Happy Easter, the Great Season of Grace

Maryland: Proposed labor law debated
HAGERSTOWN — The controversy surrounding the Employee Free Choice Act took center stage during an Eggs and Issues breakfast Thursday at Duffy’s on Potomac in downtown Hagerstown.
http://www.herald-mail.com/?cmd=displaystory&story_id=220813&format=html

Cities Turn to Fees to Fill Budget Gaps
After her sport utility vehicle sideswiped a van in early February, Shirley Kimel was amazed at how quickly a handful of police officers and firefighters in Winter Haven, Fla., showed up. But a real shock came a week later, when a letter arrived from the city billing her $316 for the cost of responding to the accident.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/11/business/11fees.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th&adxnnlx=1239469428-Zifow9/Tz/CmK5t5YGP2fQ

Showdown Seen Between Banks and Regulators - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON — As the Obama administration completes its examinations of the nation’s largest banks, industry executives are bracing for fights with the government over repayment of bailout money and forced sales of bad mortgages.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/11/business/economy/11bank.html?th&emc=th

How the Toxic Asset Plan Will Magically Make Your Money Disappear Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace AlterNet
Geithner's "plan" will pick your pocket to pay off some of the richest people in America. http://www.alternet.org/workplace/136183/how_the_toxic_asset_plan_will_magically_make_your_money_disappear/
Foreclosure public forum set for Monday floridatoday.com FLORIDA TODAY
More than 300 people are expected to attend a free public forum Monday designed to education citizens about foreclosures and programs that can help homeowners. http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20090411/BREAKINGNEWS/90411003/1086/

Safety advocate named acting OSHA head CharlotteObserver.com
Union leader says it sends a message that government is ‘getting back to the business of protecting workers.'
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/597/story/652792.html

AFL-CIO NOW BLOG Unemployment LifeLine: One Stop Resource Center for Jobless
What can you do when your paycheck stops but your rent bills don’t? IrnBru001 asked other visitors to the new Unemployment LifeLine’s Break Room forum: http://blog.aflcio.org/2009/04/09/unemployment-lifeline-one-stop-resource-center-for-jobless/

Predatory Brokers
Mortgage brokers are supposed to be impartial advocates who search out the best possible deal for prospective homeowners seeking a loan. The mortgage crisis has revealed a different truth. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/10/opinion/10fri1.html?th&emc=th

With Advocates’ Help, Squatters Call Foreclosures Home
MIAMI — When the woman who calls herself Queen Omega moved into a three-bedroom house here last December, she introduced herself to the neighbors, signed contracts for electricity and water and ordered an Internet connection. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/10/us/10squatter.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th

Surprising Poll Finds Only Half of Americans Believe Capitalism is Better Than Socialism ... Or? PEEK AlterNet
Do respondents know what these words mean? http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/135991/surprising_poll_finds_only_half_of_americans_believe_capitalism_is_better_than_socialism_..._or/
Do illegal immigrants cost $338.3 billion dollars a year?
More than the Iraq war? I wonder if much of this is true? Is this on your radar screen?http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/do_illegal_immigrants_cost_3383_billion_dollars.html
Smart Grid, Smart Broadband, Smart Infrastructure
With a bit of imagination and coordination among multiple federal programs and agencies, the economic stimulus funding in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 could be used far more efficiently to achieve a diverse set of closely related goals. http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/04/smart_infrastructure.html

A Green Jobs Primer: Job Creation in a Clean Energy Economy
Our country faces two immense, interrelated challenges: Charting a course to economic recovery and tackling the threat of global warming. Both are moral imperatives that require immediate action in order to fulfill our future obligations to our children. http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/04/green_jobs_primer.html

The Hundred Year War Against the American Worker - Democratic Underground
The Hundred Year War Against the American Worker


Betty Brown, Texas Republican, Asks Asian-Americans To Simplify Names
Houston Chronicle: A North Texas legislator during House testimony on voter identification legislation said Asian-descent voters should adopt names that are "easier for Americans to deal with."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/09/betty-brown-texas-republi_n_185108.html

why-immigration-reform-nowl
The New York Times is reporting that the White House intends to jump-start a new debate on immigration reform this year, a move in line with promises made by the president during the campaign season.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dylan-loewe/why-immigration-reform-no_b_185115.html