Friday, November 17, 2017

LOCAL

► From The Stranger — Restaurant boom exposes the complete stupidity of UW’s anti-high wages report — Seattle had 2,696 restaurants as of the first quarter of 2017, according to Department of Revenue data — up 25 percent from a decade ago. Contrary to the oft-quoted “fact” that half of all restaurants fail in the first year, the Seattle survival rate for restaurants has been hovering around 87 percent a year (up from 83 percent in 2007). Of course, this evidence goes against all of that nonsense the University of Washington economists cooked up with their models and called a scientific report of the negative impact high wages have had on Seattle. We must now dismiss that report completely. It has no value in the world we see around us — the world of experience.

PREVIOUSLY at The Stand — UW’s Seattle minimum wage study tries to flip the script—and reality (June 29, 2017)

► Meanwhile, as UW researchers and Chamber lobbyists try to advocate for a lower minimum wage, in today’s Seattle Times — Seattle hits record high for income inequality, now rivals San Francisco — In short, the rich are getting richer in Seattle. The top 20 percent of income earners took home more than half the city’s total income — and the richest saw a $40,000 pay raise in 2016.

EDITOR’S NOTE — Oh, let’s pass massive tax cuts for them, woo!

► In the Kitsap Sun — Hospital workers picket at Harrison Silverdale — Union workers (UFCW 21) at Harrison Medical Center held an information picket Wednesday in Silverdale to draw attention to what they see as unsafe staffing levels at the hospital, among other issues.

ALSO at The Stand — CHI Harrison Silverdale workers plan informational picket

► In the NW Labor Press — Union drive launches at New Seasons —  On Nov. 1, a dozen employees of New Seasons Market filed into the company’s headquarters in Portland. They presented a letter, accompanied by signatures from 260 workers, announcing the formation of a new organization, New Seasons Workers United. The letter requests a meeting, and asks the company to sign a code of conduct committing to respect workers’ right to organize.

► In the NW Labor Press — Precision Castparts still refusing to recognize Machinist union — The Sept. 22 union election was supervised by the NLRB. The vote was 54 to 38 in favor of joining the union. The federal agency certified the result Oct. 2. But Precision Castparts Corp., is refusing to recognize the results of the election, bargain with Machinists District Lodge W24, or respect employees’ most basic union rights.

► In today’s News Tribune — Debate over expansion of heavy industry at port roils City Council meeting — Environmental advocates and neighbors of the port of Tacoma were dealt a blow Tuesday night when the City Council struck a provision from proposed interim land-use restrictions for the Tideflats that would have kept existing heavy industrial businesses from expanding.

BOEING

► From Bloomberg — Boeing scorns Airbus, Bombardier plan for Alabama facility — “Bombardier and Airbus are extremely unlikely ever to actually establish a C Series assembly line in Alabama,” Boeing said in a letter to U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. The letter, dated Nov. 13, is part of Boeing’s case before U.S. authorities, which are investigating whether duties should be imposed on U.S. sales of the C Series. Boeing accused Bombardier of selling the jet to Delta Air Lines Inc. at “absurdly low prices.” The Commerce Department so far has sided with Boeing, recommending preliminary tariffs of about 300 percent on the narrow-body plane.

ALSO at The Stand — Use state’s aerospace tax breaks to bring Airbus to Washington state (by John Burbank)

THIS WASHINGTON

► From KNKX — Washington unemployment again touches record low, wage hikes next? — The statewide unemployment rate in Washington again touched a record low of 4.5 percent in October. State labor economist Paul Turek said the jobless rate is at or near its floor, a condition economists call “full employment.” Turek said in spite of strong hiring conditions, wage increases have been “muted.”

EDITOR’S NOTE — Unmute your wage increases. Form a union!

► In today’s Yakima H-R — East Valley High upgrade could suffer due to state’s budget fight — If state lawmakers can’t work out their capital budget differences soon, the East Valley School District may have to pare back plans to renovate the high school. Rep. Dave Taylor (R-Moxee) said the pain is necessary to force a resolution on a rural water-usage dispute.

