Massachusetts takes a stand again for liberty.

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Do you feel any safer yet: Scabs Brought in To Run Nuclear Power Plant During Lockout in Mass. - Working In These Times

Scabs Brought in To Run Nuclear Power Plant During Lockout in Mass. - Working In These Times:

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On June 5, a number of replacement workers and outside managers were brought in to operate Entergy's Plymouth Station nuclear power plant in Plymouth, Massachusetts. While the replacement workers have experience working as technicians in other nuclear power plants in the United States, the union claims that the technicians lack the site-specific experience needed to operate a plant as complex as Plymouth Station.  One replacement worker who spoke to Working In These Times worries that a mix of replacement workers and Entergy managers with little experience operating the Plymouth Station could cause a catastrophe.

The lockout of 250 workers began after Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA) Local 369 and Entergy were unable to agree to a contract. Entergy had pushed for the elimination of disability insurance, of life insurance for workers over age 55, and of seniority in the plant, as well as for cuts to workers’ retirement and medical plans. The company also wanted to maintain the right to make unilateral changes to workers’ retirement and medical plans whenever it wanted.

“What we want is protection down the road for our family” says union member John Barilaro. “It’s a risky business and people do get sick. And they really don’t care. They are just concerned about the bottom line.”

Entergy Spokesman Michael Bourne says Entergy decided to lock the workers out because the “union would not back away from their right to call a strike at any time without prior notification” after the union contract expired Tuesday night. But Dan Hurley, president of UWUA Local 369, disputes this charge. Hurley says that while the union would not give up their legal right to strike after the contract expired, it was willing to give the company advance notice of a strike, so as to comply with federal laws.

One of the replacement workers at the plant claims that Entergy has not engaged in good faith dealings with them, either. The subcontractor that hired the replacement workers, DZ Atlantic, never informed them that they could be brought in to scab on union members when they signed their contracts. After being told that they would be brought in to scab, the replacement workers were promised that they would only have to cross the picket line once in a company-provided bus and that there would be housing available on site for them.

original story: http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/13382/scabs_brought_in_to_run_nuclear_power_plant_during_lockout_in_mass/

Everything wrong with our political coverage in one shot

Our local news cut away to Jon Keller at large for some wisdom as to how the politics were shaking out. Jon Keller is our local political wizard who was famous a few years ago for asking George W. Bush a pop quiz on the names of other countries leaders which he failed (surprise, surprise). For me I always think back to a half a dozen years ago when the teachers in the whole eastern part of the state staged a big protest rally at the state house. Some of these groups came from as far away as the islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard to take part in a rally in Boston. It must have been quite a feat to even get up there. On that day Keller's big slant on the story, "Who was the idiot who gave them a permit to march in the middle of the day. My commute was terrible."

 While Sunday Morning Keller's sole wisdom was not enough and they had to go to the political wisdom of former speaker of the Massachusetts house Tom Finneran. Finneran pleaded guilty in 2007 to a federal obstruction of justice charge for giving false testimony in a 2003 lawsuit over a legislative redistricting plan that diluted the clout of minority voters. Full Story here: http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/07/a_tale_of_3_speakers_--_salvat.html

 Finneran was guilty of turning the district he represented, which was mostly minority, into a mostly white district so he could keep his job (i.e. see Tom Delay). I guess his plan was to stay in power for life. Since that time Finneran has been released, has his own radio show and he also shows up on spot's like Keller's to spout his wisdom to the rubes who need such expertise to make their decisions. I guess what this really goes to prove is their is no crime too bad for the politically well connected, who get to show up on television without the moniker of political felon next to their names. Tune in next week when Keller has a safe cracker and someone guilty of breaking and entry on his show. I hear it's about public safety.

