Censored Whig Letters

Cryor elicits enthusiastic praise

Savvy politically, he plans to build on Lierman’s gains

by Douglas Tallman

Gazette Staff Writer
May 25, 2007
Nobody doesn’t like Michael C. Cryor.
In line to become Maryland’s next Democratic Party chairman, Cryor has a number of friends who have stepped up to shower praise.

‘’He’s smart, he’s nice, he’s wonderful with people, he’s a hard worker. He’s everything you could want in a friend and an extraordinary person,” said Michael Barnes, a former congressman. Cryor was the campaign manager for Barnes’ 1986 U.S. Senate bid
http://www.gazette.net/stories/052507/polinew02247_32420.shtml

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Maryland revamps minority program

Firms may have been improperly certified for state contracts

By Meredith Cohn
Sun reporter
May 25, 2007

Maryland Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari said yesterday that he has revamped the leadership of the Minority Business Enterprise Program to bring it “more accountability and transparency” after complaints and a recent audit highlighted troubles with the state office.

Porcari had determined that some companies might have been improperly certified for the program that aims to bolster companies run by women and minorities. He has said that one company was approved through a “cynical manipulation” of the process.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-te.bz.minority25may25,1,1132926,print.story?coll=bal-home-headlines

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Franchot asks big oil to explain pricing

Margie Hyslop
Gazette
May 25, 2007
Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot is asking oil companies to explain how they set zone pricing and asking state inspectors to take gasoline storage tank temperatures in an effort to make sure customers are getting a fair shake at the pump.
http://www.gazette.net/stories/052507/polinew02356_32434.shtml

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Reporters Notebook: Shoe drops! Harris is going after Gilchrest’s job!
Gazette
May 25, 2007
Annapolis’ worst kept secret became official Thursday. Andy Harris has formed an exploratory committee to run against Wayne Gilchrest, the moderate Eastern Shore Republican who has come under fire for not sticking to party-line votes on the Iraq war.
Down in front
Like father, like son-in-law, sorta.
Head headhunter?
http://www.gazette.net/stories/052507/polinew02336_32426.shtml

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Md. poised to grant DP benefits to state workers Gay
Union proposal expected to win O’Malley’s support

By Joshua Lynsen
Washington Blade
Friday, May 25, 2007

Maryland could soon join a growing list of states that offer domestic partnership benefits to government employees.

Dan Furmansky, executive director of Equality Maryland, and state Sen. Rich Madaleno said this week that Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley would support union efforts to win such benefits in the next state workers’ contract.
http://www.washblade.com/2007/5-25/news/localnews/10646.cfm

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Gansler asked to review Central Booking process

Luke Broadwater, The Examiner
2007-05-25

BALTIMORE - Gov. Martin O’Malley has requested a “formal opinion” from the Attorney General over whether Baltimore prosecutors should have first crack at determining the viability of police charges.

O’Malley is taking issue with what he calls an unusual practice of Baltimore prosecutors, instead of a court commissioner, initially reviewing police statements of probable cause at the Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Facility and determining whether the cases are legally sufficient to proceed. The result, O’Malley says, is a public perception that officers never had ample probable cause when making an arrest.
http://www.examiner.com/printa-747285~Gansler_asked_to_review_Central_Booking_process.html

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State penalizing coal power plants

In reversal of past policy, Constellation Energy is fined

By Tom Pelton
Sun Reporter
May 25, 2007
In a major shift, Gov. Martin O’Malley’s environmental agency has decided to enforce air pollution rules at coal-fired power plants that were routinely ignored under past administrations.

The Maryland Department of the Environment announced yesterday a settlement with Constellation Energy that will impose $100,000 in penalties and require $9 million in pollution control equipment at its H. A. Wagner and Brandon Shores power plants in Anne Arundel County, and the C. P. Crane power plant in eastern Baltimore County.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.constellation25may25,1,6153886,print.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

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BGE fallout won’t hurt O’Malley

GOP sees rate hike as rallying cry in 2010

by C. Benjamin Ford and Alan Brody
Gazette Staff Writers
May 25, 2007
The BGE rate increase is unlikely to generate much political heat for Gov. Martin O’Malley, observers say, even though he made fighting it a campaign issue last year.

