Foes of Bush overtime rules abandon effort to kill regulations

[Newsjock]

Edit to add link.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/11/21/national1937EST0777.DTL

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Foes of the Bush administration's proposed rules changing which workers would qualify for overtime pay abandoned their fight on Friday in the face of unrelenting pressure from the White House and the House.

Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who had been the chief Republican opponent of the new rules, agreed Friday to drop a provision killing the regulations from a massive spending bill, said numerous congressional aides and lobbyists speaking on condition of anonymity.

It was unclear what, if anything, Specter received in return for his decision.

[Momof1]

1. ok confused

You mean they have stopped fighting to drop them?

On my local news, it was all over about Spector, Yes Arlen opposing this measure. I guess a lot of his constituents like their overtime pay.

[Newsjock]

2. That's how I read it

Waiting for the full story to arrive.

[papau]

3. White House Said to Prevail on Overtime Work Rules - link

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=FRG03A4DHM0J2CRBAE0CFEY?type=politicsNews&storyID=3874478

White House Said to Prevail on Overtime Work Rules
Fri November 21, 2003 07:34 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -<snip> They said that Sen. Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, had lifted his objections to the proposal, contained in huge year-end spending bill which Congress is now expected to approve in the next few days.
© Reuters 2003. All Rights Reserved.

[54anickel]

4. We really have no voice, do we? Millions of letters not once, but twice

If you count the last letter writing campaign last week, it's 3 times. This is disgusting. Shrub is pushing as much Corporate welfare thru as possible. :mad:

[TacticalPeek]

10. "as much Corporate welfare thru as possible"

Because it comes back to him.

:grr:

[Momof1]

5. Damn them

It's going to take Democrats 10 yrs. to fix the damage that Bush has managed to do in 3 yrs.:puke:

[aquart]

15. I want a new Congress.

I won't get it. Not even close. But nothing else can change these monstrous bills.

People MUST go to jail for this. The trouble is, they've legalized their crimes.

[7th_Sephiroth]

18. wana make a change

bout the only way thats gonna happen, and i'm afraid to say this, is civil war

[david_vincent]

6. Specter is desperately trying to keep his credibility among Repugs

There's been a lot of noise among neocons complaining about his votes. The more vocal (read, stupider) among them want Specter thrown out of the party. What he received in return for his decision: he gets to tag along with them for a little while longer without getting a black eye.

[Momof1]

7. It was all over the news

how he was defending the overtime. God, I hope this blows up in his face.

[Momof1]

8. Does anyone have a link to the

regulations? I need to find out, if I will ever have an extra dollar bill in my pocket. We live off my hubby's overtime.

[54anickel]

13. The EPI site seems to be having trouble, but here's another

http://www.saveovertimepay.org/bushproposal.htm

There are some links from this site. One to EPI (seems to be down again right now) and one to the official DOL site.

On edit
Here's the epi link, it's working again
http://www.epinet.org/content.cfm/briefingpapers_flsa_jun03

[Just Me]

9. This should ignite outrage!!!

I have seen no coverage on this!!! God,...this p*sses me off!!! But, okay, fine,...whatever,...the people are getting the screws. They are being pushed towards desperate measures. Whatever. The combination of economic and social disparity will incite a revolt. Forget the "compassion" and "humility" and "decency" we worked so hard to evolve in this country. These greedy rat droppings are sh*tting all over us pushing us into a corner. I hate them because force the absolute worst of humanity to the fore.

[BuckeFushe]

11. Another Friday night massacre, slipping it under the radar

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=512&e=4&u=/ap/20031122/ap_on_go_co/overtime_dispute

White House Wins Fight Overtime Pay Rules

<snip>
Specter and his aides could not immediately be reached for comment. Earlier in the day, he and his supporters said they would continue their fight even if their provision was dropped from the spending bill.

Specter had also acknowledged that he was feeling boxed in by threats from congressional leaders to delete the language blocking the rules from the spending bill. That would force him to decide whether to oppose the overall spending measure — a vote that in effect would be a vote to shut down numerous federal agencies over the issue.

"Does anybody have a choice" but to vote for the spending bill, he said.

The Senate voted in September to block the regulations. The House had backed them this past summer, but reversed its stance last month in a nonbinding vote.

Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, the lead Democratic sponsor of the provision blocking the overtime rules and an ally of Specter, blamed his colleague's decision to abandon the fight on Bush administration pressure.

"Just in time for the holidays, the White House has delivered another gift for big business, along with a pay cut for millions of working families," Harkin said in a written statement.

<snip>

When is the American public going to wake up and realize that these scumbags are slicing up our economy and dividing it amongst their friends and contributors. The damage they are doing will not be undone in the rest of my lifetime.

And they will be smiling all the way to the bank.

[shanti]

16. i'm with you, sister!

these swine are low and they are definitely playing for keeps :grr:

i'm going to blast this story all over the net tonite.

[Momof1]

12. Is their anyone left to write or call

Is this a done deal?

[schultzee]

14. This issue warrents demonstrations. They are stealing our futures.

[w4rma]

17. Folks need to hear about what the Repugs are doing. I say Filibuster.

If the Repukes don't leave this out of the bill, filibuster the bill until the agree that it will be left out.

Even the Freepers were angry at this bill. How can folks make a huge stand on this? A filibuster will get a spotlight.

[jbutsz]

19. This is economic rape

any way they slice it. This would kill a big portion of the middle-class, who are middle-class only because they work as nurses and such, who depend on overtime and are already working 12 hour shifts as it is.

This HAS to be filibustered.