From our man in D.C., Les Blumenthal:

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell is blocking three nominations to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, saying that the federal agency has failed to regulate oil markets even as the price of gasoline hits new highs almost daily.

“I want them to do their job,” the Washington state Democrat said.

Cantwell’s action came as the Senate began debate today on a bill designed to rein in speculation on the markets in which crude oil futures are traded. The senator and others believe that speculators have driven up the price of oil and could be responsible for more than $1 of the cost of a gallon of gasoline at the pump.

Though some Republicans are sympathetic to the need to provide tighter control over energy markets, they say any energy legislation should include lifting the congressional moratorium on offshore drilling for oil and natural gas.

Cantwell and most Democrats oppose lifting the offshore-drilling ban. They quote the Department of Energy as saying that offshore oil and gas wells wouldn’t come online for seven to 10 years and the impact on prices would be insignificant. Democrats also say that oil companies already have more than 68 million acres along the outer continental shelf and on other federal lands under lease that haven’t been drilled on.

Republicans counter that there are abundant resources offshore and that polls show a majority of Americans support more drilling on the outer continental shelf.

"All we are getting from the majority is silence," said New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici, the ranking Republican on the Senate Natural Resources Committee. "The American people are calling for solutions, and they are getting excuses."

Cantwell has been one of Capitol Hill’s toughest critics of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission and has been calling for tougher regulation of oil and gas markets.

Two of the three nominees already serve on the commission and would be reappointed if they’re confirmed: acting Chairman Walter Lukken, a former general counsel to the Senate Agriculture Committee, who’d become the full-time chairman; and Bart Chilton, a former lobbyist for the National Farmers Union who worked in the Agriculture Department during the Clinton administration.

The third nominee is Scott O’Malia, a former adviser to Domenici on oil and gas issues and a one-time executive with Mirant, an Atlanta-based energy company.

Sometimes I get e-mails, read them in a hurry and then delete them. But sometimes I actually open them. And read them slowly. And sometimes, I even click on the links and read them.

I do so hoping to learn more.

But when I clicked on the ON LINE PETITION that the League of Education Voters wanted me to sign, I couldn't tell what they were advocating.

We want the Washington State Board of Education to vote to update our state’s high school diploma at their July 23-24 meeting in Vancouver, WA.

I'm probably not opposed to updating our high school graduation requirements. But it would be nice to know exactly what changes the League wants before it asks me to sign a petition it plans to turn in to the Board of Education.

For all I know, updating graduation requirements might mean paying teachers $90,000 a year. The 81,000-member teachers union says all the time that our school system would get better if we just paid teachers more money. Maybe the update says "All high school students must be taught by a teacher who is paid at least $90,000 a year."

Well, maybe.

To: Washington State Board of Education

We’re parents, educators, business leaders, kids and others in the community working together to do all we can to improve education in our state.

=> Read more!

Jocelyn McCabe comes from the state schools superintendent's office to the Association of Washington Business.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AWB Announces New Director of Communications

OLYMPIA—The Association of Washington Business (AWB) has named Jocelyn McCabe as the Association’s new director of communications. She replaces Richard Davis, who left AWB to coordinate the Washington Alliance for a Competitive Economy (WashACE) competitiveness effort. She began work with the Association on Monday, July 14.

=> Read more!

I ran across this while I was looking for information on legislative candidates in South Puget Sound. You've actually got about an hour and 15 minutes to get there.

David Upthegrove, D-Des Moines, will have Gov. Chris Gregoire at his kick off.

Here's a link to the House Democrat Campaign Committee's events calendar. Rep. Geoff Simpson, D-Covington, has an event on the 29th.

Rep. Upthegrove's Campaign Kick-off!
Thursday, 07/17/2008 05:30 - 07:00
Change Begins At Home - Be a part of it!

Please join Governor Chris Gregoire and other local Democrats next Thursday July 17th from 5:30- 7:00 PM at the Des Moines Yacht Club for a pizza party and rally to kickoff my campaign for re-election to the State House of Representatives from the 33rd District.

Kids and families are welcome at this beautiful Puget Sound waterfront location for pizza, soft drinks, beer & wine, and a program of political speakers including Governor Gregoire.

Representatives from the Obama Campaign will be on-hand as well. Please join us for some fun, some food, and to learn how you can get involved locally to be a part of the movement for change.

Directions to event are available at: www.upthegrove.com</blockquote>

There is another must-read story on the continuing saga of Sound Transit and regional bus-and rail service. Much as I'd like to claim it myself, it is in Crosscut, written by David Brewster. It's a good job with lots of insight.

I have no quarrel with most of Brewster's assumptions and observations, but I will add a couple of my own.

I believe Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond is genuinely concerned when she says that portions of the plan that deal with rail on Interstate 90 to the Eastside are half-baked. Hammond may, in fact, be doing Gov. Chris Gregoire's bidding if she does vote "no" on putting the new plan on this November's ballot, but that doesn't mean Hammond isn't also right for her own reasons.

