Big businesses continue to shy away from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Bank of America (BofA), one of the largest banks in the United States, is reportedly cutting ties to ALEC. The banking organization says it is not renewing its membership next year because of budget constraints. Bank of America joins an ever-growing list that includes: General Electric, Western Union, Sprint Nextel, Symantec, Reckitt Benckise, Amgen, General Motors, Walgreens, Hewlett-Packard, CVS Carema... [More]

Congress returned to Washington, DC this week to begin negotiating a plan to avert the so-called “Fiscal Cliff”—the package of automatic spending cuts and tax increases that will take effect on January 1.  President Obama, elected on a platform of requiring the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share of taxes, has been meeting with congressional leaders from both parties, as well as business and labor leaders to generate support for this proposal to cut the deficit ... [More]

The 2012 presidential elections are now in the history books. However, the memory of the voting chaos in Florida and other states still lingers. Over the Thanksgiving weekend The Palm Beach Post published a story confirming what voters in Florida already knew -- that great efforts were made to suppress the vote of hard-working citizens. A former chair of the GOP Party, a former governor and others all spoke about the issue to the Palm Beach Post. Throughout this election cycle, we’ve sa... [More]

IAFF affiliates are playing a pivotal role in this year's presidential election. In the critical battleground state of Ohio, Cincinnati Local 48’s office serves as the logistical hub in Hamilton County for the Obama for America (OFA) campaign. Since last Monday, Local 48's office has been transformed into the field operations headquarters for the County where people from across the country have used it for phone banking outreach to voters,  organizing campaign packets and literatu... [More]

Mitt Romney has proven he’s no friend to organized labor and fire fighters. In a new video, the Transport Workers Union shares Romney’s plans for unions and workers. And it is not good. Watch the video as Romney says he supports national Right-to-Work laws and wants to end union contracts. See other positions Romney has taken on issues that matter to fire fighters -- such as fire fighter jobs, pensions and tax reform at the Fire Fighters for Obama web site and Fire Fighters for O... [More]

The shadowy organization known as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has been quiet in recent weeks and we now know why. Roll Call reports that ALEC has been quietly laying the groundwork for establishing a new partnership with the Republican Study Committee (RSC). The newspaper reports that a meeting will be held next week in Washington, DC at the Heritage Foundation. The meeting promises to develop an ongoing relationship between ALEC and the RSC that would allow federal lawmak... [More]

During his tenure as Massachusetts Governor, Mitt Romney proved he does not support fire fighters and paramedics, promoting policies that resulted in budget cuts to fire departments and raising fees. The Republican candidate for president is not a fan of public sector unions, saying at one point during his campaign “We don’t need more teachers, fire fighters or police.” Now in a questionnaire he completed for the Fraternal Order of Police, Romney says he will oppose expanding... [More]

As tropical storm Isaac has delayed the start of the Republican National Convention, the Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts (PFFM) has produced a fact sheet detailing Governor Mitt Romney’s public safety record in the state. During his time as governor, Romney never met with the Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts to discuss important issues. He is the only governor who never met with  fire fighters in the state. Massachusetts fire fighters say the Romney they knew ... [More]

Another corporation has announced it is ending its membership in the shadowy lobbying organization, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Amgen, a California-based pharmaceutical company is the 31st company to drop its membership. Amgen is the world’s largest independent biotechnology firm in the world. This has been a long, hot summer for ALEC, which has seen its corporate sponsors leave in droves since its operating structure has been scrutinized. Amgen follows the lead of... [More]

A new analysis by an independent think tank confirms what the IAFF has been saying for months:  the tax plan advocated by GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney would increase taxes on fire fighters and other middle-income Americans. The study by the Tax Policy Center, a non-partisan research organization founded by the highly-respected Brookings Institution and Urban Institute, found that Romney’s proposal would slash taxes for the wealthiest 5% of Americans but raise taxes for ever... [More]