Hey, this is for real…it’s got to be 90 degrees out at 7:30 a.m. Supposed to get up to 110 heat index.

People are already gearing up for what might come here Sunday. In the Sheraton Hotel lobby, I got stopped, already this early, by a series of people who asked, “what are you hearing?” Nothing new since my post last night–other than one insurgents’ insider saying emphatically “No” to the question will there be a deal. But, key players are already rushing around to meetings–on the Lord’s day no less!!!. The UFCW is holding a breakfast for its delegates.

In a few minutes, the second day of the Federation’s “Building Power for Working Families” will begin, touching on capacity building for unions, strengthening state and local union movements and, then, this afternoon, a set of panels about the global economy.

On that topic, I heard last night that Rep. Melissa Bean, a Democrat, is rumored to be sliding off the reservation–she’s going to vote FOR the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). I’m going to talk more about that in a post last this week. But, I’ll say now–I hope Karen Ackerman is serious when she says, in today’s New York Times piece (registration required) on labor and the Democratic party, that “labor might withhold support from Democrats” who vote for CAFTA. I’ve heard that rap before–and we’ve never held peoples’ feet to the fire. And, then, Democrats can continue to take labor for granted because, ultimately, we’ve had no spine to punish supporters of so-called “free trade.”