Specter is in a tough spot. If he sticks to his guns and supports card check legislation, as he did in 2007, he could count on union support when he seeks reelection in 2010. But business groups warn he could strengthen a primary challenger.

By flipping his position and voting against the Employee Free Choice Act, Specter would almost certainly lose the backing of unions and hurt himself in the general election.

“It could be a very big problem for him. I think he understands that,” said former Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), who narrowly lost a primary challenge to Specter in 2004 and has not ruled out a rematch. “He’s significantly more vulnerable now than he was in 2004.”

The legislation would allow workers to bypass secret-ballot elections when forming a union and is seen as a must-stop by business groups. In 2007, every Senate Democrat present voted to advance the card check bill, but Democrats lacked the 60 votes needed to overcome a procedural hurdle.

This time around, Democrats control 56 seats and the two independents also caucus with Democrats, giving card check supporters as many as 58 votes in the Senate next year. If two Republicans vote with Democrats, the measure could pass.

Specter has not said how he will vote on the legislation this coming Congress, but over the summer signaled a willingness to hear from both sides.

In a July 2008 article in the Harvard Journal on Legislation calling for reforms to labor law and public hearings, Specter said card check is not the answer. “The reform the country needs is not as simple as instituting card check or mandating secret-ballot elections. Neither of these options would cure the weak remedies or procedural delays at the [National Labor Relations Board],” Specter wrote.

He said lawmakers should work to pass legislation that would ensure employees’ freedom of choice regarding their representation instead of “serving the interests of unions or employers.” Both unions and employers have abused the system, according to the article co-written by Specter and one of his aides.

Specter also expressed a willingness in the article to look at other methods for organizing unions. “Is it possible to secure a non-coercive selection process for employees through a process other than card check?” Specter asked.

For the full article, please click here.

Gov. Ed Rendell made the announcement at a press conference today, where he also revealed that he has ordered $128 million in new spending cuts from the $28 billion budget for the fiscal year that ends June 30.

Freezing the 2.25 percent raises for managers at agencies ranging from the Department of Transportation to the Department of Corrections will save $14.3 million of the total spending cuts, said Rendell, who described the affected employees as long-term workers and said many of them "were counting on" the pay raises to help make ends meet.

"Every cut is painful," Rendell said. "We have not eviscerated the effectiveness of government programs, but we have reduced their effectiveness."

The Democratic governor also said he intends to sit down with union leaders after the new year to discuss a similar giveback. Such a move would require reopening the contracts for unions that represent scores of employees across Pennsylvania.

And amid mounting public pressure, Rendell called on 51 executive branch officials, including himself, new Lt. Gov. Joe Scarnati and cabinet secretaries, to forgo the 2.8 percent cost-of-living adjustments to their salaries that took effect on Monday.

To read the rest of the story, please visit the Morning Call.

The executives of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, appearing along with other witnesses before the Senate Banking Committee, sought to explain new business plans they presented in response to demands last month from skeptical lawmakers for proof of how they would restore a key component of American manufacturing to long-term viability. The executives are scheduled to appear before a House panel tomorrow.

In an opening statement, GM Chairman G. Richard Wagoner Jr. made his case for $12 billion in short-term loans plus a $6 billion line of credit. He said the company needs $4 billion immediately and $4 billion more in January. GM's intention is to begin repaying the loans as soon as 2011 and fully repay them by 2012, he said.

Ford President Alan R. Mulally requested a $9 billion line of credit that he said the company may not have to draw upon. According to Ford's business plan, the amount needed could reach $13 billion in a worst-case scenario.

Chrysler Chairman Robert Nardelli said his company needs a $7 billion bridge loan and would plan to begin repaying it in 2012. In addition, he asked for immediate assistance for Chrysler Financial, the company's auto loan arm, from the government's $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program, which Congress approved to bail out troubled financial institutions.