‘’Short of being able to eliminate it altogether, he was going to be subject to some criticism,” said former state senator Philip C. Jimeno (D).
http://www.gazette.net/stories/052507/polinew02309_32421.shtml

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Slot machine opponents brace for fight with state leaders

O’Malley, Miller back machines to offset deficit

By Jennifer Skalka
Sun reporter
May 25, 2007

Members of a Maryland coalition against slot machine gambling are girding themselves for their toughest fight yet - a potential battle with Democratic state leaders weighing all solutions to the state’s looming $1.5 billion budget shortfall.

Joined by their highest-ranking advocate, Comptroller Peter Franchot, Stop Slots Maryland advocates gathered at an Annapolis-area church yesterday to resume their push to block gambling. Leaders said they
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-md.slots25may25,1,7720990,print.story?coll=bal-sports-horse

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O’Malley urges graduates to change society

Governor lauds Anne Arundel Community College for its diversity and inclusion

By Jamie Stiehm
Sun reporter
May 25, 2007

Gov. Martin O’Malley, in his first commencement speech as governor, told more than 1,400 graduates at Anne Arundel Community College last night that the country and the world are waiting - and counting on them to move society forward.

In a keynote speech that began with a light confession - that “Navy and Johns Hopkins [University] didn’t invite me” - O’Malley praised community colleges as “where America goes to college … very much like a community garden of opportunity.”
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/education/bal-md.omalley25may25,1,6601086,print.story?coll=bal-education-top

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O’Malley, archbishop open new facility

Rita Chappelle, The Examiner
2007-05-25
BALTIMORE - It was a simple meal between fellow Catholics, one the archbishop of Baltimore, the other then-Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley, that would give rise to a center with a sole mission to change the lives of men.

With a closing prayer, the two pledged to pool their combined contacts and resources to build the country’s only comprehensive resource center designed to elevate men out of poverty, provide job training and placement services, and house and feed them until they reach their goals.

On Thursday, both men were there to officially open Catholic Charities’ Our Daily Bread Employment Center at 725 Fallsway.
http://www.examiner.com/printa-747297~O’Malley,_archbishop_open_new_facility.html?cid=tool-print

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THE OTHER GUYS

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Ehrlich says BGE electric rate hike should come as no surprise
The Associated Press
2007-05-25
BALTIMORE - Former Gov. Robert Ehrlich said Thursday that no one should be surprised that state regulators could not avoid a 50 percent electric rate hike for Baltimore Gas & Electric residential customers.

“Everyone knew this was coming,” Ehrlich said, adding that “anybody who thought anything to the contrary was just fooling themselves.”
http://www.examiner.com/printa-747076~Ehrlich_says_BGE_electric_rate_hike_should_come_as_no_surprise.html?cid=tool-print

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Balto. Co. Republican eyes challenge to Gilchrest

Sen. Andrew Harris says he is ‘more in step’ with district than incumbent

The Associated Press
May 25, 2007,
Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, Maryland’s longest-serving Republican congressman, could see a primary challenge next year from a state lawmaker who calls himself more of a “mainstream Republican.”
Sen. Andrew Harris, R-Baltimore County, announced today that he was likely to mount a primary challenge to the 17-year incumbent.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-gilchrest0524,1,7438126,print.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

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Republican eyeing primary challenge of Gilchrest

The Associated Press
2007-05-24

ANNAPOLIS, Md. Maryland’s longest-serving Republican congressman could see a primary challenge next year from a state lawmaker who calls himself a more “mainstream Republican” than Rep. Wayne Gilchrest.

Sen. Andrew Harris, R-Baltimore County, announced Thursday that he would likely mount a primary challenge to the 17-year incumbent.
http://www.examiner.com/printa-746546~Republican_eyeing_primary_challenge_of_Gilchrest.html?cid=tool-print

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Harris Launches Fundraising For Congressional Bid; Bartlett Gets Challenger
Thursday, May 24, 2007 - WBAL Radio’s Robert Lang and The Associated Press

Baltimore County State Senator Andy Harris is taking a major step towards challenging incumbent first district Republican Congressman Wayne Gilchrest.

Harris today formed an exploratory committee to run for Congress. This means legally, he can raise money for a Congressional run.
Former Cumberland Mayor To Challenge Bartlett
http://wbal.com/stories/anmviewer.asp?a=58271&print=yes

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Republican state lawmakers backing Harris over Gilchrest

Len Lazarick, The Examiner
2007-05-25
Annapolis - Five Republican state senators, the House of Delegates GOP leader and former Gov. Robert Ehrlich’s top fundraiser all are lining up to support Sen. Andy Harris’ bid to unseat Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, the nine-term congressman in the 1st Congressional District.

