ABC News’ David Chalian Reports:

A top leader of the nation’s labor movement upped the anti-health insurance company rhetoric coming from much of the left in the current health care reform debate.

“There was a lot of talk about death panels,” AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer (and the organization’s presumptive incoming president) Richard Trumka told us on ABC News’ “Top Line.” “Well there are death panels out there, they’re called the insurance companies,” he added.

Mr. Trumka has been a leading Democratic voice warning President Obama and his administration not to accept a health care reform bill without a public government-run health insurance option as a part of it.

He didn’t back down from that position today and appeared unimpressed with the idea of a delayed public option that only gets triggered if the private health insurance companies are unable to significantly bring down costs and expand coverage once health care reform legislation becomes law.

“Well, Trigger was a great horse and I’m sure Dale and Roy really liked Trigger,” joked Trumka. He went on to express concern about when such a triggered public option would take effect. “How far down the road? And what do we say to those people?,” he asked. “Is it 10 years down the road? Is it 8 years down the road? What do we say to every American that declares bankruptcy every thirty seconds because of this?,” he added.

The labor leader attempted to alter the terms of the health care debate we’ve seen play out across the country throughout August by keeping the focus on the current practices of health insurance companies in a less regulated marketplace. He cited an average of 32% of denied insurance claims from three of the largest health care providers in California over the last 7 years as an example.

“We need the public option to force them to become more efficient, more innovative and to break that stranglehold that they have on healthcare in this country,” Trumka said of the insurance companies.

Mr. Trumka also weighed in on immigration reform. The labor community has proven reluctant to join many of its Democratic brethren in Congress in support of comprehensive immigration reform legislation that was eventually rejected in 2007.

“We have a panel out, it was headed by a former Secretary of Labor, that I think is a perfect thing. It makes sure that people are treated humanely, that employers can’t exploit people that come into this country and it’ll solve the problem. It takes care of my members but more importantly, it takes care of the problems for the country itself,” said Trumka.

Watch the entire interview with Richard Trumka HERE:

We also chatted with Politico’s Jonathan Martin about what is behind the strategy shift at the White House and who makes up President Obama’s target audience for his big speech next week.

Check out the entire interview with Politico’s Jonathan Martin HERE:

UPDATE: The Treasury Department said late Thursday that the Obama administration plans to terminate the Cash for Clunkers program on Monday at 8 p.m. ET, according to the Associated Press. “It's been a thrill to be part of the best economic news story in America,” Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. “Now we are working toward an orderly wind down of this very popular program.”

ABC News? Rick Klein reports:

The popular government ?Cash for Clunkers? program will be shut down before Labor Day, but every dealer who?s sold a vehicle under the program will be reimbursed as promised by the federal government, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said today.

On ABCNews.com?s ?Top Line,? LaHood said the department needs to wind down the program — which provides vouchers of up to $4,500 to those who trade in older cars for more fuel-efficient models — to be able to guarantee that all dealers will be repaid for the discounts they gave buyers.

?This is the most popular stimulus program going in America today. It?s put show rooms — it?s made show rooms look like Grand Central Station,? LaHood said. ?We have enough people on board now, processing paper to get the backlog cleared out. Every dealer who has a deal in the pipeline will be paid. We have the money to pay them and they will be paid and we?re committed to doing that.?

A formal announcement on how and when the program will end will come from the department later today.

?Look — we don?t want to run out of money. And I want to be able to substantiate what I?m saying here. If you do a deal with us, you submit the paperwork, you will be paid,? LaHood said.

?I?m telling you all and everybody that I can talk to: They will be paid. They?re going to get their money,? he added.

The program was authorized to last through October, and LaHood himself had said an infusion of $2 billion in additional funds should have been enough to keep the program on track through Labor Day.

But the entire $3 billion allocated by Congress for the program is now in danger of running out, with well more than 450,000 claims already having been submitted to the government. The Obama administration has indicated that it will not seek a third round of funding.

Car dealers have expressed frustration with the slow pace in processing reimbursements, and some have even said they aren?t participating in the program any longer because of fear that they won?t get the money they?ve been promised by the federal government.

LaHood said those concerns are unfounded — and pushed back at suggestions that his department wasn?t prepared for the deluge of claims.

?Nothing went wrong. This is a wildly successful program! In four days, when we had a billion dollars, we sold 250,000 cars. Now who?s to say that?s not successful?? he said. ?That?s loans that have gone out to credit unions and banks and salesmen that are making commissions, and it?s the car manufacturers particularly — GM that?s saying they?re going to call back people to make more cars. This is a win-win for people all over America. And for the economy.

LaHood also talked about a summit he?s organizing to find ways to ban texting while driving.

?What I support is the elimination of texting while driving. If it were up to me and I could wave a magic wand — and I can?t — that?s what I do, that?s why we?re having the summit. So we can explore all of these ideas, some that have been introduced as legislation, others that have been talked about, but we should not allow people to text while they drive or allow them to be on a cell phone while they — this is a distraction that has caused accidents, caused fatalities. We?re in the safety business and we?re going to really be about very strong safety measures.?

(LaHood also guaranteed that he won?t update his Fast Lane blog from behind the wheel.)

The secretary also said a Transportation Department inquiry into an incident where passengers on an ExpressJet plane were held on a runway overnight will wrap up tomorrow.

?This is an untenable situation. All of us that fly don?t want to get stuck overnight and into the morning on an airplane. Some measures were taken but look, we?ll have a lot more to say about this in the next day or so,? he said.

You can watch the full interview with LaHood HERE.

