AFL-CIO and Chamber of Commerce Now Best Friends?

MTA Finances Grow Even Shakier Under GOP House
The assault on the MTA’s already battered finances could now come from yet another front: the Federal Government. The new Republican majority in the House of Representatives passed a rule Wednesday that would allow reductions in federal transportation spending, including investment in transit. That puts previously secure federal funds on the negotiating table, making it that much harder for the MTA to balance its books. For more information about the Republican rule, check out Tanya’...

Strange bedfellows: U.S. Chamber and AFL-CIO may team up against House GOP infrastructure cuts
Source: WAPO Strange bedfellows: U.S. Chamber and AFL-CIO may team up against House GOP infrastructure cuts By Greg Sargent The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO -- two powerful players that are often at each other's throats -- are considering teaming up for a campaign against the House GOP's planned cuts to infrastructure spending, spokespeople for both groups tell me. The two groups rarely agree on anything, and frequently target each other in the harshest of terms, but one thing they a...

The Odd Couple: AFL-CIO, Chamber May Team Up
Greg Sargent reports that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO, two groups that are normally at odds with each other, may team up to oppose any Republican plans to cut infrastructure spending as part of the party's plans to reduce overall federal spending. "The two groups rarely agree on anything, and frequently target each other in the harshest of terms, but one thing they agree on is that they don't want the House GOP to make good on its threat to subject highway and mass-transit prog...

Some Americans Favor Repealing Health Care Reform, Others Don't
Health Care reform Legislation? Why, we haven't been subjected to idiots fighting about that in weeks! I feel so empty inside. Please, somebody rekindle that nonsense, stat! Americans do not strongly endorse the new Republican House majority's efforts to Repeal the landmark healthcare legislation passed last year. A new Gallup Poll finds that 46% of Americans want their representative in Congress to vote to Repeal the healthcare law, 40% want their representative to vote to let the l...

Oops! Two House Republicans miss swearing-in ceremony, violate Constitution
Two House Republicans missed the official congressional swearing in ceremony because they were hobnobbing at a Fundraiser . [Gotta meet with those guys paying the bribes. First things first.] Some may not see this as a violation of the Constitution. The applicable part of Article Six states: The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bo...

Poll finds Americans undecided on healthcare reppeal
In the shadow of an upcoming vote to Repeal Healthcare Reform next week, Americans are split on whether Congress should Repeal the Legislation — 46 percent in favor to 40 percent against, with 14 percent Undecided, a Gallup Poll released today found. According to Gallup, the poll, conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday, is consistent with past polls that found the Healthcare Reform law passed last year is still failing to gain traction among Americans. "Americans' broadly divided opinions on r...

Henry Waxman: Not fair Democrats lost in 2010
Henry Waxman (D-CA), doesn't think it was fair that voters gave the House of Representatives back to the Republicans after four years of Democrat control. “I don’t think it was fair that we lost this time around,” Waxman said, according to an article by Andrew Romano at The Beast. “Losing on a day-to-day basis and seeing the Republicans prevail when I so strongly disagree with them—that’s not going to be easy,” Waxman said. “It’s a less-than-...

The Empathy Clause of the U.S. Constitution
The New York Times is having an utter hissy fit over the decision by leaders of the House of Representatives to recite aloud the Constitution to formally convene the 112th Congress. The left-leaning paper has run two editorials, the first condemning the act on the grounds that the Constitution—contrary to what Republicans believe—is a living document subject to reinterpretation and that doing a selective reading at a specific point in time is therefore an exercise in futility. The se...

Poll finds Americans undecided on healthcare repeal
In the shadow of an upcoming vote to Repeal Healthcare Reform next week, Americans are split on whether Congress should Repeal the Legislation — 46 percent in favor to 40 percent against, with 14 percent Undecided, a Gallup Poll released today found. According to Gallup, the poll, conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday, is consistent with past polls that found the Healthcare Reform law passed last year is still failing to gain traction among Americans. "Americans' broadly divided opinions on r...

Strange bedfellows: U.S. Chamber and AFL-CIO may team up against House GOP infrastructure cuts
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO -- two powerful players that are often at each other's throats -- are considering teaming up for a campaign against the House GOP's planned cuts to infrastructure spending, spokespeople for both groups tell me. The two groups rarely agree on anything, and frequently target each other in the harshest of terms, but one thing they agree on is that they don't want the House GOP to make good on its threat to subject highway and mass-transit programs to b...

House voids votes of members not sworn in
House Republicans had to correct a first-week gaffe by nullifying the votes of two of their members that were cast before they were sworn in. Democrats pounced on the mistake, saying Republicans violated the Constitution on their first day in the majority by allowing the pair to vote six times before they were sworn in. The House voted 257-159 to nullify those votes cast by Pete Sessions of Texas, the party campaign chief, and Mike Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania. Retracting their votes didn't affec...

Chamber of Commerce applauds Daley appointment
Washington (CNN) - The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is a fan of Bill Daley. "Bill Daley is a man of stature and extraordinary experience in government, business, trade negotiations, and global affairs," said Thomas J. Donahue. "He's an accomplished manager and strong leader. We look forward to working with him to accelerate our recovery, grow The Economy, create jobs, and tackle America's global challenges." Obama is set to speak before the organization early next month. He derided the group i...

