Health care news:

►  In today's NY Times -- President urges focus on common ground -- Obama and his fellow Democrats tried to make the case that the two parties were closer than they thought, with the implication that their bill was centrist and would be acceptable to mainstream voters. Republicans countered that the gap was vast and that Obama should throw it out and start over. By day’s end, Republicans still said there was no way they would vote for Obama’s bill, and Democrats were talking openly about pushing it through Congress on a simple majority vote.

►  In today's Washington Post -- At health-care summit, Obama tells GOP he's eager to move ahead -- Democratic leaders face a heavy lift in reviving their stalled bill, a process that would involve intricate parliamentary maneuvering and carries no guarantee of success. But Obama signaled that if meaningful GOP cooperation does not materialize in the weeks ahead, he is ready to proceed without bipartisan support and risk the political consequences.

►  In today's Washington Post -- Professor Obama schools lawmakers on health-care reform (Dana Milbank column) -- Republicans had been hesitant to accept the president's invitation to participate in Thursday's White House health-care summit. Their hesitance turned out to be justified.

►  In today's Olympian -- Murray recounts death of boy's mother at summit -- Sen. Patty Murray has told the story of Marcelas Owens dozens of times, but never before a bigger audience as she talked of the 10-year-old Seattle boy whose mother died after she lost her health coverage. 

►  In today's NY Times -- Afflicting the afflicted (Paul Krugman column) -- If we’re lucky, Thursday’s summit will turn out to have been the last act in the great health reform debate, the prologue to passage of an imperfect but nonetheless history-making bill. If so, the debate will have ended as it began: with Democrats offering moderate plans that draw heavily on past Republican ideas, and Republicans responding with slander and misdirection.

►  In today's NY Times -- After the summit (editorial) -- The main lesson to draw from Thursday’s health care forum is that partisan differences are too profound to be bridged. That means that it is up to the Democrats to fix the country’s dysfunctional and hugely costly health care system.

Unemployment news:

►  From AP -- Unemployment claims rise -- Layoffs are no longer dropping, reinforcing fears that the jobs crisis will weigh down consumer spending and the economic rebound. The Labor Department said first-time claims for benefits rose 22,000 to a seasonally adjusted 496,000.

►  At Huffington Post -- Republican senator to unemployed: "Tough shit" -- Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) is single-handedly blocking Senate action needed to prevent an estimated 1.2 million American workers from prematurely losing their unemployment benefits next month. As Democratic senators asked again and again for unanimous consent for a vote on a 30-day extension Thursday night, Bunning refused to go along. And when Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) begged him to drop his objection, Politico reports, Bunning replied: "Tough shit."

Legislative news:

►  At TheOlympian.com -- History lesson: Voter initiatives often get changed -- Tim Eyman keeps saying that temporarily suspending I-960 violates the "will of the people," but that's a bit overblown. The Office of the Secretary of State says, initiatives are frequently, if not commonly revised to fit changing times. That agency has released a list yesterday showing that lawmakers have amended or repealed more than 25 measures since 1952.

►  In today's Seattle Times -- Idea of moving Cascadia Community College to Kirkland debated -- A behind-the-scenes debate over whether to evict Cascadia Community College from the campus it shares with UW-Bothell has surfaced in Olympia.

►  From AP -- Gregoire confident of school reform efforts -- Some say her reform proposal lacks boldness, but she says the bill moving through the Legislature has everything necessary to prepare the state to apply for millions of new dollars from the federal government.

►  In today's Seattle Times -- "Town Hall-ed" to death on Highway 520 (editorial) -- Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn wants to change the rules for replacing the Highway 520 bridge. Never mind that plans have been hashed, thrashed and negotiated for more than a decade. Lawmakers in Olympia are moving forward with the current approach and need not be distracted by the mayor's latest assertion that his arrival as mayor means earlier plans must be torpedoed.

"Mr. CEO, What is your commitment to America?"