Second Romney-Backed Solar Company Files For Bankruptcy | ThinkProgress

Second Romney-Backed Solar Company Files For Bankruptcy | ThinkProgress:

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On Thursday, Mitt Romney campaigned at the headquarters of Solyndra — the first renewable energy company to receive a federal loan under the stimulus — and reiterated his debunked claims that its bankruptcy symbolized the corruption and cronyism of the Obama administration. But just one day later, a solar panel developer “that landed a state loan from Mitt Romney when he was Massachusetts governor” went belly up, the Boston Herald reports, creating an inconvenient storyline for the GOP presidential nominee.

The company, Konarka Technologies, “filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection and will cease operations, lay off its 85 workers and liquidate”:

“Konarka has been unable to obtain additional financing, and given its current financial condition, it is unable to continue operations,” CEO Howard Berke said in a statement. “This is a tragedy for Konarka’s shareholders and employees and for the development of alternative energy in the United States.”

The demise of Konarka could become a hot topic on the campaign trail becauseRomney personally doled out a $1.5 million renewable energy subsidy to the Lowell startup in 2003, shortly after taking office on Beacon Hill.

Konarka is the second Massachusetts solar company, along with Evergreen Solar and Beacon Power, to receive taxpayer dollars under Romney’s tenure and subsequently declare bankruptcy.

Romney, meanwhile, routinely dismisses the nation’s 3.1 million clean energy jobs, even as clean energy is booming in Massachusetts. The industry has created 64,000 jobs across the energy efficiency and renewable energy sectors.

Broken Promises: Romney's Massachusetts Record

Having lived in Massachusetts I'd say this was pretty accurate. I can say taxes didn't go up, fees went through the roof and they weren't called taxes. He was there for about two years and used it as a platform to run for president. We got a part-time governor but we got a full time campaigner. During those year Massachusetts had a campaigner in chief.

Corporate Public Education on steroids is coming to Massachusetts: Citizens for Public Schools

1994 Ad from Massachusetts from the job creator and chief

Is Curt Schilling about to drop a $75 million dollar bill on Rhode Island taxpayers?

Good old Curt Schilling moves jobs from Massachusetts to Rhode Island because the state gives him some free money now they look on the verge of going belly up and dropping the bill on the Rhode Island tax payers. Of course no one can forget the role Schilling played in getting Senator Scott Brown's campaign. One can only imagine that Scott Brown favors having jobs leave the state and then if an important backer fails the bill being given to the little people.

Curt during happier times when they were going to clean up Washington. I guess before that the rich guy never passed the bill onto the tax payers.

Hopefully at least the Rhode Island tax payers each get a bloody sock

Daily Kos: Scott Brown filibusters student loan assistance to 177,000 Massachusetts students

Daily Kos: Scott Brown filibusters student loan assistance to 177,000 Massachusetts students:

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That "independent" Sen. Scott Brown once again voted lock-step with his leadership,filibustering the extension of low interest rates for federally subsidized student loans. In a state dominated by colleges and universities, 177,000 students in Massachusetts will see their student loan payments increase on average $1,000 a year.

Scott Brown: Trying to Have It Both Ways

Scott Brown: Trying to Have It Both Ways

As he tries to make the case to Massachusetts voters of how bipartisan he is, touting his pride in working with President Obama, he is at the same time promising to his corporate special interest and anti-Obama donors, as well as right-wing Republican base groups, that he will be their champion, especially in an Obama second term. As a result, Brown is in the position of constantly having to run both hot and cold on Obama. He will simultaneously do anything to hug the President publicly even while dissing him more quietly to his Republican supporters.

This week, Brown put out a radio ad talking about his work with the President. He talks about how proud he was to work with Obama and how important cooperation is. “We need to work together now,” Brown says. Last month he flew to D.C. twice in one week to be at signing ceremonies at Obama's side, after begging and prodding to be invited. Brown also staked out his seat on the aisle at the State of the Union hours in advance to make sure he could be seen on TV with Obama.

