UPDATE: Correction...as of this evening, 87 advertisers have ditched their sponsorship of Glenn Beck's show. Here's the list of advertisers who have NOT boycotted Beck's histrionics and hate-mongering--and sponsored his show tonight. In the order they appeared (hat tip to Media Matters):

Since he called President Obama "a racist" who harbors a "deep-seated hatred for white people" in July 2009, Glenn Beck has yet to accept responsibility for his actions or apologize. In the wake of Beck's refusal to do the right thing, hundreds of thousands of Americans angered and offended by his indefensible comments have stepped in to do just that: hold Glenn Beck accountable.

More than 285,000 people have called on the Fox News program's sponsors to pull their support from Beck's show. And 81 advertisers have discontinued their commercials from airing during Beck's show.

Beck's racially divisive rhetoric, and falsehoods peddled as truth, have no place on a network that positions itself as a source of news. Journalistic integrity may not be at a high point in America right now, but Fox News really lowers the bar across the board. Scaring the American public with baseless conspiracy theories and outlandish accusations towards our President and other public figures and organizations that stand up for working people is unacceptable.

Companies that have NOT stepped away from Beck and Fox News, via Media Matters:

Help keep these major advertisers from returning to the Fox News show. Hold Fox News and Glenn Beck accountable for Beck's race baiting and fear-mongering rhetoric.

Click here for the full list of the companies that have disassociated from Beck.

There's an old saying that goes, 'We make the road by walking.' Today, even in the face of historic opposition to change, there's no question that Barack Obama and the pro-worker members of Congress we elected last November are taking the steps towards real change with working families at their side.

Last November, we made history by electing Barack Obama. Over the past year, the change we've dreamt of for so long is becoming reality. Together, we saved the global economy from depression, made significant investments in green jobs, and have gotten further than at any other point in our history to winning affordable healthcare for all. Clearly, there is much more to be done. Because as we all know, real change is never achieved quickly--or without a fight.

But on this momentous anniversary of Barack's election, we're going on focus on the positive (as in, the glass is half-full instead of half-empty) and run down a laundry list of progress we're proud has been made over the past year:

• Make law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which has been responsible for creating or saving 650,000 jobs;
• Sign into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act;
• Pass a budget that includes a historic commitment to health insurance reform, and work with Congress to ensure that comprehensive reform passes in 2009;
• Appoint cabinet secretaries that working families can count on, including Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and HHS Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius;
• Provide a pathway to legal status for young people who were brought to the U.S. as undocumented immigrant children through the DREAM Act;
• Pass a sweeping expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program, which provides healthcare coverage to an additional 4 million children of working families;
• Create a Middle Class Task Force and a Presidential Economic Recovery Advisory Board, and allow working families representatives like Anna Burger on it;
• Create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency, to protect consumers from the unfair practices of our largest financial institutions.

"Along with the policy shifts we are witnessing, there is a change in culture as well," said SEIU President Andy Stern. "When Jordan Barab, the new Assistant Secretary for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, took office, he replaced the conference room photos of OSHA managers with photos of workers who've been killed on the job. How's that for a change in attitude?"

Check out the video our healthcare team put together to celebrate this moment:

Last week, we learned that the swift action by the President and Congress to pass an economic recovery package earlier this year helped stave off a global economic recession, put our economy back on the path of growth, and helped save hundreds of thousands of jobs.

SEIU was a major proponent of the economic recovery package and we believe we need to continue to make progress on a number of other economic initiatives to build long-term sustainable economic growth--these include passing meaningful financial reform, investing in green jobs, using public pension funds to build a 21st century infrastructure, and creating a new retirement system to protect our future.

Passing Meaningful Financial Reform
Anna Burger writes on New Deal 2.0 about the need to fundamentally change the way we value wealth and work in our country and act now on meaningful reforms to protect our families from future economic crises.

