13 Romney’s Clearer Path Thrusts Ryan Budget in the Spotlight Republican budget plan attacks working families, slashes benefits, and ends Medicaid coverage for millions.
• Apr 13 AFSCME to Congress: Make GE and Other Big Corporations Pay Their Fair Share in Taxes Tax avoidance leads to cuts in vital community services nationwide.
• Apr 11 Postal Service Under Attack Demonstrations are being held nationwide against legislation that would gut the United States Postal Service.
• Apr 05 The Value of Taxes If paying taxes means valuing public service workers, we love taxes.
• Apr 02 LGBTaxes Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers get the short end of the federal tax code.
• Mar 30 Five Myths about the Ryan Budget The top myths about Rep. Paul Ryan's budget plan in 140 characters or less.
• Mar 22 The Ryan Republican Budget, v2.0 GOP re-releases last year’s budget, plan decimates programs to give tax breaks to the wealthy.
• Mar 14 Jobs and the Economic Recovery, by the Numbers The economy is recovering slowly, dragged down by continued job losses in the public sector.
• Feb 08 Unemployment Insurance Under Attack, Again Two-month stopgap extension set to expire, ending benefits for 6 million unemployed workers.
• Feb 06 New Poll: Americans Concerned About Unfair Tax Policy That Aids the Wealthy Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that Americans want a tax system that’s fair to everyone.
• Jan 27 Mitt Romney and the 1% If they have their way, Mitt Romney and the wealthiest people in America won't have to release their tax returns. They won't even have to file.
• Jan 25 Tax Fairness Is Common Sense Mitt Romney’s federal tax return proves the tax system unfairly benefits the super-rich.
• Jan 23 Middle Class Surprised to Hear Santorum Say They Don’t Exist GOP Presidential candidates charge ‘class warfare’ to protect their own interests.
• Jan 19 Mitt’s 15 Percent Tax Rate Highlights Tax Burden of America’s Middle Class Romney’s speaking fees alone place the mega-millionaire in the top 1 percent nationwide.
• Jan 09 Shortchange on Taxes Means Shortchange on the Middle Class New IRS report shows a growing federal tax gap of $450 billion a year.
• Dec 21 Less Holiday Cheer for Working Families Thanks to House GOP Republicans reject a bipartisan Senate compromise to extend unemployment insurance and the payroll tax cut.
• Dec 09 Video: Debunking GOP Claims of Voter Fraud On MSNBC, Sec.-Treas. Saunders explains how the Republican agenda threatens working families.
• Dec 02 Jobless to Congress: Extend Unemployment Benefits More than 2 million unemployed Americans could lose their safety net in February.
• Nov 30 AFSCME Speaks Out Against Perilous Legislation A constitutional balanced budget amendment would force devastating spending cuts totaling $1.5 trillion.
• Nov 29 Most Vulnerable Hurt By Attacks Against the Public Sector When nothing gets done on jobs legislation, the working middle class gets hit hard.
• Nov 21 Toomey Super Committee Plan Would Raise Taxes on Working Families to Protect Wall Street Dangerous proposal would endanger health coverage for working Americans while reducing taxes on the wealthiest.
• Nov 10 Pueblo Public Service Workers Help Neighbors, Urge Congress to Create Jobs Local 1335 members join community organizations to hold politicians accountable for their failure to act.
• Nov 04 Time for Capitol Hill to Occupy Reality With a dismal economic picture looming, Congress' lack of action is hurting American workers.
• Nov 04 The Tax Man Doesn’t Cometh for Corporations Thanks to tax shelters and loopholes, many highly profitable companies pay little or no taxes.
• Nov 01 Romney: $3.45 for Gas a ‘Good Price’ On the campaign trail, GOP presidential candidate once again shows how tone deaf he is.
• Oct 14 AFSCME Marching Saturday for Jobs and Justice at MLK Event Thousands expected on the National Mall to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy.
