There’s a resurgence afoot in the American labor movement. If you saw this week’s Census Bureau report, you know why. Income is up, but wages are down. The former is “mainly a reflection of an increase in the number of family members entering the workplace or working longer hours. Average wages for men and women actually declined for the third consecutive year,� reports the New York Times. The number of uninsured Americans rose 2.2 million in one year. Not surprisingly, employer-sponsored health coverage is down.

Working people in the U.S. have known for too long now that they’re falling behind — working more hours for less pay, having to choose between ER care and no healthcare, feeling less and less certain about their prospects for retirement — and they’re saying “no thanksâ€? to the politics-as-usual that has gotten us here.

Recent polls show that an overwhelming majority of workers would choose to join a union if they could do so without fear of employer repercussion. And politicians are taking notice. For the first time ever, a majority of members of Congress voted to protect a worker’s voice on the job this year by supporting the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). Read the rest of this entry »

Our plane leaving Iraq was fired upon and it was a close call, but this is something that our men and women in combat face every day. The flight crew was outstanding and I credit them for the way they handled the situation. This should not take away from the purpose of this trip, which was to see first hand the operations in Iraq and thank our troops, many of them from North Alabama.

People in Michigan and across America are suffering, and it is wrong to unfairly tax families when they are faced with the prospect of losing their home. I look forward to working with the President and my colleagues to prevent additional, unfair economic hardship in the lives of those who find themselves in truly unfortunate circumstances. We need to make it easier, not harder, for Americans to keep their homes.

Declining home prices and rising foreclosure rates have left some families having to sell their homes for less than they paid for them, and sometimes for less than the outstanding debt. The IRS currently taxes any loan forgiveness as “income�. The Mortgage Relief Act will relieve families of a tax burden when their lender forgives part of the mortgage on a principal residence.

Under current law there are a number of situations in which homeowners are unfairly taxed when trying to responsibly address their inability to meet their mortgage. For instance, if a family owns a home with a $100,000 mortgage and can’t afford to make their payments the bank can step in and refinance the house at a lower value to better reflect the decreased market value. Under current law, if the bank values the home at $80,000 the family would have to pay taxes on the $20,000 difference between the new and the original mortgages. Read the rest of this entry »

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) has released a new ad for his presidential campaign; in it, Romney jogs on a forest trail as his presidential qualifications are described in a voice-over. The ad concludes as Romney declares, without breaking stride, that he approved the message.

I return today having seen first-hand the situation on the ground in Iraq. Two things are abundantly clear. First, our troops serving in Iraq are the very best America has to offer. They have done everything that has been asked of them and they are to be commended for their skill, their patriotism and their bravery. They are an inspiration to me and to every American.  Second, unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the Iraqi government. The political leadership in Iraq has not only failed to make progress in nearly every measurable way, but in many cases they have gone backwards.

For all the great work of the American troops in Iraq, there can be no military solution to this four and a half year conflict. The major problem in Iraq–that the Iraqi political leaders have shown no willingness to stand up for themselves and begin to take the reigns of their own government — remains unresolved and shows no signs of improvement. Read the rest of this entry »

The new rules imposed by the Administration on the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) are a serious hindrance to the health and well being of all families across the United States.  SCHIP was created to provide health insurance for all low-income children.   By imposing strict rules and eligibility guidelines, five million children across the country may be at risk due to lack of coverage.

Earlier this month, Congress passed the CHAMP Act, which took a major step forward in ensuring that America’s children receive health care by reauthorizing and improving SCHIP.  By imposing strict rules, the President is attempting to undermine this legislation and block health insurance from millions of American children.

The Administration’s new rules state that children have to be uninsured for a full year before having access to government subsidized coverage. Most states require much shorter waiting periods than one year, including Tennessee which has no waiting period whatsoever.  A year is a very long time and thousands of children could become sick during the interim period without coverage. Read the rest of this entry »

NEW ORLEANS — George W. Bush stopped by Wednesday for the second anniversary of Katrina’s landing in New Orleans. He blithely told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that the federal government had largely done its part and the rest was up to us. Meanwhile, most of the progress was accomplished by the locals and scores of volunteers, many of whom have come through ACORN’s Home Cleanout program.

“A lot of people down here probably wondered whether or not those of us in the federal government not from Louisiana would pay attention to Louisiana or Mississippi,� Bush told the Picayune at a newly restored charter school in the 9th Ward he and Mrs. Bush visited.

The president deflected criticism for the lack of federal response, saying he understood and was still “paying attention.�

“It’s sometimes hard for people to see progress when you live in a community all the time. Laura and I get to come — we don’t live here; we come on occasion. And it’s easy to think about what it was like when we first came here after the hurricane, and what it’s like today.â€?

New Orleans residents, including ACORN members, don’t fall for this line of reasoning and false sympathy anymore. Read the rest of this entry »

The recent U.S. Census Bureau report contained truly sobering data on the number of Americans without health insurance. The report found that, from 2005 to 2006, the number of uninsured Americans grew from 44.8 million to 47 million, a 5% increase. The news was even worse for kids: 8.7 million American children were uninsured in 2006, a staggering 8% increase from 2005. In just one year, the number of uninsured kids in the U.S. grew by over 600,000.

These alarming numbers confirm what healthcare providers and workers see every day-America’s healthcare system is failing more and more Americans.

Children and adults without insurance lack access to primary and preventive care, and miss vaccinations and checkups. Far too many end up in emergency rooms for expensive treatment of conditions that could have been far more effectively treated, at far less cost, had they received care sooner. Read the rest of this entry »

The Hill is like a ghost town in August- Members are at home attending events and meetings in their districts, and staff use the time to visit family or catch up on projects. But on August 17th, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a mandate which drastically changed the rules that govern the disbursement of state SCHIP funding.

Their decision is disappointing for two reasons:

1. Poor Process: Standard practice dictates that when changes to these regulations are proposed, a comment period is open for a reasonable amount of time so that concerns and suggestions may be registered. CMS did not grant interested parties this courtesy, nor did it work with Congress while the bill was being reauthorized. Instead, CMS waited until after SCHIP had passed the House, and late into the August recess, to alter the rules which direct the states in disbursement. Read the rest of this entry »

This Labor Day, America is not working the way it should for working people.

Housing foreclosures are rising, but wages are not.  We’re losing good jobs and gaining household debt.  Health care costs are pushing people to the edge, and now 47 million Americans have no health care coverage.  Our bridges and roads and schools are crumbling.  So are working families’ pensions.  Working people have been robbed of their freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life.  Our nation’s middle class is shrinking, and the future is in doubt for our children and grandchildren.

Today, on the two-year anniversary of Katrina, we are reminded of all that has been lost in America.  We are reminded of the unprecedented indifference shown to working families by the current occupant of the White House.

Today, the AFL-CIO is announcing our response to one of the things most wrong with America.  We are beginning a sustained drive to put the full force of 10 million union members and 3 million union retirees behind winning high quality health care for every person in our nation by 2009. Read the rest of this entry »