DAILY NEWS
Compromise offer, big union vote, Grand Bargain takes a hit…
Thursday, June 6, 2013
STATE GOVERNMENT
► In today’s Spokesman-Review — House Democrats offer state budget compromise — House Democrats offered to trim spending and drop many proposals on taxes as part of a compromise they say would allow the Washington Legislature to pass a 2013-15 operating budget before time runs out in the special session.
► From AP — State Dems back away from business tax extension — Democrats in the Legislature are retreating from a plan that would have raised money by extending a business tax, as lawmakers seek an elusive budget compromise in the final week of an overtime legislative session.
► In today’s Olympian — State Senate cool to House plan to cut spending — In a bid to break a budget logjam, House Democrats put a new offer on the table Wednesday that sharply reduces their previous spending targets and tax-hike plans, but a Republican-led coalition that runs the Senate immediately threw cold water on the plan.
► In today’s Olympian — Another GOP gift to the wealthy (editorial) — Republicans controlling the state Senate cynically used the urgency to fix an accidental loophole in the estate tax to benefit about 300 wealthy Washingtonians.
ALSO at The Stand — Senate is choosing millionaires over students
LOCAL
► In The Stranger — Supersize my salary now! — Seattle’s strike was not only the latest in a rolling series of nationwide fast-food walkouts, it was proving to be the largest: By the end of the day, at least eight—and as many as 14, by some counts — local fast-food restaurants had been forced to shut down, at least temporarily. Many other stores were left to operate shorthanded. As one striker put it: “When a manager has to make fries, that’s a victory, too.”
► In today’s (Everett) Herald — New ferry dock in Mukilteo two steps closer — After many hang-ups and delays, two major developments this week have cleared the way for the state to begin building a $140 million terminal as soon as next year and be finished by 2017.
► In today’s Bellingham Herald — Environmental groups sue BNSF, coal companies — A coalition of environmental groups has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Seattle, accusing BNSF Railway Co. and several coal companies of violating the Clean Water Act.
► From AP — Worker fired for stealing pie sues city — A Bridgeport public works employee who was fired by the mayor for shoplifting a $1.69 fruit pie is filing a wrongful termination lawsuit against the city.
AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
► In today’s Olympian — Debunking myths about Obama’s Affordable Care Act — State Office of Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler delivered a mythbusting speech about the Affordable Care Act on Wednesday, telling a lunchtime audience that changes set to take place in health care in 2014 are much better than what the current health care system has to offer.
► From CNBC — A reason for conservatives to love Obamacare — A rift between labor unions and the White House over coverage through Obamacare might be putting smiles on opponents of the health care law — as well as those antagonistic to unions themselves.
► In The Hill — Obamacare more unpopular than ever — A new poll found that 49% of people call Affordable Care Act a bad idea, about four in 10 say they will be worse off under the law, and 37% call the reform a good idea. A plurality, 39%, said the law won’t make a difference to them, while 19% said it will leave them better off.
WALMART
EDITOR’S NOTE — A Walmart Anti-Retaliation Rally will be held Friday, June 7 from 11 a.m. to noon at the Bellingham Walmart, 4420 Meridian St. Twenty one members of OUR Walmart from Washington State (including some members from Bellingham) are in Bentonville, Ark., for the shareholders meeting. The workers are standing together and speaking up to make change in their working conditions and for worker safety in Walmart’s supply chain. In the past, Walmart has retaliated against and attempted to silence those who speak out. Support Walmart workers who speak out by attending this event.
NATIONAL
EDITOR’S NOTE — This Grand Bargain nonsense has been a driving factor in efforts to cut Social Security benefits via a “chained CPI” index. So this is good news.
► In today’s Washington Post — Social Security, Medicare changes to put seniors at financial risk, report says — Nearly half of the nation’s elderly population is “economically vulnerable” and would be particularly hard hit by even modest changes in the Social Security and Medicare programs being considered to slow the growth of the nation’s long-term debt, according to a new report by the Economic Policy Institute.
TODAY’S MUST-READ
► In today’s Washington Post — Go slower on free trade (by Harold Meyerson) — What’s in the (Trans Pacific Partnership) pact isn’t clear, as the administration has clamped a tight lid on the proceedings. What is clear, however, is that the era of free-trade deals has been one of growing economic inequality in the United States and the decoupling of U.S. corporate interests from those of the American people. These deals have done little to nothing to offset the job and income losses that U.S. workers have endured during this period.
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.