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President Joe Biden signed legislation Friday to avoid a potentially catastrophic rail strike after Congress approved the measure this week. Biden had pressed lawmakers to pass the measure after railway workers vowed to strike by Dec. 9 if an agreement couldn't be reached. The Senate voted down an amendment 52 to 43, championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that would have added seven days of paid sick leave for rail workers to the deal. “Let me be clear: This struggle is not over,” Sanders said after the sick leave amendment failed. “At a time of record-breaking profits for the rail industry, it is disgraceful that railroad workers do not have a single day of paid sick leave.”"I know this bill doesn't have paid sick leave.

Paid sick leave was one of the outstanding issues in the negotiations. Rail workers get zero paid sick days. Paid sick leave is a basic human right. The measure to provide seven paid sick days did not win the required 60-vote supermajority in the Senate and was not endorsed by the White House. Senator Bernie Sanders and others denounced railroad companies for refusing to offer paid sick leave.

☆ How an arcane 96-year-old law stopped the rail strike
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

The Railway Labor Act was passed in 1926 as one of the very first labor laws in the nation. Because of the law, the House was able to vote Wednesday to impose unpopular contracts on four rail unions whose members have already rejected the terms, followed by a vote by the Senate vote late Thursday that did the same. The Railway Labor Act, passed in 1926, is the reason Congress could intervene this week to block a strike by freight railroad unions. But under the Railway Labor Act, management can fall back on hopes that Congress will give them the deal it wants. When he served in the Senate, Biden voted against an earlier effort to impose a contract on the rail unions to keep them on the job.

WASHINGTON — The Senate reached an agreement Thursday to hold votes aimed at avoiding an economically catastrophic rail strike, one day after the House approved such a measure. The Senate typically takes days of procedural votes to pass a bill, but lawmakers reached unanimous agreement in this case to vote within minutes. In the Senate, the first two votes are expected to fail, and the House deal is expected to pass. The president said he’ll continue to fight for paid leave after the agreement is approved by Congress and a rail strike is averted. “We’re going to avoid the rail strike, keep the rails running, keep things moving, and we’re gonna go back and we’re gonna get paid leave not just for rail workers, but for all workers.”

☆ Railroad workers aren't the only Americans without paid sick leave
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Tami Luhby | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The US does not have a national standard on paid sick leave, a rarity among industrialized nations. “The most disempowered workers – who are low-wage workers – don’t have an opportunity to demand paid sick leave from their employers,” he said. Railroad workers’ battleWhile the vast majority of union members have paid sick days, the freight railroad workers do not. Meanwhile, a growing number of states, cities and counties have been enacting paid sick leave laws in recent years. Advocates see the railroad workers’ battle as an opportunity to renew interest in expanding the availability of paid sick leave.

☆ Biden administration makes case for quick Senate vote to avoid rail shutdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The House also separately voted to require seven days of paid sick leave for rail workers, a measure the White House has not endorsed. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has not yet scheduled a vote on the rail measure and some senators, including Bernie Sanders, have demanded a separate vote on the sick leave issue as a condition of agreeing to fast-track consideration of the rail contract vote. Schumer said he wants to see paid sick leave included in the legislation. Railroads and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce oppose amending the contract deal that was struck in September largely on the recommendations of an emergency board appointed by Biden. But some labor leaders have criticized Biden for asking Congress to impose a contract that workers in four unions have rejected over its lack of paid sick leave.

☆ The senate votes to avert a rail strike — but not give workers paid sick days
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The Senate voted to impose a tentative agreement and avert an economy-rattling rail strike. Rail workers told Insider that the votes were "despicable" and "shameful." The House had voted to pass both the legislation enacting the tentative agreement and the addition of seven sick days. "I'm proud that the House of Representatives passed legislation to guarantee seven days of paid sick leave for all rail workers. Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Lindsey Graham — joined 46 Democrats in voting for the paid sick day provision.

WASHINGTON — House lawmakers are poised to pass legislation Wednesday to avert a catastrophic rail strike that President Joe Biden warned could threaten the U.S. economy just weeks before Christmas. “At a time of record profits in the rail industry, it’s unacceptable that rail workers have ZERO guaranteed paid sick days,” Sanders tweeted. “It’s my intention to block consideration of the rail legislation until a roll call vote occurs on guaranteeing 7 paid sick days to rail workers in America.”Other progressives also wouldn’t commit to back the rail proposal. But the House will also vote separately on a bill that would add seven days of paid sick leave to the deal. Biden "is confident that we will not have a rail strike.

Pelosi said the House would vote separately on Wednesday on a proposal to give seven days of paid sick leave to railroad employees. There are no paid sick days under the tentative deal after unions asked for 15 and railroads settled on one personal day. "Guaranteeing 7 paid sick days to rail workers would cost the rail industry a grand total of $321 million a year – less than 2% of its profits," Sanders said. The railroads oppose giving their workers paid sick time because they would have to hire more staff. "I can’t in good conscience vote for a bill that doesn’t give rail workers the paid leave they deserve," Representative Jamaal Bowman, a Democrat, said on Twitter.

