28 JAN 10 Policymakers warn on recovery, stimulus exit | Reuters DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Top policymakers warned on Thursday the world economy is not out of the woods and a global recovery is still far from secure, urging caution as central banks work on withdrawing critical support.

Ford earns $2.7B in 2009, first profit in 4 years The automaker on Thursday also forecast a full-year profit in 2010. Earlier it had only promised to be "solidly profitable" in 2011
NO
The 12 Least Ethical Companies In The World: Covalence's Ranking (PHOTOS, POLL) Can ethics be quantified? Or, better yet, can a lack of ethics be quantified? This week, the Swiss research firm Covalence released its annual ranking of the overall ethical performance of multinational corporations. The idea behind the Covalence research is that there's value -- both for companies and consumers -- in measuring corporations against an ethical standard.

AFL-CIO NOW BLOG | Calling on All Working Americans to Stand Up and Fight The news is out: The Wall Street bankers we bailed out are giving themselves 2009 cash bonuses of a half million dollars on average—not including stocks. Compare that with the $32,390 annual median wage for regular workers, and you find a formula for outrage

Oregon voters pass tax increasing measures by big margin | Politics & Elections - - Oregonlive.com Oregon voters bucked decades of anti-tax and anti-Salem sentiment Tuesday, raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy to prevent further erosion of public schools and other state services

James P. Hoffa: What Workers Want To Hear President Obama will deliver his State of the Union message to millions of working people who have lost their jobs or their homes or both. It's essential that he show that he has workable solutions to these dire problems that are plaguing so many Americans.

Brown reaches out on Boston Democratic turf - The Boston Globe US Senator-elect Scott Brown, a Republican catapulted into office by frustrated suburban voters, ventured into the urban Democratic heart of Massachusetts yesterday, meeting with the mayor of Boston and the leaders of the city’s largest black and Hispanic churches.

Obama and Volcker Must Go After the Big Banks | | AlterNet Thus far, President Obama’s financial reform strategy has reeked of political expediency—talk tough to Wall Street, act gentle, ride out the populist anti-banker tide, hope for the best, change nothing. But Obama may have awakened to the smell of one-term coffee after last week’s Massachusetts Senate race results

President Obama extending freeze on W.H. officials' pay - Josh Gerstein - President Barack Obama is extending a freeze on the pay of senior White House officials for another year and he’s spreading the freeze to top political appointees across the federal government, Obama aides said Tuesday night.

Top Democrats at war - with each other - Glenn Thrush and John Bresnahan - President Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will be all smiles as the president arrives at the Capitol for his State of the Union speech Wednesday night, but the happy faces can’t hide relationships that are fraying and fraught

McCollum's attack could raise health costs floridatoday.com FLORIDA TODAY
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has been unfairly accused of trying to block health care reform. In fact, McCollum only threatened a constitutional challenge to the one provision that would prevent insurance costs from soaring for four out of five workers and their children.

Walmart's Scary Clown Ad Goes Viral, Haunts Dreams [VIDEO]
A video pertaining to Walmart is going viral today, and for once, it has nothing to do with the big box store’s addled patrons.

Louisiana Politics & Government - - Louisiana Politics State Legislature News - NOLA.com
ACORN gotcha man among four arrested for attempting to bug Mary Landrieu's office The FBI, alleging a plot to wiretap Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu's office in downtown New Orleans, arrested four people Monday, including James O'Keefe, a conservative filmmaker whose undercover videos at ACORN field offices severely damaged the advocacy group's credibility

AFL-CIO NOW BLOG Middle Class Task Force Addresses Child Care, College Costs, Retirement Security
The White House Task Force on the Middle Class today announced several initiatives it says will help middle-class families afford soaring child care costs, care for their aging relatives, cope with the challenge of saving for retirement and pay for their children’s college tuition.

