LABOR
Putting The Screws On Workers

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) -- a bill authored by Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) and signed into law by President Clinton in 1993 -- grants eligible workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year in case of a serious health condition, or to care for a new child or sick family member. The law protects an employee's job during such an absence and provides various benefit and privacy protections. For nearly fifteen years, the law has made it easier for over 50 million American workers to provide a better balance between work, health, and family life. The FMLA currently allows employees up to two days after the beginning of a shift to notify their employers of their intention to claim time off. But the Labor Department recently proposed changes to the law that would add restrictions to the FLMA -- provisions benefiting employers and making it more difficult for workers to take advantage of the law. Some of the proposed changes include requiring workers to notify their bosses in advance when taking non-emergency leave, allowing employers to require "fitness-for-duty" evaluations for those who took FMLA time off, requiring employees to obtain medical certifications of their illnesses every year, and allowing businesses to exclude workers who took FMLA time from perfect attendance awards.

EMPLOYEES NEED MORE PROTECTIONS: Even if the Labor Department's proposals -- which some businesses regard as welcome news -- are not adopted, the FMLA needs to expand in order to cover more American workers and to provide increased benefits. As it currently stands, the FMLA does not apply to businesses employing fewer than 50 people, a provision that allows the exclusion of nearly 40 million America workers from the law. Millions more are excluded because of rules not covering part-time workers and those who have not worked for their present employer for over one year. Yet "while unpaid leave has helped millions of families, there is little question that many employees have been unable to take time to care for a new child or an ill loved one because they cannot afford the lost pay." Indeed, a study released last year by Harvard University and McGill University found that the United States lags "far behind virtually all wealthy countries with regard to family-oriented workplace policies" such as maternity leave and paid sick days. According to the study, the United States is one of just five countries out of 173 "that does not guarantee some form of paid maternity leave." Expanding the FMLA is necessary because nearly "half of all full-time private sector workers (and three quarters of low-wage workers) in the U.S. get no paid sick days." Businesses also suffer in productivity and other workers face health risks when sick employees are forced to go to work. In fact, expanding employee benefits has overwhelming support: "95 percent of the public thinks it is unacceptable for employers to not provide paid sick leave" while "60 percent think it is illegal."

CONGRESS RESPONDS: House, Education, and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA) has said that the Labor Department proposal tightening the FMLA "clearly benefits employers at the expense of workers." Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, has also criticized the proposals, saying they "will make it more difficult for workers to use this leave when they need it" and "impose burdensome new paperwork requirements on both workers and heath providers." Hearings on the Labor Department's proposals will be held this week in both the House and Senate. The National Journal notes that, under a new administration, Congress "could do away" with the Labor Department rule change proposals in "early in 2009 under the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to withdraw regulations within 60 session days after they are published."

CALIFORNIA LEADS THE WAY: On July 1, 2004, California's Paid Family Leave (PFL) Law went into effect. The law is a 100 percent employee-funded provision that provides workers in that state "with a maximum of six weeks of partial pay [55% of wages up to a maximum of $882 per week] each year while taking time off from work to bond with a newborn baby, newly adopted or foster child, or to care for a seriously ill parent, child, spouse or registered domestic partner." While five other states have proposed similar bills to provide some form of paid leave, California is currently the only state mandating comprehensive paid family leave. Nearly 85% of California adult residents in every segment of the population support paid family leave, and one survey of California businesses found that more workers returned to their jobs where employers offered leave benefits beyond what is required.

Under the Radar

CONGRESS -- TOM LANTOS, ONLY HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR IN CONGRESS, PASSES AWAY: Yesterday, Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and "the only Holocaust survivor ever to serve in Congress," died at the age of 80 from cancer of the esophagus. Lantos, who announced in January that he would retire next year at the end of his 14th term, was an ardent supporter of human rights who founded and co-chaired the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. During his brief time as chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Lantos used his position  to make "a number of bold steps," such as demanding "that the government of Japan apologize for wartime sex slavery by its military and declaring Turkey's mass killing of Armenians in World War I an act of genocide." Lantos was so devoted to human rights that "in 2006, he was among several members of Congress willingly arrested for protesting outside the Sudanese Embassy in Washington to denounce the government's role in the killings in Darfur." "Tom Lantos devoted his life to shining a bright light on dark corners of oppression," said Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in a statement. When Lantos passed away yesterday, "he was surrounded by his wife, two daughters, and many of his 18 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren."

MILITARY -- BUSH'S 2009 BUDGET IS A WINDFALL FOR DEFENSE CONTRACTORS: Last week, President Bush submitted his $515.4 billion defense spending budget for FY '09. Contained within that budget is a windfall for defense contractors -- "$104.2 billion for weapons procurement and nearly $80 billion for research and development." This budget is 7.5 percent higher than the current year's. Even defense experts are surprised at how generous the Bush administration is willing to be with the taxpayers' money, in light of a faltering economy and deep cuts to domestic programs. One defense analyst said, "[I]t has surprised everyone to see how long this increase has continued. This budget was a great budget for all defense contractors." The military, however, is pushing for even more funding than what the administration has requested. It has dispatched "legions of lobbyists and defense contractors" to Capitol Hill to push for approval. Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and James Inhofe (R-OK), for example, have taken up the military's quest for more F-22 fighter planes, even though Defense Secretary Robert Gates has deemed more of these useless planes unnecessary. A 2007 report by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform found that between 2000 and 2005, procurement was the "fastest growing component of federal discretionary spending."