☆ House approves tentative labor deal to avoid rail strike
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Lori Ann Larocco | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The House passed legislation Wednesday that would force a tentative rail labor agreement and thwart a national strike. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also plans to hold a separate vote to add seven days of paid sick leave to the agreement. He met with the four House and Senate leaders Tuesday in an effort to avoid the economic impacts of a rail strike, which the industry forecasts could cost the U.S. economy $2 billion per day. Railways and their labor unions had until Dec. 9 to reach an agreement before workers promised to strike. The tentative labor deal grants workers one additional personal day, for a total of three personal days for railroad workers.

☆ America may dodge a crippling rail strike. Here’s how we got here
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The House approved two pieces of legislation Wednesday, one to impose the tentative agreements that members of four of the unions have already rejected, keeping 115,000 rail workers on the job and averting a strike. More than just sick daysThe fact that this is still an issue more than two months after an 11th-hour tentative deal was reached goes beyond the issue of paid sick days. All 12 rail unions agreed to the tentative deals that generated so much opposition. But he said the issue of sick days will not be going away. Senator Bernie Sanders, a close ally of the labor movement, tweeted “At a time of record profits in the rail industry, it’s unacceptable that rail workers have ZERO guaranteed paid sick days.

☆ The House passes an agreement that would stop a rail strike — and give workers 7 days of sick leave
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The House took the first step towards averting a rail strike, passing legislation to impose an agreement. But members also voted to pass a measure that would give workers 7 paid sick days. Paid sick leave, or lack thereof, has emerged as one of the biggest issues among rail workers. But both the tentative agreement and the paid sick leave resolution still need to pass the Senate. If the agreement passed without paid sick leave, "it's going to make life hard for railroad workers," Grooters said.

☆ Biden rallies lawmakers to act to avert rail strike ahead of looming deadline
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Shannon-Pettypiece-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Shannon Pettypiece | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

There are several steps Congress has the authority to take to prevent a rail strike, something it has done 18 times since the 1960s. It could extend the so-called cooling off period, giving the parties more time to try to reach a voluntary agreement before workers can strike. Pelosi said the House would vote this week on the legislation Biden is calling for, which wouldn’t make any changes to the current agreement. But it could also provide an opportunity for Democrats to step in and give additional benefits to the rail workers, like paid sick days, though that would likely make it more difficult to garner Republican support. "The president says he is going to ask Congress to act, and I would expect Congress to support that request,” he said.

☆ A razor-thin Senate buffer and 2024 chances are at stake in Georgia's runoff next week between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Early voting has started for the Georgia Senate runoff between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker. A Warnock victory would usher in a 51-49 Democratic majority, while the GOP hopes for a 50-50 split. Georgia Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker speaks with supporters during a campaign rally in Milton, Ga., on November 21, 2022. Angus King of Maine and Bernie Sanders of Vermont — who caucus with the Democratic Party, creating an equal split in the upper chamber. However, some Republicans would prefer that Trump remain at Mar-a-Lago, worried that he could cost them another Senate win.

☆ The window is closing on corporate 'greedflation.' It's another sign that inflation is cooling off.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

"US profit margins surged after the recession. "Greedflation" — the idea that companies are using inflation as an excuse to raise prices and boost profits — could be part of the explanation. But they have also taken advantage of circumstances to expand profit margins," said UBS Chief Economist Paul Donovan. To what extent soaring corporate profits are to blame for high inflation remains uncertain, but as inflation slows down, the negative CEO sentiment suggests some companies' profits are set to fall as well. In September, Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard said retailers' profit margins "have risen significantly more than the average hourly wage that retailers pay workers."

☆ Trump would beat DeSantis in 2024, as Biden approval rate remains underwater, new poll finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Ron DeSantis by a wide margin in a hypothetical 2024 Republican presidential primary, according to a new poll. Trump received 55% of Republican registered voters' support, while DeSantis, his potential rival for the White House nomination, received just 25%, the Emerson College poll found. And in a potential rematch of the 2020 election in 2024, Biden would defeat Trump by a margin of 45% to 41%, the survey found. Voters with a high school degree or less support Trump by 71%. Republican voters with a postgraduate degree support Trump the least, at 32%.

☆ Elon Musk, Bernie Sanders and Others Miss the Mark Over Pricey Insulin
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( David Wainer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A tweet from a fake Eli Lilly account earlier this month claiming insulin would be free was quickly corrected by the real company, but it was enough to spark the usual finger-wagging. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has raised his hand to take over as chair of the Senate committee overseeing healthcare, argued that prices have increased so dramatically because three drug companies control the market.

☆ House progressive leader Pramila Jayapal calls herself a Biden 'convert,' says he should run for reelection
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

The head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus called herself a Joe Biden "convert." Rep. Pramila Jayapal backed Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. But she has since found an ally in President Joe Biden, known as a moderate. But she has since found an ally in President Joe Biden, known as a moderate. They're hoping speculation about Klain leaving the White House isn't true, POLITICO reported.

