Just as states with progressive lawmakers and activists have themselves initiated innovative programs over a wide range of issues, state-based progressive blogs have helped provide us with a point of view, inside information and often an edgy voice that we just don't get from the traditional media. This week in progressive state blogs is designed specifically to focus attention on the writing and analysis of people focused on their home turf. Let me know via comments or Kosmail if you have a favorite state- or city-based blog you think I should know about.
Inclusion of a diary does not necessarily indicate my agreement or endorsement of its contents.
At BlueNC, James writes—The Great North Carolina GOP Tax Increase of 2014:
When Republicans talk about their big tax cut coming in January, people will be forgiven for not getting all that excited. The bottom rate will drop from 6.0% to 5.8%, which qualifies as nothing more than chump change. For a person making $25,000, the tax cut is whopping $50. Impressive.
Of course, if you happen to be a high-income earner, the picture is a lot prettier. Your tax rate will drop from 7.75% to 5.8%. So if you're making $200,000, you'll get a $3,900 tax break. In other words, your benefit from the Republican plan is 78 times higher than the person at the bottom of the income scale. Seventy-eight freaking times!
But the gift that keeps on giving doesn't stop there. In addition to that whopping $50 savings, all income earners will now be paying taxes on movies, museums, live entertainment, service contracts, warranties, maintenance agreements, repair contracts, electricity and natural gas, manufactured homes and modular homes sold at retail, and a whole lot more. So if you spend as little as $5,000 on all of those services combined, you'll be paying an additional $235 each year. Most people will pay twice that.
Over the month ahead, right wing nutjobs will be singing the praises of tax reform as a giant step forward for North Carolina families. Don't buy their bullshit. You've been played. This is nothing more than the old bait and switch, and the only people who will make out are ... you guessed it ... the rich and well-to-do.
At
Blue Hog Report of Arkansas,
Matt Campbell writes—
The Comedic Stylings of Mark Darr:
A friend passes along this screen shot of erstwhile House candidate and über-part-time Lieutenant Governor Mark Darr making a funny:
While it’s hard to compete with the kind of comic genius that considers “blogger” a punchline, let’s see if we can come up with some other options for who that guy might be.
• A process server, finally locating the guy who was too cowardly to pick up certified mail.
• A state trooper, providing additional pointless security at the Lt. Gov.’s request. [...]
• A member of the Ethics Commission, investigating why Darr has still not filed a third-quarter CC&E report.[...]
•A window washer who went to work that day without expecting some moron to take his picture and belittle his profession.
Maybe, rather than trying to be witty, Darr could use moments like that to complete and file the amended CC&Es that he promised back in August.
At
Blue Cheddar of Wisconsin,
Worley Dervish writes—
Ungerrymander Us!
In Wisconsin, as in other states, democracy is being gerrymandered to death, and now is the time for us to put pressure on the Wisconsin legislature to put an end to partisan redistricting.
In 2012, Republicans won just 46 percent of the votes cast in Wisconsin Assembly races, whereas Democrats won 53 percent. And yet 60 percent of that body are Republicans.
Also in 2012, Wisconsinites cast 43,020 more votes for Democrats than Republicans in U.S. House races, but statewide we are “represented” by five Republicans and three Democrats.
In neither case could you call the election results a mandate. And yet, Republicans are so secure in their gerrymandered little seats that they can openly fly in the face of what the majority of Wisconsinites want. Rather than being concerned with the needs of the majority, the Republicans continually pander to the needs of the corporate backers whose big money put them in office.
Below the fold you will find additional excerpts from progressive state blogs.
At Blue Hampshire, NH Labor writes—NH’s Congresswomen are united in opposition to cuts to Social Security:
As part of last month’s agreement to end the 16-day government shutdown, a Conference Committee on the 2014 Budget was created. The committee was tasked with shaping an agreement on a federal budget for fiscal year 2014. These negotiations will determine the financial security for millions of seniors. New Hampshire’s Congresswomen Carol Shea-Porter and Annie Kuster are standing strong against proposed cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Both oppose the use of a ‘chained CPI’ to calculate the cost of living for Social Security.
This week Carol Shea-Porter and Annie Kuster both signed onto to a letter [...] to co-chairs of this newly formed budget committee.
“The conference must reject policy reforms that place Medicare and Social Security benefits on the chopping block,” Shea-Porter and lawmakers wrote. “Too often, we hear of proposals to drastically slash benefits provided through these critical programs. These proposals are presented under the guise of fiscal responsibility, but would jeopardize the livelihood and health of the millions of seniors who depend on Social Security and Medicare.
