Wall Street's "Socialism When It Suits Us:"
▪  At AFL-CIO Now -- Congress: No blank check on bailout! -- Only a few months ago, the Bush administration repeatedly bashed attempts to expand health insurance to an additional 4 million children, saying the $35 billion involved was too much to spend. But now Bush is rushing to ram through a $700 billion corporate bailout -- new estimates put the figure at up to $1.8 trillion -- for companies whose greed outpaced their brains and plunged our nation into a financial debacle.
▪  In today's Kansas City Stay -- Union leader urges protection for Americans losing jobs, homes -- Any bailout of Wall Street must include regulations against excessive CEO pay and protections for working Americans losing their homes and jobs, says AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.
▪  In today's NY Times -- Experts see need for punitive action in bailout -- Doubt arises from the fact that the rescue is being sold as a must-have emergency measure by an administration with a controversial record when it comes to asking Congress for special authority in time of duress.
▪  In today's NY Times -- Retirees filling the front line in market fears -- Older Americans are among the hardest hit by the turmoil in the financial markets and have the least opportunity to recover.
▪  In today's Washington Post -- Bailout of bonanza? (Robinson column) -- The uber-capitalists of Wall Street are all socialists now. Free- market ideology, it turns out, doesn't pay the mortgage. That appears to be a job for, ahem, Big Government.

National news:
▪  In today's Chicago Sun-Times -- Help workers by strengthening collective bargaining (op-ed) -- The Employee Free Choice Act would probably change Americans' lives more than any legislation since the New Deal brought us Social Security. The political influence of millions of new union members would also bring us closer to such basic reforms as universal health care. 
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- It's time to choose a side in health care game (op-ed) -- We need to know the truth if we are to trust the insurance companies to be honest about their practices, to put the needs of patients before profits and to treat consumers fairly. Sad to say, it is becoming clear we won't get straight answers from private insurance companies such as Regence BlueShield.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2008
Have YOU been purged? Oct. 1 is Guarantee Your Vote Day

The following press release has been distributed by America in Solidarity. For more information, visit www.GuaranteeYourVote.com:

Unbeknownst to them, tens of thousands of voters across the country have had their names purged from voter files. Most will not find this out until Election Day on November 4th, when it will be too late to reregister to vote in the crucial 2008 election. Dozens of advocacy groups, organizations and elected officials are calling for voters across the country to check with their state auditors and local elections officials on October 1st to insure that they are eligible to vote.

The fundamental cornerstone of democracy is the right to vote, yet millions of Americans may have their rights suppressed as overzealous election officials are bending and breaking election laws to deny a vote to newly registered voters and especially, minority communities. Just recently:

• Republican party officials in Michigan plan on challenging the voting rights of those whose homes have recently foreclosed, of which 60% are African-American

• Wisconsin’s Attorney General, recently sued the state’s election board to try to remove 20% of the registered voters in this critical swing state

• In Virginia, another battleground state, the AFL-CIO reported that election officials deliberately tried to confuse student voters about where they are eligible to register and vote.

In Ohio in 2006, 303,000 voters were purged in three major urban counties while last month, 600,000 additional voters were threatened to be removed from voter files. After irregularities have challenged the validity and integrity of voter’s intentions in 2000 and 2004, measures must be taken to guarantee every vote will be counted on Election Day. Most states have 14 or 30 day registration requirement, our October 1st call to action allows voters to reregister if their names have been purged.

On October 1st, we will be asking all participating organizations to send an “alert” email to their contacts asking them to contact their county or state elections departments to verify the validity of their right to vote.

“Let’s not allow 2008 to mirror the widespread shenanigans that we have experienced across this country since 2000,” said Todd Iverson, president of America In Solidarity. “Every vote in Ohio, every vote in Florida and every vote in every state should count. Let’s have this election decided by the people not by machines, dirty tricks or voter witchhunts.”

A growing list of organizations, church groups and elected officials are participating. Bloggers, candidates and media outlets will be contacted to help spread the word about October 1st as National “Guarantee Your Vote” Day.

Information about how to contact elections officials along with links and stories about voter suppression will be available at www.guaranteeyourvote.com

For more information or to schedule an interview, contact either:

Todd Iverson at 253-219-8717 or todd@americasolidarity.org

Mike Collier at 253-627-0129 or pgtsndr@yahoo.com

Copyright © ^{2008 --  Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO}