Morning Fizz
The Only Landslide Victory
Caffeinated News & Gossip. Your Daily Morning Fizz.
1. If last night’s school board elections debate sponsored by the Stranger at Town Hall can be taken as a straw poll, then school board incumbent Sherry Carr is in trouble. Carr tried to emphasize her leadership in establishing tough new oversight procedures in the aftermath of the Pottergate scandal, but perhaps it was too little, too late.
The Boeing manager and current Board Director for District 2 (Greenlake) got just 39 percent of the audience vote, while her opponent Kate Martin won 62 percent, making it the only landslide victory of the night. (The debates between Harium Martin-Morris and Michelle Buetow in District 3 (Capitol Hill up to Ravenna), and Peter Maier and Sharon Peaslee in District 1 (North Seattle) all came out close.
Challenger and longtime neighborhood activist mom Kate Martin hyped her experience as a professional school planner and claimed prescience for predicting the school closures would end up being a mistake. In her closing statement, she cited a bevy of stats highlighting the failings of Seattle's schools (55 percent of students do not feel as if there is a single person in the school building who cares about them), quipping that, “the kids are not alright.”
The go-to blog for SPS issues, Save our Schools, has a brief report of the debate here, noting Martin's standout showing as well. [pullquote]Diaz acknowledged that SPD's proposed "maintenance hiring" will only take place ... if "the economy ... begin[s] to stabilize as we move forward into next year."[/pullquote]
2. In a lengthy blog post earlier this week, Seattle Police Chief John Diaz praised Mayor Mike McGinn's public-safety budget for 2012, noting that the proposal does not require layoffs and allows SPD to start hiring officers next year to replace officers who are expected to leave the department in 2012. (The department would also hold 26 vacant positions that have gone unfilled under an SPD hiring freeze vacant through 2012).
However, Diaz acknowledged that SPD's proposed "maintenance hiring" will only take place if the state police academy has openings for recruits next year, and if "the economy ... begin[s] to stabilize as we move forward into next year." If the economy moves into a double-dip recession, in other words, the number of officers in the city could continue to decline.
3. Yesterday, Republican Washington State Attorney General and 2012 gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna signed on with the 25 other states that are already challenging President Obama's health care reform law in federal court by asking the US Supreme Court to rule on the legislation in its upcoming session.
In his press release McKenna—who has drawn the ire of Democratic Governor Chris Gregoire (and the city of Seattle)—for joining the original case without her consent nor the consent of the legislature—reiterated his point that the mandate to buy health insurance exceeds congress' enumerated powers. (The Obama administration argues that it falls within the commerce clause.)
The Democrats pounced on McKenna's involvement in the suit pointing out that getting rid of the mandate would simultaneously get rid of truly popular provisions, such as the rule that insurance companies cannot turn down people for pre-existing conditions.
As CNN reports, the plaintiffs' case, which includes McKenna's signature, says if the mandate goes, the whole law goes. Despite joining the suit, McKenna says he supports some of the consumer protection provisions (there's also the popular one about keeping young adults on their parents' health insurance plans) and says there's no contradiction in joining suit.
McKenna, whose fielded this attack from the Democrats before addressed the issue in his press release:
The rulings in the lower federal courts from the 6th Circuit (yay) to the 11th Circuit (nay) have been split on the health care bill setting up a SCOTUS showdown on Obama's signature law in the middle of hte 2012 presidential election.
1. If last night’s school board elections debate sponsored by the Stranger at Town Hall can be taken as a straw poll, then school board incumbent Sherry Carr is in trouble. Carr tried to emphasize her leadership in establishing tough new oversight procedures in the aftermath of the Pottergate scandal, but perhaps it was too little, too late.
The Boeing manager and current Board Director for District 2 (Greenlake) got just 39 percent of the audience vote, while her opponent Kate Martin won 62 percent, making it the only landslide victory of the night. (The debates between Harium Martin-Morris and Michelle Buetow in District 3 (Capitol Hill up to Ravenna), and Peter Maier and Sharon Peaslee in District 1 (North Seattle) all came out close.
Challenger and longtime neighborhood activist mom Kate Martin hyped her experience as a professional school planner and claimed prescience for predicting the school closures would end up being a mistake. In her closing statement, she cited a bevy of stats highlighting the failings of Seattle's schools (55 percent of students do not feel as if there is a single person in the school building who cares about them), quipping that, “the kids are not alright.”
The go-to blog for SPS issues, Save our Schools, has a brief report of the debate here, noting Martin's standout showing as well. [pullquote]Diaz acknowledged that SPD's proposed "maintenance hiring" will only take place ... if "the economy ... begin[s] to stabilize as we move forward into next year."[/pullquote]
2. In a lengthy blog post earlier this week, Seattle Police Chief John Diaz praised Mayor Mike McGinn's public-safety budget for 2012, noting that the proposal does not require layoffs and allows SPD to start hiring officers next year to replace officers who are expected to leave the department in 2012. (The department would also hold 26 vacant positions that have gone unfilled under an SPD hiring freeze vacant through 2012).
However, Diaz acknowledged that SPD's proposed "maintenance hiring" will only take place if the state police academy has openings for recruits next year, and if "the economy ... begin[s] to stabilize as we move forward into next year." If the economy moves into a double-dip recession, in other words, the number of officers in the city could continue to decline.
3. Yesterday, Republican Washington State Attorney General and 2012 gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna signed on with the 25 other states that are already challenging President Obama's health care reform law in federal court by asking the US Supreme Court to rule on the legislation in its upcoming session.
In his press release McKenna—who has drawn the ire of Democratic Governor Chris Gregoire (and the city of Seattle)—for joining the original case without her consent nor the consent of the legislature—reiterated his point that the mandate to buy health insurance exceeds congress' enumerated powers. (The Obama administration argues that it falls within the commerce clause.)
The Democrats pounced on McKenna's involvement in the suit pointing out that getting rid of the mandate would simultaneously get rid of truly popular provisions, such as the rule that insurance companies cannot turn down people for pre-existing conditions.
As CNN reports, the plaintiffs' case, which includes McKenna's signature, says if the mandate goes, the whole law goes. Despite joining the suit, McKenna says he supports some of the consumer protection provisions (there's also the popular one about keeping young adults on their parents' health insurance plans) and says there's no contradiction in joining suit.
McKenna, whose fielded this attack from the Democrats before addressed the issue in his press release:
On August 12, 2011, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a 2-1 opinion, ruling the federal government may not force individuals to purchase government-approved health insurance in the private marketplace, striking down the so-called “individual mandate” of the Affordable Care Act.
The 11th Circuit, however, differed with lower court on the issue of whether the entire act should be nullified. The Circuit Court concluded that the individual mandate could be struck down without declaring the entire act unconstitutional.
The rulings in the lower federal courts from the 6th Circuit (yay) to the 11th Circuit (nay) have been split on the health care bill setting up a SCOTUS showdown on Obama's signature law in the middle of hte 2012 presidential election.