To build long-term economic progress we must:

• Create a strong Consumer Financial Protection Agency to serve as a watchdog against predatory and reckless banking products;
• Crackdown on out of control executive pay that rewards short term risks over long term results;
• End too big to fail once and for all by separating commercial banking from investment banking and raising capital requirements back to levels that promote safe and sound banks;
• Empower shareholders to act on executive pay and break the excessive power of executive-controlled boards;
• Force banks to expand lending to small businesses and state and local governments to create jobs and save critical services;
• Demand banks stop foreclosures and help families keep their homes;
• Reregulate the shadow financial markets--including derivatives, hedge funds and private equity; and
• Investigate, and if necessary prosecute, the big banks and Wall Street for crashing our economy.

In case you missed it--more than 5,000 Americans from 20 states--converged on the American Bankers Association convention in Chicago to demand banks stop fighting reforms that would help protect our families from future crises. It was the beginning of a national movement to hold banks and Wall Street accountable for their reckless behavior.

Investing in Green Jobs
During the first meeting of the President's Economic Recovery Board, Anna Burger shared her perspective on how business, labor and government can work together towards creating a low-carbon, green economy and a movement into sustainable good, green jobs--citing the work SEIU and other Change to Win unions are already doing on the community and national level to lead the way on green initiatives.

It was a sad day for corporations in the financial, insurance, and real estate sector--like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce & the Financial Services Roundtable--who spent a combined total of $321 million lobbying against federal reforms such as limits on bonuses and the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). These groups were concerned that oversight legislation to help rein in greed on Wall Street might actually....rein in greed on Wall Street. "We remain concerned that this legislation will have significant and harmful unintended consequences for consumers, businesses, and the overall economy," the groups wrote in a letter to House members last week.

Thankfully, the House Financial Services Committee didn't feel nearly as sympathetic towards the creators of unfair financial products that scam consumers and taxpayers as they feel for themselves. A recent poll found that nearly 75 percent of Americans believe that the greed and risky decisions of banks and financial companies led to our financial crisis--and our lawmakers agree. Yesterday, the House voted 39 to 29 to move forward with the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, to help put a stop to the dangerous and deceptive products and practices that got us into this mess. The House Financial Services Committee also approved legislation that would impose new rules for credit cards by Dec. 1, moving up the date from mid-February. Democratic supporters said moving up the date was necessary because lenders were using the grace period to hike interest rates.

The American Bankers Association joined the Chamber of Commerce in expressing their disapproval for the legislation, saying it would continue to try to make its case against the agency as the legislation moves to the House floor in coming weeks and, eventually, to the Senate. "We still have major concerns with some principal areas" including "the very broad, ill-defined authority that is granted to this new agency that could be used to justify essentially any regulatory action," said Floyd Stoner, ABA vice president for congressional relations.

Creating the CFPA as part of Obama's broader plan to clamp down on Wall Street is an important step towards preventing much of the reckless lending that contributed to last year's near-collapse of the market. "It's been a year since the financial world collapsed and it is now clear that the greed and excess of big banks, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and their allies could have and should have been prevented," said SEIU's Anna Burger. "Chairman Frank and the Financial Services Committee stood up on behalf of American families by passing legislation to create a strong Consumer Financial Protection Agency--and to prevent business as usual to continue."

According to a recent poll, nearly 75 percent of Americans believe that the greed and risky decisions of banks and financial companies led to our financial crisis.And there's much more to be done. We believe that to be successful, the CFPA must be strengthened to include:

• oversight of auto dealers who receive lucrative compensation in financing auto loans;
• the authority to examine the books of all financial institutions, no matter what size, without cumbersome barriers;
• fixes to the current compensation system which pressures and incentivizes workers to push and sell bad and unneeded products to consumers as a condition of employment; and
• the full authority to stop the sale of credit-related insurance policies that are virtually worthless.

That's why when the American Bankers Association meets in Chicago next week, more than 5,000 taxpayers from 20 states will be there to demand an end to Wall Street's appetite for greed.

Dr. Toni Lewis, president of The Committee of Interns and Residents of SEIU Healthcare, joined 149 other doctors for an event in the Rose Garden with President Barack Obama on Monday. The President re-iterated that doctors, who see patients daily, are some of our strongest supporters of reform, because they see first-hand the damage caused by our broken system.

