KeNo's Housing and Economic Portal: Tuesday May 31 Housing and Economic stories

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Now Democrats Are Taking On Public Unions In Massachusetts, Connecticut And Illinois - (www.businessinsider.com) 2011 is a bad year for labor. In the three months since union supporters took over the Wisconsin state capitol and ignited a national debate over public-sector unions, one thing has become clear: It's been a bad year for organized labor. The latest blow to unions comes from lawmakers in deep-blue Massachusetts, where state Senate leaders unveiled a plan today that would limit municipal workers' right to bargaining over healthcare benefits. The measure - intended to relieve struggling cities and towns from skyrocketing employee healthcare costs - is similar to a bill approved by the state House last month. Massachusetts labor officials are up in arms over the proposal. But so far, national union leaders have offered only tepid support. They have their hands full elsewhere. In Wisconsin and Ohio, Republican governors have waged a frontal assault on organized labor with bills that sharply curtail bargaining rights for public-sector workers. Democrats and union supporters are fighting tooth-and-nail to roll back the measures through recall and repeal, but success seems uncertain, at best. Across the country, unions have suffered more quiet losses, at the hands of both Republican and Democratic lawmakers. In Connecticut, Democratic Governor Dan Malloy sent layoff notices to nearly 5,000 unionized state workers this month when negotiations stalled. Labor unions backed down this week, agreeing to $1.6 billion in wage and benefit cuts, as well as collective bargaining concessions. In Illinois, the Democrat-controlled state legislature passed an education bill last week that makes it easier to fire teachers and lengthen the school day without union approval. The measure was backed by Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and new Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, both Democrats with strong ties to organized labor. Similar stories have played out in Indiana, Tennessee, Oklahoma and New Hampshire. At last count, bills to limit union rights were under consideration in at least 17 states.

‘Gang of Six’ on verge of collapse as Republican Sen. Coburn withdraws - (www.washingtonpost.com) Since January, six senators have engaged in difficult negotiations and made painful concessions in a politically dangerous quest for something that has long eluded Washington: a bipartisan compromise to control the nation’s mounting debt. By Tuesday evening, however, the “Gang of Six” was on the verge of collapse. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) withdrew from the bipartisan working group, saying the senators simply could not overcome the polarizing political pressure that each faces. The group’s two other Republicans said it would be hard to continue without Coburn. “The debt is still $14 trillion. It’s got to be solved in a bipartisan way,” Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) told reporters Tuesday night. “I hope that we’ll eventually, as a Gang of Six, be able to come together on some long-term resolution of the issue. But it looks like that’s not going to happen in the short term.” Coburn’s withdrawal left Chambliss exposed, pushing him into the position as the group’s highest-profile conservative. He would be responsible for selling any compromise to those Republicans who think “compromise” is a dirty word.

Atop I.M.F., Contradiction and Energy - (www.nytimes.com) Artful politician that he is, Dominique Strauss-Kahn has a keen sense for not just his strengths but also his potential weaknesses — though few would be quite as blunt in saying so. Considered the Socialist party’s leading candidate for president of France, Mr. Strauss-Kahn identified three threats to his aspirations in an interview with the newspaper Libération, held on April 28 but published only this week. “Money, women and my Jewishness,” he said. “Yes, I like women,” he went on. “So what?” Mr. Strauss-Kahn added, “For years they’ve been talking about photos of giant orgies, but I’ve never seen anything come out.” Today, Mr. Strauss-Kahn sits in a jail cell on Rikers Island in New York, his reputation — and any political ambitions — perhaps irreparably tarnished by his arrest on charges of attempted rape of a hotel maid in Manhattan last weekend. It is a humbling comedown for Mr. Strauss-Kahn, whose rise on the world stage has been marked by contradictions. As managing director of the International Monetary Fundin Washington since late 2007, Mr. Strauss-Kahn has returned the agency to relevance by helping engineer a $1 trillion bailout for Europe — but only after an initial humiliation when he was reprimanded for a brief affair in 2008 with a subordinate.

The Fabulous Life Of Dominique Strauss-Kahn (Before He Was Arrested) - (www.businessinsider.com) Not bad for a socialist. Before he was arrested for sexually assaulting a Sofitel chambermaid, Dominique Strauss-Kahn was living the dream. He had money, power, and tons of perks came with his international status. Sadly, if he's innocent, it will be impossible for him to reclaim his amazing life. So we compiled what he'll be missing if he heads to jail.

· He's a millionaire

· He's been surrounded by beautiful women

· An entourage of important friends and allies

· etc.

ECB's Stark blasts 'vested interests' in US, UK - (www.finance.yahoo.com) The European Central Bank's chief economist said a Greek debt restructuring would be a "recipe for catastrophe" and blamed "vested interests" in Britain and the United States for fueling market pressure on the country. As Greece announced deeper cuts, Juergen Stark said Wednesday that the struggling eurozone country's "debt sustainability is insured" as long as it fully complies with its internationally monitored austerity program. Asked about the markets' hostility to Greek efforts, Stark said: "This is not the view of all market participants, to be very clear. This is a discussion triggered from London and New York. I don't know what is behind it -- vested interests, people topping their books and so on. So it's more complicated than just (saying) what markets expect." Stark made the comments during a financial conference at a resort near Athens. Greece's Socialist government was told by the European Union this week to take urgent measures to keep its austerity program on target, as part of its commitments for the euro110 billion ($156 billion) package of bailout loans it is receiving from EU countries and the International Monetary Fund. Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou heeded the latest EU warning, and confirmed that additional austerity measures worth euro6 billion ($8.5 billion) for 2011 would be announced in the coming days. Greece on Tuesday vowed to slash its bloated civil service by 150,000 people by 2015 and effectively ended government jobs for life.