• Oct 13 Pass the Jobs Bill: Reclaim the American Dream AFSCME today unveiled a television ad demanding Congress pass President Barack Obama’s American Jobs Act.
• Oct 13 AFSCME’s Saunders on MSNBC: ‘America Needs Jobs’ AFSCME Sec.-Treas. Lee Saunders went on MSNBC’s Politics Nation discussing jobs and the Main Street movement.
• Oct 11 AFSCME to Congress: Pass the Jobs Bill Now!
• Oct 04 Koch Brothers Make Billions While Flouting U.S. Laws Billionaire tea party financiers raked in tons of money while secretly trading with Iran.
• Oct 04 Reagan and Obama: Separated at Birth? When it comes to tax loopholes for millionaires, these leaders have a lot in common.
• Sep 30 Ten Senators Sign on to Merkley Proposal Endorsed by AFSCME, AFL-CIO Senator Merkley's proposal to score the jobs impact of deficit reduction schemes is gaining support in the Senate.
• Sep 29 Citizens Call on Representatives to Pass Jobs Act NOW! Events put pressure on Congress to pass President Barack Obama’s jobs bill.
• Sep 21 A Jobs Plan Even Our Kids Can Understand AFSCME is launching an ad campaign in support of passing The American Jobs Act.
• Sep 19 McEntee: Millionaires’ Tax Welcome, But Congress Must Pass Jobs Bill Now There is no better way to reduce the deficit than putting Americans back on payrolls.
• Sep 16 Keeping the Super Committee Honest on Jobs Labor leaders want jobs impact of all budget-cutting proposals scored by non-partisan CBO.
• Sep 15 GOP Gives Corporations “Get Out of Jail Free” Card AFSCME Pres. Gerald W. McEntee blasts House GOP for vote undermining NLRB’s power.
• Sep 14 ‘Americans Are Hurting’ Census Bureau data shows poverty has gone up while household incomes have gone down.
• Sep 09 President Obama is Right: The Country Needs Jobs Now The American Jobs Act, is a necessary first step to growing jobs in an economy that was sent reeling by Wall Street and corporate excesses during the previous administration.
• Sep 06 Report: CEOs Rewarded for Parking Profits Overseas Major U.S. corporations pay chief executives more than they pay in federal income taxes.
• Sep 02 Another Dismal Jobs Report Suggests the Economy Needs More Investment, Not Cuts The President and Congress should focus on creating jobs.
• Aug 31 Unemployment Hurts More than the Unemployed New report shows high unemployment has dire consequences for the broader economy.
• Aug 24 Warren Buffett Is Right: Tax the Rich Multi-billionaire calls on Congress to stop coddling wealthy Americans, make them pay their fair share.
• Aug 19 CEOs Asleep at the Switch Investor Warren Buffet blames wealthy business leaders for spawning an out of control anti-tax, anti-worker movement.
• Aug 05 House GOP’s Cantor Says Medicare & Medicaid Promises May Not Be Kept As programs turn 46, Rep. Cantor threatens to hang millions of Americans out to dry.
• Aug 03 FAA Shutdown Continues as Politicians Play Games As U.S. House members enjoy their summer vacations, thousands of FAA employees remain furloughed.
• Jul 29 Default: It’s Not Just a Game of Politics Federally funded state programs could get hammered if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling.
• Jul 29 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Open for Business, GOP Attacks Continue New agency protects consumers by making financial products' prices and risks easier to understand.
• Jul 29 Ad Campaign Launched to Pressure Lawmakers to Do the Right Thing AFSCME-sponsored TV ads target eight members of Congress on debt ceiling vote.
• Jul 28 Enough Is Enough! Hundreds rally at the U.S. Capitol to oppose deep cuts to the social safety net.
• Jul 26 Americans Reject Cuts to the Middle Class, Favor Higher Taxes on the Wealthy, Corporations New poll shows voters oppose the Republican plan to cut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
• Jul 22 Shared Sacrifice? Not in the ‘Gang of Six’ Plan Ad tells it straight about the shortcomings of the “Gang of Six” deficit plan.
