Obama to rename Mt. McKinley as DenaliLos Angeles Times | August 30, 2015 | 2:23 PM
North America’s tallest peak is getting a new name. President Obama will announce Monday that his administration is officially redesignating Alaska’s Mt. McKinley as Denali, the original name for the 20,237-foot-high mountain given by the area’s Alaskan native population. |
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The rate of unionization among wage and salary workers went down in 2014, from 11.3 percent to 11.1 percent, according to annual data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics today. The number of unionized workers, at 14.6 million, was unchanged from 2013.
From the national debate over how to address income inequality, to President Obama talking about “middle class economics” in his State of the Union address, unions are more important than ever. In CAP’s recent report on inclusive prosperity, one of the key recommendations was to expand worker voice by making procedures governing collective bargaining fast and fair and remove the atmosphere of conflict that can surround representation elections and bargaining over initial contracts.
Check out the infographic below to see why the middle class needs unions.
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In this week’s address, the President spoke about his upcoming trip to Alaska, during which he will view the effects of climate change firsthand. Alaskans are already living with the impact of climate change, with glaciers melting faster, and temperatures projected to rise between 6 and 12 degrees by the end of the century.
In his address, the President spoke to ways in which we can address these challenges, including the transition away from fossil fuels to more renewable energy sources like wind and solar, an effort in which America is already leading. And he stressed that while our economy still has to rely on oil and gas during that transition, we should rely more on domestic production than importing from foreign countries who do not have the same environmental or safety standards as the United States.
The President looked forward to his upcoming trip, and promised that while he is in office, America will lead the world to meet the threat of climate change before it’s too late.
Watch the President’s Weekly Address here.
We were beginning to think it might never happen, but the Washington State legislative session has finally come to a close.
Here’s the good news: The budget includes enough money to fund fair access to birth control for all Washington women!
But here’s the bad news: The Senate Republican Majority refused to include a line item directing the State Medicaid office to spend that money on equitable access to Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARC). Instead, the lowest-income women in Washington could still end up with unequal access to the best contraceptives available, even though the money is there
It is both unfair and wrong-headed to deny Washington women fair access to birth control, and we aren’t backing down.
Governor Inslee has the power to change this, and he needs to hear from you about it.
We are fortunate to have a governor who agrees that all women should have access to a full range of reproductive health care services. Now it’s time for him to exercise his leadership and direct the state Medicaid agency to ensure equitable access to LARCs.
Your activism got us to this point and now we are so close to the finish line! Without your hard work, we would not have the funding in the budget in the first place.
Thank you for taking action,
Jennifer Allen
Director of Public Policy
Planned Parenthood Votes Northwe
The GOP has its newest official candidate today, with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker becoming the 15th Republican candidate to enter the presidential race. While Gov. Walker claims he is worried about the American dream becoming “out of reach” for too many families, his record in Wisconsin has proven to promote an economy that benefits the wealthy few at the expense of the middle class. New analysis by CAP Action shows that during Walker’s tenure, middle-class incomes fell $728 from 2011 to 2013, ranking the state 44th in the nation in middle-class income growth. Meanwhile, the 1% have the lowest tax rates in the state.
Even in the midst of his presidential announcement, Gov. Walker has continued hurting the middle class. Yesterday, Walker signed a state budget which included a last-minute amendment to remove a provision to allow workers to file a complaint if they are not paid a “living wage.” The living wage in Wisconsin, according to an MIT study, comes out to $10.13 an hour, while the minimum wage in Wisconsin is only $7.25. That means that if Walker were to actually follow the state’s living wage law, the 41,000 minimum wage workers in the state would earn $5,990 more per year, putting a cumulative $245,600,000 in the pockets of Wisconsin workers annually.
Check out this infographic to get the facts on Walker’s Wisconsin:
BOTTOM LINE: Scott Walker has feigned concern for the middle class, but the reality is that he has stood on the side of the wealthy few. From tax breaks for the top one percent to eliminating the state’s living wage laws, hardworking Wisconsin families have paid the price for Walker’s political gain.
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