Let me point out what Sound Transit executive director Joni Earl told The News Tribune editorial board a couple months ago: The "old" Sound Transit should never have promised so much Sounder commuter rail service BEFORE it had in hand an agreement with Burlington Northern Santa Fe RR for use of the tracks. That's partly why we're running so far behind in Sounder service. And that should be a lesson learned. Earl said she won't recommend further enhancements until she has a BNSF agreement in hand. (By the way, more Sounder and station fixes is what Pierce would get in the new plan.)

Also, after Proposition 1 and its $18 billion went down in flames last November, Gregoire said taxpayers should have a chance to see the first segment of light rail up and running. Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels wants a $10 billion expansion before the first segment even starts. (That won't happen until Christmas 2009.)

Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg is immediate past president of Sound Transit board and did all the "regional" things that were expected of him by pushing the $18 billion package. (By the way, after 30 years of reporting, I've learned that "regional" is just the word that Seattle uses to describe its own parochialism.)

Ladenburg's efforts were supposed to endear him to Seattle and King County kingmakers, and he needs them to have a chance at winning attorney general. The thing about Proposition 1 is that the real "equity" for Tacoma and Pierce County was in the $7 billion highway portion of the measure, not the $10.8 billion for Sound Transit.

Maybe Ladenburg will endorse this new transit-only plan. He did tell me last week that if the board approves it by the bare 12-6 majority it needs to get onto the ballot, it have trouble passing at the polls. If he does vote yes, he might carry King County in the AG race, but lose in his home Pierce County to Rob McKenna. But then, it's the statewide totals that matter.

Also, don't count Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon as a "yes" vote just yet. True, he got Nickels and the staff to push light rail to Lynnwood in the next phase. But Reardon didn't believe the Sound Transit staff when they said all $1.2 billion that would be collected in his county from the new 0.5 percent sales tax would actually be spent in his county. (Reardon kindly said "I think staff misspoke.")

UPDATE: Well, I guess that Lynnwood line did the trick. Reardon is endorsing the new plan. Here's what Sound Transit just sent out:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — July 17, 2008

=> Read more!

NEWS RELEASE
WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE
600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, Washington 98501-1091
Internet Address: http://wdfw.wa.gov

July 17, 2008
Contact: Madonna Luers, (509) 892-7853
or Kevin Robinette, (509) 892-7859

Road-killed canine verified as wolf

=> Read more!

Initiative 1000 supporters are pretty confident they'll get their measure onto the November ballot since they turned in some 320,000 signatures. But the Secretary of State's office hasn't verified they have the 224,880 valid signatures just yet. State election officials are still sampling Tim Eyman's signatures on I-985.

But I suppose there's nothing presumptuous about thanking their volunteers.

The party starts at 6 o'clock tonight in Seattle.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: July 17, 2008

CONTACT:
Anne Martens, Yes on 1000, 206-633-2008

Death with Dignity Initiative Kicks-off Campaign

SEATTLE – A thank you party for the volunteers who helped put Initiative 1000 on the November ballot today also serves as the official kickoff for the death with dignity campaign. Volunteers are meeting at the Graham Visitor Center in the Washington Park Arboretum at 6:00 pm.

=> Read more!

I talked to Donna Brazile a few minutes ago. She stopped in Seattle for 24 hours on her way from San Francisco to Anchorage. Yesterday, she met with some Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama delegates to try to assess the situation.

Here's what she had to say:

On the rift between Clinton and Obama delegates:
"I get a lot of e-mails from Clinton supporters. They're passionate. I get e-mail from Obama supporters as well. I know a little bit about what it's like to be on a campaign that didn't come in first place. You don't transfer your loyalites but you continue to work hard toward the goal," she said, of winning back the White House.

On her discussion with Clinton delegates:
"What I heard convinced me that more needs to be done, more outreach needs to be done. (Clinton supporters) need to know when meetings are held, they need to be given seats at the table."

On the 'outreach' part:
"In moving forward, they want to know what role Clinton will play. They want more speeches by Obama on issues relating to women ... so that they don't feel like Obama is taking them for granted."

On the primaries:
"Well, look - First of all, we have to agree that our primary season should not begin before we know the winner of the SuperBowl. I support regional rotating primaries... We should move to an open primary process where people are given every opportunity" to vote, she said. She said caucuses are disenfranchising.
"I think that the two parties must also come up with a system so we don't have this rush to start the nominating season one full year before the political season... that's one of the reasons why so much money is spent."

On Washington:
"I love this state ... I said last night, How come you don't invite me more often?" She was headed to Nordstrom after our conversation to see if they could get her a sneak peak at the annual sale (starts tomorrow, fyi). I think it'll probably work out for her.

Michelle Obama, the fist-bumping wife of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, is in Seattle today to headline a fundraiser for Gov. Chris Gregoire.

Michelle Obama is scheduled to speak at WaMu Theater at Qwest Field. The event begins at noon. Gregoire is expected to raise about $320,000, according to The Associated Press. Niki Sullivan is busy this week building our new election Web page, so we're relying on AP's coverage. I'll post it here.

In the meantime, Newsweek published an interesting profile of Michelle Obama in February. Check it out here.