PREVIOUSLY at The Stand — Senate GOP’s brinkmanship suspends construction, kills jobs (by Sen. Bob Hasegawa)

REPUBLICAN TAX PLAN

► In today’s Washington Post — House passes GOP tax bill, upping pressure on struggling Senate effort — House Republicans on Thursday passed legislation that would overhaul the U.S. tax code. But the party’s tax plan faces an uncertain future in the Senate, where Republican leaders, working with a slimmer majority than in the House, are struggling to find enough support for their bill. Multiple Republicans have expressed reservations about the Senate plan, which would permanently reduce the corporate tax rate but allow cuts for households and individuals to expire. Congress’s nonpartisan tax analysts dealt the Senate an additional setback Thursday when they concluded the bill would, by the end of a decade, raise the average tax burden for households making less than $75,000 a year… The House bill delivers more than 80 percent of its overall cuts to corporations, business owners and wealthy families who are subject to the federal estate tax, according to estimates released by the Joint Committee on Taxation.

ALSO TODAY at The Stand — House Republicans approve tax overhaul — All four Republicans from Washington state — Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Dave Reichert, Jaime Herrera Beutler, and Dan Newhouse — voted “yes.”

► From the Seattle P-I — State GOP delegation ‘proud’ of corporate tax cuts

► In today’s NY Times — Bill signals top tax priority of G.O.P. is to help corporations — There are tough choices at the heart of the Republican tax bills speeding through Congress, and they make clear what the party values most in economic policy right now: deep and lasting tax cuts for corporations.

► From TPM — House GOP’s tax bill would trigger a $25 billion cut to Medicare — Two weeks after its introduction and following zero hearings, the House of Representatives passed an approximately $1.5 trillion dollar tax cut on Thursday. Most of the focus has been on the bill’s tax benefits for the wealthy and corporations, but some lawmakers are sounding the alarm that passage of the bill will also trigger an estimated $25 billion cut to Medicare.

► From Reuters — U.S. towns, cities fear taxpayer revolt if Republicans kill deduction — From Pataskala, Ohio, to Conroe, Texas, local government leaders worry that if Republican tax-overhaul plans moving through the U.S. Congress become law, it will be harder for them to pave streets, put out fires, fight crime and pay teachers.

► In today’s NY Times — A tax-cut bill to make Scrooge McDuck proud (editorial) — Republicans have made clear where their values lie. Well-heeled campaign funders matter. Middle-class families don’t.

► In today’s NY Times — Everybody hates the Trump tax plan (by Paul Krugman) — It’s bad policy and bad politics, and the politics will get worse as voters learn more about the facts. Well, last week one G.O.P. congressman, Chris Collins of New York, gave the game away: “My donors are basically saying get it done or don’t ever call me again.” So we’re talking about government of the people, not by the people, but by wealthy donors, for wealthy donors. Everyone else hates this plan — and they should.

THAT WASHINGTON

► From AP — Selective outrage: Trump criticizes Franken, silent on Moore — President Donald Trump is displaying selective outrage over allegations of sexual harassment against prominent men in politics, as his own tortured past lingers over his response.

► From The Hill — Poll: Trump job approval hits new low — According to the RealClearPolitics average of polls, Trump has a 38 percent job approval rating, a historic low for a first-term president at this point in the term.

T.G.I.F.

► Regulars here at TGIF know that The Entire Staff of the Stand loves us some Brandi Carlile. The Pride of Ravensdale’s next Seattle shows — March 30-31 at the Moore — go on sale THIS MORNING at 10 a.m. Get some! You will not regret it. (TESOTS got ours during yesterday’s pre-sale.) This week, Carlile released a stunning new song from her forthcoming album, By the Way, I Forgive You. As NPR reports, “it exemplifies the album’s massive ambition. A country-rock aria dedicated to the delicate boys and striving girls born into — and, Carlile insists, destined to triumph over — this divisive time.”

“Let ’em laugh while they can / Let ’em spin, let ’em scatter in the wind / I have been to the movies, I’ve seen how it ends / And the joke’s on them!”

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