► In today’s Seattle Times — Judge denies injunction in health care lawsuit against McKenna — A judge dealt an initial defeat to plaintiffs in a lawsuit alleging Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna violated his ethical duties while participating in the multi-state lawsuit seeking to overturn the Affordable Care Act. Although McKenna has publicly claimed he opposes only the health insurance requirement and not the entire law, a King County Superior Court judge rules that McKenna has maintained a “consistent legal position” in the case by seeking to overturn the entire health-care law. The judge says McKenna’s comments to the contrary were merely “political statements” by an elected official.
► In today’s (Everett) Herald — Cuts take scholarships from state scholars — Some of the state’s top high school graduates are honored but they won’t get their traditional scholarships because of budget cuts to education.
► In today’s Daily News — Sen. Zarelli won’t finish current term— State Sen. Joe Zarelli (R-Ridgefield), who is not running for re-election, will leave Thursday rather than finish out his term, which expires in December.
EDITOR’S NOTE — In case you’re wondering, Joe, that’s not a good-cause quit.
RECALL WALKER
► At Politico — Scott Walker adds $6 million to recall cash haul— Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker raked in at least $6 million in the last five weeks as he fights for his political life in the June 5 recall election. The GOP governor’s latest haul puts his total fundraising at over $30 million since January 2011. His opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, has raised a total of $4.2 million for his campaign.
EDITOR’S NOTE — They’ve got the money, but we’ve got the people!VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED THIS WEEK in Seattle for Wisconsin GOTV phone banks from 3:30 to 6 p.m. today through Thursday to call fellow union members in Wisconsin and urge them to vote on June 5. Learn more.
► In today’s Washington Post — Dems’ closing argument against Walker — Members of Congress are pointing out that the Republican governor’s “divide and conquer” quote contradicts testimony he gave before their committee in August 2011.
► A related story at Politico — Republican groups plan $1 billion blitz — Republican super PACs and other outside groups shaped by a loose network of prominent conservatives – including Karl Rove, the Koch brothers and Tom Donohue of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — plan to spend roughly $1 billion on November’s elections for the White House and control of Congress. That total includes previously undisclosed plans for newly aggressive spending by the Koch brothers, who are steering funding to build sophisticated, county-by-county operations in key states. Politico has learned that Koch-related organizations plan to spend about $400 million ahead of the 2012 elections — twice what they had been expected to commit.
LOCAL
► In today’s Spokesman-Review — Closing Geiger: Wise or worrisome? — On its face, moving inmates from the Spokane County jail system to a jail in Kennewick solves big problems. But county officials are fighting the potential move.
► At AFL-CIO Now — U.S. unions urge Colombia to protect workers’ rights — and lives — The AFL-CIO and several individual unions, including the IAM, USW and UFCW, in recent days met with leadership of the new Colombian Labor Inspectorate and DOL officials, to discuss how the inspectorate is working to promote and protect workers’ rights in Colombia — and what it is doing to make sure workers who exercise their rights can do so without putting their lives on the line.
► In today’s Washington Post — Job recovery scant for Americans in prime working years — The proportion of Americans in their prime working years who have jobs is smaller than it has been at any time in the 23 years before the recession, according to federal statistics, reflecting the profound and lasting effects that the downturn has had on the nation’s economic prospects.
► At Politico — Senate Republicans signal big shift on ‘Obamacare’ — Senate Republicans are echoing the House GOP’s shift in favor of some of the more popular “Obamacare” provisions, a sign that the party is uniting behind the strategy ahead of the election.
► At Politico — Study finds wage rage at Veterans Affairs — Which federal employees are least satisfied with their pay at a large government agency? A new study finds just 53.3 % of Dept. of Veterans Affairs employees are satisfied with their salaries.
TODAY’S MUST-READ
► In today’s Washington Post — New conspiracy theory: Is Mitt Romney a unicorn? (Dana Milbank column) — The time has come for Mitt Romney to prove it once and for all: Is he or is he not a unicorn? Let me stipulate that I have no proof that Romney is a unicorn, and indeed I want to believe that he is not. But I have not seen proof of this because he has not released the original copy of his long-form birth certificate. … If Romney is going to pal around with “birthers” — especially a newly reborn birther such as Donald Trump — he shouldn’t be surprised that people want him to play by the same rules.
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 9 a.m. These links are functional at the date of posting, but sometimes expire.
