Garlock reaches $480 Million settlement on asbestos claims

Garlock plans to emerge from bankruptcy and establish a trust in the amount of $480 Million to pay asbestos claimants and their families. Garlock a member of the EnPro Industries consortium had made asbestos gaskets.Asbestos is a known carcinogen and causally connected with lung cancer, mesothelioma and other malignancies as well as asbestosis.

House Passes Wasserman Schultz Longshore Harbor Workers' Compensation Clarification Act: Protecting Jobs and Keeping Workers Covered

Washington, D.C.– The Longshore Harbor Workers’ Compensation Clarification Act, introduced by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23), and passed by the House of Representatives today, reinstated congressional intent to ensure that workers in the recreational marine repair industry have adequate workers’ compensation coverage. This legislation provides a more clear definition of a recreational vessel which allows small businesses in the marine repair industry to forgo duplicative insurance policies while ensuring these small businesses, 95% of which have fewer than 10 employees, can adequately protect their employees without incurring exorbitant costs.  In 2009, Congress passed Section 803 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which expanded an existing exception that allowed more recreational marine repair workers to receive workers’ compensation coverage under state law rather than under the Longshore Harbor Workers Compensation Act. This was necessary because repair workers were simply not buying the more expensive longshore policies and were thus left uncovered. Unfortunately, new regulations were issued in 2011 that adopted a definition of a recreational vessel that was far more complicated and onerous than the existing law. In doing so, this new regulatory definition ran counter to what Congress intended. The Longshore Harbor Workers’ Compensation Clarification Act establishes a workable definition for a recreational...

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Rescinding the Cuts to Veteran's Pensions Was In the Cards From the Start

Today's post was shared by Mother Jones and comes from www.motherjones.com

December's budget deal between Paul Ryan and Patty Murray included a bit of relief from the 2011 sequestration cuts, with the relief split evenly between domestic and military budgets. That even split was one of the guiding principles of the deal. But part of the military relief was paid for by $7 billion in cuts to veterans' pensions, something that immediately prompted a storm of protest and, eventually, a move to rescind the cuts. Jared Bernstein comments: True, that’s not huge bucks in the scheme of things. But the violation of this budget principle should not be taken lightly. A key point of the budget machinations that brought us to where we are today is that automatic spending cuts should be split between evenly between defense and non-defense (forget for a moment, that it’s not the discretionary side of the budget that’s responsible for our longer term fiscal challenges anyway). If Congress starts stealing from domestic programs to boost defense, it will unfairly and unwisely exacerbate already unsustainable pressures on domestic spending. I'd take a slightly different lesson from this: Democrats got snookered. Only a little bit, and they knew they were being played, but they still got snookered. It was obvious from the start that cuts to veterans' benefits would be unpopular and unlikely to stand, but Democrats agreed to them anyway in order to get the budget deal across the finish line. Maybe that was the right thing to do, but it was no...

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The Case for a Higher Minimum Wage

Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from www.nytimes.com

The political posturing over raising the minimum wage sometimes obscures the huge and growing number of low-wage workers it would affect. An estimated 27.8 million people would earn more money under the Democratic proposal to lift the hourly minimum from $7.25 today to $10.10 by 2016. And most of them do not fit the low-wage stereotype of a teenager with a summer job. Their average age is 35; most work full time; more than one-fourth are parents; and, on average, they earn half of their families’ total income. None of that, however, has softened the hearts of opponents, including congressional Republicans and low-wage employers, notably restaurant owners and executives. This is not a new debate. The minimum wage is a battlefield in a larger political fight between Democrats and Republicans — dating back to the New Deal legislation that instituted the first minimum wage in 1938 — over government’s role in the economy, over raw versus regulated capitalism, over corporate power versus public needs. Interactive Feature More than 4.8 million workers now earn the lowest legal pay. This calculator shows the hard choices that have to be made living on the smallest paychecks. But the results of the wage debate are clear. Decades of research, facts and evidence show that increasing the minimum wage is vital to the economic security of tens of millions of Americans, and would be good for the weak economy. As Congress begins its own debate, here...

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If the minimum wage tracked inflation, it would be $4.07 per hour.

Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from online.wsj.com

Speaking at the White House on June 25, Vice President Joe Biden claimed that a higher federal minimum wage was practical and long overdue. "Just pay me [for] minimum wage what you paid folks in 1968," Mr. Biden said, echoing the argument numerous labor unions, left-wing think tanks and activist groups have made. The logic goes something like this: Had the minimum wage tracked inflation since 1968, it would today be over $10 an hour, so Congress should seek to bring it up to at least that amount. There are two problems with this logic. First, it is inconsistent with other Labor Department inflation data. And second, it presumes that entry-level employees can't get a raise unless the government gives them one. The federal minimum wage was first set in 1938 at 25 cents an hour. Had it tracked the cost of living since, it would today be $4.07 an hour, based on Labor Department data and the Bureau of Labor Statistics' inflation calculator. This is the only logically consistent "historic" value of the minimum wage, and it's 44% less than the current amount of $7.25. Advocates of a higher minimum wage arbitrarily selected 1968 as the historical reference point. It's no wonder: That's when federal minimum wage hit its inflation-adjusted high point. How about picking other arbitrary years to track the minimum wage and inflation? If you used 1948 instead of 1968, the minimum wage's inflation-adjusted value would only be $3.81 an hour. If you chose 1988, the adjusted minimum wage would...