IRAQ -- TONY SNOW REVEALS THAT '80 PERCENT' OF BUSH'S ADVISERS OPPOSED IRAQ SURGE: In Jan. 2007, President Bush told the American people that he and his advisers led a "comprehensive" review of past mistakes in Iraq, concluding that Iraq needed 30,000 more U.S. troops. He stated that "our military commanders reviewed the new Iraqi plan to ensure that it addressed these mistakes. They report that it does. They also report that this plan can work." In a Desert Town Hall speakers series event in California on Monday, however, former White House Press Secretary Tony Snow reportedly said that 80 percent of Bush's advisers opposed last year's military surge, telling him, "You're crazy, don't do this," revealing that Bush ignored his advisers when deciding whether to implement the Iraq "surge." Last month, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle Eastern Affairs Mark Kimmitt predicted only a mild chance that "surge" security gains will last, saying, "[I]f I had to put a number to it, maybe it's three in 10, maybe it's 50-50, if we play our cards right."

Think Fast

A Department of Veterans Affairs analysis finds that "National Guard and Reserve troops who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan make up more than half of veterans who committed suicide after returning home from those wars." In 2006, the Army's suicide rate was 17.3 per 100,000 troops, "the highest level in 26 years of record-keeping."

According to a Rand Corp. report, the U.S. military is seriously deficient in meeting "the threat of Islamist insurgencies." The report states that "U.S. military intervention and occupation in the Muslim world" is "at best inadequate, at worst counter-productive, and, on the whole, infeasible."

"As home prices fall and banks tighten lending standards, people with good, or prime, credit histories are falling behind on their payments for home loans, auto loans and credit cards at a quickening pace, according to industry data and economists."

Six major U.S. banks -- Bank of America, Citigroup, Countrywide Financial, JP Morgan Chase, Washington Mutual, and Wells Fargo -- have announced that they will be taking part in "Project Lifeline," which will give homeowners an extra 30 days to renegotiate their mortgage payments.

Two CBS journalists have gone missing in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, the network said in statement yesterday. Iraqi police say "the abductees were a reporter and a translator, and that they were taken away in what appeared to be official police vehicles." "All efforts are under way to find them," said CBS in a statement. 

Former Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), who went to jail in 2007 for corruption charges connected to Jack Abramoff, "may soon be moved from his federal prison in Morgantown, W.Va., to a 'halfway house,'" according to his attorney. "Ney's overall projected release date is Aug. 16, 2008."

Due to a backlog of immigration cases, "the Bush administration will grant permanent residency to tens of thousands of legal U.S. immigrants without first completing required background checks against the FBI's investigative files." Only immigrants "whose cases are otherwise complete but whose FBI checks have been pending for more than six months" will be affected.

The king penguin, which "rebounded from near-extinction over the last century, could be wiped out in coming decades due to global warming."

And finally: Don't get in the way of Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV). Last week, the 90-year old senator "made quite a scene" as he "made his way from the Senate Chamber to the elevators after a vote." Walking with "two canes and an entourage of staffers," Byrd yelled, "Make way for liberty!" Roll Call reports, "With that, the elevator doors opened, and 'liberty' disappeared."

Good News

"Virgin CEO Richard Branson offered Monday to set up an 'environmental war room' to lead the world's efforts to find a fix for global warming," a "tool for the U.N." to push out good ideas and calculate each nation's costs.

State Watch

GEORGIA: State Supreme Court rules that school property taxes could not be used to fund Atlanta's proposed green trail and transit route.

RHODE ISLAND: State is "engulfed in the most intense battle over illegal immigration in New England."

ECONOMY: Twenty states face budget shortfalls of at least $34 billion in 2009.

Blog Watch

THINK PROGRESS: Five more advertisers abandon Michael Savage's hate-filled radio show.

FAITH IN PUBLIC LIFE: New poll demonstrates the political diversity of evangelical voters.

AMERICA BLOG: New book from an ex-intelligence officer in Iraq describes how "the problems that led to 9/11 and the WMD debacle" are "becoming institutionalized."

Daily Grill

"Our military commanders reviewed the new Iraqi plan to ensure that it addressed these mistakes. They report that it does. They also report that this plan can work."
-- President Bush, 1/10/07, announcing the Iraq "surge"

VERSUS

"He [Former White House press secretary Tony Snow] said 80 percent of Bush's advisers opposed last year's military surge in the nation, which still faces an uncertain future."
--The Desert Sun, 2/10/08