DAILY NEWS
Fast-food strikes, cost of Boeing tax cuts, Obama vs. Warren…
Thursday, December 4, 2014
FAST-FOOD STRIKE
► From Al Jazeera America — Fast food workers, other low-wage employees launch nationwide strike — Fast-food workers in roughly 190 cities nationwide are set to walk off the job Thursday morning, demanding an industry-wide base wage of $15 per hour and the right to form a union. Thursday’s strike, the latest in a series of day-long labor actions coordinated through a nationwide coalition of various fast food worker groups, may well be the largest work stoppage in the history of the industry, if early organizer estimates prove to be accurate.
ALSO at The Stand — Fast-food strike, day of wage actions TODAY
► At AFL-CIO Now — Chicago to raise minimum wage to $13 — A key City Council committee advanced the measure on a 16–3 vote Monday and the broader council passed it 44–5 Tuesday. The current wage of $8.25 will move to $10 early next year and will rise in increments until it reaches the full $13 in 2019.
STATE GOVERNMENT
EDITOR’S NOTE — Dear Boeing: By your logic, Washington state could cut the state sales tax in half, call it a “shopping incentive,” and it would cost the state nothing. After all, that foregone projected revenue wasn’t guaranteed in the first place and, what, people would buy twice as much stuff to make up the difference? Psht. In 2008, you complained that the Machinists’ strike was “costing” you $100 million in deferred revenue per day. The difference between the cost of that deferred revenue and the billions in projected revenue Washington loses with your tax break is that you eventually got your money.
► In today’s Spokesman-Review — State legislators support new medical education model — The legislators backing Washington State University’s bid to establish its own Spokane-based medical school said Tuesday the rural doctor shortage is so severe the state needs more than one approach to physician training.
► In today’s News Tribune — Washington has 946 new board certified teachers — For the second year in a row, Washington has more new national board certified teachers than any other state.
EDITOR’S NOTE — And yet, the feds punish us.
LOCAL
► In the P.S. Business Journal — Rev. Jesse Jackson slams Amazon diversity practices, joins with security union — Civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson is joining with a local union (SEIU 6) and Amazon security officers to ask the tech giant to ensure good treatment of its contract employees. The contracting company Amazon uses to employ security guards, Security Industry Specialists, has faced a growing firestorm of criticism in recent months for its treatment of employees.
► In today’s Seattle Times — Seattle City Councilmember Sawant charged with disorderly conduct — Sawant and three other people arrested while taking part in a protest last month outside Alaska Airlines headquarters in SeaTac were charged Wednesday with disorderly conduct.
ALSO at The Stand — Sea-Tac Airport workers to Alaska Airlines: Stop robbing us (Nov. 20)
► In today’s NY Times — Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to get $84 million pay package — Shareholders approved the pay package despite concerns raised by an investor advisory group.
NEWS JUXTAPOSED
EDITOR’S NOTE — Remember 2007?
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
► In today’s News Tribune — Defense budget steers billions to Puget Sound for Boeing jets and Navy bases, but much less for JBLM — The Pentagon’s $577.1 billion budget for 2015 has a lot of good news for Northwest military contractors and the Puget Sound’s Navy bases, but it puts off some hard decisions that could lead to big cuts in the years ahead.
► In The Hill — House approves slate of tax breaks — The House on Wednesday passed a one-year renewal of more than 50 tax breaks that expired at the end of 2013, putting the measure on a path toward President Obama’s desk. Passed 378-46, the measure would extend nearly all of the tax breaks until just the end of this year, at a cost of almost $42 billion.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Washington’s entire Congressional delegation voted “yes” because, as Rep. Rick Larsen notes, it extends the state sales tax deduction for Washington residents and provides a few other tax benefits for working families.
► In today’s News Tribune — More political games in Congress with our sales tax deduction (editorial) — It’s arbitrary and unjust that most Americans know they can write off their state taxes while Washingtonians face perpetual uncertainty.
► In today’s NY Times — The next tax fight (editorial) — The fight to extend these tax breaks for 2015 and beyond will continue next year. Republicans could create an acceptable package by abandoning the most profligate corporate tax cuts and including provisions to help low- and middle-income workers. The next move is theirs, but what they choose to do will depend heavily on how united Democrats prove to be in looking out for the interests of working people.
► In today’s Washington Post — Does this postal chairman’s lobbying history pose a conflict of interest? — The U.S. Postal Service has the potential to earn billions of dollars a year by entering the payday-loan business, but a former banking lobbyist, Mickey Barnett, could block its path. Barnett, now chairs the USPS Board of Governors. Previously, he represented the interests of payday lenders, who stand to lose out if the Postal Service grabs a share of their market.
TODAY’S MUST-READ
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