The boldest attack on the Denver Paid Sick Leave Voter Initiative isn’t from the Chamber of Commerce. With large majorities supporting the November 2011 ballot measure, opponents know they have to do more than simply argue against the common sense notion that people shouldn’t go to work sick. They need to find other ways to attack the measure which would require employers to provide nine days of paid sick leave per year for full time workers. Part time workers and employees of small businesses would have fewer days.
By Madeline Janis. Originally published in the Los Angeles Times. September 21, 2011.
Earlier this summer, the L.A. City Council ended the fierce competition for the multimillion-dollar food concessions business at Los Angeles International Airport, awarding contracts to three food service companies that will bring a variety of new local restaurants to the airport.
By Igor Volsky. Published in Think Progress. March 23, 2011.
Today is the one-year anniversary of President Barack Obama signing the Affordable Care Act or health care reform into law, which, once fully implemented will cover 32 million Americans and begin to lower the rate of growth in health care spending.
By Donald Cohen and Peter Dreier. Posted on Huffington Post. January 5, 2011.
Newly emboldened as chair of the House’s key investigative committee, California Cong. Darrell Issa, the conservative Republican, sent letters to more than 150 business lobby groups, asking them to identify government rules that they want eliminated.
Issa wants to hand the government over to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a who’s who of corporate America. The new Republican Congress is their opportunity to get rid of those pesky environmental laws, consumer product safety laws and even rules to prevent another Wall St. financial train wreck.
By Pat Garofalo. Published in Think Progress. August 10, 2010.
The Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 are scheduled to expire at the end of the year, and President Obama, just as he did on the campaign trail, has proposed renewing the cuts for all but those in the highest two income tax brackets, allowing tax rates for the wealthiest two percent of Americans to reset to the rate at which they were under President Clinton.
Republicans, however, want to renew all of the cuts, and have been apoplectic about Obama’s plan, claiming that it will kill jobs and cripple small businesses. “This is about stopping a job-killing tax hike on small businesses during tough economic times,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT). “You can’t raise taxes in the middle of a weak economy without risking a double dip in the recession,” said House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH).
If these warnings about double-dip recessions and job-killing tax increases sound vaguely familiar, that’s because they are. TaxVox yesterday pointed to a couple of quotes from Republicans in 1993 employing very similar rhetoric as today’s Republicans, with then Senate Minority leader Bob Dole (R-KS), claiming that “half the tax increase because of the rate increases is going to be paid by small business and they’re not rich,” which is the same false argument employed by today’s Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
The Real Agenda Behind Voter Suppression
By Donald Cohen
The boldest attack on the Denver Paid Sick Leave Voter Initiative isn’t from the Chamber of Commerce. With large majorities supporting the November 2011 ballot measure, opponents know they have to do more than simply argue against the common sense notion that people shouldn’t go to work sick. They need to find other ways to attack the measure which would require employers to provide nine days of paid sick leave per year for full time workers. Part time workers and employees of small businesses would have fewer days.
Read MoreL.A.'s Living Wage Ordinance Isn't a Job Killer
By Madeline Janis. Originally published in the Los Angeles Times. September 21, 2011.
Earlier this summer, the L.A. City Council ended the fierce competition for the multimillion-dollar food concessions business at Los Angeles International Airport, awarding contracts to three food service companies that will bring a variety of new local restaurants to the airport.
Read MoreFLASHBACK: One Year Ago, GOP Predicted ‘Armageddon’ If Health Reform Became Law
By Igor Volsky. Published in Think Progress. March 23, 2011.
Today is the one-year anniversary of President Barack Obama signing the Affordable Care Act or health care reform into law, which, once fully implemented will cover 32 million Americans and begin to lower the rate of growth in health care spending.
Read MoreDarrel Issa’s Government Handover
By Donald Cohen and Peter Dreier. Posted on Huffington Post. January 5, 2011.
Newly emboldened as chair of the House’s key investigative committee, California Cong. Darrell Issa, the conservative Republican, sent letters to more than 150 business lobby groups, asking them to identify government rules that they want eliminated.
Issa wants to hand the government over to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a who’s who of corporate America. The new Republican Congress is their opportunity to get rid of those pesky environmental laws, consumer product safety laws and even rules to prevent another Wall St. financial train wreck.
Read MoreFLASHBACK: In 1993, GOP Warned That Clinton’s Tax Plan Would ‘Kill Jobs,’ ‘Kill The Current Recovery’
By Pat Garofalo. Published in Think Progress. August 10, 2010.
Republicans, however, want to renew all of the cuts, and have been apoplectic about Obama’s plan, claiming that it will kill jobs and cripple small businesses. “This is about stopping a job-killing tax hike on small businesses during tough economic times,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT). “You can’t raise taxes in the middle of a weak economy without risking a double dip in the recession,” said House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH).
If these warnings about double-dip recessions and job-killing tax increases sound vaguely familiar, that’s because they are. TaxVox yesterday pointed to a couple of quotes from Republicans in 1993 employing very similar rhetoric as today’s Republicans, with then Senate Minority leader Bob Dole (R-KS), claiming that “half the tax increase because of the rate increases is going to be paid by small business and they’re not rich,” which is the same false argument employed by today’s Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
Read More