FRIDAY, MAY 12  ■  Welcome (at the point of a gun) to Medicare's drug disaster!  -- (WSLC President Bender's monthly column) -- Congress and the Bush administration should fix the Medicare Part D Disaster before imposing deadline threats on seniors and people with disabilities.
■  Wednesday's posting -- Waive Monday's deadline, penalties for Medicare Part D program
■  In yesterday's Columbian -- Volunteers toil to aid Medicare process -- The Washington State Labor Council and other groups have called on Republican U.S. Reps. Dave Reichert, Cathy McMorris and Doc Hastings of Washington to join House Democrats in calling for an extension of the May 15 deadline. The Bush administration opposes extending the deadline.

Saturday's To-Do List:  ■  WSLC COPE Convention at SeaTac Hilton -- Delegates representing WSLC-affiliated unions from across the state will consider political endorsements. (See slightly revised agenda.)  The Statewide COPE committee meets TONIGHT at the hotel at 7 p.m.
■  Also on Saturday -- Donate non-perishable food for Letter Carriers National Food Drive
■  In today's Everett Herald -- Leave a heavy load for letter carriers -- The county's food banks are relying on Saturday's drive to help keep them stocked up until the fall.

Millionaire Tax Break update:
■  In today's Washington Post -- Senate passes $70 billion in tax cuts -- Senate approves $70 billion package extending deep tax cuts on dividends and capital gains.  Sens. Cantwell and Murray vote "No."  Reps. Reichert, McMorris and Hastings all supported this upper-class tax cut.
■  In today's Seattle P-I -- Don't count on sales tax relief anymore -- Sen. Patty Murray: "By allowing this and other important middle-class tax cuts to expire while passing a tax-cut bill that primarily benefits millionaires... the Republican Congress has effectively left the middle class behind."
■  In today's Seattle Times -- Give us a break on state sales tax (editorial) -- Sales-tax deductibility is sound and fair tax policy that should be reinstated -- retroactively -- as soon as possible.

Local news:
■  In today's Tri-City Herald -- DOE plan for cut pensions hits snag -- A House committee moves to block the Bush administration from implementing its plan to end traditional pension benefits for new Hanford workers. Sen. Cantwell will introduce similar legislation in the Senate.
■  In today's Everett Herald -- Audits may kill jobless help at Snohomish County WDC -- Two failed federal audits demand the agency repay $600,000 in misspent funds. If not resolved quickly, the the flow of $8 million in federal funds to Snohomish jobs programs are at risk. The Snohomish CLC voted in April to withdraw from the agency, citing the audits, a former finance director's lawsuit and the withholding of "vital decision-making information" by the agency's director.
■  In today's News Tribune -- Mental health work overpaid? -- At a time of severe funding shortfalls, an audit says Pierce County is overpaying its mental health workers by about $1 million a year.
■  In today's Seattle P-I -- Seattle P-I, Times stick with binding arbitration over JOA

Political news:
■  In today's Seattle P-I -- Sen. Thibaudeau ends re-election campaign -- She plans to focus on her role in state's new Health Care Commission; her seat is effectively handed to Rep. Ed Murray. 
■  In today's Yakima H-R -- Sen. Deccio seeks growth management post -- State Sen. Alex Deccio says that after 31 years in the Legislature, he's ready for a change and is seeking an appointment to the Eastern Washington Growth Management Hearings Board in Yakima.
■  In today's Seattle Times -- Party chair's left jabs put Cantwell on defensive (Balter column) -- Pelz is living proof Democrats love to eat their young -- or at least work against their own candidates.

Immigration news:
■  Today from AP -- Bush to address nation Monday on immigration
■  In The Hill -- Unions supported, but didn't drive, last week's immigration rallies (Sweeney letter)

National news:
■  At an Olympian blog -- Even Texas needs state workers -- Texas paid Accenture, an outsourcing firm based in Bermuda (to avoid U.S. taxes), $899 million to create call centers handling eligibility questions for state programs. The privatization aimed to replace 2,900 of 5,800 state workers at eligibility centers. But the contract is bogged down by delays and poor training. The state is now paying bonuses to state workers to keep at least 1,000 who'd gotten pink slips.
■  In today's NY Times -- Labor Dept. will release names of low-wage workers owed back pay (brief)

Spy-in-Chief news:
■  In today's NY Times -- Congress fumes over "Big Brother" -- Republicans and Democrats alike demand answers from the Bush administration over widespread domestic phone surveillance.
■  In today's Seattle P-I -- Washington's lawmakers express outrage over NSA data collection
■  In today's NY Times -- Ever expanding secret (editorial) -- There is more reason than ever to be worried -- and angry -- about how wide the government's web has been reaching.
■  Today from AP -- What spy agency might do with your calls -- A data-mining method called "social-network analysis" can expose previously invisible connections among people.

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