• Jul 21 Gut & Scrap The Republican proposal to gut and scrap Medicare looks like the Ryan plan on steroids.
• Jul 19 Tax and Budget Cutting Don’t Create Jobs The policies implemented by anti-worker state governors are behind our stalled economic recovery.
• Jul 15 GOP Plays the Debt Ceiling Game: Will We All Lose? House Republican lawmakers are putting their political and ideological interests ahead of the nation's well-being.
• Jul 14 Coalition of 247 Organizations Say ‘No!’ to Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment Proposal is the opposite of what's needed and would damage the economy, not strengthen it.
• Jun 24 Tax “Holiday” for Corporate Profits will Vacate U.S. Jobs Recycled Bush-era initiative actually led to further job losses the first time around.
• Jun 14 Protesters Spread the News: Keep Hands Off Medicare Opposition to Republican budget makes headlines at a town hall meeting held at DC's Newseum.
• Jun 09 Creating a National Infrastructure Bank Federal investment in infrastructure will help rebuild the economy and get Americans back to work.
• Jun 07 Bush Tax Cuts 10 Years Later Massive tax giveaway squandered a massive budget surplus, and we're still paying for it.
• Jun 01 Playing Chicken with Our Fiscal Future Tuesday’s staged vote on the “clean” debt limit was only held so it would fail.
• May 27 Rep. Ryan Wants to Push Retirees Back into the “Donut Hole” Budget proposal would repeal Affordable Care Act provisions providing relief from high prescription drug costs.
• May 26 Congress’ Attack on Unemployed Workers Instead of helping Americans get back to work, new legislation would restrict unemployment benefits.
• May 25 Hands Off Medicare Senate must reject the Ryan budget plan that would eliminate Medicare as we know it.
• May 18 Newt Gingrich, Defender of Medicare? Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich criticizes House GOP proposal to cut Medicare.
• May 10 Shining a Light on House GOP Budget Cuts to Medicare and Medicaid The Republican budget plan replaces Medicare with a voucher system and slashes Medicaid spending.
• Apr 19 2011 PayWatch: Average CEO Salary=$11.4 Million While 25 million unemployed and underemployed U.S. workers are drowning, CEO pay skyrocketed by 23 percent, for an average salary of $11.4 million in 2010, according to the AFL-CIO Executive PayWatch.
• Apr 18 The True Meaning of Tax Cuts Without the public systems and structures that taxes pay for, America as we know and love it would cease to exist.
• Apr 14 Tax Day Travesty When big corporations skip out on their tax bills, it’s working Americans who pay the price.
• Apr 08 Shutdown? Republicans in the U.S. House are threatening to shut down the federal government if Democrats don’t concede to their proposals to slash critical public services.
• Mar 18 Income Inequality and Union Decline: Connect the Dots The richest 1 percent in this country takes home almost 24 percent of income, up from nearly 9 percent in 1976.
• Mar 16 House Democrats introduce Fairness in Taxation Act
• Mar 11 Republicans Take Aim at Social Security Republican legislators in both the U.S. House and Senate have now started moving toward cutting Social Security.
• Mar 07 GOP Budget: Read It and Weep Some high lowlights of the Republican federal budget, courtesy of MoveOn.org. After you read this (and weep), click here to call your U.S. Senators and tell them to stand up for jobs and vote no on cuts to critical programs.
• Feb 09 O'Reilly Spreads Lies About Public Employee Pensions FACT: The average annual pension of an AFSCME retiree is $19,000. As Pres. Gerald W. McEntee wrote in USA Today, the real problems facing cities and states were caused by Wall Street, not public workers.
• Feb 04 Every Company Must Pay Their Fair Share Economist Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, wrote in The New York Times Wednesday that loopholes allow many corporations to pay relatively few taxes.