Concurrently, 20 CIR/SEIU doctors descended on Capitol Hill in their white coats to thank their members of Congress for supporting comprehensive health care reform. They came from chapters in Massachusetts, New York, Florida and California with one clear voice: doctors support health care reform this year, because our patients can't wait.

The doctors attended a "National Grand Rounds" in Union Station - a panel discussion for physicians and medical students on what is and is not in the health reform proposals moving through Congress. For 45 minutes, they witnessed in a lively discussion moderated by Dr. Arthur Kellermann, the Associate Dean for Health Policy at Emory University School of Medicine and a former co-chair of the Institute of Medicine's Committee on the Consequences of Uninsurance, and had their questions answered by policy staff from the White House Office of Health Reform, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Afterward, CIR/SEIU residents spent the afternoon on the Hill, advocating for real reform that will make a difference for their patients and in the safety-net hospitals they work in. They also took the opportunity to present the Congressional staffers with posters based on the ad which had previously run in Roll Call, attesting to the support of half a million doctors for health care reform.

UPDATE, 1:00 p.m.: Anna has given her testimony before the Committee -- stay tuned for video of that testimony.

SEIU International Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger will testify before the House Financial Services Committee this morning at a hearing on the Consumer Financial Protection Agency. You can watch the hearing "Perspectives on the Consumer Financial Protection Agency" online now here.

Others giving testimony today along with Anna include:

• Mr. Hilary O. Shelton, President of the Center for Responsible Lending
  
• Mr. Michael Calhoun, President and Chief Operating Officer, Center for Responsible Lending 
  
• Mr. David C. John, Senior Research Fellow, Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies, The Heritage Foundation
  
• Ms. Janis Bowdler, Senior Policy Analyst, National Council of La Raza
  
• Mr. R. Michael S. Menzies, Sr., President and Chief Executive Officer, Easton Bank and Trust Co. on behalf of the Independent Community Bankers of America
  
• Mr. Andrew J. Pincus, Partner, Mayer Brown LLP on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
  
• Mr. Edward L. Yingling, President and Chief Executive Officer, American Bankers Association
  
• Mr. Bill Himpler, Executive Vice President, American Financial Services Association

Anna's remarks to the Committee after the break. Watch here--Anna should be speaking shortly before 11:00 a.m.

The Washington Post has published an excellent editorial piece on the Child Nutrition Act. In it, the newspaper's editorial board preaches the "wisdom of spending more money to provide healthier meals."

The board says that they're "encouraged that there's a growing movement to do something about" food that "isn't good" for children. As a "Washington Beltway" newspaper that's seen its fair share of movements and supposed movements, those aren't words that they throw around all-too-often.

The Child Nutrition Act, says the editorial, "is up for reauthorization by Congress next month," and President Obama "has signaled his interest by including an extra $1 billion in his 2010 budget proposal for school food improvements."

The board states that while there are "enormous financial pressures facing the nation," there "is also no denying that what children are eating today carries its own costs in the form of increased obesity, incidence of diabetes and earlier deaths."

You can read the full editorial here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/20/AR2009092001966_pf.html

"When Lehman Brothers fell, they took not just the rest of Wall Street, but all of Main Street, down with them. Yet, one year later, the greedy CEOs who caused the collapse are unremorseful, unrepentant, and virtually unchanged," said SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger, following President Obama's speech yesterday on the anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers. While the economy continues to recover, President Obama warned, "normalcy cannot lead to complacency."

Watch President Obama's speech yesterday from Wall Street's Federal Hall:

'Business as Usual'?

"You'd think that the collapse of over 90 banks in one year alone would be a powerful 'lesson learned' for the titans at big financial houses, but on Wall Street, it's back to 'business as usual,' said Burger. After bailing out banks to the tune of $4.7 trillion following the financial collapse, American taxpayers were then hit with the hidden costs of our bank-induced recession: foreclosures, unemployment and bankruptcies.

