U.S. (* Admin) Warns A.F.L.-C.I.O. on Protests About Social Security

[UpInArms]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/05/politics/05social.html

WASHINGTON, May 4 - The Bush administration has warned the nation's biggest labor federation that union-run pension funds may be breaking the law in opposing President Bush's Social Security proposals.

In a letter on Tuesday to the A.F.L.-C.I.O., the Department of Labor said it was "very concerned" that pension plans might be spending workers' money to "advocate a particular result in the current Social Security debate."

The Labor Department also warned the federation that pension plans could be violating their fiduciary responsibilities by suggesting that they might take their investment business away from Wall Street firms that support Mr. Bush's plans.

The department did not cite any specific instances and it stopped short of any formal accusations. But the letter came after a well-orchestrated campaign by the A.F.L.-C.I.O. to criticize investment firms that appeared to be supporting Mr. Bush's proposal for private investment accounts. "A fiduciary may never increase a plan's expenses, sacrifice the security of promised benefits, or reduce the return on plan assets, in order to promote its views on Social Security or any other broad policy issue," the letter said.

...more...

UIA warns WH to cease and desist from spending taxpayer funds for propaganda purposes and campaign style "stacked" audiences.

:grr:

[buff2]

1. OMG...........

How much further are those bastards going to go before the dam breaks? Geesus....this is insane.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

2. This is beautiful.

So now the *admin is telling us that the AFL-CIO and the AARP, two of the most respected national organisations for the rights of workers and the elderly, HATE AMERICA.

How long before the administration starts accusing the AFL-CIO of being part of the homosexual satanist agenda, as they did with the AARP (and wasn't THAT an astonishing success?)

[FlemingsGhost]

3. Who remembers when Unions busted fascist heads regularly?

When did they become such pussies?

[azoth]

8. My dad busted some heads in his day

and has his busted a few times.

I remember him coming home from a big Teamster meeting in Kansas City when I was a kid - he was all scraped up and had a black eye. It freaked me out, but I was sort of proud of him at the same time, even though I really didn't understand it. All he'd tell me was that he was standing up for what he thought was Right. He was and always has been a take-no-shit kind of guy, and I admire the hell out of him for that. Well, that and many other things too. :)

This ad*friggin*mininstration is pissing him off left and right. Wait til he hears about this. Yikes.

[guitar man]

20. your Dad sounds like my Dad

..and My Grandad. Grandad was in the labor movement back in the '30s when they were still "sparring for hamburgers" as he called it.

Dad is a retired Teamster OTR semi driver who is still fiercely pro-labor and absolutely despises *Bu$h. He is also a WWII and Korea vet with 2 purple hearts among his combat decorations, but I'm sure hating *Bu$h makes him "Un-American".

[saigon68]

50. Some of them have certainly have crawled in with the Devil

[Lori Price CLG]

4. Warn *this.* Time for American Revolution #2 or the next...

Civil War (Blue v. Red states). Either one works for me, at this point.

Cheers,
Lori Price

[acmejack]

36. It doesn't work that way, Lori!

Remember the Red vs. Blue map? Even Texas is almost half blue! Don't sell us short, please...

[Bridget Burke]

37. You're responding to a message from Connecticut!

Home of the Bush family, even though they've tried to become Texans...

[zann725]

5. Hmmm. And I thought the AFL-CIO were the last ones you'd tick off?

n/t

[struggle4progress]

6. ' ... We have got to stick together, boys, and fight with all our might.

It's a case of no surrender: we have got to win this fight ..."
We won't build no more railroads for overalls and snuff

[Javaman]

7. Frankly, I think moron* is poking the tiger.

he can rant and rave all he wants, but the reality is: no matter who you are, you don't want to piss off the unions.

If suddenly union members feel that their pensions are being fucked with, I forsee wildcat strikes on the horizon.

fuck face* fails to realise that there is still a strong union here in the states. If one union is fucked with on this level, expect other unions to join as a show of solidarity, in a strike.

Unions have been itching for the good old days, now moron is poking the hive.

[FlemingsGhost]

16. Wishful thinking, I'm afraid.

Americans are either too steeped in denial or fear, to stand up for themselves.

[Gyre]

21. truer words never spoken.

Good job.

Gyre

[DulceDecorum]

22. Dubya, Dubya, Dubya SMACKDOWN

So, who did the pretzeldent piss off now?
Hmmm.
A whole bunch of people in a whole bunch of states.