• Jan 28 Responding to Wall Street Journal Attacks
• Jan 25 Rhetoric v. Reality: A Viewer’s Guide to Rep. Paul Ryan’s State of the Union Response Americans United for Change has put together this handy guide for watching tonight's Republican response to Pres. Barack Obama's State of the Union Address tonight [...]
• Jan 04 Maddow Show: Public Workers New GOP Scapegoat During the first Rachel Maddow Show of the new year, guest host Chris Hayes looked at the new scapegoat for our nation's economic woes: public workers.
• Dec 06 Spending Package Worked The definitive answer is ‘Yes!’ The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is creating new jobs and stabilizing the economy.
• Nov 30 Unemployed and Unnoticed
• Nov 18 How Unemployment Insurance Helps Families and the Economy From the folks at Center for American Progress, an animated explanation of how unemployment insurance benefits help America's families and our economic recovery.
• Nov 03 Voters Want a Recovery That Works for Everyone “Angry voters sent a clear message on Tuesday: Much, much more must be done to put America back to work. But voters rejected right-wing and Tea Party candidates [...]
• Sep 29 Wake Up, Washington! Securing Retirement Americans should be able to enjoy a secure retirement after a lifetime of work. AFSCME is participating in “Wake Up, Washington!” Month to encourage Americans across the country to tell lawmakers to keep their hands off Social Security [...]
• Sep 10 Calculate Your Tax Cut Online The Bush tax cuts are set to expire at the end of 2010, and while President Obama wants to extend those cuts for all but the very rich, some lawmakers want to extend them for everyone. A new Gallup poll released today shows the majority of Americans [...]
• Sep 03 Hey Republicans, Thanks for Throwing American Workers Under the Bus Just in time for Labor Day, AFSCME has released a new video reminding voters of the critical choice they face in the November elections.
• Aug 16 Standing Up for American Jobs According to a CNN poll released last week, 60% of Americans support legislation recently passed by Congress to save hundreds of thousands of jobs that were on the chopping block.
• Aug 10 A Tremendous Victory for Working People Statement of AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee on House passage of the Jobs Bill:
• Aug 09 Public Sector Job Losses Front and Center The job numbers released last week made it clear that the economic recovery is slowing down, and the increase in state and municipal worker layoffs is one of the chief factors
• Aug 04 The Senate's Bold Step Forward Today, the U.S. Senate took a bold step forward in the effort to protect jobs and bolster America's economic recovery. The Senate, by a 61 to 38 margin, overcame the filibuster opposing H.R. 1586 [...]
• Aug 02 Call Your Senators Today to Protect a Million Jobs Earlier this year, Democrats in the Senate tried three times to pass legislation that would help states deal with growing Medicaid rolls, the joint federal-state health care program for the poor.
• Jul 29 Keep Your Hands Off Social Security! Years after George W. Bush’s failed attempts to privatize Social Security, his cohorts are renewing calls for privatization. This time they’re using deficit reduction as an excuse.
• Jul 23 Poll: Americans Want Jobs By a 64-30 margin, Americans think reducing unemployment is more important than deficit reduction according to a Quinnipiac poll released on Thursday.
• Jul 21 Pres. McEntee Talks Jobs, Midterms with Bill Press Wednesday morning on the Bill Press Radio Show, AFSCME Pres. Gerald W. McEntee talked P-O-L-I-T-I-C-S during a segment covering topics ranging from the extension of unemployment benefits, legislation to give public safety workers [...]
• Jul 16 Main Street Wins: Senate OKs Wall Street Reform By a 60-39 vote, the Senate finally passed Wall Street reform legislation on Thursday and sent it to President Obama for his signature.
• Jul 13 Washington Post: Senate Must Pass Jobs Bill Calling it the "fiscally sensible and morally decent" thing to do, the Washington Post calls on the U.S. Senate to pass the jobs bill to send badly-needed aid to states and extend unemployment benefits.