Obama to seek three-year freeze on domestic spending Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, under pressure from deficit hawks, will seek a three-year freeze on domestic spending in his 2011 budget that would save $250 billion by 2020, administration officials said on Monday

Election ruling tracks Fla. law www2.tbo.com/content/2010/jan/23/na-election-ruling-tracks-fla-law/news-politics/ TAMPA - Under Florida law, you can contribute a maximum of $500 to your candidate for governor. For all practical purposes, that law does not apply to real estate investor Jonathan R. Politano of Aventura, who has contributed at least $18,000 to Alex Sink, the top Democratic candidate for governor.
Republican Scott Brown’s special election win in Massachusetts.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31929.html President Barack Obama’s push for sweeping health care reform hangs in the balance when Congress returns this week, after being thrown into doubt by Republican Scott Brown’s special election win in Massachusetts.

Our views: Ethical swamp (Jan. 24) | floridatoday.com www.floridatoday.com/article/20100124/OPINION/100122009/1004/opinion/Our+views++... Property appraiser’s debacle continues to damage trust in government In another low mark for Brevard County government, deputy property appraisers Mark Johns and John Sternagel now admit they broke the law to help Property Appraiser Jim Ford get re-elected

Brevard maps out budget musts | floridatoday.com |www.floridatoday.com/article/20100125/NEWS01/1250312/1086/ Focus dwindling funds on law enforcement, fire protection, animal control, drinking water and other core services, Brevard County commissioners decided last week.

Montana extremist
tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/01/montana_citizens_group_distributes_qu... A group of nearly 200 "extremely concerned citizens" in a small Montana county are demanding that local leaders fill out a "questionnaire" pledging to form a local militia, prohibit mandatory vaccinations, boot the EPA out of town, allow citizens to bear any type of gun, and require federal government employees to get written approval before approaching "any Citizen."

AFL-CIO NOW BLOG | Hey, Democrats, Remember Us? blog.aflcio.org/2010/01/22/hey-democrats-remember-us/ Jeff, you guys at the Union Hall aren’t listening to us! You’re talking out of both sides of your mouth. We’re fighting the benefits tax, and now you’re telling us to vote for someone who will tax our benefits! The guys here are voting for Scotty Brown.”

Democrats Help Bring Reagan Back From the Dead | | AlterNet www.alternet.org/story/145375/democrats_help_bring_reagan_back_from_the_dead_ Democrats' pandering to corporate interests lets the GOP win easy points with Reagan's tired anti-government ideology.

The Obama Brand: Feel Good While Overlords Loot the Treasury and Launch Imperial Wars | Media and Technology | AlterNet www.alternet.org/media/145358/the_obama_brand%3A_feel_good_while_overlords_loot_... Brand Obama makes us hopeful. We like our president and we believe he's like us. But we're being duped into doing a lot of things that are not in our interest

unionlabel.com www.unionlabel.com/info.html Union House sells Clothing Made in USA. American Made Clothes from US Manufacturers that are Union Made in USA. We sell American made apparel from Carhartt, Union Line and King Louie, Union House men's briefs and boxers

