NEWS ROUNDUP
Hillary’s steady hand, privatizers v. justice, O’Jays v. Trump…
Friday, July 29, 2016
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
► From AP — Hillary Clinton promises steady hand in dangerous world — Promising Americans a steady hand, Hillary Clinton cast herself Thursday night as a unifier for divided times, an experienced leader steeled for a volatile world. She aggressively challenged Republican Donald Trump’s ability to do the same. “Imagine him in the Oval Office facing a real crisis,” Clinton said as she accepted the Democratic nomination for president. “A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.”
► In today’s NY Times — Clinton asks not for trust, but for faith in her competence — Besieged by lingering doubts about her honesty, Hillary Clinton made the case for a more pragmatic faith in her motivations, experience, temperament and priorities.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Of course, those “doubts” have been manufactured out of whole cloth by a 30-year campaign of disinformation and hostility…
► From PBS — How Democrats can win back Trump’s working class supporters — AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says Trump has successfully tapped into the frustrations of white males and the working class, but believes that when voters are given info on his positions on wages and other issues, that they’ll come home to Hillary Clinton and the Democrats.
► From The Hill — AFL-CIO launching pro-Clinton effort in battleground states — The AFL-CIO will begin campaigning for Clinton in full force this weekend with a series of events in battleground states such as Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Missouri and Nevada.
► From BuzzFeed — Trump seeks more foreign guest workers for his companies — The presidential candidate is seeking to bring in 78 more servers, housekeepers, and cooks for his Mar-a-Lago resort and nearby golf course in Florida. The controversial guest worker program allows employers to import foreign workers, but only when there are no Americans who want the jobs.
► From The Hill — Trump’s minimum wage two-step confuses business groups, advisers — The Republican presidential nominee has made a series of contradictory comments during his campaign, at times indicating wages are already too high and at other times suggesting a boost is in order.
STATE ELECTIONS
EDITOR’S NOTE — And thus, charter-schools advocates have joined right-wing extremist Republicans in politicizing our state’s highest court. They hope to buy new justices who’ll enable their agenda to privatize education while underfunding public schools. That’s why we need to VOTE in the primary election and support Madsen and justices Mary Yu and Charles Wiggins. All of them are being targeted for holding state legislators accountable for sufficiently funding Washington’s public schools.
► In today’s News Tribune — 3 law enforcement groups endorse Inslee for governor — Three law enforcement organizations have endorsed incumbent Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee after supporting his gubernatorial opponent, Republican Rob McKenna, in 2012. The Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs, the Washington State Patrol Troopers Association and the Council of Metropolitan Police and Sheriffs announced their endorsement Thursday, according to Inslee’s campaign.
ALSO at The Stand — It’s time to invest in Sound Transit Phase 3 — and our future (by WSLC President Jeff Johnson)
TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP
► From Huffington Post — Who gets the gains from trade? (by Stan Sorscher) — Nothing in our trade policy increases workers’ power, or positions us to share gains from trade. It is no surprise that workers’ wages have decoupled from productivity. Workers continue to create gains, but those gains are swept up by a tiny few. That is a predictable outcome from the unbalanced power relationships built into our trade and other policies.
LOCAL
► In today’s Yakima H-R — Yakima Regional, nurses reach tentative contract agreement — Nurses at Yakima Regional Medical and Cardiac Center reached a tentative contract agreement Tuesday night, after working under an expired contract for the last four months. The agreement was reached after a 13-hour mediation session between the Washington State Nurses Association negotiation team and representatives from Community Health Systems, the Tennessee-based company that owns the hospital.
► In today’s Spokesman-Review — Report highlights deficiencies in city of Spokane’s workplace policies — The city of Spokane’s human resources policies need work. That’s one of the most forceful conclusions of an investigation of how city officials handled a sexual harassment complaint against former police Chief Frank Straub and his subsequent dismissal.
► In today’s Columbian — Clark County’s red-ink blues (editorial) — A lot of the blame lies with supposedly fiscally conservative county Councilors David Madore and Tom Mielke.
► In today’s Seattle Times — Former King County Corrections Guild board members accused of stealing $150,000 — The Tukwila Police Department has opened a criminal investigation into theft allegations involving former board members of the King County Corrections Guild (an independent union).
NATIONAL
EDITOR’S NOTE — One million workers in Washington state still lack it. that’s one of the reasons why we need to Raise Up Washington and pass Initiative 1433 this fall.
► In today’s NY Times — Union chief says American Airlines pushing pilots to speed up flights — The pilots’ union president said Thursday that American Airlines is reducing its safety margin by “manipulating” flight plans with tactics that include faster speeds. The union official suggested that American is trying to avoid canceling flights when crews push the limits of their legally allowed work shifts.
T.G.I.F.
► As our attention was focused on Philly this week, ambassadors of the Gamble & Huff’s “Philadelphia Sound” sent a strong message to Donald Trump: Stop playing our signature hit “Love Train” and your campaign events. Here’s what O’Jays member Walter Williams had to say about The Don’s misappropriation of their 1973 hit:
“We don’t appreciate having our music associated with a campaign that is hurtful to so many with whom we have common ground. We’ve really had enough of this I’m living proof that America is already great; I came from nothing and everyday I feel blessed to live in the greatest country on earth. We support those who inspire in a positive way as opposed to bullying and using scare tactics. Our music, and most especially, ‘Love Train’ is about bringing people together, not building walls.”
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.