Also today:  ▪  Restore the Freedom to Unionize  (President Bender's monthly column) -- The Employee Free Choice Act would level the playing field and allow workers to choose for themselves, free of employer coercion. It’s time for our bosses to butt out of union elections, so workers have a real opportunity to make up their own minds about whether they want a union.

NASCAR news:
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- Racetrack debate goes round and round at Capitol -- Supporters of a proposed NASCAR racetrack near Bremerton say the speedway would create thousands of jobs and wouldn't cost taxpayers a dime in the long run. But opponents paint the proposal as an "obscene piece of pork-filled corporate welfare" that would sully the local environment.
▪  In today's Kitsap Sun -- Tracking the speedway in Olympia -- Elected officials from the county and its four cities line up on opposite sides of a question of whether the state should approve a funding package to build a speedway for NASCAR races and other events.
▪  In yesterday's Olympian -- NASCAR funding backers race to rethink proposal -- The track developer acknowledges a lack of support among Kitsap County elected officials.
▪  At Postman on Politics -- The King is coming to Olympia today -- NASCAR legends Richard Petty and Darrel Waltrip and driver Greg Biffle will be in Olympia today to push for a Kitsap County racetrack. They are expected to drop by tonight's WSLC Legislative Reception. Learn more.

Legislative news:
▪  In the Seattle Weekly -- Love letters -- A seemingly innocuous proposal to cut down on junk mail by creating a "Do Not Mail" registry has the state's rural carriers going postal.
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Gregoire budget a very good start, university chiefs say 
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- Report shows DOT reversed its course on safety of four-lane tunnel
▪  In yesterday's News Tribune -- Domestic partners deserve rights, too (editorial) -- Critics call the domestic partners registry a step on a slippery slope to gay marriage. It is not. It is, simply, the right thing to do, the human thing to do.
▪  At Chris Mulick's Olympia Dispatch -- We've got spirit, yes we do -- At SEIU's annual lobby day, dozens of purple-clad marchers march up to the Capitol to show off their latest chants.

Local news:
▪  In today's Everett Herald -- Machinists 751 will choose a new president -- Two longtime members, Tom Wroblewski and Clifton Wyatt, hope to fill Mark Blondin's shoes. The election is March 16.
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Airbus wins two tanker contracts -- Also, about 200 workers or 5% of the work force in Boeing's Computing and Network Operations will be laid off. (Scroll down.)
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Port of Seattle papers detail scandal impact -- Police chief was fearful of a litigious union (IBT) and overwhelmed by an e-mail scandal engulfing a third of his officers. 
▪  In today's Oregonian -- Feds fault workers for contamination at Hanford -- Failure to follow established procedures blamed for the spread of radioactive material outside a work area.
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Citizens' group fights changes in Seattle Times, P-I contract 
▪  In today's Oregonian -- Treasurer of TriMet transit union under scrutiny -- ATU 757 leaders have accused him of embezzling a "significant amount of money" to feed a gambling addiction.
▪  In today's Salem (Ore.) S-J -- Prevailing wage-dispute ruling spares Salem $3 million fine -- Judge rejects claim that Salem allowed workers building the Phoenix Grand Hotel to be underpaid.

National news:
▪  In the Investor's Business Daily -- Labor's political prowess grows despite hefty union job losses -- In prior decades, unions could count on sheer numbers for clout. As membership has declined, unions have adopted tactics used by smaller interest groups. Unions now engage on multiple fronts using targeted campaign donations, get-out-the-vote efforts and sophisticated media campaigns. They also forge alliances with other groups, such as greens.
▪  In the USA Today -- Pension gap divides public, private workers -- As the first wave of 79 million baby boomers heads to retirement, the nation is dividing into two classes of workers: those who have government benefits and those who don't. The gap is accelerating in every way -- pensions, medical benefits, retirement ages.
▪  Today from AP -- Health care may be 1/5th of what you spend -- It is expected to account for $1 of every $5 spent in the United States in another decade. That means a rise in out-of-pocket expenses from about $850 this year to about $1,400 in 2016, a 5.3 percent annual increase.
▪  In today's NY Times -- Lower voter turnout seen in states that require ID -- Mission accomplished!
▪  In today's NY Times -- Some employers are offering free drugs -- Convinced that their pennywise approach does not always reduce long-term costs, some employers are now giving away drugs.

Last Throes update (Coalition of the Willing edition): 
▪  From AP -- Blair announces withdrawal plan from Iraq -- Britain will withdraw around 1,600 troops from Iraq in the coming months and aims to further cut its 7,100-strong contingent.
▪  From AP -- Denmark to withdraw from Iraq -- The prime minister says his country will withdraw its 460-member contingent from southern Iraq by August.
▪  From AP -- Cheney reaffirms U.S. commitment to staying in Iraq -- "The American people will not support a policy of retreat." We will finish the mission, then "come home with honor," says the Vice President on a visit in Japan (which pulled its troops out of Iraq last year).
▪  Of the 3,147 U.S. troops killed in Iraq so far, 3,008 have died (see a list) since President Bush declared "Mission Accomplished" and an end to major combat operations on May 2003; 2,686 have died since Saddam's capture. Five-and-a-half years after 9/11, Osama bin Laden is at large.
▪  The WSLC's affiliated unions have called for an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Congressman Jay Inslee will testify before the House Commerce and Labor Committee Thursday morning in support of the Employee Free Choice Act, federal labor law reform he has co-sponsored to restore the freedom to choose unionization. The committee is holding a public hearing at 8 a.m. on HJM 4008, a state resolution urging Congress to pass the EFCA.

WHAT:    Public hearing on HJM 4008, a resolution urging Congress to pass the EFCA

WHEN:    Thursday, Feb. 22 at 8 a.m.

WHERE:  House Commerce and Labor Committee, Hearing Room C

WHO:      U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, one of 234 House co-sponsors of the Employee Free Choice Act.  (Reps. Rick Larsen, Brian Baird, Norm Dicks, Jim McDermott and Adam Smith are also co-sponsors.)