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H.R. 982 is anti-victim, anti-veteran and anti-privacy

Today's post was shared by Take Justice Back and comes from thehill.com

My husband, Alan, was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2003. We had never heard of the asbestos-caused cancer, mesothelioma, and shortly learned it was incurable. Alan chose to have a radical surgery which removed a rib and his left lung, stripped off his pericardium from his lungs and surgically replaced his diaphragm – all in hopes of more time with us. In 2005, the cancer came back on his remaining lung. Alan felt like he was breathing through a pinched straw, every breath, every minute, every day.  When his oxygen levels became critically low, he was tethered to supplemental oxygen. He fought a hard battle with chemotherapy for nearly a year. In 2006, Alan took his last breaths with our then 13-year-old daughter and me by his side.  Alan paid the ultimate price for his job – his life. Our daughter was only ten years old when we began our arduous family battle to fight mesothelioma and work with Congress to ban asbestos. Today I fight on behalf of Alan and those who have been exposed, are suffering, or have been silenced by asbestos. I can tell you that the FACT Act (H.R. 982) is just another special interest bill. Sick and dying patients suffering from mesothelioma and other asbestos-caused diseases and their family don't have the time and money to endure one more bureaucratic hurdle that delays compensation, denies justice and puts asbestos warriors privacy at risk.  This is just what H.R. 982 would do. H.R. 982 is just the latest tactic in this...

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Blowing the Whistle on the Chamber of Commerce

Today's post was shared by Linda Reinstein and comes from www.forbes.com

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform recently released a report on the False Claims Act (FCA)—the primary whistleblower legislation utilized by the federal government.  Unfortunately, its analysis presents a fundamentally defective approach to addressing fraud in business. In short, the Chamber’s report concludes the following: there is a lot of fraud in American commerce, particularly the kind of fraud (much of it in healthcare) that costs American taxpayers billions and billions of dollars annually (in excess of $70 billion according to the Government Accountability Office).  In fact, fraud is such a big problem that Congress needs to amend the FCA and reduce protections and rewards available for those who risk their careers to report that fraud. The reality is that the FCA is an example of how the government works at its best and most efficient.  In fact, another recent study by the Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund concludes that the government actually recovers $20 for every $1 it invests in fraud investigations pursuant to the FCA. And there is a reason for it.  It is because it may be the one area where government appropriately harnesses the private sector profit motive.  It is the one area where government outsources ordinary people, driven by their own morality, conscience, and, yes, desire for money, to help do government’s work and provide a public good in the process.  In fact, some...

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Take Action: Tell Congress to Protect Veterans & Cancer Victims

Today's post is hared from takejusticback.org
This Thanksgiving, Big Asbestos really has something to be thankful for: the U.S. House of Representatives is voting on H.R. 982, a bill, which if enacted, would violate asbestos victims’ privacy and allow Big Asbestos to delay and deny justice until asbestos victims die.

Asbestos diseases is one of the longest-running public health epidemics in the world. Asbestos is still legal in the United States and kills more than 10,000 Americans every year. Veterans have been disproportionately impacted by asbestos and will be disproportionately harmed by H.R. 982. While veterans represent 8% of the nation's population, they comprise an astonishing 30% of all known mesothelioma deaths that have occurred in this country. Mesothelioma is horrific asbestos disease for which there is no cure.

Asbestos was known to be deadly by the 1930s. Yet, Big Asbestos corporate executives callously covered up this fact for decades, exposed millions of Americans to this deadly substance and put their health at risk.

Congress should focus on keeping Americans safe from deadly products, not protecting corporations that deliberately put workers and consumers in danger. Tell your representative to vote NO on H.R.982!

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Why The Republicans Should Not Cut Food Stamps

Facts about food stamps. Click on this image to see it full size.

Today's post comes from guest author Paul J. McAndrew, Jr., from Paul McAndrew Law Firm.

I write about a debate now occurring in Congress in which the GOP is threatening millions of American families, including 200,000 Iowa households.  The debate is over food stamps, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“SNAP”).

To understand the problem, we need only review the survey-report issued by the Department of Agriculture on September 4.  (Alisha Coleman-Jensen, Mark Nord, Anita Singh, “Household Food Security in the United States in 2012”).  The report shows that nearly 49 million Americans lived in “food insecure” households last year.  This means family members lack consistent access to adequate food throughout the year.  In short, 49 million Americans (over 16 times the Iowa population) went hungry for long periods in 2012.  Worse, children were found to be hungry in 10% of all U.S. families with children.  The agency found that hunger rates since the 2007 recession are much higher than before.

