(Bush in St. Louis)

George W. Bush is in St. Louis for a $2000 per person dinner to benefit his campaign. While here he stopped by a local school to congratulate himself on passing the "No Child Left Behind Act." Critics note that the Bush Administration has not fully funded the act passed by a bi-partisan majority in Congress. The AP reports:

"We agree with the whole idea of standards and accountability, but it isn't being funded the way everybody thought it would be," Sandra Feldman, president of the American Federation of Teachers, a union representing more than 1 million teachers, said in a telephone interview Sunday. "An increase that is billions short of what you need to carry out the mandates just doesn't do it."

In fiscal years 2002 through the current 2004, Congress authorized between $26.4 billion and $32 billion to be spent on the "No Child Left Behind" initiative. While Bush's budget request rose in each of those years, it still fell far short of the authorization.

And in the past two fiscal years, the president's request of about $22 billion was less than what Congress had appropriated the year before. Both years, Congress provided more than Bush requested.

(KSDK) -- Not everyone in St. Louis is welcoming President Bush with open arms. Labor leaders along with union and non-union workers met inside the St. Louis City Hall to speak out against the president's proposal to end overtime pay.

Labor leaders call the president's proposal an assault on overtime pay. They say longer hours, lower pay and unpredictable work schedules are just some of the changes working families will see under the new Bush plan.

The president wants to change the labor laws that require overtime pay for working extra hours. The 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act defines who gets paid time-and-a-half for working more than 40 hours. The Bush administration calls the current regulations out dated.

Bob Soutier, with the Greater St. Louis Labor Council, says, “President Bush's attempt to undo overtime protection dating back to the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 is nothing but a corporate handout to his well-heeled supporters, and it must be stopped.”

Monday, billboards are going up around the city to bring attention to the fight to save overtime pay. Right now, about 80 million Americans are eligible. Under the new policy, overtime pay would be mandatory for low-income workers, but it would end overtime pay for millions who are now eligible.

Some of those affected include rescue and public safety personnel and nurses.

President Bush has already threatened to veto any bill that doesn't contain the overtime changes.

Monday evening, the AFL-CIO and various other labor organizations are picketing outside the Bush fundraiser at the America's Center.

Liz Smith Currie, my wife, is one of the organizers of the protests today.