DAILY NEWS
Election redux, WTO-Seattle at 15, SayLUX, ‘i’ Kendrick…
Thursday, November 6, 2014
LOCAL ELECTIONS
► At The Stand — Amid low voter turnout, GOP takes control — This posting from yesterday has been updated with the latest returns. Click here for the latest results at the Secretary of State’s website.
NATIONAL ELECTIONS
► At AFL-CIO Now — Trumka: ‘Americans are desperate for a new economic life’ — “People are disillusioned by endless political bickering and eyed these elections with great dispirit. In way too many elections, they got a false choice. In these very difficult times, they did not get a genuine economic alternative to their unhappiness and very real fear of the future. But when voters did have a chance to choose their future directly — through ballot measures — their decisions are unmistakable.”
► At AFL-CIO Now — Paid sick leave, minimum wage, equal pay and other ballot measures fare well — Voters approved increases to the minimum wage in Alaska, Arkansas, Illinois, Nebraska and South Dakota, as well as Oakland and San Francisco. Voters in Oregon approved the Equal Pay Measure and in Massachusetts a measure calling for up to 40 hours a year of paid sick leave for employees was approved. Paid sick leave measures in Oakland, Calif., Montclair and Trenton, N.J., also won.
► In today’s NY Times — Obama’s offer to Republicans (editorial) — The president said there were several areas where he thinks agreement could be reached with Republicans in his post-election news conference. One is a trade agreement with Pacific nations, which he said would help open those markets to American goods. (Though it needs to include strong labor and environmental regulations.)
► At Politico — John Boehner, Mitch McConnell vow to kill Obamacare — House Speaker John Boehner and incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, outlining their legislative vision for the last two years of Barack Obama’s presidency, are vowing to try to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
► In The Hill — Business groups hail Senate flip — The business lobby is hoping Congress will extend dozens of expired tax breaks, authorize the Keystone XL oil pipeline, repeal the medical device tax and advance trade policies, among other things.
ELECTION REDUX
► At Huffington Post — Democratic strategies lost big. Here’s an alternative. (by George Lakoff) — Democratic strategists have been segmenting the electorate and seeking individual self-interest-based issues in each electoral block. The strategists also keep suggesting a move to the right. This has left no room for the Democrats to have an overriding authentic moral identity that Americans can recognize… The moral: Progressivism supports freedom. The private depends on the public. If you believe it, say it. Moral ideals matter. Authenticity matters.
TRADE
BOEING
► In the P.S. Business Journal — Boeing plans to replace 737 MAX by 2030 — Plans to develop an entirely new plane that would replace the 737 MAX are underway, according to Boeing Chief Executive Officer Jim McNerney. He hopes to have the new airplane available by 2030. The plane would be similar in shape to the single-aisle 737 but slightly larger, and likely made of composite fiber like the 787 Dreamliner. No word yet on where the replacement plane could be built and assembled, or whether it will reduce or eliminate production of the 737 MAX, which will be assembled in Renton.
EDITOR’S NOTE — The 787 commercial-airplane tax breaks due to expire in 2024, were extended until 2040 for the 777X (among other goodies) at a public cost of $8.7 billion. Do I hear 2060? 2080?
NATIONAL
► At Think Progress — Kmart employees have to come to work before dawn on Thanksgiving — Kmart will open its doors for Black Friday shopping a whole day early, starting at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day itself. Stores will remain open for 42 straight hours, closing at midnight on Friday, November 28. The company says shifts will be filled by volunteers, but last year some Kmart workers reported that their requests to take the day off were denied.
T.G.I.T.
► The Entire Staff of The Stand™ will be gone tomorrow so, in our occasional effort to introduce you to some great songs before they become so ubiquitous you begin to hate them (remember “Happy”?), we hope we’re not already too late in sharing “i” by Kendrick Lamar. You old schoolers will enjoy the heavy sampling of The Isley Brothers’ “That Lady,” and the cameo by Ron Isley. The NBA has already heavily latched onto this song in promoting the new season, so enjoy it now while you still can!
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.