Obama to Address US Chamber of Commerce in February
U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue. (Credit: David Bohrer/www.uschamber.com) CBS News has confirmed that President Obama will speak to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce early next month. The Speech is scheduled for February 7th. The chamber is a right-leaning trade group representing business that has emerged as a powerful and well-funded critic of Mr. Obama's policies. It has an annual Budget of $258 million and spent tens of millions of dollars campaigning against Democ...

Obama to Speak to Chamber of Commerce
President Obama will address the U.S. Chamber of Commerce next month in a high-profile bid to develop a better relationship after their corrosive sparring last fall over the business group’s big spending to elect Republicans. He will speak on Feb. 7 to members of the nation’s largest association of business and industry, said Jen Psaki, Mr. Obama’s deputy Communications Director. “The president will discuss his commitment to growing The Economy and making America more competitive an

Obama to Address Chamber of Commerce
(Wall Street Journal) - In the latest example of the White House’s renewed outreach to US business, President Barack Obama will address the US Chamber of Commerce on jobs and The Economy in February, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing a person familiar with the plans. The move is a significant overture by the president to a group that has proven a political nemesis. The Chamber, the capital’s biggest, Richest business lobby, has repeatedly tangled with the Obama White...

Obama to Address U.S. Chamber of Commerce
In a gesture of goodwill following a fractious election season, President Obama has accepted an invitation to address the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The president will deliver a Speech Feb. 7 to members of the nation's largest business federation to "discuss his commitment to growing The Economy and making America more competitive, and the importance of working together to create jobs," White House spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki told The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the story. During the...

United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President Javier Palomarez to Deliver Keynote Address at Greater Quad Cities Hispanic
WASHINGTON, Jan. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Greater Quad Cities Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (GQCHCC) will welcome United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) President and CEO Javier Palomarez to the organization's 2nd Annual Gala on Saturday, January 15, 2010, where he will deliver the keynote address on the economic significance and the powerful entrepreneurial spirit that fuels the growth of more than three million businesses that constitute Hispanic enterprise in America....

Obama to Speak to Chamber of Commerce Amid Strained Relationship
The Obama Administration and the Chamber have had a contentious relationship through the first two years of the Obama presidency, but there are signs that both sides may have made a New Year's resolution to try to get along. Sources tell Fox News that President Obama will speak at the U.S Chamber of Commerce in February. The last two years were marked by aggressive attacks by Tom Donohue, President of the Chamber, on President Obama's signature legislative initiatives. Donohue called the health ...

William Daley Chief of Staff reaction: Rave from Chamber of Commerce
"This is a strong appointment. Bill Daley is a man of stature and extraordinary experience in government, business, trade negotiations, and global affairs. He's an accomplished manager and strong leader. We look forward to working with him to accelerate our recovery, grow The Economy, create jobs, and tackle America's global challenges." The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and ...

The overhaul of the food safety system
Last Tuesday, Obama signed the bill to overhaul America's Food Safety system.  The $1.4 billion overhaul of the food safety, is giving Washington new power to increase inspections at food processing facilities and force companies to recall tainted products. Congress passed the bill at the end of last year to respond to several serious outbreaks of E. coli and Salmonella poisoning in peanuts, eggs and produce in the past. Usually the congress moves no faster than a snail after a big lunch &#...

House voids votes of members not sworn in
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans had to correct a first-week gaffe by nullifying the votes of two of their members that were cast before they were sworn in. Democrats pounced on the mistake, saying Republicans violated the Constitution on their first day in the majority by allowing the pair to vote six times before they were sworn in. The House voted 257-159 to nullify those votes cast by Pete Sessions of Texas, the party campaign chief, and Mike Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania. Retracting ...

Marijuana unites people across political lines
There was a time when smoking marijuana was overwhelmingly associated with Liberalism in politics. Old-time Reno Republicans even still seem to associate smoking marijuana with Communism. Today however, Americans of all political persuasions are realizing the value of herbal relaxation and the folly of prohibition.  A fresher generation, raised to respect free intellectual inquiry, has ironically grown up with intimate knowledge of the machinations of Free Market Capitalism as a direct cons...

Four House Democrats Join With Republicans In Rules Vote To Repeal Obamacare
With a 236 to 181 vote, with four Democrats crossing the aisle to vote with Republicans in the House of Representatives, a procedural vote passed the House on the rules of length and terms of the ObamaCare Repeal debate b before an expected Weds vote on the full Repeal of Obama and Democrats Health Care law from March 2010. Roll call found here on the House vote on the rules. The four Democrats that crossed the aisle are: Representative Dan Boren (OK), who is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition...

House Republicans Push Attack on Health Care Law, Ignoring Budget Office Report
Many new members of the U.S. House of Representatives came to power expressing outrage over the federal Deficit. Apparently, however, repealing the landmark Health Care reform law, the Affordable Care Act, is more pressing even if doing so adds the nation's Debt. The Congressional Budget Office, described by The New York Times as the "non-partisan budget scorekeepers in Congress," said that repealing the Health Care law would "ratchet up the federal deficit by about $230 billion ...

Huzzah for Healthcare Reform!
Fri Jan. 7, 2011 9:41 AM PST It's no surprise that President Obama has threatened to Veto any Repeal of Healthcare Reform that reaches his desk. (It won't reach his desk, of course, since it'll never get past the Senate. But put that aside for now.) Obama's threat is no surprise, but Jon Cohn thinks it's a sign of a new aggressiveness in the Democratic Caucus: For most of last year, Democrats were playing defense on Health Care, responding to Republican criticisms or, in many cases, trying desp...