Gilchrest, a moderate Republican and Vietnam War veteran, has long had opposition from the conservative wing of his party, but his recent votes to join Democrats in setting a timetable for a pullout in Iraq have infuriated members of his party.
http://www.examiner.com/printa-747296~Republican_state_lawmakers_backing_Harris_over_Gilchrest.html

Just Say “Hell NO!” To More Unfair Free Trade Deals

It looks like the House Democratic leadership simply did not get the message in the last election. Working Americans want no part of more falsely named “free trade” deals. This is absolutely not an issue where grassroots Democrats want our elected representatives compromising with the Republicans. We want an immediate change in direction concerning trade policy.

Democratic members of Congress will face primary challengers if they go along with the rape of the American economy by Corporate forces. Our nation has lost over 3 million manufacturing jobs since Bush seized control of the White House.

Republicans seem to think that military power is what makes American the strongest nation in the world. The fact is that our economy is what makes us the strongest nation on the planet. It is our economy which makes our large military possible. If our manufacturing base is not restored quickly, our nation will eventually cease being militarily dominant.

Military power alone is certainly limited in what it can achieve in terms of foreign policy. The disaster in Iraq should have made that clear to any person with even half a brain. America cannot rely solely on military power and remain the greatest nation on the earth.

Our current trade policies are simply crazy. Middle class Americans are not going to be able to afford the flood of cheap imported goods without good jobs. The jobs are flowing to other nations because of decisions made by politicians and the corporate executives who bought them with campaign donations.

Because our nation is the last major economic power to have government provided national health care, our manufacturers are at an extreme disadvantage in trade competition. We stick our companies with the health care costs of their employees along with their families. This is an insane position to be in under so-called “free trade” conditions. We are at an extreme disadvantage in competition with all the other industrialized nations because of our health care policies.

Wages rates put us in an equally bad position concerning trade with poor, Third World nations. This mania for “free trade” agreements is lowering wage levels for most citizens. Only the economic elites running corporations are seeing economic benefits. They are profiting obscenely by intentionally gutting the economic health of the nation. They are intentionally destroying the American middle class.

Democratic members of Congress better get the message immediately. The same message applies to Congressional Republicans but they are less likely to see the light.

If the Democratic leadership does not reverse course and stop playing ball with the Republicans by trying to pass more unfair “free trade” agreements, they will be replaced. This writer has always been a militant supporter of the Democratic Party. I will be actively campaigning against any Congressional Democrat who does not fight against this “free trade” mania.

All so-called “free trade” agreements passed since NAFTA should be either renegotiated or repealed. The same applies to NAFTA. If the Democratic leadership does not adopt this approach, they cannot expect to remain in office much less in the majority.

Written by Stephen Crockett (co-host of Democratic Talk Radio http://www.DemocraticTalkRadio.com ). Mail: P.O. Box 283, Earleville, Maryland 21919. Phone: 443-907-2367. Email: midsouthcm@aol.com .

Feel free to publish without prior approval.

Labor Opposes Bush-Congress Trade Deal
May 21st, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 11, 2007

http://www.changetowin.org/for-the-media/press-releases-and-statements/labor-opposes-bush-congress-trade-deal.html

CONTACT: TJ Michels
(202) 721-6061
tj.michels@changetowin.org

The following is a statement by Anna Burger, Chair of Change to Win:

WASHINGTON DC — “On behalf of the six million members of Change to Win unions and its Leadership Council, we are disappointed that House Democratic leaders joined with the Bush Administration yesterday to announce a trade deal that is more free than fair.

The agreement does not represent the basis for the type of new U.S. trade policy that this nation desperately needs. Despite improvements in labor and environmental standards, workers remain at risk because the proposal fails to address how to protect U.S. jobs or create new ones. It undermines our prevailing wage and Buy America laws. And it hands foreign firms operating here more privileges over U.S. companies. For working America, that is not a deal.

Quick policy fixes won’t help workers achieve the American Dream in the 21st century– they need a whole new trade model equipped to meet the realities of today’s global economy.

Without significant changes, this agreement opens the door for subsequent harmful trade policies that resemble NAFTA/CAFTA – trade deals that have led to the loss of millions of good jobs at home, a surge in undocumented immigration, the soaring trade deficit, declining wages, and a deterioration of labor standards.

Change to Win stands for fair trade that promotes prosperity at home and abroad so that workers can achieve the American Dream in an era of globalization. Fair trade helps create standards that will stimulate development, protect and create new U.S. jobs, and maintain high wage standards around the globe – the Peru/Panama trade agreement falls far short of this.