Now the big banks and financial corporations are hitting us a third time, by lobbying against meaningful reforms that could prevent a repeat of the crisis in the future.The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Tom Donohue and his CEO allies might not think so, but America can't afford their reckless and selfish behavior any longer.

The current regulatory framework simply doesn't provide adequate protection to consumers--we need Congress to reform our financial system, fund strict enforcement of the rules, and give long term shareholders the power they need to reign in the out-of-control corporate elite. Let's stop this cycle before more jobs are lost, more homes are foreclosed, and more retirement accounts are wiped out. Don't let the U.S. Chamber and Big Banks delay consumer protection any longer.

Following up on his address to Congress on Wednesday, President Obama spoke to a group of nurses gathered in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on Thursday morning. The President was joined by 54 Nurse Alliance of SEIU Healthcare RNs, as well as members of the American Nurses Association.

The participating SEIU members came to DC on very short notice from locals all over the country, including United Healthcare Workers East (New York and Maryland), SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, SEIU Healthcare Michigan, 1199 New England (Rhode Island and Connecticut). The RNs said they felt honored to represent SEIU at an event focused on such an important issue and thrilled to be involved in such an intimate gathering with the President.

UPDATE: Transcript from the President's address from Wall Street can be found here. Watch his address on the first anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse here:

The President is on Wall Street today, pushing for Change. A year after the collapse at Lehman Brothers and the worldwide financial collapse, President Obama will speak from Wall Street's Federal Hall in New York about the government's role in moving the economy forward after the financial crisis that peaked one year ago. Obama will focus on how to protect consumer's money by enacting stricter regulations of the financial and banking industry to prevent another financial collapse.

The livestream from the speech at Federal Hall begins at 12:10 p.m. ET and 9:10 a.m. PT today. Tune in to watch it here:

Leave your thoughts on the President's speech in the 'comments' section below.

Last night, during President Obama's speech, one Republican Congressman tried to turn a Joint Session of Congress into an August town hall meeting by calling the President a liar.

President Obama: There are also those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false - the reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.

Rep. Joe Wilson: You Lie!

The lies and misinformation have to stop.

Can you write a letter to the editor setting the record straight on immigrant access to health care? Click here to start writing your letter:

http://action.seiu.org/immigranlte

It's important that Congress not be divided by distractions. People in the country legally, who work hard and play by the rules, deserve affordable coverage and access to public programs, as they do with children's health insurance program (SCHIP), and subsidies.

Health reform must be inclusive and must end the unfair treatment of immigrants.

And if we're going to pass comprehensive immigration reform, we need to pass health care reform first.

Write a letter to the editor setting the record straight on immigrant access to health care and why we need comprehensive immigration reform.

http://action.seiu.org/immigranlte

Here's a compilation of a few (of the many!) events and rallies SEIU members attended on Labor Day to show their support for health reform and honor American workers.

OHIO: Local 1199WKO members joined the AFL-CIO in celebrating Labor Day with a picnic that featured President Barack Obama. The President gave a fiery speech to a capacity crowd in the PNC Arena at Coney Island Park. The speech highlighted the impact of labor unions over the past century and urged attendees to join a final, strong push for health care reform. One of our favorite quotes from his speech:

[...] Few have fought harder or longer for health care and America's workers than you--our brothers and sisters of organized labor. And just as we know that we must adapt to all the changes and challenges of a global economy, we also know this: in good economic times and bad, labor is not part of the problem. Labor is part of the solution.

Watch President Obama's entire speech here:

MICHIGAN: Members of several locals, including 517M, Local 1 and Workers United joined over 700 SEIU Healthcare MI members in calling for health care reform during the Detroit Labor Day parade. Local members marched in the parade, carrying "Reform Now" signs and showing a united front by donning their purple SEIU t-shirts.

After the parade, members and their families moved on to the Union Hall for food, fun, musical entertainment and even free school supplies for the kids.