Asbestos victims speak out

Today's post was shared by Linda Reinstein and comes from blog.saferchemicals.org

By Linda Reinstein, Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization "Out of the hottest fire comes the strongest steel." Chinese Proverb The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), the largest independent asbestos victims’ organization in the U.S., is pleased to join other NGOs in the SaferChemicals, Healthy Family coalition’s mission to reform the Toxic SubstancesControl Act (TSCA), the principal federal law governing the use and safety of the thousands of chemicals we are exposed to in our everyday lives. TSCA was passed more than 30years ago and is grossly out of date. ADAO has been a stakeholder in discussions with Congressional leadership since 2004. You can read my personal journey, and how I came to advocate for this issue here. As I Remind Congress,“History is a great teacher to those who listen.”  Science And technology have made exponential advancements. As a mother and mesothelioma widow, I know the Safer Chemicals, Healthy FamilyFamily Coalition’s efforts will improve lives if Congress can draft and pass legislation to protect public health and our environment. I see hope on the horizon, but we have stalled. Bipartisan support is essential in getting a bill to the President’s desk, but we face a hurdle with the Chemical Safety Improvement Act (CSIA). ADAO opposes the current language of CSIA, due to deep concerns that the bill as currently written does not deliver meaningful reform to TSCA and does not adequately protect Americans from the worst...

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ABA president, others express concern over shutdown’s effects on judiciary

Today's post was shared by Legal Newsline and comes from legalnewsline.com

American Bar Association President James Silkenat is calling on members of Congress to send a budget to the President. Silkenat, a partner in the New York office of Sullivan & Worcester, took office in August. In a statement last week, Silkenat called the government shutdown, which began Oct. 1, a “historic failure that imperils justice.” “The political brinksmanship that brought our government to a standstill reflects the same intransigence and unwillingness to compromise that imposed sequestration on our national government and hardships on many who contract with, work for or receive certain nonentitlement benefits from the federal government,” he said. “Federal courts already face staff reductions and programmatic cuts that threaten public safety. The failure to reach accord on a continuing resolution to fund the government has also scuttled both chambers attempts to add extra funding to pay for indigent defense representation.” He added, “Congress has practically abdicated its constitutional responsibility to provide a budget for the government. It is time to end the scorched earth tactics and send a budget to the President.” Silkenat, who argues that citizens’ access to justice will increasingly be in jeopardy, testified on Capitol Hill Tuesday about the effects of the shutdown on the judiciary. He, along with other lawyers and former judges, told members of the...

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Government Shutdown: Day 9 - Government shutdown hitting veterans, military families hard

Workers' Compensation systems are generally integrated with Federal benefit systems, either/or for medical treatment or indemnity payments. Military disabilities are usually considered pre-existing disabilities in calculation of award estimates. Without a fully functioning VA benefit system, veterans are unable to obtain the complete benefits that they are entitled to received. Today's post is shared from cbs.org.

The government shutdown, now in its ninth day, has impacted government services and the Americans who rely on them to varying degrees. This week, members of Congress are wincing at the toll their dysfunction is taking on services for veterans and military families. If the shutdown doesn't end soon, the Veterans Affairs (VA) Department won't be able to ensure that checks go out on Nov. 1 for 5.18 million beneficiaries, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki told House Veterans' Affairs Committee. That amounts to $6.25 billion in payments that VA beneficiaries are expecting. Already the VA has furloughed more than 7,800 employees, Shinseki, half of whom are veterans. While the VA has in the last six months made progress on reducing its disability claims backlog, the shutdown has reversed that progress, with the number of backlogged claims increasing by 2,000 since Oct. 1. "We've lost ground we fought hard to take," said Shinseki, who at multiple points in his testimony to Congress used military analogies to explain the challenges his department is facing. The Republican-led House last week passed a bill to exempt the VA from the shutdown, but the Democratic-led Senate has rejected the House's piecemeal approach to restoring federal funding. Additionally, Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., noted in Wednesday's hearing that the House back in June approved a VA funding bill. Shinseki, however, noted that restoring funding for just the VA won't necessarily help clear...

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Lobbyists: Postal Service will try to hike stamp price

Today's post was shared by WCBlog and comes from thehill.com

The troubled United States Postal Service is likely to vote to raise its prices at a Thursday meeting of its Board of Governors, according to top Washington lobbyists opposed to the hike. Greeting Card Association lobbyist Rafe Morrissey told reporters Wednesday that he expects the USPS to try to increase price of the 46 cent first-class stamp by 3 cents. That would consist of a 2 cent increase on top of a 1 cent inflation adjustment already expected in January. The magazine industry is anticipating as much as a double-digit increase for periodicals, another lobbyist source said. Currently, magazine postal rates average 27 cents per magazine. The Board vote would start a process of seeking emergency price-raising powers from the Postal Regulatory Commission. Congress under current law does not have a role in the process, but both the House and Senate are weighing overhauls of the USPS. “The Board seems to me moving down the path of filing an exigent case,” Morrissey said. “We don’t think that is part of a common-sense or sustainable solution.” He argued that the rate increase along with proposed reductions in service such as the end of Saturday delivery would only contribute to a agency's death spiral. The Greeting Card Association wants Congress to adjust the formula by which the USPS prefunds the future health benefits for its retirees and for it to consider delivering mail to curbside cluster boxes rather than individual...

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