WSLC Reports Today -- September 28, 2006

Sept. 28, 2006

THE PAST WEEK:
TUESDAY
MONDAY
Thursday, Sept. 21
Wednesday, Sept. 20
Tuesday, Sept. 19

WSLC Reports Today
Updated DAILY... Almost Every Day™ by 9 a.m.

Links are functional at date of posting, but sometimes expire. Some links require free registration. WSLC Reports Today links to stories of interest to organized labor; some positive, some negative. The intention is to inform.

THURSDAY, SEPT. 28 ▪ Cantwell, Murray, Baird call for vote on sales tax deduction -- But Republican congressional leaders continue to block a standalone vote on the middle-class tax cut set to expire this week, insisting it be coupled with legislation to repeal the estate tax for multi-millionaires and to impose "tip penalties," lowering the minimum wage for tipped workers.
▪ In yesterday's Seattle P-I -- Tax increases: Thank the Republicans (editorial) -- If they can't get tax breaks for America's wealthiest families, Republicans in Congress are prepared to raise taxes on millions of America's middle-class families, making it explicitly clear just whom they count among their more important constituents. If middle-class voters will be forced to pay more next April 15, maybe they should make Republicans pay the price on November 7.
▪ In today's News Tribune -- Sales tax deduction the victim of politics (editorial) -- Republicans are essentially saying that if they can’t reduce the taxes of some of the wealthiest Americans -- at a cost to the treasury of $268 billion over the next decade -- that no one should get tax relief.
▪ In today's Tri-City Herald -- Political games unfairly increasing your tax bill (editorial) -- Regardless of where you stand on the estate tax, there's no justification for holding millions of taxpayers hostage to a controversial proposal that affects a tiny minority of Americans.

Also today: ▪ Bush backs down on taking away Homeland Security workers' rights (AFL-CIO Now) -- The Bush administration announces it will not appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court a ruling in June by the U.S. Court of Appeals that blocked its attempt to gut the workplace rights of 160,000 federal workers in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
▪ In today's Kitsap Sun -- $448B defense budget is win-win for Kitsap (editorial) -- In addition to the sizeable monetary rewards for Kitsap County, thanks to Reps. Inslee and Dicks, it includes a provision to block the Pentagon from implementing the Bush administration's new (NSPS) rules designed to exempt the Defense Department civilian employees from worker protections.

Local news:
▪ In today's Seattle Times -- Courting consent (editorial) -- The U.S. Supreme Court has taken on a case from this state involving union dues, political contributions and individual consent. In a union shop, the individuals start as members of a group. They are in unless they opt out. But this case is about people who already did opt out. Common sense says they are out unless they opt in. And that means the court should side with the state and against the union.
▪ In today's Seattle Times -- Gregoire's viaduct challenge (Balter column) -- If she selects the more cost-effective rebuild, she could appear to be imposing her will on local government. That political calculus pales in comparison to the daunting cost and risk of building a tunnel. The project could be so offensive to people outstate that it looks like she is favoring the spendy brats in Seattle.
▪ In today's Seattle P-I -- Concept of income equality eroding (op-ed) -- The catastrophe of enduring poverty suffered by workers -- and people who want to work -- is visible in more than just the domestic sphere. The U.S. foreign policy demands uttered by our nation's leaders increasingly suggest that wealthy U.S. corporations and their allies are the only ones in the world who should determine who has the right to eat, to survive and to develop technology.

Political news:
▪ In today's Spokesman-Review -- I-933 is a lose-lose proposition for most -- A new University of Washington study estimates voter passage of Initiative 933 would cost taxpayers $7.8 billion, more than $1,000 for every state resident.
▪ In today's Olympian -- I-937 focuses on creating a cleaner future (editorial) -- I-937, the Clean Energy Initiative, is an easy call for voters. It's good for the state's economy, it's good for the environment, it's good for personal health and it charts a cleaner energy future for Washington.
▪ In today's Seattle P-I -- Poll: Burner, Reichert in dead heat; congressman's 13-point lead gone
▪ In today's Seattle P-I -- Poll: Cantwell still leads, but McGavick closes gap -- Lead at 12 points.
▪ In today's Salem S-J -- Poll: Oregon governor's race tightening -- Kulongoski 43%, Saxton 38%.

Boeing news:
▪ In today's Seattle P-I -- Boeing exec Carson touts "most robust upturn" in industry's history
▪ Today from AP -- Carson: You can only sell so many jets -- Jet makers will have to resist the temptation to sell, sell, sell beyond the market's ability to absorb new aircraft, says new boss.
▪ Today from AP -- Alabama proposes tanker package -- If it beats Boeing, Northrop Grumman-EADS would get $110 million in incentives for building a factory in the state.