MASSACHUSETTS: SEIU Locals 1199 and 615 members joined more than 1,000 people at a healthcare rally on the Boston Common.

In a refrain that echoed across the grassy lawn, the crowd chanted: "What do we want? Health Care Reform! When do you want it? Now!" The event, which was organized by OFA and sponsored by HCAN, SEIU Local 615, Jobs with Justice and others, featured speeches by several politicians including Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Congressmen Edward Markey, John Tierney and Michael Capuano as well as Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley.

ILLINOIS: While many groups around the country used Labor Day to rally around health care, SEIU Local 73 and Workers United members used the holiday to draw attention to the need for comprehensive immigration reform. Members marched with nearly 2,000 other concerned citizens to Federal Plaza in downtown Chicago, where they called on Congress and the President to end the deportations of illegal immigrants that separate families. Speakers at the rally, which was covered by the Sun Times, called for the election of candidates with pro-immigrant stances.

MONTANA: Change That Works Montana activists 'kicked back' on labor day by attending a rally for health insurance reform. With a crowd of 300 people in attendance, the 27th annual Labor Day rally sponsored by the Central Montana Labor Council proved that when it comes to reforming our health care system, the hard working people of Montana don't take a day off.

At the rally, Montana Superintendent of Schools Denise Juneau spoke to the Great Falls Tribune, saying that history shows that strong public pressure and support can produce results when it comes to health care policy. "Look at CHIPS (A health care program for low income children)," she said. "Because there was strong public support, that program was expanded for our youngest and most vulnerable. Now we need to expand it for all members of the family." Full coverage and photos of the rally here.

CALIFORNIA: SEIU ULTCW members, healthcare activists and community leaders attended the Healthy Works Fair + Film + Action event at the Independent Theater in downtown Los Angeles. The event featured free screenings throughout the day of Michael Moore's movie "Sicko" (with Spanish and Chinese subtitles) and was followed by free health screenings, panel discussions with attendees and health care professionals, as well as a filming session that allowed people to record their own health care stories. SEIU ULTCW Co-Trustee Laphonza Butler led a group of healthcare debate leaders, including Congresswoman Judy Chu, Dr. Paul Song, Assemblyperson Michael Eng and Dr. Rishi Manchanda, in a call to action during the early morning hours of Labor Day to kick off the event (see photo below and click here for more photos and video.

At ULTCW's event, TV journalist Lisa Ling shot her own personal video on healthcare. In it, Ling talks about being grateful for her union for her healthcare coverage--and why we need reform for the millions of people who don't have coverage. Watch now:

For a run-down on the progress the 111th Congress and the Obama administration have made so far to undo many policies that have harmed our nation's workers, click here.

Sometimes, it takes Washington a little longer to get on the same page.

But, with the President's speech just now, and the movement in Congress over the past 48 hours, it's clear we now have all the pieces in place to move on real health insurance reform.

Let's go. We've talked about this for years, we've been debating it for months - now let's get it done.

Last month, our opponents took their turn in front of the TV cameras. They yelled and protested, but when they were faced with the tough questions, they had no answers - nothing real to contribute.

This is OUR month. We have a plan; we have real solutions to this health care crisis. And it's time to ask each and every member of Congress whether they're in or out.

Use our toll free number to make the call: 1-866-311-3405

Right now, pick up your phone and call your member of Congress. Tell them we need to know whether they're going to help us pass health insurance reform or whether they're going to help our opponents drag their feet.

We cannot afford to keep waiting for solutions to the health care crisis - we have a solution. And we will not wait one day longer to act.

Call your member of Congress right now and tell them to get it done: 1-866-311-3405

Thanks,
Dr. L. Toni Lewis, MD
SEIU Healthcare

PS - If you read this before the congressional offices open, don't wait to call. Let's flood their voicemails with messages of support for real health insurance reform: 1-866-311-3405

When President Obama gave his Labor Day speech to a Cincinnati crowd on Monday, he prefaced the health care portion of his speech with the words, "I'll have a lot more to say about this Wednesday night, and I don't want to give it all away."