It’s time for an alternative approach to this current failed model. We call on Congress to get back to work craft meaningful policies in current and future trade negotiations. We need to ensure that workers, not just corporations and CEOs, fairly share in the benefits of today’s global economy.”

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Related:

See the ad Change to Win ran in Roll Call’s May 14 issue (PDF format)
http://www.changetowin.org/fileadmin/pdf/roll_call.051407.pdf

Statement by Teamsters General President James Hoffa on this issue
http://www.teamster.org/07news/nr_070511_1.asp

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About Change to Win

Seven unions and six million workers united in Change to Win to build a new movement of working people equipped to meet the challenges of the global economy and restore the American Dream in the 21st century: a paycheck that can support a family, affordable health care, a secure retirement and dignity on the job. The seven partner unions are: International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Laborers’ International Union of North America, Service Employees International Union, UNITE HERE, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, United Farm Workers of America, and United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.

May 13, 2007

Tax-and-spend GOP plays blame game

By Terry Lierman

It was amusing to read the opinion of James Pelura (April 28) in The Herald-Mail and discover how quickly he changed his mind since the end of the recent Maryland General Assembly session. Back then, he gave Republicans and Democrats in Annapolis an “A” for their work. Now, state lawmakers only get an “incomplete” from the Republican Party chair. If his partisan message of the day is based on budget and tax issues, I ask where we might find his party’s tough fiscal approach during the last four years with a “tax and spend” Republican governor.

First, let’s correct some of Pelura’s misleading statements. It was Gov. Bob Ehrlich who gave Maryland taxpayers their first $30 billion budget, while his fellow Republicans remained silent. He ridicules the state for hiring “new positions” and fails to mention those positions are mostly correctional officers. Apparently, making our state prisons safer and more secure is not a Republican priority. Nobody knows how Pelura fantasized a general-fund spending increase of “9 percent” when Gov. Martin O’Malley and the General Assembly crafted a balanced budget that restricts growth below the rate of inflation.

Those are the facts. Given what Pelura wrote, I fear the mean-spirited days of Ehrlich’s “inside-the beltway” partisanship are not behind us, despite Democratic efforts to do just that, with several Republican lawmakers confirming as much on the record.

It’s odd for Pelura to complain about a state budget that met with the approval of most Republicans, including those representing Western Maryland. If the budget was so bad, why did nearly 90 percent of Republican lawmakers vote for it?

A little history and perspective are needed so we know where we are today. Ehrlich’s last budget contained a whopping 12.4 percent increase in spending that capped a four-year, 32 percent growth in government. That’s faster and larger than any governor in recent history. Every Ehrlich budget had to be cut by Democrats, because every year he failed to abide by Maryland’s spending affordability guidelines.

In contrast, the budget that Republicans and Democrats overwhelmingly approved this year rose by only 2.1 percent. It funds the priorities - education, transportation, public safety and the environment. It is well within the affordability guidelines.

Additionally, O’Malley agreed with former Gov. Ehrlich and used $800 million in reserve funds to balance the budget. It is the same $800 million the Ehrlich administration told the General Assembly it would spend if Ehrlich had not been defeated. Pelura now calls Ehrlich’s plan “irresponsible.” Yet that step helped the General Assembly pass a prudent budget without raising taxes - something the Ehrlich administration never accomplished.

Moreover, I see a real disconnect when looking at the voting records of Western Maryland Republican legislators. They all supported the Ehrlich administration on virtually everything he did. That includes an astonishing $3 billion in tax hikes that he imposed on every middle-class working family and small business in Maryland. To be technically correct, that’s $3 billion in increased taxes, fees and tolls. But remember, it was Republicans who once proudly proclaimed fees and tolls are taxes.

These Republicans sided with Ehrlich to give us a state property tax hike of 58 percent, a car-tax hike of 58 percent (66 percent for trucks and SUVs), a 300 percent increase in business filing fees and the new “flush tax.” They also helped turn the Motor Vehicle Administration into a “revenue machine” with higher fees and fines, as well.

Astonishingly, Republicans now say they had a better plan for the 2007-2008 state budget. Given their track record, one response to that weak claim might be: “Too little, too late.”

What did Republicans want to do? Their “plan” was to cut hundreds of millions from your schools, roads, prisons and local governments and increase college tuitions by 12 percent at a time when the cost of higher education (increased by 40 percent under Ehrlich) in Maryland is being stabilized.

