GOP blocks vote that would preserve overtime pay

[Robbien]

Posting this here because it is yesterday's news, but still important today

By Mark Gruenberg — March 28, 2004

WASHINGTON — Realizing they would lose an up-or-down vote on preserving workers' overtime pay, the Senate's ruling Republicans used parliamentary maneuvers to block it on March 24. The practical impact of the Senate GOP's move was to clear the way for Bush administration plans to cut overtime pay eligibility for 8 million to 10 million workers to take effect by the end of March.

The new rules would deny overtime pay to any worker who had even minimal "supervisory" or "administrative" duties and who earned more than $22,100 a year. That would harm millions of workers, including Fire Fighters, police, EMTs, broadcasters, nurses, social workers and funeral service workers, according to the Economic Policy Institute and the Minnesota AFL-CIO, among others. The average worker involved earns $51,000-$55,000 yearly, including overtime, EPI says, or around $1,000 a week. With overtime pay at a little more than one-fourth of the worker's earnings, he or she would lose $256 weekly, it adds.

In the Senate, the key sequence occurred when Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., tried to strip overtime pay protection from a business tax bill. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, a Bush appointee, had her department draft the overtime pay ban at White House urging.

Senate Democrats launched a talkathon against McConnell's maneuver and the GOP tried to stop their filibuster. Stopping it would kill the overtime pay protection measure, promoted by Sen. Thomas Harkin, D-Iowa. Labor lobbied hard for Harkin's pro-overtime amendment and against McConnell's plan to kill it. Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., summarized the GOP attitude towards the overtime-protection plan. He called it "irrelevant."

http://www.workdayminnesota.org/view_article.php?id=f25cc364c1694feb1f7e3f035c592836

[Bertha Venation]

1. I summon the spirit of Emma Goldman!

Get 'em, Miss Goldman! :grr: Rasser frasser mofo bastards!!

[Bluzmann57]

2. OK now its war

Where can one find out who voted which way? I'm proud of Senator Harkin, but I want to know if Grassley voted against the overtime bill. Thank you for any help you can give.

[Robbien]

10. Grassley voted

against the bill (voted yea on the cloture).

Votes can be found here
http://congress.org/congressorg/issues/votes/?votenum=60&chamber=S&congress=1082&tally=1

A yea vote is to end cloture without the overtime protection bill, as you probably can tell with all the D's in the nay box and all the R's in the yea box.

[mtnester]

16. Dammit, I hate my senators fom Diebohio

Voinovitch (asshole)
DeWine (puss)

[dweller]

18. not all D's in nay, not all pugs in yea

Zell Miller Y

okay, that's a gimme.

but Frist N ?

and NO Kerry NOR Edwards vote...

fuggit.
dp

[Elidor]

21. The Frist vote is indeed bizarre.

I kept scrolling thru the first list, wondering where I had missed his name...

[billybob537]

3. lying scum Bushstappo!

[Spirochete]

4. Heartless bastards!

May the ghost of Jimmy Hoffa haunt all of them to their graves.

[k in IA]

5. Dem's better get some of this info in some ads quick - it is unbelievable!

[ButterflyBlood]

6. let's get the word out that this was *'s plan

it'll kill him in certain states.

[chicagojoe]

7. The GOP seems to stop at nothing...

...to show us how "compassionately conservative" they are.
I guess that by the GOP's logic, if businesses don't have to pay workers overtime pay, it will STIMULATE THE ECONOMY !!!
Isn't it funny how all of the measures put forth by these buffoons in order to "stimulate the economy" end up hurting regular working folks?!?!

[girl gone mad]

8. There's a great article..

in the April Harper's, all about how the Republicans win votes in the heartland by exploiting family values issues. They promise to end abortion rights, but deliver tax cuts for the rich. They promise smaller government but deliver deindustrialization. The article also explores why these people keep voting Rpublican despite the broken promises and against their own economic interests.

I'd recommend it highly, though it did leave me wishing we had nominated Clark or Dean so that the GOP wouldn't be able to label our guy a Right Coast Elitist (I know Dean was from VT, but he had enormous grassroots support). I especially admired Clark's ability to turn the Family Values rhetoric aagainst them and point out that job security and economic viability are family values. He also pointed out that Christianity teaches people to help the less fortunate - exactly the opposite of Bush policies. I think our party would be wise to follow his lead and keep hitting the RW on these issues.

[w4rma]

9. Dems should pounce on this. Not only because it's a big time winning issue

But because me and a whole bunch of other folks are *really* *really* pissed off about this and we want our overtime PAY.

[OneBlueSky]

11. what if the Dems DON'T pounce on this?

I trust that they will, but what if they don't? . . . what will that say to American workers? . . . and to US, the progressive wing of the party? . . . waiting and watching . . .

[Robbien]

14. There were all of four or five stories on this in the news since

last Wednesday when this vote was taken and the headlines (except for this one) highlighted the Tax Giveaway to Offshorting Business program bill that the Dems were attaching the overtime protection bill to.

This is getting very little or no press.

[MSgt213]

12. These people take the fucking cake. Why does anyone have to lose overtime

under any bill they come up with. They might think this is cute saying their business people money but, hope to god that we don't stand for this crap.

[girl gone mad]

13. dupe n/t

[Poor Richard]

15. Does anyone have any info

on unemployment, specifically what the reported numbers are, what the real numbers are, and why they are different. Anyone know when the US started counting unemployed diferently so it would look like there was less unemployed? Im having a little talk with a Freeper who really needs to be enlightened (sorry to hijack the thread but I cant start my own topics yet!)

[seabeyond]

17. i wonder on the all out assault on the working people

with this administration.

the worst of repugs, never have i seen any administration go after the average joe

[The Backlash Cometh]

19. How many votes do you think he'll lose over this one?

Plenty, I'll bet.

[alfredo]

20. I have called McConnell's office and said I am motivated to

work against him in the next election. I also said I have written all my friends and family to let them know that he has turned against us.