Well, the wait is almost over. The President will address a joint session of Congress tonight at 8:00 PM ET. You don't want to miss this pivotal moment for healthcare, so be sure to tune in.

Show your support for health reform

If you haven't already....show your support online for the President's efforts to fix health care by changing your profile picture on Twitter and Facebook. Click here to download your "Uniquely American Solution" avatar and swap it out on your Facebook or Twitter profile.

Labor Day is a time to reflect on the achievements of the American worker and our nation's commitment to helping all families pursue the American Dream--especially now that many are facing difficult times, as the result of the recession and the anti-worker agenda carried out by the previous administration. In a short period of time, President Obama and the 111th Congress have made progress to undo many policies that have harmed our nation's workers; showing time and time again that they stand on the side of working families.

Here are some of the strides made so far on behalf of American workers:

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act: The first major piece of legislation President Obama signed at the end of January ensures that women and other workers who receive discriminatory pay have access to a remedy. The new law reversed the May 2007 Supreme Court decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear and restored prior law which treated each discriminatory paycheck received by a worker as a violation of the Civil Rights Act.

Affordable Health Coverage for Laid-off Workers: A provision in the Recovery Act will assist 7 million people laid off in this recession with the cost of their health insurance coverage, who would otherwise face paying a substantial monthly amount to keep it. People who were laid off between from their jobs between 9/1/08 and 12/31/09 pay only 35 percent of their COBRA premiums and the remaining 65 percent is reimbursed to the coverage provider through a tax credit.

Increasing the Minimum Wage: On July 24th, the national minimum wage increased by 70 cents per hour--from $6.55 per hour to $7.25 per hour-the final of three increases to take effect under legislation enacted by the Democratic Congress. "[The] minimum wage increase is an important step in strengthening our economy by putting $1,400 a year in the pockets of 13 million hardworking Americans who make the Federal minimum wage," said SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger.

Increasing Wage Theft Enforcement: As a result increased funding in the Recovery Act, the Department of Labor announced that the agency plans on hiring 250 investigators for its Wage and Hour Division. A Government Accountability Office investigation found many investigations of wage theft, in which workers are not paid minimum wages or not paid at all, were inadequately handled by the Bush administration's Wage and Hour Division, which had been starved of staff and resources.

Worker Protection Programs: In December 2008, the American Worker Project at the Center for American Progress released a report noting that "one of the hallmarks of President George W. Bush's administration has been its failure to enforce laws designed to protect ordinary Americans," particularly the Labor Department's "inadequate enforcement of important workplace protections." The Obama administration has pushed to clean up the mess, requesting a 10 percent budget increase for worker protection programs.

Stopping Last-Minute Bush Proposal to Weaken Worker Health & Safety Protections: The Department of Labor announced that they will withdraw a Bush era proposal that would have dramatically weakened future workplace health and safety regulations and slow their enactment. (Announced May 15, 2009)

Can you think of any Congressional accomplishments made on behalf of workers that I've left off this list? If so, please leave your feedback in the "Comments" section below.

On Thursday, a simple message began spreading like wildfire on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. It read: "No one should die because they cannot afford health care, and no one should go broke because they get sick."

People were asked by friends to re-post the statement if they agreed. Thousands did just that.

We didn't want to let this homegrown campaign go to waste, so we found a more lasting way to demonstrate your support online for the President's efforts to fix health care - changing your profile picture!

For the past six months, we've made thousands of calls to Congress, written hundreds of letters to newspapers and flooded Congressional offices with emails and petitions - but what we often fail to do is lobby our friends and neighbors.

That's why we've produced avatar-sized images of our "Uniquely American Solution" health care poster by artist Derek Gores. Click here to download your avatar - and if you're on Twitter, tweet about changing your profile picture in support of health insurance reform.

Download your "Uniquely American Solution" avatar and swap it out on your Facebook or Twitter profile. Thanks for keeping the drumbeat going online as we emerge from a long Labor Day weekend.

