19 posts tagged “congress”
January 8, 2009
WASHINGTON, DC –Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today reintroduced her landmark legislation to address the continuing pay gap between women and men. The Paycheck Fairness Act would take critical steps to help empower women to negotiate for equal pay, to create strong incentives for employers to obey the existing laws, and to strengthen federal outreach and enforcement efforts. Twenty-two senators have joined Senator Clinton as original cosponsors of the legislation. Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) has introduced the bill in the House of Representatives.
"Every American deserves equal pay for equal work. It is disgraceful that four decades after the Equal Pay Act was signed into law, women in this country still earn only 78 cents on the dollar. The Paycheck Fairness Act is an attempt to right this historic wrong and I am proud to reintroduce it today,” Senator Clinton said.
Women working full time, year-round jobs still make only 78 cents for every dollar made by a man. Women of color fare even worse: African-American women earn only 62 cents, and Latinas only 53 cents, for every $1.00 earned by white men. Studies have shown that this wage disparity will cost women an average of more than $400,000 over a lifetime, a difference in pay that cannot be fully explained by experience, education, or other qualifications. Unequal pay also hurts families. Single women who are heads of households are twice as likely to be in poverty as single fathers. And most families depend on women’s wages to make ends meet, with women’s pay constituting about two-fifths of family income.
The Paycheck Fairness Act would address this reality through a number of needed reforms. The Act would create a training program to help women strengthen their negotiation skills; enforce equal pay laws for federal contractors; and require the Department of Labor to work with employers to eliminate pay disparities by enhancing outreach and training efforts. Also, the bill would prohibit employers from retaliating against employees who share salary information with their co-workers; and strengthen the remedies available under the Act to include compensatory and punitive damages.
Senator Clinton has long been a champion of securing equal pay for equal work. In addition to introducing the Paycheck Fairness Act, Senator Clinton joined with Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Tom Harkin (D-IA), as well as Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), to request that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) study the role that the federal government has and can play in remedying pay inequities in the workplace. In September, the GAO issued a highly critical report finding that federal agencies had been doing an inadequate job at enforcing and monitoring their enforcement of the equal pay laws. In 2006, Senator Clinton co-hosted a "Pay Equity for Women" seminar with Stony Brook University that drew hundreds of students as well as leading educators and experts in gender equity business issues. At the seminar, Senator Clinton unveiled a resource guide titled, "Know What to Ask & Know Your Rights: A Pay Equity Guide on How to Help Yourself in the Workplace." The guide is an informative tool for young women entering the workforce and can be found on Senator Clinton's web site: here.
Sen. Craig loses appeal in airport sex sting case
STEVE KARNOWSKI – December 09, 2008
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Idaho Sen. Larry Craig has lost his latest attempt to withdraw his guilty plea in a Minneapolis airport men's room sex sting.
A three-judge panel of the Minnesota Court of Appeals on Tuesday rejected the Republican's bid to toss out his disorderly conduct conviction.
Craig was arrested in June 2007 in a Minneapolis airport bathroom stall by an undercover officer who said the senator solicited sex.
He pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor and paid a fine, but changed his mind after word of his arrest became public...
Oh Larry,
Liar, liar, pants on fire
Your nose is longer than a telephone wire
Senators John Kerry and Arlen Specter introduce The High-Speed Rail for America Act of 2008
Boston Globe November 19, 2008
Senators John F. Kerry and Arlen Specter introduced a bill today (November 19, 2008) to fund high-speed rail lines along the East Coast and in several other key areas of the country...
...The bill would provide money for tax-exempt bonds to finance rail projects which reach a speed of at least 110 miles per hour. It would include $10 billion over 10 years to fund improvements in the Northeast and California, and $5.4 billion over a six-year period for 10 rail corridors, including connecting the cities of the Midwest through Chicago, connecting the cities of the Northwest, connecting the major cities within Texas and Florida, and connecting all the cities along the East Coast...
US Rep. Tubbs Jones of Ohio dies after hemorrhage
By M.R. KROPKO – 2 hours ago
EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio (AP) — Democratic U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, the first black woman to represent Ohio in Congress and a strong critic of the Iraq war, died Wednesday after a brain hemorrhage, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Tubbs Jones, 58, died Wednesday evening of a brain hemorrhage caused by an aneurysm that burst and left her with limited brain function, said Eileen Sheil, a spokeswoman for the Cleveland Clinic, which owns the Huron Hospital in East Cleveland where Tubbs Jones died.