• Jul 12 A Financial Grand Canyon In June, an analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities confirmed the gap between rich and poor in the United States has reached levels not seen since 1929.
• Jul 09 Jobs Matter More This weekend AFSCME is running a $175,000 ad campaign calling on Republican Sens. Scott Brown, Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe and George Voinovich to stop the obstruction and pass the jobs bill.
• Jul 01 Pass the Jobs Bill! Passing the jobs bill was the highlight of a program during Wednesday’s session. Florida state juvenile detention officer Faustino “Tino” Cosby of Tampa told how passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 prevented a threatened [...]
• Jun 28 McEntee Pledges to Hold Politicians Accountable President Gerald W. McEntee used his keynote address at the 2010 AFSCME Convention to demand that Congress pass a critical jobs bill — and that politicians be held accountable for their promises to working people.
• Jun 23 More Jobs = Less Debt In the worst economy since the Great Depression, far too many Americans are out of work. Despite the rising fears of more job losses, the Senate is refusing to do what is necessary to protect and create jobs.
• Jun 18 Aid to States in Jobs Bill Stalls in Senate The fight to help cash-strapped states and public services stalled in the Senate on Thursday as it failed to achieve the 60 votes necessary to cut off debate and bring to a vote a second Senate version of the American Jobs and Closing Tax [...]
• Jun 14 A Real Jobs Bill Working America reports that if “the 15 million unemployed workers in this country stood side-by-side, literally shoulder to shoulder, they would stretch from Bangor, Maine to Los Angeles, California… and back again.”
• Jun 11 More Jobs = Less Deficit Last week’s jobs report showed that our economic recovery is extremely fragile. The last thing we need is thousands more layoffs because of state budget shortfalls.
• Jun 03 America Can't Afford to Lose More Jobs Too many Americans are out of work. That’s devastating for individuals and families. Unemployment hurts our communities and prolongs the economic crisis. That’s why America needs a jobs bill that protects workers and puts people back to work.
• Jun 02 Closing Corporate Loopholes, Aiding States Writing on the Huffington Post, Arianna Huffington asks why offshore corporate tax havens are still allowed. She attributes it to two sets of rules — one for the corporate class and another for working Americans.
• May 28 What Financial Reform Means Big business, big banks, Wall Street, and the CEOs of America’s top companies said that passing health care reform would amount to a “government takeover” of our nation’s health care system.
• May 26 CBO Report: Recovery Act Is Working A report issued by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office Tuesday shows that the Recovery Act, the centerpiece of President Obama's economic recovery plan, is having an even greater impact than originally projected.
• May 24 Crunch Time for American Jobs If members of the U.S. House of Representatives support creating jobs and putting Americans back to work, as they so often claim, they’ll vote this week for a bill that creates jobs and makes Wall Street pay, says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.
• May 14 It’s Time to Hold Wall Street Accountable Almost two years have passed since the taxpayers of America gave the titans of Wall Street more than $700 billion to keep the world’s economic system from plunging into another world-wide Great Depression.
• May 11 U.S. Tax Bills Lowest Since Truman Despite the protests from anti-government conservatives and Tea Partiers shouting about high taxes, the tax rate in 2009 was lower than it has been since 1950. Michael Ettlinger, at the Center for American Progress, sums it up [...]
• May 07 290,000 Jobs Created in April, Jobless Rate Up to 9.9% The Department of Labor report this morning shows 290,000 jobs were created in April, the largest one-month gain in over four years and the fourth straight month that employment has increased.
• Apr 15 Tax Day: Time for Shared Responsibility Today is tax day, the day that each of us steps forward to pay our fair share for our roads and schools, law enforcement and firefighting, clean water and public works, community centers and parks, and many other vital public services.
• Apr 13 Trumka Live Today on Obscene Executive Pay Join AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka for a live online video discussion of the 2010 AFL-CIO Executive PayWatch report at noon ET today and learn about Wall Street bankers and their outrageous pay and massive lobbying efforts.
