DAILY NEWS
Ryan trickles down, Matt Shea’s facts-ism, reviving unions
Thursday, August 24, 2017
TRICKLE-DOWN TAX CUTS
ALSO at The Stand:
Boeing ♥s Ryan’s tax cuts, as long as no job strings attached (by John Burbank)
► From Bloomberg — GOP leaders are courting corporate America in Trump’s absence — When dozens of America’s most visible CEOs said last week that they’d break up two groups advising Trump after his slow condemnation of violence at a white-supremacist rally, they opened the widest rift between a Republican president and corporations in generations. But CEOs aren’t being shy about embracing other Republicans. Top lawmakers are making the rounds to companies to rally support for a tax overhaul that could sharply reduce corporate rates — and burnish the GOP’s pro-business bona fides. House Speaker Paul Ryan on Wednesday visited Intel Corp. and will visit Boeing on Thursday.
► From Working WA — Paul Ryan in Everett — Tell the world what you think about Paul Ryan’s trickle-down agenda and his trip to Boeing: click here to fill his YouTube livestream page with your unscreened comments, your ? ? ? or whatever else you got. (The YouTube stream starts at 9 a.m. but the link is already live and will stay up there after the event is done.)
LOCAL
► From The Stranger — Seattle Council Member says Bezos should improve working conditions for ‘gig economy’ contractors — Seattle City Councilmember Lisa Herbold sent a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, calling on the former richest man in the world to advocate for improved working conditions in the tech-driven gig economy. She called on him to launch a national conversation in the tech industry to address contract employees’ needs and “[engage] with them not as data, but as people with real needs and real lives.”
► In today’s Seattle Times — Moon grabs key Dem nod in Seattle mayor’s race amid Durkan’s union endorsements — The King County Democrats handed Cary Moon a sole endorsement in the race for Seattle mayor this week, giving her a boost amid a run of labor-union endorsements for opponent Jenny Durkan (including the M.L. King County Labor Council, Seattle Building Trades, ILWU 19, SEIU 1199NW, IAFF 27 and SEIU 775).
► In today’s Spokesman-Review — Sexual assault allegation investigated after Democratic meeting — A longtime progressive activist was removed from party positions earlier this year when reports surfaced alleging he sexually assaulted a young volunteer after a state Democratic Party meeting in Walla Walla.
► In today’s Yakima H-R — Racism in the Valley: Where do we go from here? — While images of Nazi salutes in Charlottesville served as a rude awakening for those who thought we left the Klan in the 1960s, for people of color, the fact that white supremacy is alive and kicking comes as no surprise. Nor does it surprise local communities to see that — in response to the ideology on display in Virginia — many Yakima residents expressed more support for the white supremacists than the protesters opposing them.
THIS WASHINGTON
ALSO at The Stand:
Senate GOP’s brinkmanship suspends construction, kills jobs (by Sen. Bob Hasegawa)
► In today’s Spokesman-Review — Spokane schools’ budget to grow 7.2 percent, majority of money earmarked for teachers — The primary reason for the larger-than-normal increase was the state’s newly adopted education funding plan, said Linda McDermott, the district’s chief financial officer.
PREVIOUSLY at The Stand:
It’s up to Republicans to hold Rep. Matt Shea accountable (by David Groves)
THAT WASHINGTON
ALSO at The Stand:
No more trickle-down ‘free trade’ deals (by Leo W. Gerard)
NAFTA 2.0: Take action to make it work for working people
► In the Pan Am Post — Mexico-US salary gap: Workers earn nine times less south of the border — The wage gap between Mexico and the United States has increased in recent years. The American manufacturing sector, for example, pays its workers $20.80 per hour on average, while in Mexico the same industry pays $2.30 per hour. Two years ago, in January 2015, when the INEGI database was started, this industry in the United States paid $19.70 per hour, while in Mexico the payment was $2.50.
► In today’s Washington Post — Can Trump actually shut down the government over wall funding? — What would it take for President Trump to actually force a government shutdown? As congressional staffers will tell you, it’s complicated.
► In today’s Washington Post — Escalating feud, Trump blames McConnell, Ryan for upcoming ‘mess’ on debt ceiling — President Trump’s relationship with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in particular has deteriorated in recent weeks, with the president blaming his party’s senators for failing to pass health-care legislation this summer.
NATIONAL
► In today’s NY Times — Federal judge rejects revised Voter ID law in Texas — A federal judge blocked Texas from enforcing its revamped voter identification law on Wednesday, ruling that the State Legislature’s attempt to loosen the law did not go far enough and perpetuated discrimination against black and Hispanic voters.
► In today’s Seattle Times — Lifetime income: Younger men are on track to earn less (by Jon Talton) — Men born after 1967 are making less than the group that preceded them, and that’s bad news for all workers.
► From AP — UAW’s loss at Nissan auto plant masks genuine progress for organized labor (by Harley Shaiken) — Behind this loss there’s a glimmer of hope for labor. Decades of research on labor and globalization, particularly in manufacturing and the auto industry, lead me to believe that while the pro-union workers may have suffered a setback, the campaign is far from over. In fact, there are signs that the UAW’s organizing effort has made some lasting inroads that could lead to success down the road.
TODAY’S MUST-READ
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.