"Throughout the course of the day and into this evening, Congresswoman Tubbs Jones' medical condition declined," Sheil said in a statement from the clinic and Tubbs Jones' family.
The liberal Democrat, first elected in 1998, suffered the hemorrhage while driving her car in Cleveland Heights Tuesday night, said Dr. Gus Kious, president of Huron Hospital...
Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio has passed away. Rest In Peace Stephanie. is in critical condition with very limited brain function.
Rep. Tubbs Jones On Life Support
Congresswoman From Cleveland Hospitalized After Reportedly Suffering Aneurysm
Aug. 20, 2008
written by CBS News reporter Ryan Corsaro.
Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, is reported to have suffered an aneurysm and is not expected to recover, according to CBS affiliate WOIO in Cleveland.
WOIO also reported that the congresswoman is on life support at this time.
The station reported today that she was transported overnight to Huron Hospital in Cleveland after police found her in her car last evening.
The congresswoman's office said in statement that she suffered the aneurysm while driving her car in Cleveland Heights, Ohio last night and that she "has stabilized and she is receiving the best care available."
The congresswoman's office would not confirm that she is on life support.
Tubbs Jones was first elected in 1998, becoming the first black woman to represent Ohio in Congress. She represents Ohio's 11th district.
She was set to be a superdelegate at next week's Democratic National Convention in Denver.
Tubbs Jones was one of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's biggest boosters during the primaries, then threw her support to Sen. Barack Obama in June.
Endangered Species Act Changes Give Agencies More Say
By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
The Bush administration yesterday proposed a regulatory overhaul of the Endangered Species Act to allow federal agencies to decide whether protected species would be imperiled by agency projects, eliminating the independent scientific reviews that have been required for more than three decades.
The new rules, which will be subject to a 30-day per comment period, would use administrative powers to make broad changes in the law that Congress has resisted for years. Under current law, agencies must subject any plans that potentially affect endangered animals and plants to an independent review by the Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service. Under the proposed new rules, dam and highway construction and other federal projects could proceed without delay if the agency in charge decides they would not harm vulnerable species.
In a telephone call with reporters yesterday, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne described the new rules as a "narrow regulatory change" that "will provide clarity and certainty to the consultation process under the Endangered Species Act."
But environmentalists and congressional Democrats blasted the proposal as a last-minute attempt by the administration to bring about dramatic changes in the law. For more than a decade, congressional Republicans have been trying unsuccessfully to rewrite the act, which property owners and developers say imposes unreasonable economic costs.
"I am deeply troubled by this proposed rule, which gives federal agencies an unacceptable degree of discretion to decide whether or not to comply with the Endangered Species Act," said Rep. Nick J. Rahall II (D-W.Va.), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, who asked for a staff briefing before the proposal was announced but did not receive one. "Eleventh-hour rulemakings rarely, if ever, lead to good government -- this is not the type of legacy this Interior Department should be leaving for future generations."
Bob Irvin, senior vice president of conservation programs at the advocacy group Defenders of Wildlife, questioned how some federal agencies could make the assessments, since most do not have wildlife biologists on staff...
Take a look at this list of businesses / retail outlets that are closing or have already closed. Just another reason to vote for Senator Obama for President of the United States. Senator McCain will only continue the FAILED Bush economic policies and this list will grow.
Ann Taylor closing 117 stores nationwide.
Eddie Bauer to close more stores after closing 27 stores in the first quarter.
Cache, a women’s retailer is closing 20 to 23 stores this year.
Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Catherines closing 150 stores nationwide
Talbots & J. Jill closing stores. Talbots will close all 78 of its kids and men's stores plus another 22 underperforming stores. The 22 stores will be a mix of Talbots women's and J. Jill.
Gap Inc. closing 85 stores
Foot Locker to close 140 stores
Wickes Furniture is going out of business and closing all of its stores. The 37-year-old retailer that targets middle-income customers, filed for bankruptcy protection last month.
Levitz - the furniture retailer, announced it was going out of business and closing all 76 of its stores in December. The retailer dates back to 1910.
Zales, Piercing Pagoda plans to close 82 stores by July 31 followed by closing another 23 underperforming stores.
Disney Store owner has the right to close 98 stores.
Home Depot store closings 15 of them amid a slumping US economy and housing market. The move will affect 1,300 employees. It is the first time the world's largest home improvement store chain has ever closed a flagship store.
CompUSA (CLOSED).
