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?