DAILY NEWS
Contract wins, Boeing gambles pensions, killing health care
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
LOCAL
► From Teamsters 117 — It’s 100%! Republic Parking Teamsters unanimously ratify new contract — A small group of Teamsters who work for Republic Parking in downtown Seattle voted to ratify a new three-year contract last week. Members will receive wage increases in every year of the contract and increased contributions to their retirement plan.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Want higher wages? An opportunity to retire one day? Join together with your co-workers in a union. Find out how.
► In today’s Seattle Times — Seattle City Council picks Tim Burgess to replace Bruce Harrell as temporary mayor
BOEING
► From AP — Trudeau: Canada could stop dealing with Boeing over dispute — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday his government could stop doing business with Boeing if the U.S. company doesn’t drop a trade complaint against Canadian plane maker Bombardier. Trudeau said that Canada “won’t do business with a company that’s busy trying to sue us and put our aerospace workers out of business.”
HEALTH CARE
ALSO at The Stand — Call Congress to stop latest health care attack
► In today’s Washington Post — New push to replace Obamacare reflects high stakes for Republicans — The latest proposal would give states control over billions in federal health-care spending, repeal the law’s key mandates and enact deep cuts to Medicaid, the federally funded insurance program for the poor, elderly and disabled. It would slash health-care spending more deeply and would probably cover fewer people than the July bill — which failed because of concerns over those details.
► From Vox — How Cassidy-Graham brings back preexisting conditions — The new Republican plan to repeal Obamacare would bring preexisting conditions back to the individual market, allowing insurers to charge sick people higher premiums — or deny them coverage outright.
► From HuffPost — Senators who had voted against Obamacare repeal are now wavering — The proposal, however, is seemingly less repellent to Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), one of the three Senate Republicans who voted against the “skinny repeal” in July, along with Susan Collins (Maine) and John McCain (Ariz.). Murkowski told HuffPost on Monday that she’s undecided on Graham-Cassidy, as the measure is known, and that she and her staff were “still looking” to see how Alaska would make out under the bill.
► From Politico — McCain: I’m not there yet on latest Obamacare repeal bill
EDITOR’S NOTE — So what about it, Cathy? You were the only Republican from Washington state who voted for the last version of this cruel bill. An estimated 42,000 people in your district, including 10,000 children, would have lost their health coverage under the previous ACA repeal you supported. Now, far more people than that will lose health care, apparently because our state elected Democratic senators. Are you still going to support President Trump and your party leaders over the interests of your district and your state?
► In today’s Columbian — Strengthen Obamacare (editorial) — Work to strengthen the Affordable Care Act, not kill it. Saving it is the goal of Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who are leading a bipartisan effort to shore up the nation’s health care. Considering that Murray and Alexander worked together in the past to overhaul public education and that Murray has a history of forging budget deals with Republicans, they appear to be the best people to lead this important effort.
IMMIGRATION
► From The Stranger — Attorney suing Trump over DACA is a Washington state DREAMer — Luis Cortes, the immigration lawyer who helped represent a Seattle-area Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient detained by federal officials in a landmark case earlier this year, has taken on new clients. Cortes is suing the Trump administration on behalf of six other DREAMers who want to block a repeal of DACA. But there’s one thing different about Cortes. He, too, holds DACA status.
ALSO at The Stand — DREAM nurse speaks out to save DACA
► In today’s Columbian — ICE agents create a chill at courthouse — One minute Vancouver attorney Darquise Cloutier was exchanging pleasantries with her former client outside the Clark County Courthouse, and the next, she watched as he was handcuffed and whisked away to a van by plainclothes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
THIS WASHINGTON
► In today’s (Everett) Herald — States’ report puts voter fraud claims in proper perspective (editorial) — The numbers aren’t there. Those who are convinced that widespread voter fraud is affecting the outcome of elections — including the unsubstantiated claim by President Trump that between 3 million and 5 million people voted illegally in last year’s presidential election — will frequently point to anecdotes and hearsay to support their claims. But they can’t come up with the verified statistics to back those allegations. A review by Washington state shows questionable ballots in only 74 of 3.36 million votes cast.
► From KNKX — Supporters of Oregon ‘cap and invest’ proposal look ahead to 2018 — Supporters of a so-called “cap and invest” proposal are laying the groundwork for the Oregon Legislature to take on the issue next year. The bill would set an upper limit on the amount of fossil fuels used by companies in Oregon. It would then charge a fee on companies that exceed the limit. The money generated would be used on projects that would reduce carbon emissions in Oregon.
THAT WASHINGTON
EDITOR’S NOTE — Turns out, trade is hard.
ALSO at The Stand — AFL-CIO describes how NAFTA could benefit working people
► From AP — GOP eyes popular tax breaks to finance overhaul — Republicans straining to find about $1 trillion to finance sweeping tax cuts are homing in on two popular deductions that are woven into the nation’s fiscal fabric — the mortgage interest deduction that millions of homeowners prize and the deduction for state and local taxes popular in Democratic strongholds.
ALSO at The Stand — Tell Congress: NO on Trump’s corporate tax giveaway
► From Politico — Meet the leader of the vast left-wing conspiracy — Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) hopes to inherit Bernie Sanders’ progressive mantle in 2020. But for now, he’s spending his time plotting the resistance against the Trump presidency.
NATIONAL
► From HuffPost — The everyday heroes of the hurricanes (by AFT President Randi Weingarten) — Alseen Bell’s cell phone rang as she stood in the living room of her flood-ravaged home, surveying the devastation left behind by Hurricane Harvey. The call was from her local union, the Houston Federation of Teachers, asking how she had come through the storm and if she needed help. “It was like an answer to my prayers,” Alseen says. Within hours, three of our members were alongside her, pulling up carpet, cleaning and offering encouragement.
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.