Macy's - 9 stores closed
Movie Gallery / Hollywood Video – video rental company plans to close 400 of 3,500 Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video stores in addition to the 520 locations the video rental chain closed last fall as part of bankruptcy.
Pacific Sunwear - 153 Demo stores closing
Pep Boys - 33 stores of auto parts supplier closing
Sprint Nextel - 125 retail locations to close with 4,000 employees following 5,000 layoffs last year.
J. C. Penney, Lowe's and Office Depot are all scaling back
Ethan Allen Interiors: plans to close 12 of 300 stores to cut costs.
Wilsons the Leather Experts – closing 158 stores
Bombay Company: to close all 384 U.S.-based Bombay Company stores.
Dillard's Inc. will close another six stores this year.
(Remember this the next time you fill up your vehicles gas tank and BTW... apparently Exxon Mobil Corp. fell far short of what Wall Street predicted SO... be prepared for even more expensive fuel. This kind of profit borders on being criminal and obscene)
Exxon Mobil Corp. reported second-quarter earnings of $11.68 billion Thursday, the biggest profit from operations ever by any U.S. corporation.
Exxon Mobil 2Q profit sets US record, shares fall
By John Porretto – 2 hours ago
HOUSTON (AP) — Exxon Mobil Corp. reported second-quarter earnings of $11.68 billion Thursday, the biggest profit from operations ever by any U.S. corporation...
...The world's largest publicly traded oil company said net income for the April-June period came to $2.22 a share, up from $10.26 billion, or $1.83 a share, a year ago.
Revenue rose 40 percent to $138.1 billion from $98.4 billion in the year-earlier quarter.
Excluding an after-tax charge of $290 million related to an Exxon Valdez court settlement, earnings amounted to $11.97 billion, or $2.27 per share.
Analysts on average expected Exxon Mobil to earn $2.52 a share on revenue of $144 billion, according to a survey by Thomson Financial. The estimates typically exclude one-time items...
...Setting U.S. profit records has become commonplace for Irving-based Exxon Mobil. The $11.68 billion topped its own U.S. record of $11.66 billion, posted in the fourth quarter of last year. Right behind that was the $10.9 billion it reported to start 2008.
Exxon Mobil owns the record for at least the top six most-profitable quarters for a U.S. company, as well as the largest annual profit....
...For the first six months of 2008, Exxon Mobil said it earned $22.57 billion, or $4.25 a share, from $19.54 billion, or $3.45 a share, in the first half of 2007. Revenue rose to $254.9 billion from $185.5 billion...
Sen. Stevens indicted: 7 false statements counts
By Lara Jakes Jordan – 2 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican senator and a figure in Alaska politics since before statehood, was indicted Tuesday on seven counts of failing to disclose thousands of dollars in services he received from a company that helped renovate his home.
The first sitting U.S. senator to face federal indictment since 1993, Stevens has been dogged by a federal investigation into his home renovation project and his dealings with wealthy oil contractors.
The investigation has upended Alaska state politics and cast scrutiny on Stevens — who is running for re-election this year — and on his congressional colleague, Rep. Don Young of Alaska, who is also under investigation...
...Matthew Friedrich, chief of the Justice Department's criminal division, said prosecutors followed the department's policy to keep politics out of the decision-making process.
"We bring cases based on our evaluation of the facts and the law," Friedrich said. "We bring cases when they are ready to be charged and that's what happened here."
Prosecutors said Stevens received more than $250,000 in gifts and services from VECO Corp., a powerful oil services contractor, and its executives. From May 1999 to August 2007...
...Justice Department said Stevens will not be arrested and will be allowed to turn himself in...
...Under Senate rules, Tuesday's indictment will require Stevens to give up his post as senior Republican on the Appropriations Committee...
...Prosecutors said Stevens "took multiple steps to continue" receiving things from oil services company VECO Corp., and its founder, Bill Allen. At the time, the indictment says, Allen and other VECO employees were soliciting Stevens for "multiple official actions ...
...The Justice Department has closely followed that money, looking for where it intersects with the senator's son, Ben.
A lobbyist and former state senator, Ben Stevens was paid as a consultant for many in the fishing industry who benefited from legislation his father drafted. When Ted Stevens created a $30 million marketing fund for Alaska seafood, Ben Stevens helped decide which companies got the money. Some were his clients.
Ben Stevens also had financial ties to a company that stood to make millions off a piece of federal legislation his father wrote...
And for all our Republican friends this video is dedicated to you...