Posted on Sat, Feb. 22, 2003
A leader of a grassroots Teamsters union movement born in North Carolina says hundreds of union members are being forced to keep working because their union-sponsored pension fund keeps making it tougher to retire.
"I have 30 years in, and I had planned to retire at the end of 2002," said Greensboro resident Frank Bryant, a tractor-trailer driver for United Parcel Service. "But we have such a poor pension that I decided to keep working for another year or two."
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/business/5237753.htm

In the 1960's and 1970's, the Teamsters' huge Central States pension fund was a wellspring of union corruption. Tens of millions of dollars were loaned to racketeers who used the money to gain control of Las Vegas casinos. Administrative jobs were awarded to favored insiders who paid themselves big fees. A former Teamster president and pension trustee was convicted of trying to bribe a United States senator.
Yet for nearly half a million union members who are expecting the fund to pay for their retirement, those may have been the good old days.
Since 1982, under a consent decree with the federal government, the fund has been run by prominent Wall Street firms and monitored by a federal court and the Labor Department. There have been no more shadowy investments, no more loans to crime bosses. Yet in these expert hands, the aging fund has fallen into greater financial peril than when James R. Hoffa, who built the Teamsters into a national power, used it as a slush fund.
http://www.cepr.net/Economic_Reporting_Review/nytimesarticles/teamsters_11_22.htm

You load sixteen tons, and what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt
St. Peter don't you call me, 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store.

If you see me comin', better step aside
A lot of men didn't, a lot of men died
One fist of iron, the other of steel
If the right one don't get you, then the left one will
-- Merle Travis

[KittyWampus]

45. Americans Are Certainly Capable Of Waking Up. Your Negativity Leads

nowhere... except curling up in a fetal position or posting on DU.

I would argue Americans ARE waking up.

And the only reason Jr. got in again is because we're still on the upcurve on clean elections.

[Erika]

9. Bush does not understand he's not God

It never occured to him. Contact your legislators and the WH about this intimidation of labor. Our taxes have paid for Bush's butt to travel the country extensively to push his pro Wall street SS plan.

Also mention, that Bush/Cheney won't allow anyone to hear them who might disagree with them.

[wtmusic]

10. Legal basis for this seems extremely tenuous

any labor lawyers out there? It seems the union would be in breach of their fiduciary duties if they *didn't* warn their members about the sacking of SS

[daleo]

19. I tend to agree with you, although I am no lawyer

I think this is just garden variety Bushco intimidation.

[azoth]

11. How is this going to play out with the red-state union members?

I have to wonder how the good 'ol boys who voted for shrubbie are going to like it that he's suddenly fucking with their pensions.

Fascinating.

[FlemingsGhost]

14. Who cares? ... Gays can't marry!

Sacrificing one's pension to make a moral statement, is a small price to pay.

[azoth]

18. Yes, you know, you're right. Surely

that is the greatest evil facing our world today.

How utterly silly of me to have forgotten. Thanks for the reminder. November *was* several months ago.

[AuntiBush]

24. Yeah... I had that same "silly" thougth! Thanks for the Reminder!

[KittyWampus]

46. Yeah, November. When 10's of 1000's Of Kerry Voters Were Kept From Voting

in various swing states and mechanical glitches in voting machines all favored Jr.

[countmyvote4real]

27. Thank for reminding me how stupid 'merca reallly is. n/t

[Bridget Burke]

38. Not everybody in "red" states voted for Bush....

Just as there are numerous Bush fans in the blue states.

Union members are outnumbered here in Texas, but they do tend to vote Democratic.

[global1]

12. Jimmy Hoffa - Where Are You Now That We Need You?......n/t

[AuntiBush]

25. I hear ya...

Well, wasn't it always rumored part of him was under a certain stadium? And the other parts are unknown.

Grew-up w/Teamsters. Late husband was proud of his card! You don't want to tick them off. They will stand tall.

[Jose Diablo]

34. Jimmy?

He is buried under the footing of a column that supports the Dequinder/696 underpass.

He will have to pass on this battle.

I wonder though, who put him there? Was it the mob or maybe someone high in the government that had concerns about some outstanding loans he recieved to win an election.

Sometimes it's hard to know the truth.

Edit: You know Jimmy was safely in jail, then somehow he got out. Now I wonder who greased the skids to get him out, and why?