Given the $6 billion structural deficit left behind by Ehrlich, Maryland’s government faces tough fiscal challenges. But as anyone can see by examining the real budget numbers, new leadership at the top has meant real budget discipline, not the same old misrepresentations.

With his pragmatic and practical approach to budget issues, O’Malley has earned the time he requested to find the savings and fix the failures of his predecessor. Maybe the “tax and spend” Republicans should let him do his job before crying gloom and doom over the mess their silence and compliance helped to create.

Terry Lierman is chair of the Maryland Democratic Party.

http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=165404&format=html

May 15, 2007

Make port security a funding priority

I am very concerned about the priorities the Bush administration betrays by reducing Homeland Security Department funding to the port of Baltimore (”Port funds cut 60%,” May 10).

When my freshman class of the General Assembly took a tour of the port in 2003, we were informed that just under 2 percent of incoming international cargo was searched or checked.

I was aghast - 2 percent. But we were assured by the former state administration that it was going to use increased homeland security funds to improve this statistic.

Despite Martin O’Malley’s five-year crusade, first as mayor of Baltimore and now as governor, to increase port security, the only statistic that seems to be changing is funding - and federal security funding for Baltimore’s port is being cut 60 percent this year.

Because Baltimore has the largest roll-on, roll-off port in the East and the 14th-largest international cargo port in the country, we need to re-examine the security of our waterways.

Unscreened cargo could be an easy vehicle of national devastation, and Baltimore’s port could be a vulnerable target.

I think it is time for the Bush administration to rethink its position on port security funding.

Jon Cardin
Annapolis

The writer represents the 11th District in the Maryland House of Delegates.

How many U.S. workers does it take to make a light bulb

http://www.local212.com/?zone=/unionactive/view_article.cfm&homeID=58049

by James Parks, May 12, 2007

How many U.S. workers does it take to make a light bulb? If General Electric has its way, the answer is none. GE, the company that was built on Thomas Edison’s light bulbs, is putting workers and consumers in a position of having to choose whether they want to save the environment or save U.S. jobs.

GE is promoting new, energy-saving bulbs known as compact fluorescents, or CFLs, which are made in China. These bulbs last longer and use less energy than the typical incandescent bulbs found in most U.S. homes—but they can cost up to 10 times as much.

If GE has its way, it will no longer manufacture light bulbs in the United States. Since 1980, employment in GE lighting plants in this country has dropped by 68 percent. If everyone switched to the Chinese-made CFL bulbs, all U.S. plants would close.

Instead of letting GE make all the profits and send jobs to China, GE’s workers, who are represented by 13 unions http://www.geworkersunited.org/about/member-unions/ , have launched a “Screw That Bulb” campaign http://files.cwa-union.org/GEWorkersUnited/Materials/cbc_news_0704.pdf . They are mobilizing to save the environment and their jobs.

Environmentally sustainable technology was supposed to stimulate our economy, not lead to more jobs in China, they say. But GE is refusing to invest in the advanced technology needed to produce the bulbs here so U.S. workers can have a future.

You can take action and help save U.S. jobs and the environment. Sign the “Screw That Bulb” petition http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/screwthatbulb asking GE to manufacture green bulbs in U.S. plants. Workers and consumers shouldn’t have to choose between a green environment or a pink slip for America’s workers.

Al Gore is Back with His Unfiltered Call to Returning Sanity and Integrity to the United States Government.

Pre-Order Al Gore’s “The Assault on Reason” (Hardcover) — Shipping on or Around May 22
By Al Gore
BuzzFlash.com’s Review (excerpt)
Remember when Al Gore gave a series of “truth to power” speeches hosted by moveon.org?

Well, he’s back.

No, he hasn’t given up his global warming crusade, but he has returned to the fundamental ailments that face America — particularly in regards to our current rogue government.

We haven’t read this book yet. It’s under tight wraps.

But here is what the publisher has to say: “An indictment of the Bush-led radical Right’s disdain for the principles of reasoned decision-making, and a reckoning with the degradation of the public sphere that facilitates their rule of unreason.”

Ah, music to our ears, President Al, music to our ears.

By the way, the complete title for the book is “The Assault on Reason: How the Politics of Fear, Secrecy, and Blind Faith Subvert Wise Decision-Making, Degrade Our Democracy, and Put Our Country and Our World in Peril.”
Read The Full Review >>>
http://www.buzzflash.com/store/reviews/598

Other Reviews
Is this trenchant analysis a precursor to a run to claim the White House that was stolen from him, or is it just more wisdom from a man unfettered by the constraints of high-priced consultants who urge caution and centrist policies? Because clearly, Al Gore is a rarity in politics, a person who went to the mountain top and came back a changed man. He found his voice, and is one of the most uncommon of political figures: one worth listening to.

