what does the afl-cio say? you've got business and you've got labor. e.d.a. has established an admirable track record in assisting economically troubled low-income communities with limited job opportunities by putting their investments to good use and promoting needed job creation and industrial and commercial development. signed by william samuel, director, government affairs department, afl-cio; dated yesterday. now why is business and labor supporting this bill? why do they want us to stop the games and pass this bill? because they want jobs for businesses, and businesses want the work. now let's just take a look at other people who were supporting, in addition to the arm of the chamber of commerce and afl. the u.s. conference of mayors, american public works association the national association of counties. and i was a county supervisor and belonged to that many, many years ago. you want bipartisanship? go to the national association of counties. there are democrats, republicans, independents, people of every stripe. liberal, moderate, conservative. they

>> i had dinner recently with the president of the afl-cio and i said if people want to have a union,ne and be represented by one. my feeling is unions have made themselves irrelevant by being too militant. if you look at the contrast between nissan and general motors, there have been several attempts to organize nissan here in north america. the last time around mr. goshen told his workers if you vote for this union, you'll make this plant less competitive and he believed them. you know something, he believed them for a reason because his workers don't want what happened at general motors. >> let me break in for a second because time is short. let me ask you this follow-up about that. i just had bob lutz, the former viet chairman of general motors on the show and he was harshly critical not just of the union but also the executives who agreed to the union contract because he said everybody caved to the moment of flush economic circumstances and we all thought we were too rich. so wasn't that over -- that exuberance to use alan greenspan's phrase, wasn't everybody responsible for that

including, creating an infrastructure bank which is supported by both the chamber of commerce and the afl/cio, something that is rare, but, still, can't seem to move on capitol hill and you need some -- you need to -- a way at least to find common ground with republicans in the house, and that, i think, has been elusive, to say the least -- >> at which point -- >> i think, that, you know, the real question, now, and i think the overhang on confidence, really, is the question of whether the republicans are going to continue the kind of... you know, show votes on the debt limit or will get serious and try to work something out, and, move forward with the debt reduction plan... >> chris: kim, show boat on the debt limit. >> that is what democrats wanted, and they said let's have a clean debt limit vote and that is what this did in the end. >> and went down to a crushing defeat and you have the democrats -- >> democrats voted against it -- they understand people want spending reform. >> the economic process looked better and president obama's political process looked better and they gave the

the head of the afl- cio wants to put a limit on campaign contributions. guest: it should not stay as a conversation about obama, the democrats, the republicans. this has to be a conversation on how car into our country shares responsibility for creating jobs. i think that we should be trying to imagine more ways like ford has done to create 70,000 jobs. as part of the health-care union inside seiu, i need to be a conversation with afl-cio on isn't there a way for the private sector to create jobs and what do we need government to do to incentivize doing it on a scale? our broadband system needs to be refurbished. we want to bid to compete globally. ceo's whathe top 200 they think we should be investing in and then do private public dollar matches and get this country going again. we are capable of the unimaginable in the u.s. that is what is so great about our country. in this moment we have lost that spirit. host: the relationship between organized labor and management has been often one of butting heads. we have not seen many strikes in recent years. is

proposals on how to do that to create infrastructure bank supported by the chamber of commerce and afl-ciomething rare but still can't move on capitol hill. he needs a ray, i guess, at least to find common ground with republicans in the house. that, i think, has been elusive. to say the least. >> chris: at this point do you think. >> i think, you know, the real question now and the overhang on confidence is the question of whether the republicans are going to continue to kind of stage these, you know, show votes on the debt limit or get serious and try to work something out. move forward with the debt reduction plan. >> chris: kim, vote on debt limit? >> this is what the democrats want have a clean debt limit vote. that's what they did in the end. >> chris: went down to a crushing defeat and a bunch of democrats voted against it. >> democrats voted against it because they understand that people want spending reform. >> two months ago, the economy looked better and president obama's political prospects looked better. he gave a speech at april 13, georgetown where he demagoguecally i attacke

