BossFeed Briefing from Working Washington ~ in their prime?
BossFeed Briefing for January 29, 2018. Last Monday the “no lines” Amazon Go store opened to a media frenzy and long lines. Last Tuesday the World Economic Forum got underway in Davos, Switzerland, drawing several thousand attendees who can afford the six-figure price of admission, along with the journalists who follow them around. Last Wednesday, Uber announced their interest in portable benefits. This Tuesday Donald Trump will deliver his first State of the Union address. Friday is Groundhog Day.
In their prime
Three things to know this week:
Starbucks announced a more equitable paid parental leave policy for store employees… and said it was because of lower corporate tax rates. The improvements actually came after more than a year of organizing by front-line workers, which Working Washington underscored by blasting out a press release with a simple 6-word statement: “Baristas did it, not tax cuts.”
A Whatcom County blueberry farm treats workers so poorly that conditions amount to forced labor, a new lawsuit claims. There was a strike at the farm last year after a worker died when he wasn’t allowed to see a doctor, but the company describes their own operations as “exemplary.”
The total wealth of the world’s 2,000 or so billionaires rose by $762 billion in the past year. Just one-seventh of that increase would be enough to eradicate extreme poverty across the globe.
Two things to ask:
Do you even want to know what’s in the drafts folder? When an immigrant living in Seattle applied online for a delivery job, he got an email in response stating only that “If you no speak English, I will send you home.” The person who wrote that message had the job title of “HR Manager/Hiring Manager.”
Could we already have the headline of the year? Kimberly-Clark, the maker of Kleenex and Huggies, announced they would take advantage of new corporate tax policy to cover the costs of closing 10 plants and eliminating several thousand jobs. The Everett Herald headline nails it: “Tax bill will help fund 5,000 layoffs, Kimberly-Clark says.”
And one thing that’s worth a closer look:
In the latest example of how expensive it is to be poor, Bank of America announced they are going to start charging $12/month for their most basic checking account. While the fee can be waived if you keep a $1,500 minimum balance, about half of Americans don’t have even $400 saved for an emergency. In a curious twist explained by The Atlantic, it turns out the move from free checking at all the big banks is partly happening because of pushback against the practice of assessing punitive fees for bouncing checks, as collecting those fees from people who with low account balances had been a multi-billion-dollar revenue stream for big banks. You can take that as example of one of those legendary “unintended consequences” of regulations… or you can get real and call it what it is: yet more evidence that trillion-dollar financial conglomerates will do whatever they we let them get away with.
Read this far?
Consider yourself briefed, boss.
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Here’s why the new capital budget is a big deal:
It’s progress like this that makes me proud to be your governor.
Together, we passed a capital budget that put thousands of Washingtonians to work, all across the state. If you want more affordable housing, better mental health care, and school construction — you’ve got it.
This is the power of the Blue Wall. Last year, Republicans blocked any attempt to pass a construction budget with much-needed funding for infrastructure across the state. But with a united legislature, we were able to move forward with a capital budget that will benefit the entire state.
At a time when Republicans in Washington D.C. would rather shut down government than protect Dreamers and our kids’ healthcare, we’re focused on getting things done and putting people to work. While D.C. fails to show any real leadership, our state government is making measurable progress.
- In Yakima, students will get the renovations they deserve to combat overcrowding at East Valley High School.
- In Sequim, biologists can finally upgrade the Dungeness Hatchery to improve fish passage.
- In Ephrata, the community can finally replace an aging water line.
We’re investing $4.2 billion in more than 1,400 construction projects. We’re ensuring safe drinking water, building affordable housing, and improving dozens of schools. This means sustainable infrastructure, and this means jobs: We’re creating more than 19,000 jobs in every corner of the state.
Dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s on a bill like this is hard work — but it’s that work which makes sure we’re actually serving the people of our state.
Share the news on Facebook now to spread the word about the progress we’re making, together.
Very truly yours,
Jay Inslee
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Tell Republicans to STOP Waging War on Women
Just another rant …
In an interview, Rep. Bette Grande, ever so casually stated, “Banning abortion will help Women realize they don’t want one after all. “ My first reaction was could she be any more misinformed or maybe disrespectful; most people want the freedom to make their own decisions. Second; Obvisously, this is definitely not the conservative party our parents battled debated or “compromised” with when needed. However, as SpeakerBoehner once said in an interview, “I reject the word.” This latest Republican comment was not a gaffe but a clear indication that the mission to kill safe health care choices as well as the Affordable health care Act, which btw is already helping millions of middle and lower class families shows just how out of touch Republicans on all levels are.
In addition Boehner stated,” now we are going to have a fight over women’s health”, “Give me a break. This is the latest plank in the so-called war on women entirely created by my colleagues across the aisle for political gain.” Well, contrary to what we heard from Speaker Boehner back then, there is a conservative movement waging War on Women with a mission to take away the rights of women to decide what health care we want need or can access.
The time is now … this is a call to Stand up and Fight back against republicans who intend to destroy and dismantle the Affordable health care Act while rolling back the contraceptive clock for a complete ban on abortion and possibly repealing Roe V Wade.
We are all Freedom Fighters on some level every day.
For more than 90 years, Planned Parenthood has worked to improve women’s health and safety. They have made it possible for nearly 170,000 women to obtain low-cost clinical breast exams while providing more health services than any organization in the country such as mammogram referrals, all supported by grants. The attacks by Republicans on women, our health care and insurance rights have been growing and now include Republican Governors. It is important to remember that quite a few Republicans supported Planned Parenthood only a few years ago.
Now, since President Barack Obama took office Republicans are set on and desperate to win at any cost.
The party of No has taken an extreme right on a path that should scare the middle class. What we continue to see day in and out is the far right engaging in flip-flopping politics on domestic affairs, immigrants, financial issues, a willingness to abandoned women and the poor . The fact is over 65% say they do not want anyone defunding Planned Parenthood but the message has been ignored.
Women’s health care should NOT be used as a political football.
Women and Men who support protecting the right to choose need to ask Republicans to put Women and access to safe affordable health care ahead of politically driven, conservative religious, anti-abortion groups to aid or fund tax breaks for the wealthy.
Leave speaker ryan and leader mcconnell a message
… And thanks for taking action
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“#FossilFree Fast: The Climate Resistance” 1/31
Will you pledge to act for a Fossil Free world, and call on communities, governments and institutions – local and international – to stand with us? Together we must:
- Ban all new coal, oil and gas projects and begin phasing out those that are already built.
- Divest from and defund fossil fuel projects. Not a penny more should go to fossil fuels.
- Commit to a rapid, just transition towards 100% renewable energy for all.
The age of fossil fuels is over. We are ready to create the change.
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