Friday, August 9, 2013

IMMIGRATION REFORM

► In today’s Seattle Times — Reichert breaks ranks with GOP leaders, backs citizenship for immigrants — U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert has come out in favor of citizenship for undocumented immigrants, joining nearly two dozen of his House Republican colleagues and in defiance of his caucus leadership.

ALSO TODAY at The Stand — WSLC commends Reichert for backing pathway to citizenship

► In today’s Washington Post — Gutierrez: I’ve got 40-50 GOP votes for immigration reform — Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) says that the House has more than enough GOP votes to pass comprehensive immigration reform if it were brought to a vote. But he said Republicans who support the idea are staying deliberately quiet to avoid a backlash from conservative activists.

STATE GOVERNMENT

► In today’s (Everett) Herald — State senators to use forums to devise road funding, reforms — The Republican-led majority in the state Senate announced Thursday it is ready to work on a plan to raise billions of dollars for transportation improvements, a decision that comes weeks after it refused to vote on a proposal passed by the House. Sen. Curtis King (R, Yakima), co-chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, said the Majority Coalition Caucus wants to hold seven public meetings around the state for residents to tell lawmakers what projects they want built and how they are willing to pay for them. They also want to know what reforms the public would suggest in how the state designs, permits and builds transportation projects.

EDITOR’S NOTE — The conservative blog Washington State Wire reports that Sens. King and Rodney Tom (R→D→R, Medina) expect any funding package to be put before voters on the ballot and “reforms” they may insist be included “might spark a wee bit of warfare with labor, like a proposal to ‘open a dialogue’ about prevailing-wage and apprenticeship requirements on state roads projects.”

► In today’s Olympian — GOP Sen. Parlette complains new health exchange offerings not plentiful enough — The recent decision by state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler to reject some insurers’ applications to list policies with the Washington Healthplanfinder exchange is drawing fire from the Wenatchee state senator.

LOCAL

► In today’s Seattle Times — Economic recovery has left African Americans behind (by Larry Gossett) — This month we will observe the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic “I have a dream” speech. As we reflect on this momentous event, we must acknowledge the difficult road that lies ahead if we are to fulfill America’s full promise of justice and liberty for all. … I am so excited about a growing chorus of community-based organizations led by the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, the MLK Jr. Celebration Committee, the A. Philip Randolph Institute, the NAACP, the United Black Christian Clergy, the Church Council of Greater Seattle and the M.L. King County Labor Council. The groups are coming together to sponsor a rally and march at 10 a.m. on Aug. 17 to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, at 23rd Avenue and East Union Street in Seattle.

ALSO from our Calendar — “Jobs & Freedom: Revive the Fighting Spirit of 1963!” is TONIGHT at 7 p.m. at New Freeway Hall, 5018 Rainier Ave. S. in Seattle. A panel of labor and community activists will discuss the 1963 March on Washington, organized by militant Black labor leaders, that provides important lessons for today. Get details.

► At WFSE.org — Park commission OKs job-killing Fort Warden lease — The state Parks Commission sided with a Port Townsend group and virtually handed over Fort Worden State Park under a 50-year lease that could lead to nearly three-quarters of the parks staff there losing their jobs.

► In today’s Tri-City Herald — Sen. Patty Murray: Congress needs Hanford vit plant plan soon — Sen. Murray is pushing for the Department of Energy to release a plan soon for the Hanford tank farms and vitrification plant to treat the tank waste, she said Thursday.

AEROSPACE

► In the PS Business Journal — More Washington aerospace suppliers become unionized — On Monday, Machinists District Lodge 751 added its fifth local aerospace supplier when the 250 workers at Aim Aerospace in Sumner voted to join the union.

NATIONAL

► At AFL-CIO Now — Help keep Social Security strong on its 78th birthday — Social Security turns 78 on Aug. 14 and you can join the celebration and help ensure Social Security stays strong for years to come by signing this petition from the Alliance for Retired Americans.

► In today’s NY Times — U.S. companies thrive as workers fall behind — American companies are more profitable than ever — and more profitable than we thought they were before the government revised the national income accounts last week. Wage earners are making less than we thought, in part because the government now thinks it was overestimating the amount of income not reported by taxpayers.

► At AFL-CIO Now — ALEC pursuing radical corporate agenda while working families protest — Thousands protested ALEC-inspired “stand your ground” laws with a “die-in” outside ALEC’s 40th anniversary meeting in Chicago on Thursday. Meanwhile, the  Center for Media and Democracy has released a new report on ALEC, examining the extreme conservative organization’s powerful and growing influence in the states.

► At In These Times — Chicago rail workers strike, allege shady layoffs and poor work safety — Workers at Mobile Rail Solutions, a family-owned company that services locomotives, believe recent layoffs were retaliation for complaining about safety practices and for organizing a union with IWW.

► In today’s NY Times — Phony fear factor (by Paul Krugman) — The con men strike out again as the latest economic myth about “economic policy uncertainty” bites the dust. We need to stop talking about spending cuts and start talking about job-creating spending increases instead. Yes, I know that the politics of doing the right thing will be very hard. But, as far as the economics goes, the only thing we have to fear is fear-mongering itself.

T.G.I.F.

► On this day in 1986 at Knebworth Park in England, Queen played what would be their last live show with the late Freddie Mercury. But it was the previous summer that the band played what some consider to be the greatest rock show ever: Queen’s 20-minute Live Aid set in front of a sold-out Wembley Stadium crowd of 72,000 and the biggest-ever TV audience of 1.9 billion.

Live Aid featured some of the biggest rock bands and artists of all time — The Who, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Mick Jagger, U2, Neil Young, and many more (including The Hooters, introduced by Joe Piscopo!) — performing simultaneously at Wembley in London and at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. But the show’s organizers, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, music journalists and other musicians who played that day declared that Queen stole the show. Said Geldof: “Queen were absolutely the best band of the day… they just went and smashed one hit after another… it was the perfect stage for Freddie: the whole world.”

Don’t have time to watch it all? The Entire Staff of The Stand urges you to check out at 4:30 and again at 6:00, when the crowd claps along to “Radio Ga Ga.” And then at 19:30 when the audience sways to “We Are the Champions.” The way Mercury owned that crowd will give you goosebumps. Enjoy!

The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.