Threatening Payback

1. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA, 1) had a testy standoff with a global warming critic at a recent House Energy Independence & Global Warming Committee hearing. Inslee nails the the critic for misrepresenting himself as a “Lord” in the British Parliament and the “Lord” strikes back accusing scientists of regurgitating green propaganda as part of a liberal research grant complex.

Watch it:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RPX4zFeMGw&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

2. Despite the fact that Washington state’s proposal to get $250 million in federal Race to the Top education money from the Obama administration falls short on some Obama goals like standardized teacher evaluations and charter schools, Gov. Chris Gregoire had a clever strategy: She was lining up local district buy-in to impress the feds with the fact that our state’s plan could actually work.

Easier said than done: The Tacoma News Tribune reported last week that only 34 percent of the state’s school districts have signed on.

The Seattle teachers union votes this week which could add Seattle, whose school board has already signed on, to the list.

3. Lefty State Sen. Craig Pridemore (D-49, Vancouver), running for the open seat in the 3rd U.S. Congressional District,  scored the sole endorsement of the Washington State Labor Council this weekend. The Council, the state’s AFL-CIO affiliate which represents hundreds of local unions statewide, will now put its campaign and doorbelling muscle behind Pridemore over his Democratic rival, Denny Heck. Heck, the founder of TVW and a former aide to Booth Gardner, had widely been considered the frontrunner by the Democratic establishment in the race.

In the hot race between three Democrats in the 34th District, WSLC co-endorsed Joe Fitzgibbon and Marcee Stone over Mike Heavey.

Our report from this weekends’ WSCL endorsement meeting is here.

It’s also worth noting who didn’t get the WSLC’s endorsement. The WSLC’s relationship with the Democratic leadership has corroded over the last two sessions in Olympia, particularly this past session when state employees got hit by furloughs and, in labor’s opinion, were threatened by the so-called “Roadkill Caucus,” a crew of “corporate Democrats” who led efforts to kill unemployment insurance expansion,  privatize liquor (which threatens union jobs), whittle down state employee health benefits, and increase the regressive sales tax.

The WSLC has actually been threatening payback ever since last year when Democratic leadership killed the workers’ privacy act—legislation to end captive meetings where management browbeats employees about the downside of unionization.

So, while liberal Democrats who are in tough elections like state Reps. Tami Green (D-28 ) Geoff Simpson (D-47), and Roger Goodman (D-45) got the nod from the WSLC this weekend—several Democrats, also in tough races, like Roadkill state Sen. Chris Marr (D-6) and Sens. Rodney Tom (D-48) and Claudia Kauffman (D-47) did not.

Several Seattle-area Democrats—House Speaker Frank Chopp (D-43), Reps. Jamie Pedersen (D-43), Reuven Carlyle (D-36) and Sen. Ed Murray (D-43) also failed to get WSCL’s endorsement. It’s only a symbolic gesture because legislators like Chopp aren’t being challenged, but the WSLC did endorse other unopposed Seattle Democrats like liberals Rep. Sharon Nelson (D-34) and Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Wells (D-36.)

We’ve posted the full list below the fold.

WSLC Endorsements:

Congressional Candidates:

§     U.S. Senate — Patty Murray

§     CD-01 — Jay Inslee

§     CD-02 — Rick Larsen

§     CD-03 — Craig Pridemore

§     CD-04 — Jay Clough

§     CD-06 — Norm Dicks

§     CD-07 — Jim McDermott

§     CD-08 — Suzan DelBene

§     CD-09 — Adam Smith

Statewide Candidates:

§     Supreme Court — Charlie Wiggins

§     Supreme Court — Barbara Madsen

§     State Court of Appeals Div. 2, Pos. 2 — Michael Spearman

Ballot Measures:

§     OPPOSE Initiative 1053 — Tim Eyman’s 2/3 supermajority requirement on budget issues

§     OPPOSE Initiative 1082 — Workers’ comp privatization

§     SUPPORT Initiative 1098 — High-earners’ income tax

§     SUPPORT Ref. 52 — Jobs Act of 2010 (Schools & Jobs)

§     OPPOSE ANY initiative to privatize state liquor stores

§     OPPOSE ANY initiative to repeal any part of the 2010 revenue package

Legislative Candidates:

LD-01

House Pos. 1 — Derek Stanford

House Pos. 2 — Luis Moscoso

LD-02

House 1 — Bruce Lachney

House 2 — Tom Campbell

LD-03

House 1 — Andrew Billig

House 2 — Timm Ormsby

LD-05

House 2 — Dean Willard

LD-11

House 1 — Zack Hudgins

House 2 — Bob Hasegawa

LD-17

House 2 — Monica Stonier

LD-18

House 1 — Dennis Kampe

LD-20

House 1 — Corinne Tobeck

LD-21

House 1 — Mary Helen Roberts

House 2 — Marco Liias

LD-22

House 1 — Chris Reykdal

House 2 — Sam Hunt

LD-23

House 1 — Sherry Appleton

LD-24

House 1 — Kevin Van De Wege

LD-25

House 1 — John Thompson

LD-26

House 1 — Sumner Schoenike

LD-28

House 1 — OPPOSE Steve O’Ban

House 2 — Tami Green

LD-29

House 1 — Connie Ladenburg

Senate — Steve Conway

LD-30

House 1 — Mark Miloscia

House 2 — Carol Gregory

LD-31

House 1 — Peggy Levesque

LD-32

House 1 — Cindy Ryu

Senate — Maralyn Chase

LD-33

House 2 — Dave Upthegrove

Senate — Karen Keiser

LD-34

House 2 — Marcee Stone and Joe Fitzgibbon (dual endorsement)

Senate — Sharon Nelson

LD-36

House 2 — Mary Lou Dickerson

Senate — Jeanne Kohl-Welles

LD-38

House 1 — John McCoy

House 2 — Mike Sells

LD-42

House 1 — Al Jensen

Senate — Patrick Jerns

LD-44

House 1 — Hans Dunshee

Senate — Lillian Kaufer

LD-45

House 1 — Roger Goodman

LD-46

House 1 — Scott White

House 2 — Phyllis Kenney

LD-47

House 1 — Geoff Simpson

House 2 — Pat Sullivan

LD-49

House 2 — Jim Moeller