"We're here today because we made mistakes, which we're learning from," Wagoner told the panel. "And we're here because forces beyond our control have pushed us to the brink. Most importantly, we're here because saving General Motors, and all this company represents, is a job worth doing."

The business plan he presented "creates a blueprint for a new General Motors," Wagoner said.

Showing some contrition as he explained GM's predicament, he said in prepared testimony that the company "made decisions that were right for the times," such as investing in full-size trucks and SUVs "that consumers wanted," but acknowledged that "we made mistakes as well," notably failing to move fast enough into "smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles for the U.S. market."

For the full article, please visit The Washington Post.

That will bring to $439 million the total of spending reductions Mr. Rendell has ordered in the past three months, as sales, income and corporate tax receipts continue to come in below the estimates made in July, when the spending plan was adopted.

One cut announced yesterday will eliminate pay raises of 2.25 percent that had been set for 13,000 managers and other nonunion state employees on Jan. 1.

Employees in the public welfare, transportation, corrections, environmental protection and other departments will be affected. Total savings will be $14.3 million, with the average employee losing a raise of $1,800.

Mr. Rendell, a Democrat and former mayor of Philadelphia, said he may ask state unions in January to reopen their current four-year contracts as a way to seek additional savings.

He said he'll "ask" 51 employees in his executive branch of government, including Cabinet secretaries, to give up the 2.8 percent cost-of-living adjustments they are set to get Jan. 1. The governor said he will forgo the bump that would have raised his salary from $170,000 to almost $175,000 a year.

Senate President Pro Tem Joe Scarnati, a conservative Republican from rural Jefferson County, said he'll also skip his COLA.

He quipped at a news conference, "I applaud the governor's conservative Republican philosophy in cutting costs. [Senate Republicans] have been screaming that around these halls for the last couple years."

Mr. Scarnati was sworn in yesterday as the new lieutenant governor, at $141,000.

Mr. Rendell's previous belt-tightening steps included a hiring freeze and a ban on out-of-state travel. The new House majority leader, Rep. Todd Eachus, D-Luzerne, said yesterday he's also banning most travel for House employees to save money.

For the first five months of the current fiscal year (July-November), the state is $658 million below its original 2008-09 revenue estimates, as the ongoing national recession takes away jobs and keeps people from spending as much as they might normally. Mr. Rendell has said the deficit could be as large as $1 billion to $2 billion by the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

He said the state's $750 million Rainy Day Fund, set aside for emergencies, can be tapped to help erase the deficit. But he said he doesn't want to use it all because the state's budget woes are expected to continue into the 2009-10 fiscal year, which begins July 1.

For the full article, please visit the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The drop was larger than forecast and followed a revised 179,000 decrease in October that was more than previously estimated, ADP Employer Services said.

Companies from Citigroup Inc. to General Motors Corp. have stepped up the pace of firings with the world’s largest economy in its first recession since 2001. A government report in two days may show the economy lost jobs in November for an 11th consecutive month, according to a Bloomberg News survey of economists.

“The report shows a broad and deep contraction in all nooks and crannies of the economy,” Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers LLC in St. Louis, said on a conference call. “We’re teetering over the edge of a hill and we’re going to be rolling down it for a while.”

The ADP report was forecast to show a decline of 205,000 jobs, after an originally reported drop of 157,000 in October, according to the median estimate of 22 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Projections of job losses ranged from 169,000 to 350,000.

ADP includes only private employment and does not take into account hiring by government agencies, which is included in the monthly payroll report. Macroeconomic Advisers LLC in St. Louis produces the report jointly with ADP.

Government Payroll Report

The government may report on Dec. 5 that total payrolls fell by 325,000 last month, and the unemployment rate rose to a 15-year high of 6.8 percent, according to the Bloomberg survey median. The economy has lost 1.2 million jobs in the first 10 months of the year.

“I’m expecting to see a string of very weak employment reports, with unemployment rising to between 8 and 9 percent,” said Prakken, adding today’s figures signal the Labor Department will report November job losses exceeding 300,000.