☆ Police chief in Pennsylvania 'shocked' he wasn't stiffed by Donald Trump on a bill for rally security
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Wilkes-Barre Township Police Chief Will Clark had low expectations when billed Donald Trump's political action committee. Clark's own department in Pennsylvania still has an unpaid bill for extra security at a "Make America Great Again Rally," back in 2018. Along with the Trump campaign, Clark also tried sending the bill to the Republican National Committee and Lou Barletta, the Trump-endorsed former Pennsylvania congressman who failed to oust Democratic Sen. Bob Casey in that race. To date, there's only one other known instance of late — also unexplained — where the Trump campaign paid some of the money it owed a municipal government. In this case, it was the city of La Crosse, Wisconsin, for a 2020 campaign event that then-Vice President Mike Pence headlined.

☆ Democrats could defuse the GOP's biggest fiscal threat next year by raising the debt ceiling to a ludicrously high number
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Andy Kiersz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The US is currently set to hit the federal debt ceiling once again next year. Historically, raising the debt ceiling was a fairly uncontroversial move taken by Congress every couple years as needed. Before the midterms, Republicans were already suggesting that they would use the upcoming debt ceiling fight to push for spending cuts, according to the Washington Post. They could repeal the debt ceiling outright, although that is unlikely given Biden and other prominent Democrats like Sen. Bernie Sanders have ruled that out. If one wanted to be patriotic, the new debt ceiling could be $7.41776, commemorating the date of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

☆ Police chief 'shocked' he wasn't stiffed by Donald Trump on a bill for rally security
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Wilkes-Barre Township Police Chief Will Clark had low expectations when billed Donald Trump's political action committee. Along with the Trump campaign, Clark also tried sending the bill to the Republican National Committee and Lou Barletta, the Trump-endorsed former Pennsylvania congressman who failed to oust Democratic Sen. Bob Casey in that race. The Trump campaign said in 2020 that public safety billing inquiries should go to the Secret Service. To date, there's only one other known instance of late — also unexplained — where the Trump campaign paid some of the money it owed a municipal government. In this case, it was the city of La Crosse, Wisconsin, for a 2020 campaign event that then-Vice President Mike Pence headlined.

☆ Analysis: Ron DeSantis' big election night shakes 2024 White House field
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( James Oliphant | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Trump would be the favorite in a primary matchup against DeSantis or any other Republican. Although he has been coy about a presidential run, supporters at his victory party chanted "Two more years!" Even if Trump mounts another presidential run, he will continue to face a dizzying array of legal headaches, including probes of his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his removal of classified documents from the White House. I don't like him," said two-time Trump voter Gordon Nelson, 77, as he voted for Republican candidates in Michigan on Tuesday. At a Wednesday press conference, Biden seemed amused at the prospect of Trump and DeSantis going head-to-head.

Rep. Dina Titus defeated Republican Mark Robertson in Nevada's 1st Congressional District. RenoNorth Las Vegas MayorLongtime Democratic Rep. Dina Titus won another bid for reelection against Republican Mark Robertson in Nevada's 1st Congressional District. 2022 General EmbedsNevada's 1st Congressional District candidatesTitus is serving her 6th term in the US House of Representatives. In 2013, Titus returned to Congress after winning in the 1st Congressional District. Voting history for Nevada's 1st Congressional DistrictOnce in the heart of Las Vegas, Nevada's 1st Congressional District now encompasses more of Clark County.

☆ Becca Balint wins Vermont House race, NBC News projects, and will be state's first woman and LGBTQ person in Congress
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Matt Lavietes | Matt Lavietes Is A Reporter For Nbc Out. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Democrat Becca Balint is the winner of Vermont’s at-large Congressional District race, NBC News projected. She is the first woman and the first LGBTQ person elected to Congress from the state. She added, "Tonight, after 231 years, Vermonters are sending a woman and openly gay person to Congress for the first time." Her victory ended Vermont's status as the only state never to have sent a woman to Congress. In 2020, she became the first woman and the first openly LGBTQ person to be president of the Vermont Senate.

☆ Midterm elections live updates: Pennsylvania races, New Hampshire Senate race too early to call
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Brandy Zadrozny | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Sahil-Kapur-Headshot.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +109 min

Share this -Link copiedWisconsin Senate and governor's races too early to call It is too early to call the Senate and gubernatorial races in Wisconsin, according to NBC News. Share this -Link copiedNew Hampshire Senate race too early to call The Senate race in New Hampshire is too early to call, according to NBC News. Share this -Link copiedPennsylvania Senate and governor races are too early to call After polls closed at 8 p.m. While Maricopa County election officials initially categorized the problem as a “hiccup,” it took hours before a solution was identified early Tuesday afternoon. In Columbus County, election officials allegedly were harassed by an “observer following one-stop workers” and photographing or filming the workers, it said.

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