The Department of Labor has proposed overtime pay rules mandating that anyone making less than $50,400 annually must be paid time-and-a-half for any hours worked over 40 in a week or eight in a day -- but Republicans plan to introduce a resolution of disapproval to stop it. Of course, we advocated for a rather higher ceiling (at $69,000), which illustrates, again, the folly of trying to find "middle ground" with corporate America. Anyway, under the Congressional Review Act, Congress can block the overtime pay rule, and set in motion a 60-day period during which the President can't veto the resolution -- meaning that, if Mr. Obama waits too long, and a Republican wins the Presidency, Congress could "run out the clock" on the new rule. Hence CREDO helps you tell President Obama and Labor Secretary Perez to implement the new overtime rules now, so Congress has less leeway to "run out the clock." Democrats in the Senate could, I suppose, filibuster the resolution and block its passage. But no matter what happens, though, we'll communicate our will to our government, as is our duty.
Meanwhile, Change.org helps you tell the state of Colorado to ban cat declawing. (FYI, I don't get squeamish easily, but I found the photos accompanying the petition quite unnerving.) Folks say declawing a cat is a lot like removing your fingers from the first knuckle upward, but it's actually worse than that, since your fingers don't have retractable knives in them. Cats without claws are often far less secure cats, more prone to biting as a way of compensating for the weapons they've lost, and if you really can't get your cats to avoid destroying your furniture (you know, by paying more attention to them, playing with them, redirecting them to scratching posts, or taking them to the vet to find out if they've got a health issue), then maybe you shouldn't have cats. As it happens, a mere five cities in America (all in California) have banned declawing, but 22 mostly European countries have banned it, demonstrating that declawing cats is another way America absolutely positively does not have to Be Number One.
Comments