Bad Deeds for 8-6-2011

 

Republicans Determined to Hold FAA Reauthorization Hostage Again This Friday – Republicans in Congress will do anything they can to make it harder for workers to form unions.

Last month they shut down the FAA when they attempted to change union election rules to count non-voters as “no” voters. 74,000 workers were forced off the job, construction projects were halted, and the United States lost $30 million a day in uncollected airline taxes when the FAA authorization expired.

In 10 days, it could happen all over again.

Shameless lawmakers are determined to hold the FAA reauthorization hostage once more in their desperate attempt to annihilate workers’ rights – unless we do everything we can to stop them!

Right now, workers in the rail and airline industry can vote “yes” for a union or “no” against it. The ballots are counted, and the majority wins. Just like every other vote you’ve participated in, from class president to Congress.
That’s how a fair, democratic vote works.

But corporate-backed lawmakers are so determined to make union elections unfair – and to keep profits in the pockets of airline companies – that they would let the FAA shut down and lay off thousands of workers. Anti-union lawmakers like Rep. John Mica (R-FL) – who’s taken hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the airline industry – have signaled that this is their first priority when they return to Congress this week.

Send a clear message to lawmakers: Counting non-votes as “no” votes is unfair and undemocratic!

We can’t let anti-worker legislators pull another outrageous stunt that costs taxpayers millions and puts thousands of people out of work. If they win, it will legalize a practice any reasonable person would call “voter fraud.”

In order to prevent another shutdown, Congress has to act by next Friday – so we’ve got to ramp up our efforts immediately! It only takes a moment to tell to your member of Congress to drop the politics and do what’s right.

Tell your representative: Don’t allow anti-union provisions in the FAA bill.

 

Forty-Four Republican Senators Pledged to Block Any Nominee to Head the Consumer Protection Agency – The federal agency set up to protect you from credit card companies — the new federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — is without a director. Forty-four Republican Senators wrote President Obama pledging to block any nominee to head the consumer protection agency — unless its power to protect ordinary Americans from Wall Street games is gutted.

Help get Rich Cordray confirmed as the head of the federal Consumer Financial Protecting Bureau. Sign the petition and let Republican legislators know we want Cordray!

 

Arizona Republican Party Plans To Raffle Off Same Type of Gun As Giffords Was Shot With – The Pima County, AZ Republican Party is planning to hold a fundraiser where they raffle off a Glock handgun similar to the type that was used in the assassination attempt on Arizona Democrat Gabrielle Giffords in January.

 

Right-Wing Commentator Says Poor People Voting is ‘Un-American’ – Many conservatives appear to think badly of poor people, but Matthew Vadum of the Capital Research Center takes it a step further. According to the title of his latest article for American Thinker, he believes that “registering the poor to vote is un-American.” “Registering them to vote is like handing out burglary tools to criminals,” he continued.

 

Rick Perry Making Stuff Up, Again – U.S. Department of Transportation officials are disputing Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s statement at the Iowa State Fair today that federal administrators plan to require a farmer driving a tractor across a public road to obtain a commercial driver’s license.

“We are absolutely not requiring farmers” to obtain commercial licenses, such as those required of semi-trailer operators, said U.S. DOT spokeswoman Candice Tolliver in Washington, D.C.

Regards,

Jim