– BuzzFlash.com
Learn More >>>
http://www.buzzflash.com/store/items/598

Bill backs workers, unions and supports democracy Employers now can intimidate workers who try to unionize, and labor has little recourse
(http://www.suntimes.com/news/otherviews/382217,CST-EDT-REF12.article)

May 12, 2007

BY JAMES WOLFINGER
In the recent debate over the Employee Free Choice Act, Vice President Dick Cheney and other opponents of the bill have shown a fine ability with political language. These commentators wield words and phrases such as “democracy,” “free choice” and “fairness.” They warn the American people that the legislation will dangerously tip the balance of power to that bogey of the right, “big labor,” while robbing workers of their cherished democratic right to a secret ballot by forcing them to accept a card check system.

Such arguments are nonsense. For most of America’s history, working people were denied their democratic rights not by unions but by employers and federal and state governments that used court injunctions and violence to suppress workers’ attempts to organize. Only in the mid-1930s, with passage of the National Labor Relations Act, did the federal government finally recognize workers’ right to form a union. That law, passed in the midst of the Depression, was based on the assumption that the economy would function more smoothly if workers had the right to form voluntary associations. Not only would there be fewer strikes and thus less violence perpetrated by company thugs, but unions would also help redistribute the nation’s wealth, closing the gap between the rich and the working class and thus creating more consumers to fuel economic growth.

That system, in which workers had some real power on the shop floor, worked remarkably well, making America the most productive and richest nation in the world. Unions made sure the bedrock industries of the economy — steel, autos, rubber, and so on — paid their workers decent wages and provided them with critical benefits such as medical insurance, retirement plans and paid vacation. With unions having more power, the distribution of the nation’s income became more equitable in the mid-20th century, and that helped more Americans join the consumer economy and the middle class.

All that, sadly, has changed as conservatives have rewritten labor law to favor employers, and judges have interpreted those laws to restrict labor’s rights. Employers today can intimidate or even fire workers who try to unionize, and labor has little recourse. As unions have grown weaker, it is no surprise that study after study shows the growth of management pay and benefits far outstripping the gains of working people. Rather than moving toward a society of hope, opportunity and equality, Americans today worry about a shrinking middle class and the evaporation of access to medical insurance and adequate retirement plans.

Now with the Democrats in control of Congress, the country has an opportunity to level the playing field once again, and this makes employers nervous. They have driven unionization rates down from 20 percent to 12 percent in the last generation, and the Employee Free Choice Act threatens to reverse that trend. So when you hear commentators preach about how this legislation undermines democracy by moving from a secret ballot to a card check system, keep two things in mind. First, workers still have the right to refuse to join a union, and surely it is easier to fight off the pressure of a fellow worker than the threats of a boss. Second, equating democratic rights to the secret ballot is a breathtakingly narrow understanding of democracy. Sure, the secret ballot matters, but so does the right to form voluntary associations without fear of reprisal and the right to have representation in the workplace, especially at the bargaining table. These rights create at least some sense of equality in the workplace and help even out the distribution of income, which creates a more prosperous economy.

Unions, I think, offer a broader conception of democracy, one with an economic and a political dimension, and almost all Americans should support that. If the Employee Free Choice Act makes organized labor stronger, and few people doubt that it does, then Americans who believe in a broader vision of democracy should strongly support the bill.

James Wolfinger is assistant professor of history and education at DePaul University.

Organized Labor Is Alive and Well

Organized labor is alive and well in Pennsylvania! Despite much of the prevailing gloom about the future of the labor movement in media pundit circles, the hopeful future of organized labor was apparent during a recent visit by this writer to the Lehigh Valley region (Allentown, Bethlehem, Northampton) of eastern Pennsylvania.

Much of the doom and gloom over the future of unions in America comes from the decline in the percentage of American workers represented by unions. Some pundits see the decline as resulting from a lack of energy by the workers seeking to unionize their places of employment and the union leadership. Some of these pundits are intentionally seeking to malign the union movement by spreading corporate disinformation. Others are just poorly informed.