►  At AFL-CIO Now -- IUE-CWA files changes against Whirlpool -- The union filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board against Whirlpool, alleging the company interfered with workers’ rights by threatening employees if they participate in today's rally. Whirlpool announced it is closing the Evansville, Ind., plant, laying off 1,100 workers and sending jobs to Mexico.

►  In today's Evansville (Ind.) Courier-Press -- It's time to fight for U.S. jobs (guest column by Richard Trumka) --  The fight for good American jobs is coming to Evansville today, and our message to Whirlpool will be loud and clear: Keep it made in America and save our jobs. After more than 50 years, Whirlpool is turning its back on Evansville -- shipping hundreds of good local jobs to Mexico despite the company's healthy profits and millions of taxpayer dollars in federal economic stimulus money. We need jobs. And we can't stop in Evansville.

Boeing news:

►  In today's (Everett) Herald -- Boeing wins separate orders for 787s, 737s -- United finalizes its December order for 25 Dreamliners. Plus, an unidentified customer orders 20 737s.

►  In today's Seattle Times -- Republic Airways to buy Bombardier jets that compete with 737 -- The agreement to buy up to 40 new Bombardier CS300 jets, with options for 40 MORE, is a big boost for the Bombardier CSeries, which competes with Boeing's 737s and Airbus' A320s.

Local news:

►  In today's Yakima H-R -- Granato, other officials tout immigration reform -- Yakima Police Chief Sam Granato and other law enforcement officials urge Congress to take up immigration reform and said local police shouldn't be called on to help enforce immigration laws. The prospect of deportation already causes illegal immigrants to avoid contact with police.

►  In today's Yakima H-R -- Yakima County expects to make cuts to balance budget -- A series of cuts to reduce its $1.1 million shortfall will be announced in April, but employee wage freezes or reductions reportedly won't be part of the plan, at least for this year.

►  In today's Bellingham Herald -- Bellingham schools face $2 million in cuts -- Some of the savings will have to come from staff cuts, according to acting superintendent Sherrie Brown.

►  In today's Seattle Times -- Nearly 200 pack forum on improving public safety -- King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg pointed to the beating of a teenage girl in a downtown transit tunnel as an example "of what happens when you try and do public safety on the cheap." Those were $8-an-hour security guards," he said of the security workers who watched but didn't intervene.

►  From AP -- AIG to pay $8 million for Oregon public pension losses -- The bailed-out insurance giant will pay after a suit regarding its bid-rigging and failure to disclose unethical or improper practices. (Hey, I've got an idea! Let's put AIG in charge of our public workers' comp system!)

National news:

►  In today's NY Times -- Plan to use federal contracts as a way to lift wages -- By altering how it awards $500 billion in contracts each year, the federal government would disqualify more companies with labor, environmental or other violations and give an edge to companies that offer better levels of pay, health coverage, pensions and other benefits, officials say.

►  In today's NY Times -- Clearing the air at our ports -- The Teamsters union and environmental activists have formed an outspoken alliance aiming to clear the air in U.S. ports, and perhaps bolster the Teamsters’ ranks in the process. The labor-green alliance is getting under the trucking industry’s skin by asserting that short-haul companies working in ports -- and not the truck drivers, who are often considered independent contractors -- should spend the billions needed to buy new, low-emission rigs that can cost $100,000 to $175,000 each.

►  From AP -- Pentagon suspends career aid for military spouses -- Last year, the government started offering them grants of up to $6,000 for college or career training, but the response was so heavy that it nearly exhausted the program’s budget, prompting the Department of Defense to suspend it abruptly last week, setting off angry responses.

►  From AP -- Hourly workers happier, research says -- Stanford University researchers say workers who get paid by the hour are happier than salaried employees because they see a clear link between output and reward. The researchers also tout "the linkage between how much you earn and your happiness."

(Unlike salaried workers, most hourly workers also have the right to form unions. And those that do, make more money. Be smart. Be happy. Form a union!)