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 be watching.
Inclusion of a diary does not necessarily indicate my agreement or endorsement of its contents.
At Eclectablog of Michigan, LOLGOP writes—It’s easier to think voters are stupid than it is to admit that Republicans can be brillant:
When Rick Perry says, “Running for the presidency is not an IQ test,” we laugh because he sounds like a big dummy.
The Texas governor’s buffoonish stab at the 2012 GOP nomination was the rough draft of Dumb and Dumber To. In 2014, he’s wearing smart guy glasses and will probably have braces and a pocket protector by the time he’s done with his coaching from a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
This isn’t the plot of a Broadway musical or a Christopher Guest movie. This is what Perry is actually doing to prepare for his second run at the presidency.
All of this may make you think that Rick Perry is a big dummy.
The reality is Texas’ longest serving governor is no intellectual — but he’s something of a political genius. By employing “moneyball” tactics, he was re-elected three times by huge margins, cementing the Lone Star’s state firm slide into a Republican stronghold. He slipped into the 2012 race late and raised tens of millions in weeks. He would have beaten Mitt Romney, the frontrunner who’d been running for six years, if Romney hadn’t moved to Perry’s right on immigration and debates didn’t require talking.
Perry is smart enough to know he doesn’t sound smart — and he never will. He also knows sounding intelligent isn’t a huge advantage in a Republican primary. But Republicans donors have no real interest in putting a billion dollars into a candidate who has proven he might self-destruct on live TV. They’re too smart.
More excerpts from progressive state blogs can be found below the orange gerrymander.
At Montana Cowgirl, Cowgirl writes—TEA Party Leadership in Montana Took Wyoming Dress Code and Made it Stricter:
A quick update on dresscode-gate. […]
It seems Montana’s GOP took steps to make Montana’s dress code even more stringent than Wyoming’s.
First, note that the Wyoming document specifically allows bolo ties. That language is stricken from the Montana document. Here’s Wyoming:
Bolo ties are acceptable forms of neckwear, but the bolo must be worn tight with the top button of a collared shirt buttoned.
Perhaps the offending accessory became so associated with former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer that TEA Party lawmakers can no longer bare the sight of it without being reminded of the regular drubbing he gave them.
Montana GOPers also removed an item from the Wyoming dress code allowing sleeveless dresses–IF and only if they were worn under jackets that is. Apparently however, the thought that some woman might be sleeveless underneath her suit coat was too much for MT Republicans, so they took it out.
Finally, although Wyoming lawmakers have generously been allowed to wear knit dresses–if sufficiently covered by a jacket. That language is also removed from the MT dress code.
At
Cottonmouth of Mississippi,
Matt Eichelberger writes—
Phil Bryant Poorly Managing Mississippi:
Another report shows that under Governor Phil Bryant's and the Republicans' watch, Mississippi is near the bottom of state management rankings in the country.
48. Mississippi
> Debt per capita: $2,405 (14th lowest)
> Credit Rating (S&P/Moody's): AA/Aa2
> 2013 unemployment rate: 8.6% (6th highest)
> Median household income: $37,963 (the lowest)
> Poverty rate: 24.0% (the highest)
Once again, poverty continues to be a metric that business owners and investors look at strongly when looking to invest in the state. So far, Phil Bryant and the Republicans have not done anything noteworthy to get us off the floor. In fact, Bryant and Republican flip-floppers wielding gavels in the legislature now want to pull the plug on state-run policies that are showing early signs of progress.
The nation's unemployment rate is decreasing while Mississippi's unemployment rate remains one of the highest in the United States. The number of uninsured Mississippians is increasing while the rest of the country is going in the right direction. Republicans must live in the land of opposites because I can think of no other explanation as to why they continue to believe our situation as acceptable.
At
ColoradoPols,
Colorado Pols writes—
At Least She’s Not Your Gubernatorial Candidate (Anymore):
On the subject of the protests raging across America over police brutality against African Americans, Roni Bell Sylvester, who Colorado political trivia aficionados will remember was a minor candidate in last year's Republican gubernatorial primary, has a very simple suggestion:
What a great idea–why can't we just keep these uppity urban protesters busy in the fields?
Why hasn't anybody suggested this? We'd swear we've heard this before. Wait, never mind, history class!
Oh, wait a minute…
At
Delaware Liberal,
Independent Thinker writes—
Illicit Drugs: Half of America Belongs in Prison:
According to research by The Drug Policy Alliance, half of Americans have been in possession of illegal drugs at least once in their lifetime.
Of those approximately 150 million, l percent, or 1.6% are sent to prison, state or federal, for drug offenses. Five million of our fellow citizens, or nearly 4% , are under criminal justice supervision for drug convictions.
