The Republican accomplishment last week to block extension of a variety of recession-related benefits will cause at least 27 Americans to lose their jobs, according to the chairwoman of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. The Senate GOP is supporting the effort of Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) to block a vote of a Democratic bill that would extend unemployment insurance, health coverage, and other benefits aimed to help Americans deal with the recession. The bill would extend two...
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Unemployment Benefits For Millions of Americans To Expire, ‘But The Need To Buy Groceries Doesn’t’
Millions of out-of-work Americans are poised to lose critical benefits due to the opposition of one Republican senator who would only agree to an extension of those benefits if they come out of federal economic stimulus dollars, according to the Senate’s top Democrat. The Senate adjourned for the week with Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) continuing to block Democratic legislation that would extend unemployment insurance and COBRA health benefits for those who will start losing them on Sunday. The Senate’s...
In The ‘Back Seat’ No More: New Legislation Would Protect Workers, Retirees When Their Employers Go Bankrupt
Democrats in both the House and Senate introduced legislation Wednesday designed to protect the earnings and retirement savings of workers and retirees when businesses collapse. The Protecting Employees and Retirees in Business Bankruptcies Act would make several changes to Chapter 11 bankruptcy law, putting workers interests near the top when companies file for bankruptcy, according to Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.), the lawmakers behind the proposal. The Senate bill is cosponsored by...
Antitrust Tsunami: Even Howls From Powerful Insurance Lobby Can’t Save Exemption
Turning their backs to the howls of protest from the powerful health insurance lobby, more than 400 Democrats and Republicans voted to do away with the antitrust exemption the insurance industry has enjoyed for 65 years. In an almost-unheard-of bipartisan move on the issue of healthcare, House members overwhelmingly voted, 406 to 19, to approve H.R. 4626, the Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act, which would repeal the health insurance industry’s antitrust protection. “This antitrust exemption was passed again...
Toyota Acceleration Recall Prompts Consumer Group To Offer Suggestions For Powerful House Committee Chairman Eager To Legislate
Sitting down to hear Rhonda Smith tell of the unintended acceleration of her Toyota-made Lexus vehicle that left her car out of control and certain she would die, the powerful chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee made clear that new legislation will be required. Meanwhile, one of the nation’s best-known consumer groups provided some legislative grist in the form of recommendations to reform U.S. car safety regulation. A House Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee met Tuesday to...
No Longer Relying On All Or Nothing: Lawmakers Carve Out Specific Health Reforms Aimed At Curbing The Worst Abuses
Democrats are expressing support for President Obama’s new proposal to jumpstart healthcare reform ahead of this week’s White House meeting with the GOP, but some prominent lawmakers appear to no longer be betting all their hopes that comprehensive legislation will be enacted. They are either talking up specific provisions of reform that could be approved individually, or in at least one case, introducing new legislation aimed at curbing the worst. Obama will meet this week in Washington with Republicans...
Lawmakers Will Join Labor Leaders To Rally in Washington For Full TSA Union Representation
Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) and Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) plan to rally with organized labor in Washington to call on Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to grant full collective bargaining rights to more than 50,000 workers at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Airport security personnel — known as transportation security officers, or TSOs — have been barred from being able to fully organize a union since TSA was first established in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks....
Senate Democrats: GOP Has ‘No Excuse’ To Block Senator Reid’s Jobs Bill
Senate Republicans have “no excuse” to block a jobs bill set to come up for a procedural vote Monday because they have supported its key provisions in the past, Democrats say in a statement. Senate Democrats will seek to overcome a filibuster to move ahead with a $15 billion piece of legislation aimed at improving sagging employment nationwide. “Despite this strong bipartisan support for each idea in this bill, there are reports that Republicans are holding backroom strategy sessions...
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