Today's Teamster News 10.28.13

<a href="http://www.alternet.org/economy/point-seveners-new-name-millionaires-club" rel="nofollow">America’s Wealthy Are Even Wealthier And Have A New Name: Point-Seveners</a>  Alternet   ...America has 45,000 citizens worth more than $50 million...<br /><a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/10/26/dark_money_groups_linked_to_koch_brothers_pay_1_million_in_fines_partner/" rel="nofollow">Dark money groups linked to Koch brothers pay $1 million in fines</a>  Salon   ...They allegedly spent a combined $15 million on conservative ballot proposals without proper disclosure...<br /><a href="http://www.alternet.org/education/great-voucher-fraud" rel="nofollow">The Great Voucher Fraud</a>  Alternet   ... decades of accumulated evidence paints a different story: Vouchers do not improve educational outcomes, they take money away from struggling public schools, they’re cash cows for institutions offering questionable education, they aid students already attending private institutions and they ignore the needs of special-education students...<br /><a href="http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2013/10/27/Recall-222959-pounds-of-ready-to-eat-chicken-salad-products/UPI-68441382896086/" rel="nofollow">Recall: 222,959 pounds of ready-to-eat chicken salad products</a>  UPI   ...Boston Salads and Provisions Company is recalling about 222,959 pounds of chicken salad products due to possible contamination with Listeria, officials say...<br /><a href="http://thediplomat.com/china-power/the-us-is-quietly-losing-its-innovation-edge-to-china/" rel="nofollow">The US Is Quietly Losing Its Innovation Edge to China</a>  The Diplomat   ...Between 2003 and 2013, the number of applications increased from nearly 35,000 to more than 51,000, while NIH appropriations shrunk from $21 billion to $16 billion (in 1995 dollars). As a consequence, it has become increasingly difficult for our scientists to garner an NIH grant…The story is dramatically different on the China side. The government is determined to be the next technology innovation center in the world. By 2011, China had already become the world’s second highest investor in R&D. Government research funding has been growing at an annual rate of more than 20 percent...<br /><a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/10/another-reason-hate-tpp-it-gives-big-content-new-tools-undermine-sane-digital" rel="nofollow">Another Reason to Hate TPP: It Gives Big Content New Tools to Undermine Sane Digital Rights Policies</a>  EFF   ...TPP would give multinational companies the power to sue countries over laws that that might diminish the value of their company or cut into their expected future profits...<br /><a href="http://soberlook.com/2013/10/has-great-recession-created-behavioral.html" rel="nofollow">Has the Great Recession created behavioral changes in the labor markets?</a>  Sober Look   ...One of the persistent problems with the US labor markets is the current pool of unemployed people taking far longer to find work than in the past. This would suggest that the key for those without work is to enter the workforce as quickly as possible - even if it means part-time, temp, consulting, etc. The barriers to re-entry are much higher these days than any time in recent decades...<br /><a href="http://thediplomat.com/asia-life/2013/10/mizuho-banks-yakuza-scandal-more-than-30-execs-to-be-punished/" rel="nofollow">Mizuho Bank’s Yakuza Scandal: More than 30 Execs to be Punished</a>  The Diplomat   ...More than 30 executives at Mizuho Financial Group, Japan’s third largest bank, will be held accountable for making loans to the country’s organized crime syndicates, known as the yakuza...<br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/27/magazine/could-new-york-city-subways-survive-another-hurricane.html?_r=0" rel="nofollow">Could New York City Subways Survive Another Hurricane?</a>  New York Times   ...you see what it will take to keep the system going: technological improvements, yes, but also the oldest technology of all — the knowledge of the people who run the subway, many of whom have been there for their entire working lives...<br /><a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/what-even-is-a-wisconsin-john-doe-investigation" rel="nofollow">What Is Going On in Wisconsin -- And Why Is It So Secret? </a> Talking Points Memo   ... a former federal prosecutor had been appointed to lead a "John Doe investigation" into state-level issues in Wisconsin, including the 2011 and 2012 recall elections. And this John Doe investigation reportedly grew out of an earlier John Doe probe, which closed in March after snaring six former aides and associates of Gov. Scott Walker (R)...<br /><br /><br />

bank criminality China food safety Hurricane Sandy inequality innovation Koch brothers scott walker TPP unemployment WI Today's Teamster News 10.28.13

America’s Wealthy Are Even Wealthier And Have A New Name: Point-Seveners  Alternet   ...America has 45,000 citizens worth more than $50 million...Dark money groups linked to Koch brothers pay $1 million in fines  Salon   ...They allegedly spent a com…

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Another ALEC rep could be in trouble -- in Texas!