creating an infrastructure bank supported by the chamber of commerce and the afl-cio. rare but can't seem to move on capitol hill. he needs a way i guess guess to find common ground with the republicans in the house and that i think has been elusive to say the least. >> i think that, you know, the real question now and i think competenceg on come be tense really is the question of whether the republicans are going to continue to kind of stage these show coats on the debt limit or get serious and try to work something out and move forward with a dect reduction plan gla show vote on the debt limit. >> this is what democrats wanted. they said let's have a clean debt limit vote so that is what they do. >> and went down with a crushing defeat and you have a bunch of democrats who voted it down. >> democrats voted against t because they understand the people want spending reform. >> he gaif gave that speech on april 13th in georgetown when i attacked and basically started employing the metascare tactics. i don't think it is an accident that people have lost confidence in the

so we have tremendous support mpl.the afl-cio dealing with the loss of construction jobs says, "e.d.a. has established an admirable track record in assisting economically troubled low-income communities with limited job opportunities by putting their investments to good use in promoting needed job creation and industrial and commercial development." and i would say, the last chart -- american public works association. they build the public works, the water systems, the sewer systems we need. this is a letter from peter king, executive director of american public works association, dated this month. "write on behalf of the 29,000 members of apwa in support of the economic development revitalization act, s. 782. we urge the senate to pass this legislation which will create jobs, stimulate economic growth in distressed areas and improve the economic growth of local communities." so, i would say this: after senator snowe speaks and others speak, i will reserve my balance of time to go into specifically what programs we have seen flourish because of that little spark that gets lit when e.d

the head of the afl- cio wants to put a limit on campaign contributions. guest: it should not stay as a conversation about obama, the democrats, the republicans. this has to be a conversation on how car into our country shares responsibility for creating jobs. i think that we should be trying to imagine more ways like ford has done to create 70,000 jobs. as part of the health-care union inside seiu, i need to be a conversation with afl-cio on isn't there a way for the private sector to create jobs and what do we need government to do to incentivize doing it on a scale? our broadband system needs to be furbished. we want to bid to compete globally. ceo's whathe top 200 they think we should be investing in and then do private public dollar matches and get this country going again. we are capable of the unimaginable in the u.s. that is what is so great about our country. in this moment we have lost that spirit. host: the relationship between organized labor and management has been often one of butting heads. we have not seen many strikes in recent years. is t

damon silvers, associate general counsel of the american federation of labor, afl-cio. so, mr. o'connor, we will start with you. >> thank you, chairman bachus, ranking member frank, members of the committee. for the opportunity to testify today. i would like to be begin by making five key points. first is to represent more than 800 there is from 56 countries, our broad membership includes cooperations -- corporation, asset mix, governments, supernatural entities, exchanges including houses as well as global and regional banks. our members quietly -- score support the goals of dodd-frank and global financial predatory reform. we have work proactively with policymakers in europe and around the world of the school. second, we have made and continue to make substantial programs and implement the most important aspects of reform, those relating to systemic risk mitigation such a central clearing and trade repositories. third, further improvements can and will be made and i would like to note here that there is a high degree of consistency between u.s. regulations and regulations and

what is the afl-cio said? business and labor. to assist economically troubled low-income communities with limited opportunities by putting the investment to good new-line use with industrial development propose signedci by a william daniel, director of government affairs department afl-cio. why is business and labor supporting thisy bill? why do they want us to stop the games and pass the bill? because they want jobs for businesses and businesses want to the work.t let's take a look at other people who are supporting in addition to the chambers of commerce and others. the american public works assn tata when national association for counties and i was a supervisor who belong to that many years ago. if you run bipartisanship go to that. democrats, republicans, inde pendents liberals and moderates and conservatives.re they all come together because. >> what we have to face a 700 page amendment with olympia snowe on the regulation that has not had one hearing of any committee and wooded even separate the important rules and regulati

