September 7, 2026
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Michael's Daily Notes
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This Labor Day, Americans aren’t being asked to honor workers with more than parades and picnics. They are being asked to render a judgment about power. The question of 2026 is not whether people like unions - they do - but how much influence unions should have over wages, working conditions, and the direction of the economy.
Gallup's new survey finds 71% approve of labor unions, matching the modern high and trailing only the 1950s. More telling: a record 47% say unions should have more influence, while a record-low 23% want less. Even 52% of Republicans now approve, only the second GOP majority in a quarter century. Yet just one in ten workers belongs to a union, down from one in three in the 1950s. Strong approval, weak membership. That gap frames today's poll.
The stakes have changed. This year Amazon cut 16,000 corporate jobs and Oracle 21,000 positions. Jack Dorsey's Block, the company behind Square and Cash App, eliminated nearly half its staff. All three pointed to artificial intelligence. Unions are already answering at the bargaining table: NewsGuild members have ratified more than 50 contracts restricting AI in newsrooms, and a 22-union coalition at Kaiser Permanente won a joint task force on how AI is deployed.
Labor leaders argue that only stronger unions can ensure workers share in AI's productivity gains rather than absorb its losses. Critics counter that union power slows innovation, raises costs, and leaves American companies less competitive in an AI-driven economy.
Which is it?
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DAILY POLL
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Should labor unions in the U.S. have more influence than they do today, less influence, or about the same?
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TOP STORY
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Five people were killed and five others hospitalized after an Amazon Air Boeing 767-300 cargo plane operated by 21 Air overran a runway at Miami International Airport on Sunday afternoon after arriving from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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TODAY'S YOUTUBE
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SPONSORED BY PARX CASINO
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IN OTHER NEWS
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An armed man carrying two pistols, a taser and brass knuckles charged toward Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton at the Canfield Fair before law enforcement intervened and arrested him on assault and disorderly conduct charges.
The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Sunday to freeze a Massachusetts judge's preliminary injunction blocking parts of a new U.S. Postal Service rule imposing envelope-design and voter-data requirements on states' mail-in ballots.
Western Michigan appeared to pull off a stunning 13-12 upset at Michigan until officials added one second back to the clock, giving Bryce Underwood time to throw a 47-yard Hail Mary touchdown to JJ Buchanan for the win.
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A MESSAGE FROM COMCAST
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Michael Cohen, once Donald Trump’s fiercely loyal fixer before turning against him and testifying in cases that led to Trump’s convictions, has now reconciled with his former boss, but despite Trump’s repeated claims that Cohen recanted, Cohen continues to stand by the truthfulness of his sworn testimony while saying he felt pressured and coerced by prosecutors.
Former New York Gov. George Pataki disclosed he has been diagnosed with restrictive airway disease tied to his exposure at Ground Zero, a condition he said was identified over the last five years as the state prepares to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
A populist coalition spanning MAGA Republicans, democratic socialists and swing-district independents is mobilizing against AI data centers ahead of November, putting candidates in key House and Senate races on the defensive even as President Trump urges communities to embrace them.
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MORE NEWS
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Former aides to Sen. John Fetterman have launched an anonymous social media account threatening to release private communications and other damaging material, intensifying scrutiny of the Pennsylvania Democrat amid growing criticism from former staffers and declining support among Democratic voters.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, approaching the one-year mark since Charlie Kirk's fatal shooting at Utah Valley University, is pressing Americans to reject hyper-partisanship, unplug from social media, and find common ground, while dismissing 2028 presidential speculation and promoting his new book, "Off Ramp."
The Hill examines the leading Republican figures who could emerge as 2028 presidential contenders, weighing their ties to Trump, political profiles and challenges in a post-Trump GOP.
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For the Left
Iran will double its highest-tier gasoline price for consumers exceeding 110 liters per month as the government seeks to address mounting economic pressures amid sanctions and war.
For the Right
Fox’s Joe Concha called on Mitch McConnell to return to the Senate in September or step down, as questions mount over the 84-year-old senator’s extended absence following a hospitalization.
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