“As you work with your colleagues on the conference committee for the Fiscal Year 2014 Budget, we urge you to support policies that prioritize America’s seniors and the benefits that they have earned over a lifetime of hard work,” Kuster and other lawmakers wrote.
At
Blue Jersey,
deciminyan writes—
"Come Dancer, Come Prancer", but leave Jesus in the Church:
Assemblyman Ronald Dancer's bill to "clarify" the way public schools treat religious holidays is just another ill-advised salvo in the War on the First Amendment.
According to a State GOP press release, Dancer's bill would allow school districts to "observe nationally recognized holidays without the fear of litigation" by requiring all "nationally recognized" holidays to be observed with religious symbols and music.
This may be a feel-good initiative for Dancer, but it is ill-advised and a waste of time and money on many levels.
To begin with, the First Amendment is a federal, not a state law. Even if Dancer's legislation is passed and signed by the governor (who coddles the religious right), it will not stop litigation by those who feel their First Amendment rights are being infringed upon.
At
Blue in the Bluegrass,
Yellow Dog writes—
If Your Local Sheriff Doesn't Have an 18-Ton Tank, He Will Soon:
Radley Balko nailed this first in his must-read Rise of the Warrior Cop, but Charles Pierce sums it up thus:
As the story in Stars and Stripes indicates, local police have been buying up military surplus heavy weaponry for years now. (I, for one, feel much safer in West Springfield knowing that the cops have not one, but two grenade-launchers. Keeps the Basketball Hall Of Fame safe.) It is all of a piece with the dangerously hair-trigger, highly militarized state of local law enforcement, almost all of which is a result of our idiotic "war" on drugs. (Check out how many local sheriffs say they need a tank to serve drug warrants.) This is the logical end of stop-and-frisk, pepper spray, "pain-compliance techniques," the promiscuous use of the Taser, and the occasional justified police shooting of a suspect who acted "in a furtive manner." More and more firepower. A more overwhelming response capability. If this were Afghanistan, we'd call this an "escalation."
Even if you are the innocent victim - nay, especially if you are the innocent victim - the policeman is no longer your friend.
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Blue Virginia,
lowkell writes—
Actually, Virginia, This Isn't Really a "Recount":
You've probably noticed that just about every news article on what's about to happen with the Virginia Attorney General's race has referred to a "recount." But after talking to Ben "Not Larry Sabato" Tribbett last night, I'm convinced that this is at least somewhat misleading. In fact, as Ben explained, potentially many thousands (he estimates 25,000-50,000) of "undervotes" (e.g., in which a vote was not recorded, for whatever reason, for Attorney General) - plus potentially thousands more "overvotes" (e.g., in which a voter appeared to have voted for both candidates in the AG race) - have not yet been counted the FIRST time. So...instead of being a pure "recount," the following few weeks will actually see the FIRST count of many ballots in Virginia, namely those that couldn't be read the first time (for a variety of reasons) by optical scan machines (note that VPAP estimates "712,000 of those ballots were cast statewide this year."). [...]
Another question Ben and I discussed was whether the optical scan machines did what they're supposed to do in the first place, which would be to reject any "votes" not clearly marked, so that they could have been either an "overvote" or an "undervote." On the "overvote," an example would be someone filling in the bubble for Herring, then realizing they meant to vote for Obenshain, so they crossed out the Herring bubble and filled in the Obenshain bubble, even circling it to make clear that they mean to vote for Obenshain. The machine should have rejected that as an "overvote" - a vote for both Herring and Obenshain - since it's not "smart" enough to determine what's going on in that case. That will take a human being, and that has not happened yet - and won't until the inaptly-named "recount" takes place. Of course, if the machines mistakenly counted "overvotes" and/or "undervotes," then we've got even more issues to deal with.
Anyway, the bottom line is that there are thousands of ballots where - for a variety of reasons - the optical scan machines might not have been able to determine the intent of the voter.
At
BlueOregon,
Kate Lore writes—
Oregon's future clouded by coal exports:
For a number of years now Oregon’s future has been clouded by corporate plans to make the Northwest a central hub for exporting U.S. coal to Asia. These plans continue to move forward, despite widespread public concern about the health threats and pollution that come with the mining, shipping and burning of coal.
