Morning Fizz
Belittling, Scoffing, and Dismissing
This post has been updated .
Caffeinated News & Gossip. Your Daily Morning Fizz.
1. A dismissive Rob McKenna, the Republican candidate for governor, scoffed his way through a Politico interview yesterday , writing off gay marriage as a factor in the election ("I think it's a wash in terms of turnout"); belittling a recent poll that had Inslee tying up the race (otherwise, McKenna's been polling well ahead); pooh-poohing Obama coattails as a factor; and saying it's not his place to endorse one of the GOP presidential candidates.
Re: Obama, for example:
2. State senate budget chieftain Sen. Ed Murray (D-43, Seattle) is rolling out his budget proposal this week to close the current budget shortfall ($1 billion-plus when you include the need for a half billion cushion). His counterpart in the house, Rep. Ross Hunter (D-48, Medina) rolled out his proposal, which included $405 million in savings by shifting K-12 payments to the next biennium, last week—drawing groans from the Republicans and the Seattle Times .[pullquote]Sen. Ed Murray said he'd much rather use a budgeting sleight of hand to balance the books than kick people off the Basic Health Plan.[/pullquote]
Fizz asked Murray if his budget would include the same gimmick, known as skeptically as "the 25th month" trick because it shifts numbers to the subsequent biennium.
Murray dismissed the idea that Hunter's proposal was "25th month" trickery, saying it only amounted to a 24-hour delay and wouldn't cause anyone to get a late paycheck, and reasoned that he'd much rather use a budgeting sleight of hand to balance the books than kick people off the Basic Health Plan to do it.
"And," he concluded, reminding Fizz (and the Seattle Times), that his much-praised bipartisan budget from last year made the same move, "the Republicans supported it."
He's right: The original 2011-2013 budget passed last year included budgeting calendar shifts (nearly $400 million worth) in K-12 district payments.
3. Washington State Democratic Party Chair Dwight Pelz has jumped into the debate over education reform that erupted on PubliCola in recent weeks after we got hold of an email that major Democratic donor Nick Hanauer sent to fellow donors about his disappointment in the Party on the issue—and then played host to a back and forth between Hanauer and teachers' union leader Mary Lindquist.
Pelz published an op/ed in the Seattle Times this weekend writing about his wife, a teacher, to make the case that standards and so-called reforms are useless without proper funding.
He writes:
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Caffeinated News & Gossip. Your Daily Morning Fizz.
1. A dismissive Rob McKenna, the Republican candidate for governor, scoffed his way through a Politico interview yesterday , writing off gay marriage as a factor in the election ("I think it's a wash in terms of turnout"); belittling a recent poll that had Inslee tying up the race (otherwise, McKenna's been polling well ahead); pooh-poohing Obama coattails as a factor; and saying it's not his place to endorse one of the GOP presidential candidates.
Re: Obama, for example:
In our state, governor's races aren't nationalized. They're about state issues. How else do you explain the fact that our governor underperformed Obama by 11 points in '08 and at the same time, I outperformed my candidate, the McCain-Palin ticket, by 36 points?
2. State senate budget chieftain Sen. Ed Murray (D-43, Seattle) is rolling out his budget proposal this week to close the current budget shortfall ($1 billion-plus when you include the need for a half billion cushion). His counterpart in the house, Rep. Ross Hunter (D-48, Medina) rolled out his proposal, which included $405 million in savings by shifting K-12 payments to the next biennium, last week—drawing groans from the Republicans and the Seattle Times .[pullquote]Sen. Ed Murray said he'd much rather use a budgeting sleight of hand to balance the books than kick people off the Basic Health Plan.[/pullquote]
Fizz asked Murray if his budget would include the same gimmick, known as skeptically as "the 25th month" trick because it shifts numbers to the subsequent biennium.
Murray dismissed the idea that Hunter's proposal was "25th month" trickery, saying it only amounted to a 24-hour delay and wouldn't cause anyone to get a late paycheck, and reasoned that he'd much rather use a budgeting sleight of hand to balance the books than kick people off the Basic Health Plan to do it.
"And," he concluded, reminding Fizz (and the Seattle Times), that his much-praised bipartisan budget from last year made the same move, "the Republicans supported it."
He's right: The original 2011-2013 budget passed last year included budgeting calendar shifts (nearly $400 million worth) in K-12 district payments.
3. Washington State Democratic Party Chair Dwight Pelz has jumped into the debate over education reform that erupted on PubliCola in recent weeks after we got hold of an email that major Democratic donor Nick Hanauer sent to fellow donors about his disappointment in the Party on the issue—and then played host to a back and forth between Hanauer and teachers' union leader Mary Lindquist.
Pelz published an op/ed in the Seattle Times this weekend writing about his wife, a teacher, to make the case that standards and so-called reforms are useless without proper funding.
He writes:
She is expected to deliver higher test scores at the same time the Legislature delivers less support to our schools. My wife is facing a classic "industrial speed-up" at work due to the reduction in school budgets. The Seattle School District is doing its best, but forced to make tough budget decisions. In addition to a 50 percent increase in her class size, she has fewer support services such as counseling or health services for the students. School lunch has been reduced, so some of the kids are hungry during the day, and bus passes have been reduced, so attendance becomes more sporadic.
My wife is expected to achieve more each year in terms of student achievement. We don't hold Congress, corporations, the Legislature, or parents accountable for supporting student achievement - just teachers.
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