• Apr 01 Today We Count President Obama has officially declared today "Census Day" in a presidential proclamation, a day which reminds us all how important it is to complete and mail back the 2010 Census form.
• Mar 04 Best. Graph. Ever. Consider three bills — two of them passed under budget reconciliation, the third heading for budget reconciliation. Each had an effect on the fiscal health of the nation, calculated by the Congressional Budget Office.
• Feb 19 GOP Stonewalls Extension of COBRA, Unemployment Benefits While the Senate is seeking agreement on jobs legislation, states will need to start reprogramming their unemployment insurance (UI) computers before the current federal benefit extensions and COBRA subsidies are scheduled to end on February 28.
• Feb 17 Your Job Matters Your job matters. Whether it’s clearing the roads of snow and ice, providing health care services, ensuring public safety, or simply working hard for our communities, the vital services that AFSCME members like you provide make our country happen.
• Jan 28 The State of Our Union President Obama made it clear last night that he will fight for jobs. He knows that we cannot lose sight of the millions of working families who are still suffering from the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression.
• Dec 17 Politics Daily: Cadillac Tax Would Hit Hard Politics Daily looks at the effects of the so-called “Cadillac tax” included in the Senate health care bill. Originally intended as a way to finance reform by taxing the type of expensive benefit plans enjoyed by Wall Street executives.
• Dec 08 Putting Americans Back to Work During a speech at the Brookings Institute Tuesday morning, President Barack Obama made it clear that restoring job growth and putting people back to work continues to be a top priority of his administration.
• Dec 07 AFL-CIO Ad: Don't Tax Health Benefits The AFL-CIO has launched a new TV ad that sends a clear message: “Pass Health Care. Don’t Tax Health Benefits.” The ad emphasizes that taxing benefits will lead companies to cut benefits and will shift cost burdens to families that can’t afford it.
• Nov 19 New Online Tool Lets You Track the Economy The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) has launched Economy Track (www.economytrack.org), a new one-stop website to help you make sense of all the twists and turns of the economy.
• Nov 13 Jobs On Thursday, President Obama announced he will invite labor leaders, business executives, small business owners, economists and other financial experts to a special White House summit on jobs next month.
• Oct 08 Don’t Tax Health Care Benefits Congressman Joe Courtney (D-CT) announced Wednesday that 156 Democratic members of Congress oppose taxing health care benefit plans to pay for health care reform.
• May 15 Watch AFSCME on “60 Minutes” for Sounding Alarm Early on AIG This Sunday night, the CBS News program “60 Minutes” will feature a story on American International Group (AIG), the failed insurance giant bailed out by taxpayers with more than $180 billion.
• Apr 30 Pay for Performance? No Thanks, I’m a CEO Did you know that Citigroup CEO Vikram S. Pandit raked in a sweet $38 million in total compensation last year while running his company to the ground? Let’s not forget that Citigroup has already received $45 billion in federal bailout funds.
• Apr 29 On Day 100, Senate and House Pass Obama Budget This afternoon, the U.S. Senate passed President Obama’s budget by a vote of 53 to 43. The budget resolution had easily passed in the House earlier in the day by a margin of 233 to 193.
• Apr 15 In Praise of Public Service In honor of Tax Day, this story from a 2003 issue of AFSCME’s Public Employee magazine seems fitting. Tip O’Neill, the late and great Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, loved to tell this story. [...]
• Apr 06 Making Corporations Accountable: AFSCME At Work on Wall Street AFSCME has been a leader in the fight to restrain undeserved CEO pay and to make corporate boards more democratic and accountable. That’s why AFSCME, the Connecticut State Treasurer and the AFL-CIO recently wrote to AIG trustees.
• Mar 31 The Number Zero, Brought To You by the Party of N-O A great ad recently put out by Americans United for Change on the Republicans’ attack on the President’s budget and their alternative plan – or lack there of.