P.S. Did you miss the activity on Facebook and Twitter? If you've got a Facebook account, you can see all of the public status updates here. And on Twitter, you can view the latest posts here.

* Follow SEIU on Twitter
* Become a fan of SEIU on Facebook

Update: Here's the full video from Obama's speech in Cincinatti yesterday, where he praised the accomplishments of unions and reaffirmed support for Employee Free Choice.

As we take the day off from work, attend healthcare send-off rallies or parades, and spend time with family and friends this Labor Day weekend, many of us will be thinking about the state of working America.

Ensuring that American workers are treated with dignity and respect and that a lifetime of hard work leads to a comfortable retirement is something our President values very highly. In his prepared 2009 Labor Day message, Obama explains his proposal to help us get there:

This afternoon, Obama spoke at the AFL-CIO's annual Labor Day picnic in Cincinnati, Ohio. Among his comments was unmitigated support for unions.

"So let us never forget: much of what we take for granted--the 40-hour work week, the minimum wage, health insurance, paid leave, pensions, Social Security, Medicare--they all bear the union label. It was the American worker--union men and women--who returned from World War II to make our economy the envy of the world. It was labor that helped build the largest middle class in history. So even if you're not a union member, every American owes something to America's labor movement."

AFL-CIO live tweeted the President's comments from the picnic, one of which was this: "Labor is not the problem. Labor is the solution. When Labor is strong, America is strong!"

We couldn't agree more. Visit SEIU's Labor Day page for labor union facts and lots of action opportunities here: http://www.seiu.org/a/a/labor-day-2009.php

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Labor formally made good on a promise to kill a proposal introduced by President Bush in his final days of administration that would have made it more difficult for the government to write new worker protection rules. OMB Watchreports that the controversial proposal was, essentially, "an attempt to regulate regulations" by creating an "additional mandatory step to an already complicated rulemaking process."

The so-called risk assessment proposal would have weakened and delayed the development of standards to protect workers from occupational hazards, including making it harder to prove the level of risk workers face when exposed to toxins on the job. The Labor Department issued a notice calling the proposed rule "unnecessary." Democratic lawmakers are applauding the move, saying it would have "dramatically weakened future workplace health and safety regulations and slow[ed] their enactment."

Rulings such as this one by the DOL and Secretary Solis make me grateful that we no longer have a Labor Secretary whose main agenda is not about workers and protecting their rights, but instead, making sure labor rights don't stand in the way of economic interests. Hopefully moving forward, we'll be seeing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OHSA) and Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) taking initiative and issuing new health-protective regulations to protect workers from toxic substances. More details on this dodged-bullet at The Pump Handle.

Quick hits from around the union:

• Unions remember the late Senator Ted Kennedy: Here's what organized labor and labor experts had to say about the late Sen. Kennedy and the legacy he leaves behind (hat tip to Change to Win). Also, read how Senator Kennedy stood shoulder-to-shoulder with SEIU members in Massachusetts and watch a video of SEIU nurses sharing personal memories of the senator.

• Massachusetts Needs Two Senators: With the support of coalition groups including SEIU Massachusetts, MassVOTE has launched WeNeedTwo.org, a new website and petition focused on honoring Senator Ted Kennedy's request that the Massachusetts State Legislature change state law to allow temporary replacement for his seat to ensure the state has full representation in Congress. Read more about Senator Kennedy's request and sign the petition.

• 40-Day Strike Ends for Bemis Workers Previously Treated Like Lab Rats: Workers on strike since July 21st at Bemis company in Terre Haute, Indiana agreed to a new contract with their employer. The contract will get rid of Bemis' plans to utilize temporary workers, allow seasonal employees working for more than 5 months to become a part of the bargaining unit, and give the union the right to bargain an alternative health plan that does not mandate Health Risk Assessment testing.

• Demanding Action on Immigration Reform: A long list of organizations and unions have signed an open letter to President Obama criticizing his inaction on comprehensive immigration reform and are planning vigils, marches, and other events across the country to protest the administration's local immigration enforcement program. SEIU along with NCLR, the ACLU, NAACP, People for the American Way and Jobs with Justice (a total of 521 groups) signed the letter to Obama.