President Obama: "Never Again Will the American Taxpayer be Held Hostage by a Bank that is 'Too Big to Fail'" | The White House www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/01/21/president-obama-never-again-will-american-tax... This morning the President proposed what he called "the Volcker Rule," named after one of the fiercest advocates for financial reform over the past year, and who has been particularly focused on addressing the issue of banks being "too big to fail." Labor Groups Debate Next Step For Health Care Bill www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/20/unions-at-odds-over-how-t_n_429950.html Adding to the uncertainty about the fate of the Democratic agenda in the wake of the party's defeat in Massachusetts on Tuesday, top officials of two of the nation's most powerful union groups have taken firm but slightly differing positions over how to move forward with health care reform. Drew Westen: Obama Finally Gets His Victory For Bipartisanship www.huffingtonpost.com/drew-westen/obama-finally-gets-his-vi_b_429232.html You can blame a bad candidate, bad organization, bad timing of a vacation -- choose your rationalization. But the reality is that voters in Massachusetts were reacting to the same foul mist coming off Boston Harbor that New Jersey Voters smelled coming off the Hudson and Virginia voters off the Chesapeake. Local shuttle job-loss report released | floridatoday.com | FLORIDA TODAY www.floridatoday.com/article/20100120/BREAKINGNEWS/100120026/1086/ The long-awaited Aerospace Workforce Outlook Report - Phase III has been released, confirming earlier reports that some 6,400 to 7,000 of 9,160 total shuttle related workers will lose their jobs as the shuttle stops flying. AFL-CIO NOW BLOG | Ironworker Sworn in as N.J. State Senate President blog.aflcio.org/2010/01/20/ironworker-sworn-in-as-nj-state-senate-president/ Steve Sweeney, a member of Ironworkers Local 399 and one of the early graduates of the New Jersey State AFL-CIO’s Labor Candidates School, was sworn in last week DemocracyForAmerica.com » Democrats Must Lead to Win in 2010 www.democracyforamerica.com/activities/274 MoveOn.org Political Action: It's time to fight for working families pol.moveon.org/timetofight/ "Voters want real change. It's time for the Democratic Party to stop siding with corporate interests and start fighting for working families." Walt Disney World gets reduction in OSHA fine | floridatoday.com | FLORIDA TODAY www.floridatoday.com/article/20100119/BREAKINGNEWS/100119039/1086/Walt%20Disney%... ORLANDO — A fine issued to Walt Disney World by a federal workplace safety agency for a serious violation that contributed to the death of a worker during a summer monorail accident has been reduced by 20 percent. Extra paid holiday flap now campaign fodder | floridatoday.com | FLORIDA TODAY www.floridatoday.com/article/20100119/COLUMNISTS0207/1190313/1086/ An extra paid holiday for county government staff in 2009 -- and how much it cost -- has become fodder for debate and a YouTube video in the commission elections. Create Jobs, Give States Fiscal Relief salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1665/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1976 Dear President Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and Members of the 111th US Congress: We urgently call on President Obama and the Congress to enact a new, broad-based job creation plan, including significant additional

FRONTLINE: the warning: watch the full program online | www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/warning/view/ "We didn't truly know the dangers of the market, because it was a dark market," says Brooksley Born, the head of an obscure federal regulatory agency -- the Commodity Futures Trading Commission [CFTC] -- who not only warned of the potential for economic meltdown in the late 1990s, but also tried to convince the country's key economic powerbrokers to take actions that could have helped avert the crisis. "They were totally opposed to it," Born says. "That puzzled me. What was it that was in this market that had to be hidden?"

AFL-CIO NOW BLOG | Jobless Workers Get Answers from Trumka, Franken Via Working America blog.aflcio.org/2010/01/15/jobless-workers-get-answers-from-trumka-franken-via-w... Lisa in Louisville, Ky., was one of some 20,000 unemployed Working America members who took part in a conference call today with AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) to talk about solutions to the jobs crisis and how to make the economy work for working families again.

H.R. 3149: The Equal Employment for All Act: Activity Requests: Monday hr3149.blogspot.com/2010/01/activity-requests-monday.html [As always, we provide only what we are sending as an idea, but do NOT try and dictate what you have to say or what you send. What we provide is simply one opinion only and we're sure that many if not most of you can do better on your own.]

Cruise ships still find a Haitian berth | World news | The Guardian www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/17/cruise-ships-haiti-earthquake Luxury liners are still docking at private beaches near Haiti's devastated earthquake zone for holidaymakers to enjoy the water

Running scared, running hard - The Boston Globe www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/articles/2010/01/17/running_scared_running_har... Mike Urbonas was waving blue-and-red campaign signs for Democrat Martha Coakley yesterday in downtown Melrose, hoping to give the campaign a jolt and help derail her surging Republican opponent, Scott Brown.

Why did union reject reform? | floridatoday.com | FLORIDA TODAY www.floridatoday.com/article/20100117/COLUMNISTS0207/1170331/1086/ With little regard for its details, the teacher's union in Brevard County rejected the country's biggest, best-funded attempt ever at school reform and improvement.

Op-Ed Columnist - The Great Tea Party Rip-Off - NYTimes.com www.nytimes.com/2010/01/17/opinion/17rich.html Even given the low bar set by America’s bogus conversations about race, the short-lived Harry Reid fracas was a most peculiar nonevent. For all the hyperventilation in cable news land, this supposed racial brawl didn’t seem to generate any controversy whatsoever in what is known as the real world.

