DAILY NEWS
‘Cost synergies,’ partisan newspapers, lagging federal salaries…
Monday, November 9, 2015
LOCAL
► From Bloomberg — Boeing ends Dubai airshow drought with $8 billion 737 deal from Jet — Boeing announced an order for 75 of its 737 single-aisle airliners with a list price of about $8 billion from Jet Airways India, ending a sales drought at the biennial Dubai Air Show. The order, which was already on Boeing’s books with the buyer listed as undisclosed, is comprised entirely of re-engined Max8 variants.
► In the Oregonian — Oregonians would narrowly support $15 minimum wage, poll finds — The poll comes one year before a $15-an-hour minimum wage plan could appear on Oregon ballots.
STATE GOVERNMENT
► From KPLU — Staffing shortage creates crisis situation at Western State — The hospital currently has more than 300 staff vacancies despite recently approved pay raises. Psychiatrists and nurses are in especially short supply.
► In the Spokesman-Review — Recipe for minimum wage hike elusive (editorial) — What is a statewide wage level that will satisfy the grassroots call for compensation that more closely matches cost-of-living? If the Legislature does act, it will have to preempt future local wage initiatives, or no statewide level will hold.
► In the Seattle Times — Legislature needs to provide the funding to pre-empt wildfires (editorial) — Footing the bill after disasters while ignoring prevention measures is bad policy that comes with a higher price in the long term and a greater risk of the loss of human lives.
► In the Seattle Times — Tim Eyman, casting usual spell, wins the day for super minority (by Ron Judd) — The idea (of Eyman’s I-1366) is to prevent the unspeakable horror of tyranny by majority rule. So why is it, then, that a statewide measure seeking to institutionalize said extra-Constitutional supermajority for raising taxes requires only a simple majority for approval? How can government by supermajority be instituted by anything less than the same?
TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP
► From KPLU — Washington businesses, politicians to discuss controversial Pacific trade deal — The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement that was hammered out behind closed doors is now public, and Washington businesses and politicians will be giving their initial thoughts on it at a conference sponsored by the Washington Council on International Trade. Reps. Derek Kilmer, Rick Larsen, Denny Heck and Adam Smith will be speaking about the trade deal on a panel at the conference.
ALSO at The Stand — Recess! Tell your Representative what you think about TPP
► From Politico — Trade pact backers hit 2 big hurdles: Donald and Hillary — President Obama’s herculean task of shepherding the landmark TPP through Capitol Hill is about to run into one major hurdle: 2016 presidential politics.
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
ALSO at The Stand — Recess! Tell your Representative what you think about ‘Cadillac tax’
► In today’s Washington Post — Federal salaries lag private sector by 35 percent on average, pay council says — Salaries of federal employees continue to lag behind those of similar private-sector jobs by 35 percent on average, an advisory committee has said in presenting what amounts to the latest data point in a long-running debate over how the two sectors compare. Under a 1990 law, the numbers are supposed to be used to virtually close the measured differences with private-sector pay. However, no administration or Congress since then has supported providing the funds to do that.
NATIONAL
► In today’s NY Times — No justice, no football on a Missouri campus — Students at the University of Missouri have been demonstrating for weeks for the ouster of the university president, protesting the school’s handling of racial tensions. But their movement received a boost over the weekend when dozens of black football players issued a blunt ultimatum: Resign or they won’t play. Fueling the anger were a series of on-campus incidents: racial slurs hurled at black students and feces smeared into the shape of a swastika on a wall in a residence hall.
BREAKING from AP — University of Missouri president leaves over race complaints
► In today’s NY Times — Democratic group called iVote pushes automatic voter registration — Former aides to President Obama and President Bill Clinton have pledged to spend up to $10 million in an effort to get states to register anyone getting a driver’s license.
► From AP — Lufthansa union shifts strike targets for Tuesday — A union representing Lufthansa cabin crew is shifting its strike targets for Tuesday. The UFO union says only long-haul international flights will be affected at Lufthansa’s Munich and Frankfurt hubs.
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.