For the full article, please visit Bloomberg.com.

"We could not ask our employees to accept a wage freeze at the same time we would be accepting a COLA," Rendell said of the cost-of-living adjustment that takes effect next month.

The move is part of the $128 million cost-cutting package announced yesterday, the latest in a series of such efforts Rendell has made to stop Harrisburg from sinking deeper into a fiscal hole.

The news came hours after some legislative leaders announced that they would give back their 2.8-percent COLA raises, which took effect Monday. They also pressed rank-and-file members to join them.

About 13,600 nonunion state workers, most of them agency managers, were scheduled to receive 2.25 percent "longevity" pay increases next month. Rendell axed those increases indefinitely. Union workers are not covered by that move, although Rendell left open the possibility of renegotiating labor contracts.

Rendell's COLA payment begins in January and would raise his salary $4,800 to about $175,000. He said he would return to the treasury about $2,800 of that - the portion remaining after taxes and pension contributions are taken out.

He also called on 51 top officials, including cabinet members, to follow him.

"Obviously, that is not a great deal of money, but I think it is an important sum," he said of the overall wage freezes, which are expected to save the state about $14.3 million this fiscal year.

The cuts announced yesterday are on top of the $311 million in spending cuts Rendell has made to keep the $28.3 billion budget balanced.

Five months into the fiscal year, the state is $658 million behind revenue estimates. Rendell said he anticipated more shortfalls that could lead to a budget deficit of $1 billion to $2 billion next year.

Though the spending cuts were made across the board, the Department of Welfare is taking the biggest hit - a $150 million reduction - but no programs are being eliminated, Rendell said. Information about specific funding cuts was not released because the list had not yet been made final, he said.

"I am confident we haven't eviscerated the basic thrust of any of our programs," Rendell said.

For the full article, please click here.

The surprising move by the U.A.W. could be a critical factor in the automakers’ bid not only to get government assistance, but also to become competitive with the cost structure of nonunion plants operated by foreign automakers in the United States.

At a news conference in Detroit, the U.A.W.’s president, Ron Gettelfinger, said that his members were willing to sacrifice job security provisions and financing for retiree health care to keep the two most troubled car companies of the Big Three, General Motors and Chrysler, out of bankruptcy.

“Concessions, I used to cringe at that word,” Mr. Gettelfinger said. “But now, why hide it? That’s what we did.”

Labor experts said the ground given by the union underscored the precarious condition of the Detroit companies, as the U.A.W.’s own prospects for survival are also in doubt. “It is an historic and awfully difficult moment for the U.A.W.,” said Harley Shaiken, professor of labor studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

The union’s willingness to modify its 2007 contract came a day after G.M., Chrysler and the Ford Motor Company submitted business plans to Congress in support of their loan requests.

Those efforts won praise from President-elect Barack Obama, who said the automakers had offered “a more serious set of plans” to save the industry.

G.M. and Chrysler have both said they are dangerously close to running out of cash to run their operations by the end of the year. Ford is somewhat healthier, but is also seeking government loans.

The chief executives of the Big Three, along with Mr. Gettelfinger, are to appear before Congress on Thursday and Friday in hopes of building support for emergency assistance.

Democratic Congressional leaders have said that they want to help the automakers and that they were heartened by the gesture of contrition that the executives made by driving to Washington — rather than flying on corporate jets, as they did two weeks ago — and by the more comprehensive plans submitted by the companies.

But the political climate on Capitol Hill is still doubtful for the automakers, and only seemed to worsen on Wednesday with a new CNN poll showing a majority of Americans opposing a taxpayer rescue.

As a result, there is growing concern among the Democratic leadership that they will simply not be able to drum up enough votes to pass an aid package next week, and that to do so will require a major lobbying effort by President Bush and Mr. Obama.

For the full article, please visit The New York Times.

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