Friday, July 15, 2016

STATE GOVERNMENT

► In today’s News Tribune — High court orders new hearing in McCleary school-funding case — Washington’s highest court wants to hear more from the state’s attorneys about how the Legislature plans to fully fund schools by 2018 — including how much the fix will cost. At the Sept. 7 hearing, the court wants the McCleary plaintiffs and the state to explain what steps the Legislature has taken to solve school-funding problems, and what remains to be done. Significantly, the court also wants to know how much it will cost to resolve the remaining funding issues, and how the state intends to pay.

► In today’s Spokesman-Review — Tim Eyman’s initiative machine may require new rules (by Shawn Vestal) — Tim Eyman’s repeated flouting of disclosure laws and battles with regulators have left the state’s Public Disclosure Commission “dismayed,” said PDC spokeswoman Lori Anderson this week, and considering whether further, so far unspecified, legislation might be needed to put a cork in initiative profiteering… The PDC says Eyman has taken in more than $2 million since 1998, and says it believes that is an incomplete figure.

LOCAL

► In today’s (Everett) Herald — The keys to Boeing’s longevity (editorial) — Boeing, of course, hasn’t done this on its own. It has benefited from publicly financed infrastructure such as inexpensive electricity from Washington’s dams. It has benefited from a transportation system that connected Puget Sound communities and ports and airports that linked it to suppliers and customers. Public secondary and higher education systems provided Boeing with innovative engineers and dedicated machinists. And, not without controversy, it has benefited from taxpayer-supported tax incentives.

► In today’s Seattle Times — Seattle Police Officers’ Guild votes to oust president now — Seattle Police Officers’ Guild president Ron Smith submitted his resignation Tuesday, saying it was effective July 31. Instead, the guild board voted unanimously to remove him Thursday.

ELECTION 2016

► In today’s NY Times — Trump picks Pence as running mate in nod to conservatives — Donald J. Trump named Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana as his running mate on Friday, adding to the Republican ticket a traditional conservative who boasts strong credentials with the Christian right, and bringing an end to a vice presidential selection process that seemed at risk of spinning out of control.

EDITOR’S NOTE — Like Donald Trump, Mike Pence strongly supports so-called “right-to-work” laws intended to eliminate unions and slash Americans’ wages. New today at the Urban Dictionary: “trumpence — the amount of return on investment on a con job.”

► From The Onion — Who is Mike Pence? — Inspirational Background Story: Somehow overcame growing nationwide biases against white, heterosexual, Christian men to become governor of Indiana. Level Of Social Conservative: Extra staunchy. Title Of Future Autobiography: Running For Dear Life: My Hellish Four Months Inside Trump’s Fractured Mirror-World.

► From AFL-CIO Now — Hillary Clinton says ‘no’ to the TPP

EDITOR’S NOTE — Mike Pence, on the other hand, has voted for every job-killing “free trade” deal he could, and strongly supports passage of the Granddaddy of the all, the TPP.

► From Huffington Post — Trustworthy Hillary (by Robert Reich) — As the Republican convention prepares to nominate the least qualified and most divisive candidate in American history, the Democrats are about to nominate among the most qualified and yet also most distrusted… It is worth noting that despite stories, allegations, accusations, insinuations, and investigations spread over a quarter century — there has never been any finding that Hillary Clinton engaged in illegal behavior. But it’s understandable why someone who has been under such relentless attack for a large portion of her adult life might be reluctant to expose every minor error or misstep that could be blown up into another “scandal,” another media circus, another interminable set of investigations generating half-baked conspiracy theories and seemingly endless implications of wrongdoing.

► In today’s Spokesman-Review — McMorris Rodgers passing on the GOP national convention — Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers turned down an offer to give a prime-time speech during next week’s Republican National Convention; the fourth-highest-ranking member of the House of Representatives isn’t even attending the gathering in Cleveland.

► From Politico — GOP Cleveland organizers beg Adelson for $6 million — Millions of dollars short and running out of time, organizers of the Republican National Convention have written an urgent request for $6 million to Las Vegas billionaire couple Sheldon and Miriam Adelson to cover the bills for next week’s festivities.

EDITOR’S NOTE — The GOP admits that two dozen corporations have reneged on earlier commitments to pitch in because… you know… Trump.

NATIONAL

► From The Atlantic — Poor at 20. Poor for life. — It’s not an exaggeration: It really is getting harder to move up in America. Those who make very little money in their first jobs will probably still be making very little decades later, and those who start off making middle-class wages have similarly limited paths. Only those who start out at the top are likely to continue making good money throughout their working lives. That’s the conclusion of a new paper by two University of Massachusetts economists who used earnings data to measure how fluidly people move up and down the income ladder over the course of their careers.

► In the St. Louis P-D — AFL-CIO, Organization for Black Struggle pledge partnership — A longtime St. Louis civil rights group and big labor are working to build closer ties in an effort the two groups say is part of a new focus that will continue beyond election season.

TODAY’S MUST-READ

► On this, yet another morning after a horrific tragedy, The Entire Staff of the Stand offers up some simple beauty: “In Time” by Zero 7 featuring Sophie Barker. “Take some time, just hang around awhile. Like to sit this silent moment out. I don’t want to lose or let you down. Time’s just gonna change itself around.”

The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.