►  At In These Times -- Dems, unions, allies pushing back for reform -- While the “astro-turf” generated anger targeting health reform continued to grab headlines, Democrats and progressives are pushing back on several fronts. Their counter-punching includes everything from massive ad buys to pro-reform viral emails to aggressive PR about productive Congressional Town Hall meetings that featured strong liberal turnouts.

►  In today's Wall St. Journal -- Supporters of health-care change prepare counter-attack -- The AFL-CIO has allocated $15 million for mobilization and communication. Individual unions plan to advertise in states with moderate Democratic lawmakers. The SEIU is sending members to more than 400 events this month, including an "ambulance tour" across Montana, home of Sen. Max Baucus, a key player in the health debate.

►  From Bloomberg -- Six lobbyists per lawmaker work on health care reform -- If there is any doubt that President Obama's plan to overhaul U.S. health care is the hottest topic in Congress, just ask the 3,300 lobbyists who have lined up to work on the issue. That’s six lobbyists for each of the 535 members of the House and Senate, according to Senate records, and three times the number of people registered to lobby on defense.

►  In today's Everett Herald -- False "death panel" rumor has some familiar roots -- The rumor -- which has come up at town-hall meetings this week in spite of an avalanche of reports laying out why it was false -- was not born of anonymous e-mailers, partisan bloggers or stealthy cyberconspiracy theorists. Rather, it has a far more mainstream provenance, openly emanating months ago from many of the same pundits and conservative media outlets that were central in defeating President Bill Clinton’s health care proposals 16 years ago, including the editorial board of The Washington Times, the American Spectator magazine and Betsy McCaughey, whose 1994 health care critique made her a star of the conservative movement.

The politics of health care: 

►  At the Daily Kos -- Trumka to Blue Dogs: Don't DARE ask for labor support -- AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka traveled to Nevada this week to address the Sheet Metal Workers International Association to talk about the new approach the labor movement will be taking towards conservative "Blue Dog" Democrats and Senate centrists like Sens. Max Baucus and Blanche Lincoln. The SMWIA is the first union to have suspended all campaign donations to ALL Democratic candidates until the Employee Free Choice Act and a bill addressing real Health Care Reform are passed. (Sound familiar?)

►  In today's NY Times -- Republican death trip (Paul Krugman column) -- This opposition cannot be appeased. Some pundits claim that President Obama has polarized the country by following too liberal an agenda. But the truth is that the attacks on the president have no relationship to anything he is actually doing or proposing. So much, then, for Obama’s dream of moving beyond divisive politics. The truth is that the factors that made politics so ugly in the Clinton years -- the paranoia of a significant minority of Americans and the cynical willingness of leading Republicans to cater to that paranoia -- are as strong as ever. In fact, the situation may be even worse than it was in the 1990s because the collapse of the Bush administration has left the G.O.P. with no real leaders other than Rush Limbaugh. The question now is how Obama will deal with the death of his postpartisan dream.

►  In today's Everett Herald -- Business groups emphasize: Boeing Works Here -- A new alliance of business organizations recently formed in an effort to keep Boeing and a second final assembly line for the company’s 787 Dreamliner in the state. Says its spokesman: “Our interest is not to pick sides between the company and its workers but to provide a voice for all the businesses large and small -- and their employees -- that we have a stake in whether Boeing leaves or stays. We need to keep Boeing here.”

►  In today's Seattle Times -- Boeing stops work on 787 fuselages made in Italy to fix wrinkled skin -- Boeing's technical problems with the 787 go beyond the upper wing join issue publicly acknowledged by the company. Engineers have discovered wrinkles in the fuselage skin serious enough that Boeing's engineers ordered the supplier of the affected section -- Alenia of Italy -- to stop work until they can fix the manufacturing process.

►  In The Economist -- Trading blows -- It would not be surprising if both Boeing's and Airbus's WTO complaints were upheld, in part. Both say they are willing to negotiate a new deal limiting subsidies and making those that remain more transparent. That would send a message to other countries (Russia and China) wanting to muscle in to the large commercial aircraft market. But both sides also want to see who comes out of the WTO process before starting talks.

►  At HeraldNet.com -- SPEEA, Spirit AeroSystems contract debate -- SPEEA leaders say they’re displeased with Spirit’s offer. “Four years ago our engineers helped start Spirit and make it successful after its divestiture from The Boeing Company,” said SPEEA executive director Ray Goforth. “Executives pocketed millions and now want to pick the pockets of workers.”

Local news: 

►  In the Daily World -- Aberdeen chosen for pontoon project -- More than 250 jobs could result from the facility's construction, with 100 more permanent jobs building the pontoons. Officials believe more than 2,000 jobs could be tied to the project at the height of construction in 2013. That includes indirect jobs -- store clerks, espresso stand workers, truck drivers, etc.

►  In today's Yakima H-R -- Postal Service needs to cut to stamp out deficit (editorial) -- Last week, Postal Service officials arrived in Union Gap to ask residents what they thought about possible plans to shut down the city's post office. The answer was a resounding no. More than 100 people attended that meeting and spoke with a singular voice. You would think this effort to slash expenses by ending delivery on Saturdays would be greeted with approval by those politicians in Congress who have loudly advocated a desire to run government as a business. Not a chance. Running deficits -- even if they total in the billions -- has become business as usual for Congress. That has to change, and for the Postal Service it has to happen soon.

►  In today's Seattle Times -- Judge rejects Maury Island gravel-mine permit -- Just days before a gravel mining company was set to resume building a controversial 305-foot dock in an aquatic reserve on Maury Island, a federal judge late Thursday tossed out the company's permits.

►  In today's Spokesman-Review -- Small police union first to make concession -- The Spokane Police Lieutenants and Captains Association agrees to give up a portion of its retirement plan in 2010, which it says will save at least one police officer’s job.

Election news: 

►  In today's Seattle Times -- Nickels lobs barrage at foe who is gaining in polls -- A union-funded PAC called the Working Families Coalition, began its anti-Mallahan effort by spamming 63,000 recorded phone calls to voters. The calls ask, "How much do we really know about Joe Mallahan?" They describe T-Mobile as a company that has resisted unionization and shipped some jobs overseas. "That's why labor unions oppose Joe Mallahan," the calls say.

►  At Huffington Post -- Income inequality at all-time high, study says -- Income inequality in the United States is at an all-time high, surpassing even levels seen during the Great Depression, according to a study by University of California-Berkeley Professor Emmanuel Saez. The paper, which covers data through 2007, points to a staggering, unprecedented disparity in American incomes. On his blog, Nobel prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman called the numbers "truly amazing."