NEWS ROUNDUP
Debating AWB, health insurers’ record surpluses, union thugs…
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
ELECTIONS
► In today’s Seattle Times — Gubernatorial debate: First of the season — The first gubernatorial debate of Election 2012 airs live on TVW today from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in a match-up hosted by the Association of Washington Business. AWB’s debate has become a tradition. Democrat Jay Inslee and Republican Rob McKenna will both participate in the Spokane face-to-face contest.
EDITOR’S NOTE — The entire staff of The Stand attended yesterday’s “news” conference on our way to the record store. The fact that the only current Democratic state legislator willing to stand alongside McKenna was Sen. Tim Sheldon (“D”-Potlatch), the leader of Democrats For Bush who appeared in ads on GDub’s behalf, tells you all you need to know about this.
► Meanwhile, in today’s Seattle Times — FTC probe of high West Coast gas prices a welcome step (editorial) — U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell’s call for the FTC investigation puts further pressure on the oil refiners to explain why, as the rest of the nation is paying less and less for gas, West Coast drivers have been paying more and more.
ANOTHER EDITOR’S NOTE — Washington’s highest-in-the-nation gas price is The Most Urgent Job-Killing Economic Issue facing the state’s employers and working families. And yet our State Attorney General, Rob McKenna, is too busy soliciting “Democrats” as surrogates and raising money from Big Oil in Texas for his bid for governor to do anything about price gouging at the pump. Thanks, Rob!
► In today’s (Longview) Daily News — Jon Haugen to hold Town Hall meeting in Longview— The public is invited to a town hall meeting Thursday in Longview with Jon T. Haugen, who is challenging Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Camas).
AGAIN WITH THE EDITOR’S NOTE — His opponent is afraid to face her constituents like this.
STATE GOVERNMENT
► In today’s Washington Post — As state revenues recover, health costs remain a burden — Many states are contending with costs rising faster than revenues are recovering, as help from the federal government dwindles. The biggest culprit has been Medicaid. State spending on the joint federal-state health-care program for the poor surged by 20% this year, following a rise of 23% in fiscal 2011.
LOCAL
► In today’s Columbian — Vancouver council endorses sales-tax hike for light rail — The Vancouver City Council on Monday endorsed a sales tax increase to pay for light rail in Clark County, ending a fast-tracked search for funding options that ultimately ended right back where it started.
► In today’s Yakima H-R — Car-tab fees: $20 goes a long way in Grandview — Recent improvements to a tidy little residential neighborhood here were long overdue, residents say. But paying an extra $20 per year per car for the upgrades? “It’s good for the community,” Rocio Mendoza said.
BOEING
► At HeraldNet.com — Wichita workers, not Boeing site, of interest to Airbus — An Airbus celebration of its 10-year anniversary in Wichita comes a few months after Boeing announced plans to leave Wichita. Says an Airbus executive: “I would imagine that Boeing’s decision will have some favorable impact to us and that there will be some talent we could add to our team here.”
► From Bloomberg — Stretched 787 may trump new 777 — Weighing choices for its next wide-body jet upgrade, Boeing executives say that developing a stretched version of the 787 Dreamliner may require less work than devising a revamped 777.
NATIONAL
► In today’s Seattle Times — Recession wiped out 20 years of wealth you built, Fed says — The Federal Reserve said the median net worth of families plunged by 39 percent in three years, from $126,400 in 2007 to $77,300 in 2010. That puts Americans roughly on par with where they were in 1992.
► At Bloomberg — NLRB asks judge to reconsider ruling on 2011 Board vote — The U.S. National Labor Relations Board asked a federal judge to reconsider a ruling on the panel’s voting procedures, seeking to reinstate a measure that would allow for faster votes in union elections.
ALSO at The Stand — Union election fairness rule tossed on a technicality
► In today’s Washington Post — Fired federal workers have limited route for challenging dismissals — Federal employees who were fired because they did not sign up for the U.S. draft may not challenge the constitutionality of their dismissals in federal district courts, the Supreme Court ruled Monday.
► At AFL-CIO Now — More evidence private prisons don’t work — A recent report dismantles claims by private prison industry and its backers — including the extremist American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) — that private prisons are a better deal than publicly run facilities.
► At AFL-CIO Now — 29 of 76 unionists murdered in 2011 were Colombian — Despite promises made in the “Colombian Action Plan Related to Labor Rights,” Colombia continues to be the most dangerous place to be a union member.
► In today’s Washington Post — Obama says he was too busy to campaign in Wisconsin recall election
EDITOR’S NOTE — But he did lift a finger to help! (Actually, two thumbs).
RMONEY
► In today’s NY Times — Vouchers unspoken, Romney hails school choice — Romney would seek to overhaul the federal government’s largest programs for K-12 education into a voucherlike system. Students would use $25 billion in federal money to attend any school they choose — public, charter, online or private — a system, he said, that would introduce marketplace dynamics into education to drive academic gains.
► In today’s Washington Post — Romney’s non-sensical claim about ‘Obamacare’ — FACT-CHECKER: Romney should drop this line four-Pinocchio line from his speeches. No amount of tweaking will get it right.
TODAY’S MUST-READ
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.