DAILY NEWS
Recklessness in the House, millennials get shorted, Wayne’s weird world…
Friday, January 13, 2017
HEALTH CARE
► In today’s Washington Post — Anxious lawmakers to GOP leaders: What’s the plan to replace Obamacare? — House Republican leaders attempted to quell concerns of a skittish rank and file before a key vote Friday to begin unwinding the Affordable Care Act. Behind the scenes, Republican leaders are urging lawmakers to look at this week’s votes as mere procedural formalities. But some rank-and-file members remain nervous about voting to start a process they might not be able to stop.
► From Think Progress — Paul Ryan confronted by cancer patient who says Obamacare saved his life — House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) was confronted at a town hall on Thursday night by a man who said Obamacare saved his life after he was diagnosed with cancer — and asked Ryan why the GOP is currently trying to dismantle the law.
► From Wired — Not even insurance companies want Obamacare repealed — No business likes an unstable market, and Republican lawmakers are in the process of creating just that: a sudden lack of subsidies could cause some healthy customers to opt out, leading to an insurance landscape flooded with (high-risk) sick people staggering under the burden of increased premiums. Advantage, nobody.
► From AP — Inslee decries efforts to repeal federal health care law
► From Politico — GOP governors fight their own party on Obamacare
LOCAL
► In today’s Bellingham Herald — U.S. files trade complaint targeting China’s aluminum industry — The Obama administration filed a trade complaint with the WTO on Thursday against China for allegedly “dumping” aluminum on the global market at artificially low prices. The artificially low prices were a factor in nearly closing the Intalco aluminum smelter near Ferndale. A renegotiated power deal and money for workforce training from the state helped avoid the closure last year.
► In the Seattle Times — State court rules against plans for big Grays Harbor oil terminal — The Washington Supreme Court threw a major wrench Thursday in plans for a big oil terminal on the coast, saying the proposal must be reviewed under a 1989 state law designed to protect marine life after the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska.
► In today’s Seattle Times — Angela Davis tells Seattle crowd of need for ‘unending struggle’ — To a crowd of more than 850 fans, the American rights activist and educator urged social-justice activists to continue to fight systematic injustice against blacks, women and other minorities.
THIS WASHINGTON
► In today’s Spokesman-Review — Ruling paves way for open bargaining (editorial) — In September, Lincoln County announced that collective bargaining sessions with employee unions would be open to the public. On Tuesday, a local union’s PERC complaint was dismissed. The bottom line is that the union failed to show how open government amounts to an unfair labor practice. PERC’s decision paves the way for other jurisdictions to do the same, and they should.
► In today’s Seattle Times — Puget Sound educators ask legislators to fix $228M ‘levy cliff’ — Leaders from the Puget Sound region’s 35 school districts called for lawmakers to come up with a bipartisan solution to the “levy cliff,” which could cause a $228 million shortfall starting next year.
THAT WASHINGTON
► From CNN — Trump’s big challenge: Cutting federal workers — Trump lists cutting the number of federal workers as his No. 2 priority on his 100-day action plan. But if he really wants to downsize, he would have to look at contract workers, too.
► From AP — Trump raises millions to cover inauguration’s steep costs — Trump’s Presidential Inaugural Committee has raised a record $90 million-plus in private donations, far more than President Barack Obama’s two inaugural committees.
► From Politico — Poll: Trump’s transition is historically unpopular — In a stark break from past presidents, just 44 percent approve of the transition while 51 percent disapprove, Gallup found. By comparison, around the same time in Barack Obama’s 2009 transition, 83 percent of Americans approved of the effort while only 12 percent disapproved.
NATIONAL
EDITOR’S NOTE — Millennials: One way you can fight for decent pay is to organize a union! Find out how.
► In today’s Baltimore Sun — Baltimore Gas and Electric workers vote to unionize — BG&E employees voted Thursday night to unionize under the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, something organizers said would give 1,419 workers “a voice at the table.”
INTERNATIONAL
► In today’s LA Times — Obama, who hoped to sow peace, instead led the nation in war — The president launched airstrikes or military raids in at least seven countries, and he vastly expanded the role of elite commando units and the use of drones and cyber weapons.
T.G.I.F.
► Today, the Entire Staff of The Stand wishes a very happy birthday to Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne, perhaps the only good thing to ever come out of Sonics-stealing Oklahoma City. (Thanks again, would-be Labor Secretary Howard Shultz.) Coyne is a man who is our favorite kind of weird. If you ever have the opportunity to see his band in concert, even if you’re not a huge fan of the music, you will be treated to a visual and aural explosion of confetti, costumes, light and… puppetry. We happen to love his music, including songs like this. Enjoy!
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.