Think Progress » Despite controversy over Haiti, Robertson still welcome at McDonnell’s inauguration prayer breakfast. thinkprogress.org/2010/01/16/mcdonnell-robertson/ Despite his controversial remarks this week tying Haiti’s devastating earthquake to the country’s “pact to the devil,” televangelist Pat Robertson still attended Bob McDonnell’s gubernatorial inauguration prayer breakfast today. McDonnell, who was sworn in as Virginia’s new Republican governor today, attended law school at Robertson’s Regent University and took some heat on the campaign trail over his graduate thesis. Although Robertson went to McDonnell’s prayer breakfast this morning, he was not given the honor of sitting behind the governor on the podium during the actual ceremony:

Think Progress » Wall Street Investors Lavish Scott Brown’s Campaign With Money, Get Out The Vote Operations thinkprogress.org/2010/01/15/wallst-scott-brown/ Scott Brown and Rudy Giuliani Major U.S. banks which instigated the financial crisis are set to pay out “record” bonuses and compensation — $145 billion by some estimates. State Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), the Republican candidate running for the special U.S. Senate election next week, announced yesterday that he would oppose the recently announced financial crisis responsibility fee on large banks. Brown’s defense of the financial industry has not been ignored by Wall Street. Wall Street’s two largest political enforcers are also out fighting to elect him: – The Wall Street front group FreedomWorks is mobilizing get out the vote efforts

Obama Massachusetts-bound: 60th vote: The Swamp www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2010/01/obama_massachusettsbound_hill.h... Earlier this week, the White House said that President Barack Obama had no plans to campaign in Massachusetts for the Democratic Senate candidate, Marha Coakley

DemocracyForAmerica Campaign Taining
I wanted to make sure you saw the announcement last week about our first DFA Campaign Training of 2010. We are gearing up for another exciting year of training here at DFA and as someone who has attended one of our trainings in the past three years, you know how effective they can be for a local progressive community.

1,500-mile trek brings attention to illegal immigrants floridatoday.com FLORIDA TODAY
MELBOURNE — Gaby Pacheco always has wanted to give back to the country where she's spent most of her life. The 24-year-old earned her bachelor's degree in special education from Miami-Dade College last year. But she can't get a job

floridatoday.com The Flame Trench Florida Today's Space Team Blog
The Boeing Company laid off 36 workers today, a mix of engineers and support staff at Kennedy Space Center who received 60-day notices of job termination.

AFL-CIO NOW BLOG Health Care Tax: Union Leaders Outline Big Improvements for All Working Families
Following two days of intense negotiations at the White House, union leaders believe they are on the verge of winning significant improvements for working families in the pending health care reform legislation

FPL suspends plans to upgrade Brevard power plant floridatoday.com FLORIDA TODAY
Florida Power & Light Co. suspended plans to build a $1 billion natural gas plant in Port St. John indefinitely, frustrating environmentalists who fought for decades to clean the nearly half-century-old plant off U.S. 1

The Daily Show Takes Apart The Haiti Earthquake Reactions Of Limbaugh, Robertson, And Maddow (VIDEO) TPM LiveWire
Last night The Daily Show took down the reactions of Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson and Rachel Maddow to the earthquake in Haiti. "It's times like these I guess the only good thing that you can say is that whenever something this horrific happens, everyone comes together... everyone... almost everyone..."

Online College Planned for Union Workers - NYTimes.com The A.F.L.-C.I.O., the main umbrella group for the nation’s labor unions, announced on Thursday that it was joining with the National Labor College and the Princeton Review to create an online college for the federation’s 11.5 million members and their families.

White House, unions reach deal on taxing insurance coverage White House, unions reach deal on taxing insurance coverage By Lori Montgomery The White House has reached a tentative agreement with labor leaders to tax high-cost health insurance policies, sources said Thursday. The agreement clears one of the last major obstacles on the path to final passage of comprehensive health care legislation.