[KittyWampus]

47. Hoffa Jr. Is In With Junior.

[Roland99]

13. Having an opinion and expressing it is now against the law?!?!

All You Fascists
http://www.mp3.com/tracks/2410985/dl_streams.html

I'm gonna tell all you fascists you may be surprised
The people in this world are getting organized
You're bound to lose, you fascists are bound to lose

Race hatred cannot stop us this one thing I know
Your poll tax and Jim Crow and greed have got to go
You're bound to lose, you fascists bound to lose

All of you fascists bound to lose
You fascists bound to lose
All of you fascists bound to lose
You fascists bound to lose
You're bound to lose! You fascists!
Bound to lose

People of every colour marching side by side
Marching 'cross these fields where a million fascists died
You're bound to lose, you fascists bound to lose

I'm going into this battle, and take my union gun
We'll end this world of slavery before this battle's won
You're bound to lose, you fascists bound to lose

WORDS: Woody Guthrie (1942) - MUSIC: Billy Bragg (1997)

[Skip Intro]

15. "you can't say that" - freedom on the march n/t

[Festivito]

40. Didja notice in what direction it was going as it left? nt.

[FloridaPat]

17. So using tax payers money for private meetings is legal???

[underpants]

44. Is holding political meetings in tax exempt churches legal?

Oh that seems to be just fine.

[AuntiBush]

23. Bush & Co has a LOT of NERVE!

Talk about "breaking laws!" AWG! Everday my Bush Shitlist gets' longer and longer! Gotta bang the head-thingy again!

Note to Prez Bush: Thanks for ripping my late-husband's pension to total shreds after he worked most of his life, investing in the union pension so his wife (he hoped/thought/labored night & day for) would survive, if she sadly out-lived him!

Pickles does not know the first thing about being a "desperate housewife!" Laughing, joking, the nerve!

:banghead::banghead::banghead:

[Rainscents]

26. I am a strong Union member... I know the first hand of taking it to the

street! I am ready now!!! When Union start taking it to street, I will be right there with them! I been through three strikes and pround of it!

[Media_Lies_Daily]

28. Hmmm. Wonder what the NeoCons would think of a general strike?

[FlemingsGhost]

29. We ain't ready ... yet. (n/t)

Flem.

[mitchtv]

30. what about the warnig to those Baptist churchs

playing politics from the pulpit, and to the point of tickertaping the senator's phone #'s across the bottom of the screen

[Q]

31. Ah...the irony of...

...the Bush government 'warning' others when THEY have illegally used millions in tax dollars to promote and lie about their plan to privatize SS.

This is beyond arrogant...bordering on totalitarianism.

[sendero]

39. Exactly...

.... Bush** used millions of government money to produce partisan propaganda, now he has the gall to the unions and the AARP not to?

Give me a break.

[xchrom]

32. bushco playing reagan.

time to beat up on those pesky unions.

it played well for reagan -- might as well try it again.

repukes play to win -- there's no doubt.

[union_maid]

33. They can spend my dues on fighting Bush any day

Please, feel free. I'm a union member and I can't think of a better way for my money to be spent.

[Massachusetts]

35. A.F.L.-C.I.O

This Lion might be old, but its still got PLENTY of FIGHT in it.

Little king george better be careful where he treads.

[brokensymmetry]

41. Isn't freedom of speech wonderful?

Perhaps we should try it some day.

If only for the novelty.

[Montauk6]

42. I have to side with President Bush on this one

I mean, think about it: how DARE the AFL-CIO use good-faith union dues to do its job??? It's immoral and indecent, I say! I guess, NEXT we're gonna hear about AARP using contributions to take out ads advocating for seniors. Where is the FBI in all this???? This is as bad as that story I read about Greenpeace raising money through donations, and then USING those dollars to forward their agenda on the environment. I mean, when is it going to stop???

[bemildred]

43. "Money is speech". nt

[Mel]

48. meanwhile the lobbyists

and the head of the House Ways and Means Committee Bill Thomas are chomping to screw over the workers.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/04/AR2005050402402.html
Bush Ally in House Alters Social Security Debate Strategy
By Jonathan Weisman and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
<snip>Airlines want Thomas's measure to include pension-law changes that would make it easier for them and other troubled industries to get out from under huge retirement responsibilities from their former employees.</snip>

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1446553

[Krupskaya]

49. *flexes muscles*

Bring it on, you lying disaster monkey.