the head of the afl- cio wants to put a limit on campaign contributions. guest: it should not stay as a conversation about obama, the democrats, the republicans. this has to be a conversation on how car into our country shares responsibility for creating jobs. i think that we should be trying to imagine more ways like ford has done to create 70,000 jobs. as part of the health-care union inside seiu, i need to be a conversation with afl-cio on isn't there a way for the private sector to create jobs and what do we need government to do to incentivize doing it on a scale? our broadband system needs to be refurbished. we want to bid to compete globally. ceo's whathe top 200 they think we should be investing in and then do private public dollar matches and get this country going again. we are capable of the unimaginable in the u.s. that is what is so great about our country. in this moment we have lost that spirit. host: the relationship between organized labor and management has been often one of butting heads. we have not seen many strikes in recent years. is

. >> afl and cio with 10 billion.mmitting 1,000 jobs in rural missouri in joplin as well. they were hit so hard with the tornado and the success is when they bring you in and come up with great ideas and hold people to it. he follows up and people do feel compelled to come through. >> thanks very much. to our viewers, you are in "the situation room" happening now. militants on the move in afghanistan. attacking a luxury hotel in kabul and attacking u.s. forces separately in the east. weapons fire rain down. iran accused of testing new miffs that could carry nuclear weapons details of troubling new allegations. plus, my interview with chicago awe new mayor, rahm emmanuel. who advice does the chief of staff have for president obama. what does he make of the republican presidential field. i will ask those questions and more. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. breaking news. political headlines all straight ahead. i'm wolf blitzer and you are in "the situation room". >> we now know t

and i'll tell you, it's rare when you get afl-cio and an arm of the chamber of commerce singing from the same book. they don't want to see filibusters. they want to see jobs. they don't want to see filibusters. they want to see progress. they want to see us work across party lines. so i've kept asking during my remarks why would they do this to us? why would they do this to the american people? and i have an answer. i wish this wasn't true, but it's been stated by some of the republican prim candidates -- presidential candidates tanned has been stated by the republican leader here. their priority is defeating barack obama. their priority is defeating our president. their priority is not job creation. it is not business creation. it is not fair tax policy. it really is defeating this president. and when you look at it through that lens, then you say to yourself, wait a minute, if we got something done around here and the president had a signing ceremony, like we used to do in the good old days when we worked together, and he had a republican here and a democrat here and an independent

so i have here a letter, a legislative alert, right hot off the press from the afl-cio. they support the passage of s. 782, the economic development revitrevitalization act. the e.d.a. has played an often unherald job spurring economic growth in economically distressed areas. the public investment supported by this legislation make a little funding go a long way by leveraging private dollars in support of these projects. resources for technical, assisting in the development and implementation of economic development strategies helps revitalize communities. e.d.a. has established an admirable track record in assisting economically troubled, low-income communities with limited job opportunities. by putting their investments to good use and promoting needed job creation and industrial and commercialvestment today they say, when the lack of jobs and income stagnation are the primary issues facing us, it's a bipartisan bill, s. 782, that can help make a difference. we urge congress to pass the economic development revitalization act of 2011. i think that really says it. and i

scary about -- and i think one of the things -- i don't want to misquote you -- you say what happens in afl, the future of afghanistan may not rest so much of the level of u.s. troops but actually on a pakistan military. and the pakistan military seems to be moving away from the u.s. rather rapidly and heading toward islamic extremists. >> it's important to look at the speech. you'll notice the one place where it's very soft and very vague is obama's discussion of pakistan. he says "we won't tolerate safe havens in pakistan". but that is not the problem. the pakistani military has huge equities as they describe them in afghanistan. they support the pakistani taliban. they support various militant groups. and increasingly you have evidence that this is a military riddled with islamic extremists. they themselves have just arrested a brigadier general as we discussed on this program. you look at the attack on the naval base which was an inside job. you look at the way in which they have had -- they've killed a journalist who was exposing the increasing infiltration of extremism within the paki