The decline in union numbers really has two mutually related roots. They are changes in laws, government regulations and government enforcement efforts that tilt the union election system heavily in favor of the companies fighting their workers. The second is unfair trade policies. The first issue can easily be corrected by passing the Employee Free Choice Act. The second issue will require extensive efforts to renegotiate or repeal all so-called free trade agreements passed since (and including) NAFTA.

My trip to the Lehigh Valley started with the annual Lehigh Valley Central Labor Council dinner in Northampton. Over 315 union activists, political figures and civic leaders attended the event. Among the union locals that were represented include; UFCW Local 1776, USW Local 2599 and 412, IBEW Local 375 and 1600, Laborers Local 1174, AIM Local 917, PSEA, AFSCME District Council 88, and Local 1435, Teamsters Local 773, Berks County Labor Council, Schuylkill County Labor Council, CWA District 13 and Local 13500, IAFF Local 735, SEIU/PSSu Local 668, USW District Council 1, APWU, IUPAT Local 1269, NALC, Allentown Firefighters, ATU and OPEIU 277.

Elected officials attending included; Pennsylvania AFL-CIO president Bill George, Keynote speaker and Pennsylvania Representative Joseph Preston 24th District, Lehigh County Executive Don Cunningham, Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski and State Senator Lisa Boscola. Pennsylvania State Representatives, Jennifer Mann, Bob Freeman, Steve Samuelson and Joe Brennan were in attendance and recognized by all involved.

Allentown City Councilman Mike D’Amore, Northampton Mayor Tom Neehock. Northampton and Lehigh County Democratic chairs, Joe Long and Rick Daugherty, Salisbury Township Treasurer Linda Minger , Lehigh County Commissioner Kurt Derr were among the local dignitaries at the CLC event. Northampton County Councilwoman Ann McHale, Northampton County Councilman Charles Dertinger, Northampton County Councilman Lamont Maclure, and Lehigh County Sheriff Ron Rossi were there and recognized from the podium.

Mike D’Amore became on of my new political heroes when I learned that he is trying to get the Allentown City Council to pass a resolution supporting the Employee Free Choice Act. I hope his example of political courage is copied by local politicians from coast to coast!

Other political figures in attendance included political candidates like Allentown City Council hopefuls Peter Schweyer, Mike Donovan and David Jones. Christine Donohue, candidate for superior court judge, attended. Siobhan “Sam” Bennett candidate for 15th Congressional district was working the crowd. IAFF member Rich Gawlik who is a candidate for Lehigh County Commissioner was well-received. Court of Common Pleas candidates, Michelle Varricchio, Tom Lonardo and Glenn Clark, Superior Court candidate Jim Lynn and Bethlehem City Council hopeful Willie Reynolds were campaigning vigorously during the event.

No doubt this writer has unintentionally overlooked some of the notables which should have been mentioned. The large attendance proves that organized labor is not dormant in the Greater Lehigh Valley. The long list of political figures shows that organized labor is politically important in Pennsylvania.

At the event, Ron Achey was presented with a lifetime achievement award for community service. Ron serves as the Labor AFL-CIO liaison for the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley.

Dale Krasley of UAW Local 677/Mack Trucks was presented with the William Werkheiser Community Services award. It was obvious that he was a favorite of all the local unionists present.

Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Bill George gave an excellent, short speech that impressed the audience greatly. It was easy to tell that the crowd was very supportive of President George. George noted that Pennsylvania was having more Worker Memorial Day ceremonies that weekend than every other state in the nation.

He was followed by Pennsylvania State Representative Joseph Preston, who drove in from the western part of the state (Pittsburgh area). Joseph Preston gave an amazing speech. He was able to speak from the heart and shared personal experiences as a union worker and son of a union worker in the steel industry. He talked about worker safety and those who had died on the job. Preston spoke eloquently about how financial decisions by large corporations often place profits over the safety and lives of American workers. He spoke against unfair trade practices and unfair tax structures. Preston brought the applauding crowd to their feet!

It was a great night that spilled over into a very moving tribute to workers killed on the job in the Greater Lehigh Valley the next afternoon at the Lehigh Valley Workers Memorial. This was another Lehigh Valley Central Labor Council event.

The Lehigh Valley Central Labor Council Executive Vice President John Werkheiser and Pete DePietro jointly serve as Chairmen of the Lehigh Valley Workers Memorial Board. Lehigh Valley CLC President Gregg Potter and Recording Secretary John Weiss serve on the board as well. The Workers Memorial Day ceremony was held at the Bethlehem park were the Lehigh Valley Workers Memorial is permanently on display.