National news:
▪ In today's Yakima H-R -- Immigration reform shouldn't be held captive by politics (editorial)
▪ From McClatchy -- Republican blasts his own party's guest-worker plan -- Former Texas congressman Dick Armey savages conservatives in his own party for what he calls "knee-jerk" opposition -- "emphasis on jerk" -- to the Bush administration's guest-worker program.
▪ In today's LA Times -- A plan for very civil disobedience -- Police and union will follow a script, which even specifies who will be arrested, in a march near LAX to organize hotel workers.
▪ From Bloomberg -- Tyson to pay $1.5M to 2,500 women, minorities to settle job bias charges
▪ In today's Washington Post -- Visas for skilled workers still frozen -- A Senate bill to double the number of visas for scientists and engineers has been bogged down by the immigration debate.

Torture news:
▪ In today's Washington Post -- House approves detainee (torture) bill -- Washington delegation votes on party lines (GOP for and Dems against) granting President Bush the blanket waiver he wanted for crimes Americans may have committed in the service of his antiterrorism policies. The bill repudiates a half-century of international precedent by allowing Bush to decide on his own what abusive interrogation methods he considered permissible (and then keeping it secret).
▪ In today's NY Times -- Rushing off a cliff (editorial) -- In the name of fighting terrorism, Congress is set to pass a tyrannical law that will be ranked with the low points in American democracy.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2006
Cantwell, Murray, Baird call for vote on sales tax deduction
GOP leaders holding tax cut hostage unless they get estate tax repeal, "tip penalty"

Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray and Rep. Brian Baird held a press conference Wednesday to urge Congress to pass the sales tax deduction and other vital tax cuts for working Washingtonians by the end of this week, which would deliver millions of Americans the tax fairness they deserve.

The Senate is scheduled to adjourn tomorrow (Friday) and the Senate Finance Committee has said the IRS needs tax changes by Oct. 15 for them to go into effect for the 2006 tax year, meaning that time is running out to secure an extension of the state sales tax deduction and other critical tax cuts for college students, teachers, and middle class families. A majority of both the House and the Senate has voted for many of these deductions, including the state sales tax deduction, on multiple occasions.

Cantwell and Murray, with Baird’s support, are working with their Senate colleagues to restore tax fairness for Washingtonians and extend these vital tax cuts through stand-alone legislation considered on its own merits. However, Republican leaders continue to block their efforts, insisting that any extensions of these critical tax cuts be tied to controversial legislation to repeal the estate tax for multi-millionaires and a minimum wage proposal that non-partisan, independent experts said would have cut the salaries of Washington state’s tip workers. In July, Cantwell and Murray both voted against this so-called "Trifecta" measure when it came up in the Senate. Even the Trifecta bill’s authors have acknowledged it has little chance of passing.

“We’re running out of time to extend this common-sense tax deduction that saves working families across our state over $500 each,” said Cantwell. “The sales tax deduction is a simple matter of tax fairness, of not saddling working Washingtonians with a disproportionate share of America’s tax burden. There are clearly enough votes to pass this measure if it’s considered on its own merits. If we don’t step up now, the sales tax deduction we depend on will expire, shortchanging Washington taxpayers and our state’s economy. An unfair tax hike is the last thing working Washingtonians need right now.”

“We need to restore fairness to our tax system by extending the deductibility of the state sales tax,” said Murray. “The sales tax deduction would put much-needed money directly in the pockets of middle-class Washingtonians while also supporting job growth in the state. It’s time for Republicans to stop playing games and bring clean, targeted-tax relief to the floor of the U.S. Senate.”

“The millions of hardworking families in our state and across this country should be able to count on being treated fairly at tax time every year,” said Baird. “Last year alone, Washingtonians saved over $500 million from the sales tax deduction. That was money that went towards college tuition funds, home improvement projects, and the purchase of family cars. And, that was money that was pumped back into our local economy.”

Legislation currently pending before Congress, but blocked by Senate Republican leaders on three separate occasions in recent weeks, would extend the state sales tax deduction, the research and development tax credit, a deduction for teachers who use their own money to buy supplies for their classrooms, a deduction for college tuition, and a deduction to help those who work in the Northwest timber industry.

In most states, taxpayers can deduct state income taxes from their total income taxed by the federal government. However, from 1986 until 2004, residents of states with a higher sales tax in place of state income taxes went without a deduction for sales taxes. In 2004, Cantwell worked with a bipartisan group of senators and representatives, including Murray and Baird, to get this deduction signed into law. Since then, Cantwell, Murray, and Baird have fought continuously to extend the deduction and make it permanent.

If you have news items regarding unions or workplace issues in Washington state that you would like to see posted here, please submit them via e-mail to David Groves or via fax to 206-285-5805.