Thursday Links

• Once again, the Democratic Congress is actually supporting the troops. The House passed an amendment yesterday that aims to prevent soldiers deployed to war from permanently losing custody of their children because of the absence.

• Nearly one in four Americans receive no paid vacation or holiday time. Even worse, nearly half of all full-time private sector workers in the U.S. get no paid sick days. The U.S. is also the only advanced economy in the world that does not guarantee its workers paid vacation. Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) have introduced the Healthy Families Act (HFA), which would guarantee that workers receive at least seven paid sick days each year. Tell Congress to support this legislation here.

• More stonewalling from Republicans. Former EPA chief Christine Todd Whitman has refused a request by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (R-NY) that she testify about the "government's failure to respond adequately to the environmental crisis in Lower Manhattan" after 9/11.

• A little-noticed resolution to a case involving same-sex couples from New York will allow dozens of them to be considered legally married in Massachusetts, and apparently in their home state as well.

• Households are spending about $1,000 more per year for gasoline than they were just five years ago, an 85% increase according to consumer groups’ analysis in testimony prepared for the House Judiciary Committee.