Obama is very popular in Massachusetts, and Brown couldn’t be any clearer about how much of a drag he thinks his very close personal friend Mitt Romney is on the ticket. It’s pretty difficult in a Presidential Election year to run with the opposite party’s candidate while running away from your own party’s standard bearer—especially when that standard bearer happens to be your longtime friend and political mentor. In fact, Brown is facing a terrible dilemma: spending so much time trying to associate with Obama, while continuing to trash him in fundraising appeals, creates a very big problem for him. Add to that the fact that Obama and Warren are actually close allies, and Brown is in a bind.

 Obama with his new best friend Scott Brown, who like gum on his shoe.

The last thing he wants to do is drive home in that miserable truck

A different story for poor women. No choice

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

In Massachusetts stop the corporate take over of Massachusetts schools

Stand for Children Ballot Question

If an outside group gets its way, the rights of Massachusetts teachers will be up for a vote this November. Stand for Children, which has amassed millions of dollars thanks to corporate donors like Walmart and Bain Capital, says that it wants “a great teacher in every classroom.” Who could be against that? But the Stand for Children ballot initiative is an assault on the rights of teachers and will actually make it harder for teachers to advocate for their students.

Read AFT MA’s summary of the ballot initiative and how its passage could impact you.

Opposition is Growing
A growing body of education leaders and organizations has come out in opposition to the ballot initiative. Opponents now include: Massachusetts Education Secretary Paul Reville, the Massachusetts Parent Teacher Association, the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the Massachusetts Secondary School Administrators’ Association, the Massachusetts Elementary School Principals Association, the Massachusetts Reading Association, the Massachusetts Association of College and University Reading Educators, the Massachusetts School Library Association, the Massachusetts Council for the Social Studies and the Massachusetts Administrators for Special Education.

Who is Stand for Children?
While Stand for Children once advocated for more funding for public schools and students today the organization is leading a full-scale assault against teachers in our public schools. Stand for Children claims to be a grassroots organization that stands for access to quality education for all students but the organization is increasingly controversial. Today Stand for Children receives vast amounts of corporate money and is aggressively pushing an ideologically-driven brand of ‘education reform.’ Hear their agenda for yourself. In this video, Stand for Children co-founder Jonah Edelman talks openly about his goal of undermining teachers’ unions.

Massachusetts explaining budget cuts and debt. What will be left? Just to make sure Bill Gates doesn't have a tax cut

Maine's Labor mural purged north of the border is coming to Lawrence MA.

Purged by Gov. LePage from the Maine Labor Department, the
images will be shown at the Centennial Exhibit in the Everett
Mill

Bread and Roses

Bread and Roses Strike Centennial Exhibit Highlights (Directed by Lorre ...

This is the one hundredth anniversary. Just came back from an event on it.

A Massachusetts group protests outside a fundraiser of the two "Koch Nephews" in Boston

Scott Brown and Chris Christie Face Backlash Over Anti-Equality Positions, Lack of Jobs Focus

Unemployed workers, equality advocates question how duo’s divisive social agenda will create jobs

   

BOSTON, MA – Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie faced continued constituent backlash over their misplaced priorities Monday, as more than 50 equality advocates, unemployed workers and allies protested outside a $2,500-a-head Brown campaign fundraiser at the Westin Copley Place. Demonstrators braved freezing evening temperatures to call attention to the Republican duo’s misguided focus on divisive social issues while legislative job creation efforts languish at the state and national level.

“Voters elected Scott Brown and Chris Christie because of their promises to create jobs. Yet for years, we’ve seen them focused on divisive social issues,” said Don Gorton of the grassroots equality advocacy group Join the Impact. “Brown and Christie owe their constituents an explanation: how will vetoing equality measures or restricting access to birth control create a single job?”

Brown made headlines last week when the US Senate rejected the junior senator’s bill to limit women’s access to basic health services like birth control, mammograms and cancer screenings. Not to be outdone by his fellow Republican, Governor Christie vetoed New Jersey’s popular Marriage Equality bill soon thereafter. Both spent weeks fielding interviews and making speeches to market their controversial proposals – all while fending off protests as public outcry amassed. Meanwhile, neither Brown nor Christie has taken meaningful steps to fulfill campaign promises to focus on job creation.