Foreclosure filings up in Brevard in December | floridatoday.com | FLORIDA TODAY www.floridatoday.com/article/201001121328/BREAKINGNEWS/100112017 New foreclosure filings in Brevard County jumped sharply in December, pushing filings for the year to a new record.

Roadwork jobs just a costly distraction | floridatoday.com | FLORIDA TODAY www.floridatoday.com/article/20100114/NEWS01/1140312/1086/ Politicians love to spend money on road building as a way to grow jobs on "Main Street" during a recession.

AFL-CIO NOW BLOG | Big Insurance Funds Chamber of Commerce to Kill Health Care Reform The nation’s biggest health insurers have been funneling money quietly to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to air lie-filled, scare-mongering commercials about health care reform. Like Capt. Renault, who discovered there was gambling going on at Rick’s Café Américain in Casablanca, we are: “Shocked, shocked….” Yeah, right.

Amy Tidd for State House The State Representative District 30 race is an important one for Brevard and the State of Florida.

Titusville vets help homeless heroes come in from the cold | floridatoday.com | FLORIDA TODAY TITUSVILLE — At least 20 homeless veterans spent the chilliest nights of the cold snap in warm motel rooms thanks to other veterans who rallied around National Veterans Homeless Support.

Tea Partier's Site Shows Photoshopped Image Of Racist Sign When you're a Tea Party activist and you've been caught holding a racist sign that refers to taxpayers as the "n" word, maybe it's better to just leave the whole subject alone.

AFL-CIO NOW BLOG | Building Trades Backs Local Hire Drive for Tennessee VW Plant Volkswagen is building a $1 billion auto plant near Chattanooga, Tenn., after being lured there with a $565 million incentive package of taxpayer money. But, according to grassroots group “Volunteers for Local Hire,” many of the jobs building the facility are going to out-of-state and even out-of-country workers.

A new direction for nurse unionism | SocialistWorker.org A NURSE I work with recently raised her concerns with supervisors about understaffing and patient safety in the emergency room. While she spoke to two different people on two different occasions, she was given the same exact response: "You're lucky to have a job

States of emergency | SocialistWorker.org BACK DURING the New York City fiscal crisis of 1975, the New York Daily News ran a headline about President Gerald Ford's refusal to aid the city: "Ford to City: Drop Dead." But Barack Obama is far outdoing Ford in refusing to provide sufficient federal assistance to states reeling from severe budget cuts.

AFL-CIO NOW BLOG | New Journalism, New Organizing Strategies for Freelancers Steve Stallone, International Labor Communications Association (ILCA) president and editor of Ralph, the publication of the California Media Workers Guild, describes how members of The Newspaper Guild-Communications Workers of America (TNG-CWA) are experimenting with innovative programs to strengthen the newspaper trade and their jobs as print communicators

Unions create governmentwide coalition (1/11/10) -- GovExec.com Building on their success in battling the Pentagon's pay-for-performance system with a united front, a number of federal labor unions announced on Monday a new governmentwide coalition to advocate for federal workers on the policy front.

'The Tea Party Movement Is About To Be Hijacked': Activists Slam Plan For Convention In the latest sign of rancor in Tea Party circles, a convention billed as an effort to bring together conservative activists from across the country is being attacked by some leading Tea Partiers as inauthentic, too tied to the GOP, and -- at $549 per head -- too expensive for the working Americans the movement aspires to represent.

Take Action: AFGE petitions DHS Secretary to grant TSOs Collective Bargaining Rights! The men and women who help protect America’s transportation system need your support. They have worked diligently to keep the more than 600 million people who fly each year--and hundreds of millions of other Americans--safe and have done so despite the absence of labor laws to protect themselves.

Firefighters Rip Obama For Breaking Campaign Promise Over Cadillac Tax The International Association of Fire Fighters--an influential union that belongs to the AFL-CIO--has released the strongest condemnation yet of President Obama's support for taxing high-end health insurance plans as a means of financing a major health care overhaul--accusing him of breaking a campaign promise, and threatening to hold him accountable.

