Feb
2013 22
2013 22
Walker Transfers $40,000 More to Legal Defense Fund, All But Confirms He is a Target of the WI John Doe Investigation
The Wisconsin John Doe Investigation — affectionately known as Walkergate — has already brought six former aides to now-Governor Scott Walker to justice. More convictions are expected and recent actions taken by the Governor suggest he, too, is a target of the investigation. While spokespeople for the Governor ensure the press that...
Feb
2013 22
2013 22
MISS THIS? Facebook Not Only Paying Zero Taxes This Year, They’re Receiving a $429,000,000 Refund
In their first annual earnings report since the launch of their IPO, a little noticed but evily genius accounting loophole will allow Facebook to enjoy a multi-billion dollar tax break this year through a tax deduction for the cost of executive stock options and share awards. Facebook reported $1.1 billion in pre-tax profits from its ...
Feb
2013 20
2013 20
Wisconsin GOP Rushing Through Farrow-Brooks Bill, a Government-Sponsored Kneecapping of Private Sector Unions
As Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker prepares to reveal a new budget which has already been labeled more radical than his previous radical budgets, reports out of the dairy land suggest that a bill is being fast-tracked in the Republican controlled legislature that represents a direct attack on organized labor. The Farrow-Brooks bill would act as ...
Feb
2013 20
2013 20
Bermuda Hedge Fund Reinsurance Tax Dodging Reaches New Heights as IRS Sits Idly By
A growing trend in tax avoidance is the practice of hedge funds setting up reinsurance companies in Bermuda, funneling money to the tax haven and then back to the states. This takes advantage of an IRS loophole the agency knows needs to be closed but has been reluctant to act on. This gaping hole in ...
Feb
2013 15
2013 15
SECRET AUDIO: Missouri Lawmakers, In Meeting AT THE MISSOURI CAPITOL, Threatened With Loss of Donors if They Don’t Push “Right-to-Work”
Progress Missouri has released audio tapes taken from a Conservative strategy session held in the Missouri Capitol in which leaders of corporate front groups push for Republican lawmakers to institute a national “Right-to-Work” law. The speakers, which include Lew Uhler of the National Tax Limitation Committee and Jared Rodriquez of...
Feb
2013 14
2013 14
JOB SECURIT-ME: Kansas GOPer Introduces Bill to Guarantee Politicians Get Their Jobs Back After Their Term
Things are getting crazy for Republicans (…more like their constituents) in the Midwest. Kansas has been under seige in the labor arena, to be sure, but arguably the most odd and offensive bill yet has been proposed by Kansas State Sen. Greg Smith. This pseudo jobs bill is loosely based on a law that protects military ...
Feb
2013 13
2013 13
UPDATE: Arkansas GOP Rep. from Wal-Mart’s District Fails at Repealing the Prevailing Wage
A couple weeks back we published a piece on a bill to gut the Arkansas prevailing wage, sponsored Rep. Dan Douglas (R-Bentonville). That bill has now failed to pass through committee. In a room filled with construction workers, contractors and businessmen, the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee voted 12 to 8 against House ...
Feb
2013 11
2013 11
Orlando VA Hospital that Refused to Build Under a PLA Is On the Verge of Tanking Completely
Last year, we provided a primer on the nationwide mismanagement of Veterans Affairs hospital construction with particular focus on an Orlando, Florida location that was in over its head. We did this to highlight how these hospitals, led by the anti-union Associated Builders and Contractors, were spurning Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) and...
Feb
2013 7
2013 7
HANDS OFF, SCOOTER: Wisconsin Investment Board Rejects Gov. Scott Walker’s Ridiculous Request to Borrow $200M from State Pension Fund
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is asking government workers to bet part of their retirements on a plan to subsidize new businesses in the state. That’s right. Walker is asking something of workers whom he treats like dirt. The requested funds would go to the quasi-public Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) of which Walker is...
Feb
2013 5
2013 5
STUDY: 2/3s of American Workers Plan to Delay Retirement
An alarming new study shows that nearly two-thirds of American workers now plan to delay their retirement with many citing the need to recoup losses from the recent recession as a key determinant. Just two years ago only 42 percent of workers planned on extending their work life but a growing bevy of worries face ...
Jan
2013 21
2013 21
Leaked Documents Indicate Ramped Up Anti-Union Push by Right-Wing FreedomWorks
According to leaked documents, FreedomWorks, the unofficial fundraising arm of the Tea Party, is allocating a hefty portion of its ‘war chest’ to push anti-union initiatives in 2013. Pledging to “push back against domineering unions,” FreedomWorks has announced a new “Save the States” campaign that pushes a...
Dec
2012 10
2012 10
STUDY: Rigged ALEC Research “Provides a Recipe for Economic Inequality, Wage Suppression”
A new study suggests that proposed American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) policies do more harm to state economies than good. Selling Snake Oil to the States, from Good Jobs First and the Iowa Policy Project, shows that states ranked high on ALEC’s annual “Rich States, Poor States” list actually do worse than those ranked...