Also today, we chatted with Sam Youngman, a White House correspondent for The Hill, about President Obama?s attempt at energizing his campaign army,Sen. Ted Kennedy?s extraordinary letter to state leaders about his Senate seat, and the possibilities of political reconciliation for Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev. (Youngman, a die-hard University of Kentucky fan, even slipped in a dig at Louisville coach Rick Pitino.)

To check out our discussion with Youngman, click HERE.

UPDATE: The Transportation Department announced this afternoon that the program will be cut off Monday evening, August 24, as of 8 pm ET.

?This program has been a lifeline to the automobile industry, jump starting a major sector of the economy and putting people back to work,? LaHood said in a statement.

UPDATE: A senior administration official told reporters this afternoon the Cash for Clunkers program was ?an overwhelming, overnight success? that has driven ?positive outcomes across the industry.? But there are currently no plans for an extension or another installment.

?Right now we are focused on winding down the program in an orderly way, providing a soft landing and getting the applications processed and the dealers paid. There?s no plan to seek additional funding to have an additional extension of the program,? the senior official said in a conference call after the Transportation Department announcement.

The administration?s goal now is ?to provide a soft landing for consumers and for dealers and ensure the program ends in a successful way.?

This official said there were no worries that the program would be overwhelmed by a surge in demand between now and Monday night, as consumer race to get in on the program before it closes, and they are
confident that their economic projections will allow the program to operate through 8pm on Monday in an orderly way.

Labor Dealt Blow by GOP Senator’s Reversal

ABC News’ Teddy Davis reports:

Organized labor was dealt a significant blow on Tuesday when Arlen Specter, a moderate Republican senator facing a GOP primary challenge in 2010, reversed his position of two years ago and announced that he plans to vote against cloture on the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation which would make union organizing easier.

“The problems of the recession make this a particularly bad time to enact Employees Free Choice legislation,” said Specter on the Senate floor. “I am announcing my decision now because I have consulted with a very large number of interested parties on both sides and I have made up my mind.”
Specter, who called EFCA the “most heavily lobbied issue” that he can recall, said that his principal reason for voting against cloture this time is the “elimination of the secret ballot” which he called “the cornerstone of how contests are decided in a democratic society.”

EFCA, which Republicans like to refer to as card check, would allow workers to form a union by obtaining a majority of signatures from employees in a workplace. It would strip business of the right to demand a secret election.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., responded to Specter’s announcement by insisting that the bill could be passed, saying that the Pennsylvania Republican was “not the only Republican that has indicated a willingness to consider something being done.”

But despite Reid’s claim, the bill’s proponents were hard pressed to cite a Senate Republican who would be willing to cross party lines and support organized labor’s top priority.

“I can’t name names,” said AFL-CIO spokesman Eddie Vale. He added that labor does not want to identify specific GOP targets out of fear that it will lead them to come under additional business pressure to oppose a cloture vote which cuts off debate and allows the Senate to proceed to a vote.
Pat Toomey, the Republican weighing a primary challenge against Specter, responded to Tuesday’s announcement by issuing a statement claiming credit for Specter’s reversal on card check.

“It’s nice to see Sen. Specter reverse his position in a positive direction on card check, but I wish it didn’t take primary opposition to get him to do it,” said Toomey in his statement.

Toomey, a former House member who challenged Specter in 2004, is the head of the anti-tax Club for Growth.

Minutes after releasing his first statement, Toomey released a second statement accurately pointing out that Specter indicated in his floor statement that he was leaving the door open to supporting EFCA down the road.

“When Senator Specter does a flip flop, it’s worth checking the fine print,” said Toomey in his second written statement. “On the Senate floor today he said: “I would be willing to reconsider Employees’ Free Choice legislation when the economy returns to normalcy.” In other words, if he thinks his political fortunes have improved, he will deny workers a secret ballot after all.”

An anti-EFCA strategist welcomed Specter’s announcement by noting that the support of at least one Republican senator is needed even if comedian Al Franken emerges victorious in the Minnesota Senate race and even if all 58 Democratic senators vote for cloture.

“I don’t know where they go to get a Republican vote,” said the anti-EFCA strategist who spoke on the condition that he not be named.

Labor to Obama, Harper: Fix NAFTA’s Flaws

ABC News’ Teddy Davis reports:

The AFL-CIO and Canadian Labor Congress have sent a joint letter to President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper urging the two leaders to “fix the flaws” of the North American Free Trade Agreement and to move on a range of policies tackling energy, migration and development.

“If the benefits of international trade are to be shared fairly, workers must be able to exercise fully their fundamental labor rights,” reads the letter. “However, workers in each country have been systematically denied these basic rights for years, with long-stagnant wages and increasing income inequality the result.”

On the NAFTA front, the letter calls for (1) better enforcement, (2) better dispute resolution and (3) the political will to act upon the findings and recommendations that result from the dispute settlement process. “Failure to act upon those recommendations should be subject to immediate and dissuasive fines or sanctions.”

In the run-up to last year’s Ohio primary, Obama joined New York Sen. Hillary Clinton in threatening to withdraw the United States from NAFTA to bring pressure to bear on the Canadians and Mexicans.

“I think we should use the hammer of a potential opt-out as leverage to ensure that we actually get labor and environmental standards that are enforced,” said Obama during a Cleveland debate moderated by Tim Russert. “And that is not what has been happening so far.”

Now that he is president, he has softened his NAFTA stance and is no longer threatening to pull the United States out of the trade pact even though he would still like to see better enforcement of labor and environmental standards.