AFL-CIO NOW BLOG | Tell Congress: Don’t Tax Working Families’ Health Care Benefits Today, union leaders are meeting with President Obama to discuss the next step in health care reform legislation, especially the tax on workers’ health care benefits in the Senate bill. On Wednesday, you can join the fight to pass health care reform that works for working families as part of the AFL-CIO’s National Call-In Blitz to the U.S. House

Labor Not Ready To Commit To Health Reform, Meeting With House Dems Soon Labor leaders are not yet ready to commit to supporting comprehensive health care reform legislation despite meeting with the president to discuss their concerns with aspects of health care legislation.

44 - Palin signs on with Fox News Sarah Palin, who regularly rips the media, is becoming a television pundit at a place where she's likely to feel at home. A Fox News executive says the network will shortly announce that the former vice-presidential nominee is signing on as a contributor.

Paul Raushenbush: The Religious Case for Moving Your Money Where Your Heart Is In my sermon at the Princeton University Chapel this Christmas, I brought in good, old George Bailey from It's a Wonderful Life. My reference to It's a Wonderful Life was to pose the troubling question of which portrait looked more familiar: the bucolic final scene of Bedford Falls, or George's nightmare of the brutal and callous Pottersville? Which depiction of America was a closer representation of the economic reality as we enter the second decade of the 21st century?

AFL-CIO NOW BLOG | Looking for Labor-Themed Films? Check This Out You probably won’t find many of these films on the shelves of your local video store. But there are now two new sources to track down labor films—from a four-minute short experimental film about undocumented immigrants who died while trapped inside a tractor trailer in Texas to blockbusters like “Norma Rae” and ”The Grapes of Wrath.”

FPL faces key vote on rate increase of up to 30 percent - Today's Top Stories - TALLAHASSEE -- After spending 10 months and $5 million on a public-relations campaign, Florida Power & Light's push to win a $1.3 billion increase in electric rates comes down to a single vote on Wednesday. To make the decision, the five-member Public Service Commission will wade through a thicket of financial data and economic projections -- but the background will be pure politics.

Crist stands by Obama hug, stimulus thanks ORLANDO — Gov. Charlie Crist tried to shed two big image problems — his hug of President Obama and past support of the $787 billion federal stimulus package — in a party-unity plea Saturday that sounded like a preview of his U.S. Senate campaign theme.

Grant money clears way for Brevard homeless count | floridatoday.com | FLORIDA TODAY Brevard County service agencies have received nearly $1 million in federal grants to provide services for homeless men, women and children. And during the last week of January, the county will conduct its annual homeless census to estimate how many residents lack a permanent address amid frigid weather and the lackluster economy

YouTube - Amazing Technology This is an amazing invention. Finger saver for wood workers

Think Progress » Steele on serving as RNC chair: God has ‘placed me here for a reason.’ In recent days, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele has been under fire from members of his own Party for making controversial public statements, such as ones that show a lack

Public Transit Best Vehicle for Economic Recovery | Progressive States Network
An overseen benefit of public transit is the creation and retention of sustainable jobs. On January 5, 2010, the Center for Neighborhood Technology, Smart Growth America, and U.S. PIRG released What We Learned from the Stimulus, a study that concluded that public transportation generates more jobs than highway construction, although highway construction received more American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds than public transit

Rhode Island Legislature Overrides Governor's Veto of Key Registration Reform | Progressive States Network The Rhode Island Senate and House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to override a gubernatorial veto of important electoral reform legislation that will allow voter pre-registration for 16 and 17-year-olds. Rhode Island now becomes the fifth state, and the fourth in three years, to allow minors to pre-register, a process where their voter registration automatically becomes active upon turning 18.

Orlando Sentinel - Central Florida Political Pulse – Crist’s Cover Florida plan in trouble? One year after Gov. Charlie Crist’s “Cover Florida” took effect, there are signs that the voluntary approach to providing affordable health insurance is in trouble. The largest health insurer in the program says it needs a 30-percent rate increase effective March 1. Without the hike, it will cost Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida 23 percent more to pay claims than it would collect in premiums, according to the rate filing.