• Preventing Private Equity's Feeding Frenzy on Banks: Remember Andy Stern's Wall Street Journal op-ed sounding the alarm on private equity's planned feeding frenzy on failed banks? Last week, even the Wall Street Journal editorial board agreed that to protect taxpayers, any deal to buyout failed banks needs transparency and scrutiny. While the FDIC continues to allow private equity firms to purchase failed banks, it approved new rules on Wednesday that take needed steps toward protecting taxpayers from another economic calamity.

• "The Nation's Most Politically Powerful Union": "S.E.I.U. is the money and the muscle behind any momentum there is left for a public plan," says Republican Whip Eric Cantor in Steven Greenhouse's New York Times' article.

• Beck's Falsehoods & Fantasies: Glenn Beck spent last week smearing Van Jones (White House adviser on Green Jobs) with misinformation and straight-up lies as the campaign to call on advertisers to drop sponsorship of his show keeps growing. Here's to setting the record straight.

• Buy Union-Made: Did you know SEIU members (and members of other unions too) can save over $1,000 annually using UnionPlus benefits? Celebrate Labor Day with discounts on union-made products and services. Also, congrats to SEIU Local 1000 for having the greatest number of submissions in the Union Plus Pet Contest. Vote for your favorite pet photo from a union member now.

• Feeding Breakfast & Lunch to 31 Million Schoolchildren: An editorial by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel this weekend discusses the importance of the Child Nutrition Act.

Glenn Beck may be feeling slightly less than relaxed and rejuvenated after returning from vacation on Monday. Since he's been gone, the number of advertisers who've signed on to dissociate themselves from The Glenn Beck Show's rhetoric of fear-mongering paranoia has reached a total of 36--up from 20 just one week ago.

Advertisers including Wal-Mart, Geico, CVS, Clorox and Sprint have discontinued their commercials from airing on Beck's self-titled Fox News show--and it's not hard to see why. The fallout has stemmed largely from Glenn Beck's declaration that he believes President Barack Obama to be a racist--a comment which, sadly enough, makes up only a percentage of Beck's total on-air proliferation of inflammatory hateful rhetoric and fear-mongering.

On Tuesday during his 5 p.m. EDT show, instead of addressing the boycott spearheaded by Color of Change to protest the talk show host's remark about President Obama last month, Beck essentially acted like a child who's been caught behaving badly...but won't admit he did it. The difference is that Glenn Beck is old enough to know better. Instead of accepting responsibility for his actions and apologizing, Beck spent much of his show attacking Color of Change co-founder Van Jones. (Sidenote: Jones is the current special advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. He's widely respected for his efforts to retrofit and re-power America using clean, green energy -- while also creating millions of new green jobs).

"Glenn Beck is trying to change the subject," said Color of Change executive director James Rucker to the LA Times. "The issue is his baseless fear mongering." Glenn Beck is doing his best to usher in a new era of fear mongering and histrionics every weeknight on his show--and it's up to us to push back. So far, the campaign to call on advertisers to drop sponsorship of Glenn Beck has amassed more than 160,000 signatures. Join the call to hold Glenn Beck and Fox News accountable for Beck's race baiting.

In other Glenn Beck "news"... On the August 24 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program, Beck claimed there is "evil at play" in the Obama administration...and talked for several minutes about how he thinks "they" are out to destroy him.

Glenn Beck's always been a "colorful" character, but this is a little over the top, even for him. Guess Beck just can't fathom the reality that much of the American public (including us) might not find his narrow viewpoint and hateful, inflammatory rhetoric objectionable and counter-productive--so instead, he chooses to spurts crazy right-wing fodder that there is some conspiracy theory at play and people are out to get him.

Beck said on Aug. 24 that is going to detail it on his show tonight--and Sarah Palin is rallying her Facebook community to watch him tonight as well. As one of my coworkers joked this morning...."Someone should bring popcorn for this!"