that the state's governor says the court's decision allows wisconsin to move forward with the state's afl-ciosault on working people, teachers in particular furious by this ruling and by this governor there. >>> same-sex marriage could be legal in the state of new york if governor andrew cuomo gets his way. governor cuomo proposed a marriage equality bill yesterday. he said it's a matter of fairness and legal security. if passed new york will be the sixth u.s. state to legalize same-sex marriage. >>> $55 million settlement is in the works for thousands of homeowners who had toxic drywall from china installed in their homes. almost 4,000 home owners 42 states, puerto rico and american samoa have filed complaint bs about severe health issues caused by the drywall which was provided by the miami based company banner supply. >>> crucial testimony in the casey anthony murder trial as the prosecution prepares to wrap its case. final witnesses were called yesterday, including casey anthony's mother. she burst into tears as she talked about her granddaughter caylee. there was a dramatic moment when s

i appreciate on behalf of the afl-cio and americans for financial reform the opportunity to testify. the americans for financial reform is a coalition of over 250 organizations which represent well over 50 million americans. in the age of global markets any serious effort to insure that we do not repeat the experience of 2008 must include the establishment of an international regulatory floor. otherwise, every country's financial institutions are vulnerable to contagion from radically unregulated markets. as iceland, ireland, the united kingdom and the united states proved in 2008. however, minimum standards are inevitably weaker than more effective national efforts. that's why they are called minimum standards. the united states for example, has moved more rapidly on derivatives regulation than europe has but has been less aggressive with private pools of capital like hedge funds and private equity. we have been faulted by european regulators for the weakness of our approach to regulating executive pay in financial firms. and so while we hear this afternoon about the possibility tha

donovan silvers, the council of the american federation of labor to the afl-cio. let's just put it that way. so, mr. o'connor, we will start with you. >> thank you, chairman baucus, a ranking member french and members of the committee. for the opportunity to testify today. i would like to begin by making five key points. first is to represent more than 800 members from 56 countries. ever brought membership includes corporations, asset managers, governments, supranational entity some exchanges, clearing houses as well as global and regional banks. our members support the goals of dodd-frank and global financial regulatory reform. we have worked with policy makers in the u.s. and around the world. second, we have made and continue to make substantial progress in implementing the most important aspect of reform, those relating to the systemic risk mitigation such as the central clearing and triet repositories. ferre, further improvements can and will be made and i would like to note that there is a high degree of consistency between u.s. regulators and regulators in

the afl-cio, and we are dealing with amendment after amendment after amendment, and it's fine. it's everybody' everybody's rigi appreciate the fact that we will be voting on this amendment at 2:00 and we even have an amendment to do away with the agency that we're trying to reauthorize by senator demint even though he had in 2005 a very big press release lauding the e.d.a. and as recently as last year his staff attended a workshop where he was meeting with the e.d.a. and praising the e.d.a. for their work to reinvigorate jobs. so i appreciate their lecture and it is their right to do it. it is just not true. what's masquerading here are republicans who filibuster almost every single thing that we do. now i hope and hope and hope that we're going to get to the series of amendments. we're being very cooperative with our colleagues. we're going to take these -- some of these amendments are for show. fine. everyone has their rights; fine. but let's get it done, and let's get going with an authorization of a bill that's going to create jobs. that's the whole idea of it. and the last

the head of the afl- cio wants to put a limit on campaign contributions. guest: it should not stay as a conversation about obama, the democrats, the republicans. this has to be a conversation on how car into our country shares responsibility for creating jobs. i think that we should be trying to imagine more ways like ford has done to create 70,000 jobs. as part of the health-care union inside seiu, i need to be a conversation with afl-cio on isn't there a way for the private sector to create jobs and what do we need government to do to incentivize doing it on a scale? our broadband system needs to be refurbished. we want to bid to compete globally. ceo's whathe top 200 they think we should be investing in and then do private public dollar matches and get this country going again. we are capable of the unimaginable in the u.s. that is what is so great about our country. in this moment we have lost that spirit. host: the relationship between organized labor and management has been often one of butting heads. we have not seen many strikes in recent years. is