News Analysis - Obama Turning Focus to Jobs, if Outside Events Allow It - NYTimes.com WASHINGTON — President Obama keeps trying to turn attention to “jobs, jobs, jobs,” as his chief of staff has put it. But he is finding that it can be hard to focus on any one issue when so many demand attention, often unexpectedly. And as the lackluster employment report on Friday suggested, showing concern is not the same as showing results.

Unions Oppose Possible Health Insurance Tax - NYTimes.com When millions of blue-collar workers were leaning toward John McCain during the 2008 campaign, labor unions moved many of them into Barack Obama’s column by repeatedly hammering one theme: Mr. McCain wanted to tax their health benefits.

Garden in Paradise: Frost Protection for Your Southern Garden With temperatures dipping down into the freezing range in South Florida, residents scramble to protect their precious tropical plants.

Sleep Challenge 2010: The Good, the Bad and the Coffee Good morning. This is Day Four of our sleep challenge. I've got some good news and some bad news to report. Let's get the bad news out of the way first: I've yet to meet my challenge goal of getting 8 hours of sleep a night. But I've gotten close -- getting seven-and-a-half hours each of the last three nights

You Know You're a Conservative When... | | AlterNet Since almost no one is willing to identify with the GOP these days, it can be difficult to diagnose conservatism. Here are some tips to help determine if you are a conservative:

In this issue

Take Action: Now or Never on Health Care Charlie Crist at Space Coast:Progress Florida
What issues should we direct our resources to in 2010?
Governor short on specifics about life after shuttles -
Bill McCollum uses health care block to burnish his conservative credentials
Oil drilling researchers face deadline
Raising the Floor for American Workers
Employers unexpectedly cut jobs in December | Reuters
Beware Liberal Trolls
Mr. 9/11 Gets Amnesia: 'We Had No Domestic Attacks Under Bush; We've Had One Under Obama'
It’s not a bailout

Take Action: Now or Never on Health Care
Pledge Now to Call Your Representative Wednesday for Health Care Reform That Works for Working Families After a long, hard fight, we’re down to our final opportunities to make sure that health care reform passed this year works for working families.

What issues should we direct our resources to in 2010? You tell us! Click here to take our quick survey:

Charlie Crist at Space Coast: Governor short on specifics about life after shuttles - OrlandoSentinel.com
PORT CANAVERAL — With the Space Coast facing the loss of as many as 19,000 jobs when the space shuttle is retired later this year, Gov. Charlie Crist came to town to check out what the state might be able to do to soften the blow.

Bill McCollum uses health care block to burnish his conservative credentials
As Congress negotiates the final version of health care reform legislation there is a move to derail the effort through legal action among Republican lawmakers and state attorneys general, including Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum.

Oil drilling researchers face deadline
ORLANDO - A group that stands to have considerable influence over the future of oil drilling off the Florida coast is unlikely to present its findings to the Legislature until the first week of March.

Raising the Floor for American Workers
Comprehensive immigration reform that legalizes currently unauthorized immigrants and creates flexible legal limits on future immigration in the context of full labor rights would help American workers and the U.S. economy.

Employers unexpectedly cut jobs in December | Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. employers unexpectedly cut 85,000 jobs in December, cooling optimism on the labor market's recovery and keeping pressure on President Barack Obama to find ways to spur job growth.

Beware Liberal Trolls
Tea Party Email Warns Members: Beware Liberal Trolls Like Rachel Maddow - 1/7/09

Mr. 9/11 Gets Amnesia: 'We Had No Domestic Attacks Under Bush; We've Had One Under Obama' (VIDEO) | TPM LiveWire
Rudy Giuliani, the man who was mayor of New York City during the 9/11 attacks, appeared on Good Morning America today to say President Obama should take lessons from former President George W. Bush on how to prevent a terrorist attack. "What [Obama] should be doing is following the right things Bush did. One of the right things he did was treat this as a war on terror. We had no domestic attacks under Bush. We've had one under Obama," Giuliani said.

It’s not a bailout | floridatoday.com
“County votes to bail out developer,” and letters to the editor regarding a County Commission decision on the Riverbend Pineapple Partners’ affordable housing project have mischaracterized the program as a bailout for a developer.

