Political Buzz » Peter Callaghan

President Obama will include tour of Everett Boeing plant on his trip agenda this week

Peter Callaghan — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 01:04:12 +0000

Here’s the announcement from the White House:

President Obama to Visit Boeing Plant in Everett, Washington

WASHINGTON, DC – On Friday, the President will visit Boeing in Everett, Washington where he will continue to discuss his blueprint for an economy built to last based on American manufacturing and the importance of promoting American exports. The President’s remarks are open to pre-credentialed media.

January tax collections in Washington state were up a little. Won’t help with budget but won’t hurt either

Peter Callaghan — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 23:11:50 +0000

The Office of the Forecast Council has released it’s January collections report and it contains a small bit of good news.

Tax collections for the period running from Jan. 11 to Feb. 10 were up $54 million from what was estimated when the last official forecast was approved in November. Combined with actual collections in November and December, state tax collections are up $44.8 million over the amount forecast.

But the economists and analysts at the forecast council don’t think the increases are indicative a improvements in the economy. Instead the relatively minor upticks are due to “legislation passed in …

Rick Santorum will bring his surging GOP presidential campaign to Tacoma-Olympia on Monday

Peter Callaghan — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:48:02 +0000

The former Pennsylvania senator will hold several events, one public, when he visits Washington state on Monday.

Andrea Innes, a state committeewoman from Pierce County, said the state party has notified party officials that Rick Santorum will lead a rally at 7 p.m. at the Washington History Museum in downtown Tacoma beginning at 7 p.m.

Beforehand he will have a closed meeting with state party officials including members of the state committee, Innes said. The even is free and open to the public.

Santorum will also be in Olympia earlier Monday but none of those events will be open to …

Crosscut’s Eric Scigliano details Clear Channel’s failed attempts to win digital billboard approval in King County, Washington state

Peter Callaghan — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:32:12 +0000

Eric Scigliano has been watching the digital billboard issue from a statewide perspective and provides a good update on Clear Channel’s lobbying at the King County courthouse and in Olympia.

His report on Crosscut shows how the company was close to winning approval in unincorporated King County but the council has now tabled the ordinance. It has also been unsuccessful in winning approval from the state.

Even Clear Channel — which is owned by Bain Capital (of Mitt Romney fame) and other private equity partners — does not possess unlimited persuasive powers. Late last month both King County and

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Washington Secretary of State posts a Q and A on possible gay marriage referendum

Peter Callaghan — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:58:52 +0000

FYI: Backers of Washington’s gay-marriage legislation, Senate Bill 6239, expect the House to pass it and send it to Gov. Chris Gregoire on Wednesday — and challengers already are making plans for a ballot challenge.

How would that work? What’s the timeline? What does the filing of a referendum mean to people who were thinking about a summertime wedding?

Here is a look at how a referendum would work:

Q. When would the legislation ordinarily take effect?
A. 90 days after adjournment of the regular session, or June 7 this year.

Q. When can a referendum be filed?
…

Is a U.S. Supreme Court showdown on Proposition 8 inevitable? Talking Points Memo says maybe not

Peter Callaghan — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:45:12 +0000

This piece by Jillian Rayfield in today’s Talking Points Memo takes a much different approach to the Tuesday decision that California’s Proposition 8 banning gay marriage is unconstitutional.

Convention wisdom is that the case will surely be appealed and that the court will make the final decision. Rayfield agrees that it will be appealed but quotes some court experts saying the U.S. Supreme Court justices might not agree to review the decision, mostly because they don’t have to.

The 9th Circuit ruling repeatedly stated that the ruling applied only to California. That is because California courts granted the right …

Here’s the AP breaking news alert on the 9th Circuit’s ruling on California’s Prop 8.

Peter Callaghan — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:02:49 +0000

BC-US–Gay Marriage Trial
@hl:Court: CA gay marriage ban is (un)constitutional
Eds: APNewsNow. Will be updated.
@body:
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) A federal appeals court has declared California’s same-sex marriage ban to be unconstitutional, paving the way for a likely U.S. Supreme Court showdown on the voter-approved law.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled 2-1 Tuesday that a lower court judge interpreted the U.S. Constitution correctly in 2010 when he declared the ban, known as Proposition 8, to be a violation of the civil rights of gays and lesbians.
…

Gay marriage debate last week received so much web traffic it crashed TVW’s servers

Peter Callaghan — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:26:25 +0000

Managers at TVW, the state’s version of C-Span, say they have added capacity to accommodate the numbers of viewers they expect to watch the House debate and vote on the gay marriage bill. That’s because the volume was so high last week when the Senate debated and passed the bill that the network’s servers crashed.

“…we’ve taken technical steps to make sure we can accommodate the increased level of web demand,” wrote Mike Bay, TVW’s vice president for programming.

Bay said they will rent server space outside TVW to handle any increases in use this week.

“Our own servers …

Eatonville farmer and former airline pilot Bruce Lachney announces campaign for state senate

Peter Callaghan — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:01:14 +0000

Bruce Lachney said today he will run as Democrat for the state Senate seat representing the 2nd District. Republican Sen.Randi Becker is the incumbent.

The Eatonville cranberry farmer and former airline pilot will be making his second run to represent the district in Olympia. He ran against Rep. Jim McCune in 2010.

“Olympia fails to understand our economic future is directly tied to our schools, our colleges, and our universities,” Lachney said in a campaign announcement. “Olympia is dismantling our education system. Students are being turned away from higher education opportunities.”

Lachney is a Northwest native, born in Seattle in …

In a campaign surprise, Tacoma Councilwoman Lauren Walker announces for open 27th District state House seat

Peter Callaghan — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:30:33 +0000

This is the seat being given up by Rep. Jeannie Darneille who is running for the state Senate. And until today we thought it would be a battle between Tacoma City Councilman Jake Fey and Tacoma architect Jim Merritt.

But second-term councilman Lauren Walker jumped into the race today.

“We’ve seen too many cuts to our K-12 schools, our universities, and our safety net while we’ve ignored tax breaks that have outlived their usefulness,” she said in a press release. “Frankly, it’s time for bold leadership and I’m excited to get down there and get it done.”

Fey lost the …