“While Scott Brown and Chris Christie spend their time policing bedrooms and doctors’ offices, their constituents are worried about finding work and putting food on the table,” said Darrin Howell, an organizer with MASSUNITING. “It’s beyond time for Brown and Christie to do the job they were elected to do and start focusing on the issues that really matter.”

Elizabeth Warren Goes After Scott Brown On "Buffett Rule"

Elizabeth Warren Goes After Scott Brown On "Buffett Rule"

"Just last week, Scott Brown said in an interview that he thinks Mitt Romney and Warren Buffett should get special tax breaks that are not available to most Americans. I don't think that's fair," Warren said in a new post on Blue Mass Group, a New England independent political blog."

This is one of the places where Scott Brown and I see things differently," she said.

The "Buffett Rule," named after billionaire William Buffett, would require people who make more than $1 million to pay at least 30 percent in taxes. President Barack Obama highlighted the proposal in his State of the Union address and is likely to hammer away at it in the coming months. The issue will also take center stage this week in the Senate as Democrats prepare to unveil a bill that would turn the "Buffett Rule" into law.

"This isn't the first time Senator Brown has been more concerned with protecting millionaires than helping working families," Warren said, ticking off handful of jobs bills that were put forward by Obama but didn't advance in Congress. "Each bill would have been paid for with a small tax on people making more than $1 million a year. Senator Brown and every other Republican voted against those jobs."

Elizabeth Warren Raises $5.7 Million In Fourth Quarter 2011 In Bid To Unseat Scott Brown In Massachusetts

Elizabeth Warren Raises $5.7 Million In Fourth Quarter 2011 In Bid To Unseat Scott Brown In Massachusetts

WASHINGTON -- It's looking like former consumer advocate and Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren has the golden touch when it comes to fundraising.

The Democrat's campaign to oust Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) hauled in $5.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2011, or nearly double the $3.2 million raised by Brown in the same period.

Warren declared her candidacy in mid-September and raised $3.15 million immediately thereafter. The ex-Harvard professor's combined take gives her nearly $9 million in less than four months.

While Warren's torrid fundraising pace puts her on the path to becoming the top buck-raker of the 2012 race after the White House contestants, Brown's skills at passing the hat are not shabby. After the last quarter, he had an impressive $12.8 million in the bank for what is shaping up to be the most costly Senate battle in the country.

According to Huff Post Warren surges in polls. Look for the smear campaign coming in the weeks ahead. Wall Street didn't spend that money on him for no reason.

PPP Poll Shows Elizabeth Warren Surging Against Scott Brown

A new poll shows Democrat Elizabeth Warren surging in the U.S. Senate election against Scott Brown in Massachusetts

First Posted: 9/20/11 02:12 PM ET Updated: 9/20/11 02:41 PM ET

WASHINGTON -- Less than a week after Democrat Elizabeth Warren launched her campaign for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts, a new automated poll shows her running neck-and-neck with incumbent Republican Scott Brown.
The new survey, conducted by the Democratic-affiliated firm Public Policy Polling (PPP), gives Warren a slight edge over Brown (46 to 44 percent) among likely voters. The two-point gap between the candidates falls well within the survey's 3.5 percent margin of error.
The results come as something of a surprise, given that two live-interviewer polls conducted in late August showed Brown comfortably ahead. A survey conducted by the MassINC Polling Group for Boston radio station WBUR found Brown ahead among likely voters by nine points (44 to 35 percent), while a Boston Globe/University of New Hampshire poll had brown leading among all adults by 19 points (48 to 29 percent).

The rest of the story:   http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/20/ppp-poll-elizabeth-warren-scott-brown-massachusetts_n_972058.html