Woot! Woot! Feel that heavy bass coming from London, y’all? The Obamas are getting all up in Britian’s grill (insert glow sticks and rave music)! Woot!
1. Did the Service Employees International Union attempt to funnel a campaign contribution to King County Executive candidate Dow Constantine and two other candidates through the 34th District Democrats? That's the allegation being made by at least one 34th District member, who voted against a motion to turn over a last-minute $4,000 donation from the SEIU to Constantine, City Council candidate Dorsol Plants and Port Commission candidate Max Vekich.(Constantine, Plants, and Vekich all live in the 34th and are popular with district members—particularly Constantine, who won the district's early endorsement. Plants and Vekich were also endorsed by the 34th.)34th rock star, Dow Constantine. Photo from West Seattle Blog The backstory: Last Monday, the 34th District Democrats received an apparently unexpected check from the SEIU for $4,000. At the group's meeting two days later, the chair and vice chair of the group proposed suspending the group's rules to spend the entire $4,000 (which was not initially identified as SEIU money) right away, in the form of a $3,000 check to Constantine (and $500 checks to Plants and Vekich). Ordinarily, contributions to political candidates have to go through the group's executive committee. The check represented about a third of the district's entire bank account, and was the only union contribution the group received this year, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.District chair Tim Nuse denies the money was intended for Constantine (to whom the SEIU has already maxed out). He calls it a "generous gift" given with "no strings attached," and notes that the group ultimately voted not to give the money to Constantine and the other candidates. "Having $4,000 more to work with, we thought we'd bring it to the members and see if they were interested in using it right now, and they weren't," Nuse says.(It would have been against the rules for SEIU to give the money to the 34th on the condition that the money go to a candidate that they'd already maxed out to, but otherwise the 34th is free to do what they please with the money, including giving it to Constantine of their own accord.)However, some members didn't like the idea. "As a 34th member, I'm appalled at the absence of ethics," the member, who wants to stay anonymous, wrote. "I don't want to sever my connect[ion] right now, but I'm planning to do so shortly."SEIU spokesman Adam Glickman responded to calls with an email suggesting we contact SEIU president David Rolf about the check; Rolf has not yet returned a call for comment. In addition to maxing out to Constantine, the SEIU also contributed $10,000 to a $36,000 independent expenditure campaign against state Rep. Ross Hunter (D-48, Medina) who's running against Constantine for King County Executive.2. Morning Fizz hears that Seattle Times investigative reporter David Heath is leaving to take a job at the online news giant, The Huffington Post .In response to an email and a call about the news, Heath emailed to say he couldn't comment. Neither the Seattle Times nor Huffington Post returned our calls.3. Looking for a wonky pre-funk before you hit tonight's election parties? If so, head over to Blanche Lavizzo Park today at 5 (just south of Yesler Way and 22nd Ave. S. in the CD) for a discussion about proposed changes to the city's multifamily code in midrise and highrise areas.Sound boring? To sweeten the deal, the city council's planning committee will be serving free ice cream promptly at 5 pm.4. If you still haven't voted, it's not too late—check out PubliCola's election picks , mail your ballot by 8:00 tonight, and stop by our party (also hosted by the Seattle Municipal League and Seattle Works) at Twist in Belltown, 2314 First Ave.This morning's Morning Fizz brought to you by:
The Obamas are concluding their whirlwind tour of London and it’s turning out to be the reverse of the British invasion of Beatlemania. Everyone is going berserk.
Michelle, last month’s enemy of Britian, is once again stirring things up with her recent (gasp!) touching of the Queen! Doesn’t she know that you are to NEVER touch the Queen of England? Oh the agony. Oh the shame. The First Vamp is breaking all sorts of rules with the establishment. First, she scandalized the country when she returned the bust of Winston Churchill (how DARE you, Michelle!) and now this. CNN is calling it a ‘gaffe’ (again, Eat Shit, CNN!) and media all over the world are stunned at the exchange. Did the Queen instigate the touch? Did Michelle linger? Why don’t black people understand white people protocol? Jesus. I think at least 1000 tight-assed British snobs spontaneously combusted from the scandal.
Michelle then took a dump on the floor of Buckingham Palace, spit on Princess Diana’s grave and moved on to Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Language School, a school located in an ‘impoverished part of London’. There, girls screamed and cried when the First Lady addressed the school. And apparently, the girls at the school were so moving, that Michelle got choked up, sending England into a 2nd fit of O-insanity. What. the. fuck. is. happening? So much for concern over our ‘special relationship’ souring with England.
Onto Mr. Obama. How much can one man do in one day in London when the agenda is to stop the globe from sliding into a depression? Answer: a shit ton apparently. Like $1.2 trillion worth of shit. Shit that will mostly go to the International Monetary Fund, of course. But don’t you worry – it sounds like a lot but there are new oversight protections on executive pay, hedge funds and tax havens. Phew!
Clearly, this was more theater than a work session. This was Obama’s first debut on the national stage and while most of the world has not followed in the footsteps of the US in terms of their own recovery (hi deficit spending!), Obama was slated to dominate many of the discussions and negotiations at the G-20. And he did.
Coming into the G-20, there was immense pressure from Europe to create a ‘robust’ international regulatory agency that would oversee hedge funds and other financial institutions – including American institutions. France threatened to take their ball and walk out of G-20 if such an agency weren’t established and empowered. Magic Obama convinced France and Germany to go the way of transparency (welcome back Campaign Message 2008!) and a system of ‘early risk warnings’ for banks that seemed to do the trick. Obama also shot a rainbow out his ass and bewitched crybabies France and China to agree on regulating tax havens. Oh snap! France just got charmed, Obama-style.
But the most fascinating result of the G20 summit is the new role the IMF now has on the world stage. No longer will it be the bank of last resort or the place where bankrupting nations go for assistance when it’s too late. Rather, the IMF just got beefed up and became the International Nutcracker – a place where it will proactively prevent the downward economic spiral by watchdoging it.
The net result of the summit: Obama gets high marks and markets respond very positively across the globe. Score one for the Obamas World Tour.
|
|
|