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnNGrWT-3G0Mjq9REmBEZOsiDH2Q9wJa4ga24WpHJSTgNPJCHLedIUYinE1PCtHbyl3wZ_GGgSfgKbEE0yfDVjnlDvQZFruyseifa80SDEBd9MesVtcLRqrkuZ68T4f8K0USn6OuRHqGM9/s1600/Klick-Stephanie_jpg_800x1000_q100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnNGrWT-3G0Mjq9REmBEZOsiDH2Q9wJa4ga24WpHJSTgNPJCHLedIUYinE1PCtHbyl3wZ_GGgSfgKbEE0yfDVjnlDvQZFruyseifa80SDEBd9MesVtcLRqrkuZ68T4f8K0USn6OuRHqGM9/s320/Klick-Stephanie_jpg_800x1000_q100.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ALEC rep. Stephanie Klick</td></tr></tbody></table>Stephanie Klick, a Texas state representative, doesn't think she needs to obey state open records laws when it comes to her dealings with <a href="http://alecexposed.org/" rel="nofollow">ALEC</a>. Unfortunately for Rep. Klick, Texas' attorney general thinks she needs to obey the law.<br /><br />The <a href="http://foift.org/2013/09/30/ags-office-says-legislative-documents-must-released/" rel="nofollow">Center for Media and Democracy asked Rep. Klick</a> for records of her communications with ALEC, the corporate dating service for state lawmakers. That apparently unnerved Klick, because she asked the attorney general if she could keep her records secret. She argued that her dealings with corporate lobbyists could be withheld from the public because of her right to freedom of association and something called "deliberative privilege."<br /><br /><a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/09/12259/texas-attorney-general-rebuffs-alecs-effort-declare-itself-immune-open-records-la" rel="nofollow">Attorney General Greg Abbott didn't buy it</a>. Neither did the <a href="http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/08/26/5110399/klicks-ties-to-group-should-be.html?rh=1" rel="nofollow">Fort Worth Star-Telegram</a>, which editorialized:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">...she shouldn’t keep her correspondence a secret. As the preamble to the Texas Public Information Act says, the people delegate authority to make laws, but they “do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know.”</blockquote>Klick isn't the first state lawmaker to stonewall requests for information about ties to ALEC. The <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/09/12259/texas-attorney-general-rebuffs-alecs-effort-declare-itself-immune-open-records-la" rel="nofollow">Center for Media and Democracy is suing Wisconsin state Sen. Leah Vukmir</a>, ALEC's treasurer, for hiding documents sent from ALEC to legislators.<br /><br />Another ALEC front, <a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/09/alec-front-man-indicted.html" rel="nofollow">Georgia state Sen. Don Balfour</a>, was indicted recently on 18 counts of corruption.<br /><br />(No one, by the way, should be surprised at corruption charges against state lawmakers who take money from ALEC to travel to posh resorts where they meet corporate donors.)<br /><br />Lisa Graves, executive director of the <a href="http://prwatch.org/" rel="nofollow">Center for Media and Democracy</a>, came up with the best description of why Rep. Klick couldn't get away with hiding her dealings with ALEC.<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">You cannot just create a special private club between lobbyists and lawmakers and then claim your communications with legislators cannot be disclosed to the public under state sunshine laws.</blockquote>Exactly.

ALEC GA open meetings Texas WI Another ALEC rep could be in trouble -- in Texas!

ALEC rep. Stephanie KlickStephanie Klick, a Texas state representative, doesn't think she needs to obey state open records laws when it comes to her dealings with ALEC. Unfortunately for Rep. Klick, Texas' attorney general thinks she needs to obey th…

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