DAILY NEWS
Fast Track whip count, Boeing accountability is OK, who likes unions…
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
FAST TRACK
EDITOR’S NOTE — Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell are listed here as “yes” votes, as is Rep. Dave Reichert (R). Rep. Jim McDermott (D) is listed as “no.” The rest of Washington’s Congressional delegation are considered “undecided.” Call toll-free — 855-712-8441 — to get patched through to your member of Congress and tell him/her: “I’m a constituent, and I want you to vote NO on Fast Track.”
► From The Hill — Democratic candidates slam Obama’s trade agenda — Swing-state Democrats are sounding the alarm that Obama’s free trade proposals, backed by their GOP opponents, would ship U.S. manufacturing jobs overseas and lead to greater unemployment at home. No other issue, they say, presents such a stark contrast between Democratic challengers and vulnerable Republican incumbents in 2016 than trade.
► From Politico — Elizabeth Warren: Trade bill could “tear down” Wall Street oversight — Sen. Elizabeth Warren said the next big threat to keeping Wall Street risk-taking in check is an upcoming fast-track trade bill.
► From The Hill — White House takes on Reid over trade — The White House is criticizing Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid for his promise to block a vote on fast-track trade authority for President Obama.
► From Huffington Post — A trade pact in the corporate interest (by William Spriggs and Ralph Gomory) — Because tariff barriers are very low, this is not really a trade deal; it is about the protection of corporations. This deal contains major new provisions that would directly affect the lives of every American by moving important national decisions on regulating corporations, from product labeling to pollution out of the hands of the legislature and into those of special corporate dominated international tribunals.
► In today’s Seattle Times — The persistent problem of America’s permanent trade deficit (by Jon Talton) — Today’s trade numbers can be explained away but they shouldn’t be ignored. The dramatic trade deficit undercuts the meme that America is an export powerhouse now… It might be too simplistic to note that the deficit really goes south as NAFTA kicks in, then gains momentum as China joins the World Trade Organization.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Too simplistic? If you’re not satisfied that’s a causal relationship, you must concede that the reality of America’s trade deficit experience has been exactly the opposite of what advocates for NAFTA and WTO promised.
BOEING
► In today’s Columbian — A taxing situation (editorial) — Boeing has developed an expertise at the high-stakes game of tax incentives. Lawmakers should be wary of who they are sitting across from at the poker table.
STATE GOVERNMENT
EDITOR’S NOTE — “Shortchanging education: 4 in 4 Washington kids impacted.”
► From KUOW — State lawmakers react along party lines to teacher walkouts — Democrats are careful about how they talk about these and react. A couple of weeks ago the governor said that while he doesn’t necessarily approve of these one-day walkouts he understands teacher frustration. Republicans are more likely to bring up a bill introduced by Sen. Tim Sheldon — he’s actually a Democrat who caucuses with Republicans — that would basically prohibit teachers from being paid on walk-out days.
► In today’s Olympian — North Thurston teachers union to hold rally in Olympia Thursday
► In today’s Seattle Times — Lifting cap on property taxes proposed in Legislature — As legislators struggle to agree on how to fund schools, roads and government services, a pair of state lawmakers are throwing another proposal into the mix — lifting the 1% property-tax cap.
► From AP — Lawmakers say mental health improved, critics disagree — Lawmakers say the Legislature made significant improvements during the 2015 session to provide services for Washington’s mentally ill, but critics say some of the bills passed in an effort to fix a system sharply criticized by the courts could make matters worse and lead to more litigation.
► In today’s Spokesman-Review — GOP officers to pick nominees to replace ex-Rep. Susan Fagan — Republican activists in southeast Washington could choose tonight from among as many as 10 possible candidates to nominate three replacements for former Rep. Susan Fagan, who resigned amid ethics allegations.
LOCAL
► In today’s News Tribune — Tacoma mayor, Chamber agree to work on alternative to $15 minimum wage — Tacoma’s political and business leaders must come together with citizens to find a compromise on raising the minimum wage, and the city’s mayor should be out front, a leading business group said Tuesday. The creation of the Tacoma Minimum Wage Task Force is the first organized response to 15 Now Tacoma, an advocacy group gathering signatures for a ballot measure in the fall that would raise the minimum wage in the city to $15.
MORE local coverage of the Letter Carriers’ food drive in today’s Columbian.
► In the PSBJ — As nurses prep for strike, Washington’s new for-profit mental health hospitals raise eyebrows — As the state scrambles to find beds for its most severely mentally ill patients, it has turned to for-profit mental health hospitals for help. But those facilities might not be the saving grace that some hoped they could be. What’s more, the rising sector of for-profit mental health care in the South Sound is now turning into a workforce issue. About 100 unionized health care workers at Tukwila’s Cascade Behavioral Health plan to strike on May 14 over issues with staffing and patient safety.
► In today’s Spokesman-Review — Comcast to build Spokane call center, creating 675 jobs — Comcast will build a new call center in the Spokane area that brings 675 jobs to the region, the company announced Tuesday. The jobs include benefits such as health and dental insurance, a 401(k) retirement savings plan and tuition reimbursement. He declined to give specific pay ranges, but said total pay and benefits for employees at the Spokane call center is expected to be $27 million a year.
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
► From The Hill — Senate blocks NLRB veto override vote — Senators on Tuesday blocked any future attempts to override President Obama’s veto of a union election law. Obama vetoed the union election legislation in March, after Congress passed a resolution of disapproval on a National Labor Relations Board rule that would have sped up union elections.
► In today’s Washington Post — Uncle Sam had better start treating his employees right (by Joe Davidson) — Federal employees who have to contend with a political environment that has become partisan, poisonous and barely productive.
► From The Onion — Candidate profile: Mike Huckabee — Campaign Promise: Shore up Social Security to ensure it lasts until End Times. Campaign Goal: Strengthen salary negotiating position with Fox News.
NATIONAL
► In today’s LA Times — New firm is victory for port truckers in California — The owners of a trucking firm targeted by the Teamsters union have launched a company with employee drivers, giving the union and drivers a win in their effort to classify truckers who serve the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports as employees, rather than independent contractors.
TODAY’S NEWS JUXTAPOSED
► From the New Republic — Even conservative millennials support unions — First, young people of both parties are more amenable to labor unions than their older peers. Despite recent strides in right-to-work legislation, a resurgence in union strength might just come as millennials ascend to political power. It makes sense: Young people have grown up during a massive recession and watched wages associated with middle-class jobs of yesteryear drop precipitously. Unions might be the most promising way to assure that working class people get a shot at turning their jobs into livable occupations. Union-friendly young people may yet recover the dignity and value of working-class jobs as they move into the workforce en masse.
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.