At the ceremony, Superior Court Judge Jack Panella was the keynote speaker. He gave a passionate and moving speech about his own family. He spoke about his late father who had a heart attack on the job and had great difficultly getting workers compensation. He passed away shortly after getting his first check.

This writer cannot even begin to recount the tale like Judge Panella. I was so moved that I immediately called my co-host on Democratic Talk Radio, Al Lawrence. We scheduled an interview with Judge Jack Panella which will soon be available on our website at http://www.DemocraticTalkRadio.com . I would like to see Panella in the US Senate!

After the speeches, many of those unionists and political figures present read the names of those who were killed on the job. John Weiss rang a bell after each name was read. He unfortunately rang the bell 784 times this past Sunday for workers who have died on the job in the Lehigh Valley. Each reader placed a flower on the Workers Memorial.

It was a sad ceremony. It was a beautiful ceremony. I thought about all those hurting families there and the thousands more across our nation. I thanked God that we have a vibrant union movement fighting to reduce the number of families that have to feel such pain and loss.

The union movement is alive and well in Pennsylvania. It is fighting vigorously for a better future for all working Americans!

Written by Stephen Crockett (co-host of Democratic Talk Radio http://www.DemocraticTalkRadio.com and union activist). Mail: P.O. Box 283, Earleville, Maryland 21919. Phone: 443-907-2367. Email: midsouthcm@aol.com .

Feel free to publish without prior approval at no cost.

Yuengling Beer Boycott
From Patrick Eiding, President, Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO
http://phillyunions.com/aflcio

On behalf of Teamsters Local Union #830
http://phillyunions.com/teamsters830

PLEASE DO NOT BUY YUENGLING BEER

Why support a company that does not treat their employees fairly?

The Yuengling family and their management team have done the following:

* Held mandatory meetings with threats of plant closure or safety of brewery
* Refused to meet and settle grievances
* Refused to provide Local 830 information requested for negotiations
* Refused to meet with Local 830 to bargain in good faith for a new agreement
* Refused to let Local 830 Representative access to property
* Forced employees to work without a contract since March 2006
* Ignored and broken Labor Laws
* Initiated fear through threats and intimidation
* Our members were not given the right to vote yes or no by secret ballot for continued Union Representation

Teamsters Local Union #830

This appeal is directed to the general public and we are not asking anyone to cease work or to stop making deliveries.

O’Malley Aims to Extend Tuition Freeze
Maryland Briefing
Maryland
Baltimore Sun
May 4, 2007
Gov. Martin O’Malley said yesterday that he would like to extend a tuition freeze on colleges in the University of Maryland system.

O’Malley, a Democrat, met with students at the University of Maryland. He followed through with a campaign promise to cap college tuition.

“By freezing college tuition, improving funding for the University of Maryland and increasing community college spending by 18 percent, we are training tomorrow’s highly educated work force, today,” the governor said in a statement.

Before the tuition cap, the cost of going to college went up 40 percent in three years. The freeze was funded by $16.2 million in general funds.

The state, however, is facing a projected $1.5 billion structural deficit. — Associated Press
Item Complete

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BGE-Constellation relationship concerns officials
by Rita Chappelle,
The Examiner
May 4, 2007
BALTIMORE - With a 50 percent rate increase set for June 1 for Baltimore Gas and Electric customers, state officials have stepped up calls to reregulate BGE and separate it from its parent company, Constellation Energy.
http://www.examiner.com/a-710179~BGE_Constellation_relationship_concerns_officials.html

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Minority office has new head

Pinder leaves; Jenkins returns

by Kevin J. Shay
Gazette Staff Writer
May 4, 2007
After four years, the Governor’s Office of Minority Affairs is getting a new leader. Sharon R. Pinder is being succeeded by Luwanda W. Jenkins, who directed the same office from 1994 to 1997 in the Glendening administration, officials said this week. Jenkins will take over on May 21.
http://www.gazette.net/stories/050407/businew211855_32323.shtml

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PDA Gathers 100 State Leaders and Activists to Discuss Progress in Maryland

By MikeHersh
OpEd News
May 3. 2007

PDA’s Maryland State Organizer Mike Hersh hosted State Democratic Party Chair Terry Lierman, 7 State Legislators, and 3 PDA national leaders to Sabang Restaurant in Wheaton, Maryland for a legislative wrap up and planning town hall meeting May 1.

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/print_friendly.php?p=genera_mikehers_070503_pda_gathers_100_stat.htm