• Mar 30 Budget (with the Right Priorities) Update On Wednesday night, the House Budget Committee adopted a budget outline by a party-line vote of 24-15 that will advance President Obama’s visionary budget goals.
• Mar 20 This Stinks
• Mar 06 February Jobs Numbers: More Bad News
• Mar 04 Rebuild and Renew America Now!
• Mar 04 Special Webinar: President Obama's Budget
• Feb 27 Obama's Budget: Change We Can Believe In
• Feb 27 Fiscal Responsibility and Health Care Go Hand in Hand
• Feb 18 Obama’s Jobs Plan by the Numbers
• Feb 18 New Ad Thanks Obama for Putting Jobs First
• Feb 17 Recovery Begins
• Feb 13 “A Major, Historic Victory”
• Feb 13 We Now Have Reason to Hope
• Feb 12 Cantor's Odd Response
• Feb 10 An Important Step
• Feb 09 Obama Jobs and Recovery Plan Update
• Feb 05 It's Happening Today
• Feb 04 Urgent Update on Obama Recovery Plan
• Jan 30 Put Our Economy Back on Track
• Jan 27 The First Step in Remaking America
• Jan 16 The Fierce Urgency of Now
• Jan 16 House Dems Release Economic Stimulus Package
• Jan 14 Make America Happen. Again.
• Dec 18 Pass the Jobs and Economic Recovery Plan
• Dec 18 Campaign for Jobs and Economic Recovery Now
• Dec 01 Jumpstart the Economy - Invest in State and Local Governments
• Nov 20 Economists Call for Immediate State and Local Aid
• Nov 07 What a Difference a President (elect) Makes
• Oct 07 Changing the Subject
• Oct 03 A Few Reforms Are Simply Not Enough
• Sep 30 House Passes Stimulus Bill But Senate Balks
• Sep 26 A Quick Take on CEO Pay
• Sep 25 Give Us a Bailout That Helps Everyone
• Sep 25 Here's Your Blank Check
• Sep 09 McEntee to Congress: Time to Step In
• Sep 08 Let's Solve the Real Problem
• Jul 21 House and Senate Democrats Developing New Stimulus Plan
• Jul 10 McCain’s Out-of-Touch Co-Chair Says U.S. is “a Nation of Whiners”
• Jul 03 Investing in America -- More Patriotic than Political Posturing
• May 23 National Public Works Week
• May 09 States & Localities Need Investments Now
• May 02 McCain is Wrong on Collapsing Bridges and the Mafia’s Good Works
• Apr 17 Celebrate National Library Week
• Apr 16 Not the Headlines McCain Was Looking For
• Apr 15 On Tax Day
• Apr 09 The Cost of War in Iraq
• Apr 03 Bush Out of Touch?
• Apr 03 Social Security, Still Healthy After All These Years
• Feb 01 Bush Cuts Will Cost Lives
• Jan 29 Bush’s State of the Union Address: Time for a Reality Check
• Jan 10 Bush Admits Economy Faces Challenges – Bravo!
• Dec 19 Bush Budget: A Lump of Coal
• Dec 11 Too Good to Be True Have you ever heard the argument that cutting taxes can lead to greater government revenue? It's sort of like having your cake and eating it too — the argument is too good to be true, and this article from TIME Magazine provides the proof.
• Nov 13 Bush’s Priorities or America’s Priorities
• Oct 11 A Chance to Right a Wrong
• Oct 11 Bush & Gutter Politics
• Oct 03 Bush to Kids: “The Doctor Is Not In”
• Oct 02 Battling Bush on the Budget
• May 17 It's the Least We Can Do
• Oct 26 Enemy of the Taxpayers
• Oct 02 Taxpayer Bill of Wrongs
• Sep 20 Memo to Congress: Enact Funding Bills ASAP
• Jun 29 Great Idea – Investing in America
• Jun 28 Bush tax cuts hurt 99% of Americans