Will Congress continue to hold its breath or will they encourage job creation?

It’s crunch time for Congress: They can continue to try to make the President look bad by stalling, or they can get to work before the crisis in Europe drags our economy back in the wrong direction.  It’s time to pass a transportation bill and clean energy measures to encourage job creation now.

Rams issues w/ Edward Jones Dome put Vikings Stadium deal in good light

Rams & officials “far apart” on $700 million renovation.

Among issues: Retractable Roof

The Saint Louis Rams want a retractable roof added to the renovations proposed to 17-year old Edward Jones Dome. Monday the price tag for the Rams wish list of improvements and upgrades came in at $700 million – much higher than the St Louis Convention and Visitors Commission projection of around $125 million, and close to the price-tag for an entirely new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings (assuming the Minneapolis City Council gives the deal a stamp of approval.)

But once you factor in the projected revenue losses of an additional $500 million which Jeff Rainford, St. Louis Mayor Slay’s chief of staff, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch results from taking the stadium out of play for convention business while the upgrades are being made, the Minnesota stadium deal starts to look very shrewd indeed

How the MN Senate voted on Vikings Stadium Tuesday

MN Senate, on a 38-28 vote, approved a measure to finance a new Vikings stadium. It moves to conference committee due to radical differences in comparison to the bill the MN House passed. Here’s how it broke down – with more Democrats than Republicans supporting the bill as it stood at the time of the roll call: 

Scenes from MN State Capitol

Rally for jobs at State Capitol in St. Paul, MN as legislature resumes meeting in session May 3rd.

Packer’s Woodson Defends Unions & Membership

That pretty much sums it up:
Charles Woodson of the Green Bay Packers on Unions.

At a breakfast sponsored by Politico in Washington, DC, Green Bay Packers’ star Charles Woodson defends Wisconsin workers’ freedoms and rights: “Wisconsin workers and workers in general should have the right to be a union and they should have a right to fight for whatever rights they believe in. We talk about having freedoms in this country. They should have the freedom to fight for their rights!”

Statement by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on Arizona’s SB1070 Two-Year Anniversary

Two years ago this week, Arizona’s Governor Brewer signed into law SB1070, an anti-immigrant law that has, unfortunately, served as a model for legislation passed by several other state legislatures. The results have been shattering – these laws are tearing families apart and destroying the hopes and dreams of children and making it hard for workers to exercise their most fundamental rights. These laws have legalized discrimination, encouraged racial profiling, and sanctioned egregious violations of civil and human rights, and labor laws.

Canada pleased by pipeline progress

TransCanada’s proposed changes draw praise

There’s momentum building in support of the new route for the Keystone XL Pipeline, as the editorial yesterday in Canada’s “Globe and Mail” highlights.

Approval was delayed when President Obama refused to be pressed into signing off on the project when Republicans tried to force his hand, noting that to do so before final decisions were made about the route would likely open up lawsuits that would possibly further delay the construction.

Meanwhile, TransCanada has quietly pressed ahead with plans to build “to the border” (without securing the politically volatile crossing permit) at the same time as they’ve been working with Nebraska to find a viable alternative route that protects the Sand Hills region of Ogallala aquifer. Click on the map to the right if you want a better view of the area in question.