Taking on the San Francisco Hilton | SocialistWorker.org
Carl Finamore, a delegate to the San Francisco Labor Council, reports on the latest developments in the San Francisco hotel workers' struggle.

Florida lawmakers consider bill to make DUI arrest easier | Jacksonville.com As the time of the year when motorists have a reputation for being more likely to drive drunk passes, a pair of Northeast Florida lawmakers are considering a bill that would make it easier for police to make a DUI arrest without a warrant

Robert Reich: What's Ahead for the Economy and Politics in 2010 Just about everything you'll hear coming out of Washington starting now is really about November's mid-term election. The gravitational pull of the midterms was already apparent last year, as Republicans marched in perfect lockstep to vote against whatever the President and Democrats proposed (Republicans always have authoritarian discipline on their side, which is why they're Republicans), but you haven't seen anything yet.

AFL-CIO NOW BLOG | Tax on Health Care Will Erode Coverage for Middle Class A new year brings with it lots of hope. Let’s hope 2010 brings a health care reform bill that does not penalize working families with a tax on their coverage. Because right now, as New York Times columnist Bob Herbert aptly describes it, there is a ”middle-class tax time bomb ticking in the Senate’s version” of the health care reform legislation.

The resurrection of Howard Dean - Kenneth P. Vogel - POLITICO.com After four relatively low-profile years pushing the official party line as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Dean is once again the tribune of frustrated liberals. And after he called out President Barack Obama and his congressional allies over their concessions on health care, those close to him predict he’s just getting warmed up.

AFL-CIO NOW BLOG | Labor History Now Part of Wisconsin Public Education Standards Despite the importance of unions in our lives, our schools pay only slight attention to their importance—or even to their existence. Little is done in the classroom to overcome the negative view of organized labor held by many Americans; little done to explain the true nature of organized labor.

Arianna Huffington: Move Your Money: A New Year's Resolution Too-big-to-fail banks are profiting from bailout dollars and government guarantees, and growing bigger. Tell us which community bank you use, and why.

Wall St closes out '09 with best gains since 2003 | Reuters NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended 2009 on Thursday with their best gains since 2003, driven by optimism about the economy's recovery and a brighter outlook for profits

Matt Reed: Could bill block national health care mandates? | floridatoday.com | FLORIDA TODAY Brevard County's state representatives are girding for a legal effort to reject health care reform in Florida. They have co-sponsored a proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution -- requiring voter approval next year -- that would "prohibit laws or rules from compelling any person, employer or health care provider to participate in any health care system."

Conservatives in Tea Party stir: A fight of the right, by the right and for the right Conservative Tea Party activists hope to make a political mark in 2010, but an Orlando attorney's effort to run candidates under the "Tea Party" label in Florida is being met with suspicion and outright hostility by many in the movement

Whig party leaders hope to offer voters more options | Ocala.com | Star-Banner | Ocala, FL Not long ago Paul Truesdell had an epiphany: The number 3 is critical to how people, especially Americans, organize their lives. The American flag, three colors; the U.S. government, three branches; the nation's business world, built on three groups: entrepreneurs, investors and technicians; the country's dominant religion, Christianity, worships the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

State budget pictures bleak as lawmakers head back ATLANTA (AP) -- If you thought state budgets were in bad shape last year, just wait: 2010 promises to be brutal for lawmakers - many facing re-election - as they scramble to find enough money to keep their states running without raising taxes.

State will redraw a meandering District 29 | floridatoday.com | FLORIDA TODAY SEBASTIAN — It takes Rep. Ralph Poppell, R-Vero Beach, three hours to travel from his home to the north end of his Florida House District 29 near Mims and back. It's a 185-mile trip through orange groves, cattle ranches, nature preserves, a manufactured-home retirement community, subdivisions and Kennedy Space Center commuters.

AFL-CIO NOW BLOG | The Past Decade the Worst for America’s Workers Whoa. This from the Washington Post: The past decade was the worst for the U.S. economy in modern times… WaPo is the kind of newspaper that leans heavily toward emphasizing happy economic news, even in the face of 10 percent unemployment. So its coverage of the decade of disaster means the stuation must really be bad. How bad?