The Oregon Department of State Lands has just issued its 5th extension to Ambre Energy for its proposed permit to build a major coal dock in the Columbia River. This, in spite of Ambre Energy's failure to provide adequate information on its project impacts.
The governor ultimately controls the Department of State Lands and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Governor Kitzhaber should use his authority to halt this greed-driven agenda.
At
Blue Oklahoma,
DocHoc writes—
Fabulous, Just Fabulous:
Gov. Mary Fallin's decision to prohibit state facilities from processing military benefits for National Guard personnel in legal, same-sex marriages has been widely criticized and even mocked on a national level.
Now, Fallin has expressed at least some empathy for a local group of pastors, who are protesting the play, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told. The play, which is scheduled to start running Dec. 5 at CitySpace Theater in Oklahoma City, has been described by one writer as "a gleefully queer play based on the Bible." It is a comedy that satirizes biblical stories.
The protesting pastors have signed a letter arguing the play might violate state and federal obscenity laws, a dubious, overreaching claim. They also say the play is "overtly offensive," but that is a highly subjective claim. Obviously, many people found the comedy to be extremely entertaining during its off-Broadway run in New York or it wouldn't be still performed around the country. The pastors also ask rather dramatically in their letter, " . . . why is it necessary to profane Jesus Christ?" That's just empty war-on-Christmas rhetoric. Satire and humor can always carry meaningful artistic and moral value. The play might be viewed as redemptive in this regard.
At
Blogging While Blue of Georgia,
Gary S. Cox writes—
Cheney Family Debate Takes Place Every Day In America: The right to marry can be a divisive family issue:
[I]t is no surprise that the very public split in the Cheney family over the right of LBGT persons to marry garners national attention. The status of the Cheney family in right wing American political circles and daughter Liz Cheney’s Senate bid made the Cheney family differences politically relevant. The family differences only reflect similar differences and conversations taking place at dinner tables as we all sit down with our families during the holidays. Some American families, especially in the American South, are as deeply divided over LBGT civil rights issues as are the former Vice President’s family. According to the Pew Research Center, the southern United States still remains the bastion of opposition to same-sex marriage. This is unlikely to change it the immediate future without court challenges or legislative changes to force the issue.
Chief Justice Warren Roberts noted during oral arguments on the Defense of Marriage Act that public debate is the bedrock of any democracy. However, what is often overlooked in the “metamorphosis” of public opinion on the right of LBGT citizens to marry is this change came about as our families had similar dinner table discussions as have the Cheney family. As opinions changed, what families “valued” as a social unit, changed as well. According the latest ABC-Washington Post poll, 58% of Americans believe that LBGT couples should be allowed to marry. This shift in family values is due to the debate all of us are having within our friends and families.
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Blue Mass Group,
heartlanddem writes—
Repeal the casino deal:
Congratulations to the signature gatherers! The remaining hurdle for getting a repeal of the casino law on the ballot is that the SJC must rule that the Attorney General's office was wrong to conclude that repeal would violate an implied contract the state made with casino applicants. The legal question is an interesting and complicated one; the stakes are now very high.
Secretary William F. Galvin whose office is able to monitor the number of locally certified ballot signatures through a central data system has announced that both the automatic gas tax and the (special interest/corporate monopoly) casino/slots law have garnered enough signatures for the November 2014 ballot.
Beacon Hill is tone deaf. Leadership and many elected officials are disconnected from the sentiments of the average citizen in the Commonwealth. Ballot initiatives take a gargantuan effort that requires passion, time, funding, and organization – as well as a groundswell of collective opinion.
We want solutions, not more of the same. We want real reform – some see that as curtailing the reach and expense of government and others see reform through a progressive lens that improves efficiency, effectiveness and balances fiscal burdens across the income and wealth spectrum.
At
Bluedaze of Texas,
TXSharon writes—
Meet the Denton fracking negotiator:
Yesterday, I hung a stinking, rotten fracking albatross around the neck of Denton’s City Council. Today I want to introduce you to the fracking negotiators.
As I explained yesterday, two councilmen, Kevin Roden and James King, negotiated a standstill agreement wherein EagleRidge is allowed to continue fracking and drilling in the midst of families and parks where they are drilling illegally without permits in exchange for some obscure concession that may or may not happen by January 31st, too late for the families about to be fracked.
Raise your hand if you think this is a conflict of interest:
James King’s family receives money from EagleRidge.
This information came out when Mike Sutton ran against King but the voters in Denton shot themselves in the foot and voted for King anyway. King has sided with industry at every opportunity.