Health reform news:

►  In today's NY Times -- Health care bill gets green light in cost analysis -- The Baucus bill to revamp the health care system would provide coverage to 29 million uninsured Americans but would still pare future federal deficits by slowing the growth of spending on medical care, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reports. Several wavering Democrats and one Republican, Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, had said they would be influenced by the report.

►  From AP -- Senate committee health care vote planned Tuesday -- Senate leaders announce a climactic Finance Committee vote next week on health care legislation, even as Democrats and Republicans kept feuding over its cost and breadth of coverage. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) tears into Republicans: "There are still those who consider this a zero-sum game and will only declare victory if President Obama concedes defeat. Let me be clear: Just as Democrats believe in ensuring quality, affordable care for every American citizens, we believe equally as strongly that this country has no place for those who wish for it or its leaders to fail."

►  In today's LA Times -- Couple battles to make insurers liable for coverage decisions -- Surrounded by supporters, Hilda Sarkisyan marched into Cigna’s headquarters on a chilly fall day, 10 months after the company refused to pay for a liver transplant for her daughter. "You guys killed my daughter," she declared at the lobby security desk. "I want an apology." Cigna employees, looking down into the atrium lobby from a balcony above, began heckling her, she said, with one of them giving her "the finger."

►  At Huffington Post -- Supporting a robust public option (Sen. Arlen Specter column) --  It will create competition and will help to provide affordable choices for American families. It will also allow us to greatly expand the number of Americans with health insurance, and that is an imperative.

►  In today's NY Times -- Let Congress go without insurance (Nicholas Kristof column) -- It may be that the lulling effect of having very fine health insurance leaves members of Congress insensitive to the dysfunction of our existing insurance system. So what better way to attune our leaders to the needs of their constituents than to put them in the same position?

►  In today's Washington Post -- A rift between allies (David Broder column) --  One of the intriguing mysteries of this year is why the initial broad support from American business for overhauling the health-care system has not translated into more than a handful of votes from Republicans. Off the record, lobbyists say that business is focused on making its best accommodation with Democrats, but Republicans are motivated primarily by a desire to reverse those Democratic majorities. "They remember how defeating Clinton's health reform set the stage for taking over Congress in 1994," says one lobbyist. "Their gamble is that history can repeat itself."

►  In today's Spokesman-Review -- Gregoire addresses Boeing fray -- The governor says she talks daily with Boeing and Machinists officials, but she and other state leaders say the company and union have asked them to stay out of discussions about ways to avoid work stoppages. Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon calls Boeing "stupid" for heralding IAM's decertification vote in South Carolina. He says the Machinists have gone overboard in attacks on Boeing’s board of directors. Reardon says he feels compelled to intervene in what has become too emotional a confrontation. “I will not butt out,” he says.

►  In today's Everett Herald -- Gregoire seeks tax break extension for airliner repair (brief) -- She says she wants to extend a tax break for companies that do repair work on airplanes. Worth about $485,000 a year for 16 companies in Washington, it's set to expire in 2011.

►  At SeattlePI.com -- WTO ruling has big implications for Airbus' A350, panel says -- As details of the still-confidential WTO findings leak out, it appears the ruling that European governments illegally subsidized Airbus will have serious implications, including on its crucial A350.

►  In today's LA Times -- Billions spent to defend 5,000 jobs at C-17 plant (Michael Hiltzik column) -- Could $2.5 billion be better spent on creating long-term training programs and developing new industries rather than keeping the Boeing plant open indefinitely to save jobs in Long Beach?

Local news: 

►  In today's Tri-City Herald -- Falls still a problem for Hanford workers -- Worker falls continue to be a problem at Hanford, with a recent fall captured on video. His injuries were not serious. Fall prevention has been in the spotlight at the nuclear reservation since a worker on another project was seriously injured in July when he fell 50 feet through a catwalk. That worker continues to recover at home from injuries that included broken legs. 

►  In today's Columbian -- Tax reform pickle: Pave roads or pay cops? -- If Initiative 1033 passes, it will have an unexpected local twist for residents of unincorporated Clark County. Unless the county can cut its 2011 budget by several million dollars, it’ll face a choice: Pave roads? Or pay cops? The unusual situation is among many small effects that Tim Eyman's sweeping tax reform would have on local agencies, many of which are still struggling to calculate the ballot issue’s possible impact. (For more information, see our Sept. 9 posting: Tim Eyman's I-1033: Don't Buy It!")

►  In today's Everett Herald -- Reardon, council in spat over Snohomish County jobs -- County Executive Aaron Reardon says it’s a simple choice between layoffs and an across-the-board pay cut, in the form of furloughs. The County Council says the options are not so simple -- parks could be closed, programs could be cut and county departments could be merged. The 15-day furloughs or equivalent in pay cuts that Reardon proposes haven’t been agreed to by the county’s unions, so that money can’t be relied on, say council members.

►  In today's Olympian -- Providence St. Peter Hospital workers plan 1-day strike -- More than 500 nurses, service and technical workers represented by SEIU 1199NW plan to walk out Oct. 15. The union says they are striking to highlight “takeaways to medical and retirement benefits and below standard wage increases.” The union's contract expired June 30.

►  At SeattlePI.com -- Four years later, car dealership employees get their due -- More than 500 employees of a Washington auto dealership chain will finally get the vacation pay owed them.