Half of these are for marijuana possession, according to the ACLU. America, over 45% of of us are just damned lucky not to have been caught. Yes, our government declared war on the majority of us in the 80’s. Thanks Ronald Reagan. Oh, and he was supported by many cringing liberals who didn’t want to speak out intelligently about America’s huge drug problem. Licit and illicit.
Yes, this is a cultural problem. And it is a corporate problem too. The majority of our medical treatments entail prescribing drugs, starting when we are little kids. Most of these drugs mask the medical problem or relieve pain from it, not cure the disorder. […]
But we Americans do not rise up, do not demand a more intelligent solution to get to the root of both drug dependency and medical research to cure and repair. Masking is just easier and for many, completely comfortable. And when we are comfortable, we don’t act.
At
Calitics,
Brian Leubitz writes—
Let the Boxer retirement discussions commence:
With Senator Boxer's term expiring in 2016, now is the time to talk about the future. With all the time required to build a strong campaign in California, prospective candidates are anxious for word, not wanting to step on any toes before making any moves. But, the chatter is that a decision could come soon:
Sources close to Boxer, 74, say the outspoken liberal senator will decide over the holidays whether to seek reelection in 2016 and will announce her plans shortly after the new year. Few of her friends believe she will run for a fifth term. Boxer has stopped raising money and is not taking steps to assemble a campaign. With Republicans taking over the Senate, she is about to relinquish her chairmanship of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. (Politico)
The article goes on to point out the parade of candidates, but you can probably guess at the names. Harris, Newsom, Garcetti, Villaraigosa, and a slew of Congressional Democrats. Plus, there is always the discussion of whether Tom Steyer wants to put his millions on a candidacy of his own.
With the Democratic lean of the state, a Republican challenge would have to be something of the superstar variety, one that wouldn't require vast support of the Republican crazy-base. I'm not sure who that would be, but with an open seat, you would have to expect at least some sort of well funded Republican.
At
HorsesAss of Washington,
Goldy writes—
A Day That Should Live in Infamy:
According to Crosscut, it was a year ago today that we first learned that the giant tunneling machine “Bertha” had become stuck in the muck beneath Seattle. One year later, Bertha remains stuck, and construction of a deep bore tunnel replacement to the teetering Alaskan Way Viaduct remains no closer to completion.
On this anniversary of ineptitude it is useful to remember whose brainchild this boondoggle was in the first place: none other than Seattle’s infamously faith-based “think” tank, the Discovery Institute! Yes, that Discovery Institute—the equally proud progenitors of the science-denying theory of so-called Intelligent Design! As I scoffed nearly 7 years ago today:
I once proposed building a gigantic rollercoaster along the West Seattle to downtown portion of the Monorail’s abandoned Green Line, and you didn’t see my joke of a transportation proposal picked up by the MSM, let alone labeled “visionary”. And yet the Seattle Rollercoaster Project is no less technically challenging nor politically, well, utterly fucking ridiculous than Discovery’s deep bore, crosstown tunnel. Engineering and economic feasibility aside, God himself could descend from the heavens with a blueprint in one hand and an infinite supply of cash in the other, only to be greeted by polar bear clad environmentalists and angry Eastside developers complaining that He isn’t doing enough to ease congestion on I-405. In a city where completion of a 1.3 mile vanity trolley line is feted like some transportation miracle, the very notion that local voters might commit more than a half billion dollars a mile to an untested technology is a dramatic tribute to Discovery’s primary mission of promoting the exercise of faith over reason.
Of course, with hindsight, I was wrong about the political feasibility. A cabal of elected officials ultimately shoved Bertha down our throats. Where it remains lodged to this day.
At
West Virginia Blue,
Carnacki writes—
Disgrace:
If you are not ashamed of the United States after reading the Senate's torture report summary, you probably never believed in the United States.
I believed in America. I thought we were flawed throughout our history. But we were the "good guys." We did not torture. We had people who failed America, but America did not fail.
But America did fail. Those Americans crying out in outrage at the release of the report never cried out to stop the torture. It is a disgrace they never did.
At
The Political Environment of Wisconsin,
James Rowen writes—
Despite the obvious, WI DNR let hunters, hounders break wolf kill quota:
The carcasses of eight wolves shot and killed last week in Wisconsin—six of which were chased down by packs of hunting dogs, records show—could have been figuratively deposited at the doorstep of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources because the agency treated them as disposable, special-interest trophies.
This is the story of Wisconsin wildlife that was discounted, disrespected and dispatched by official state action.
As the 2014 Wisconsin wolf hunting season approached its DNR-established quota of 150 kills last month, it became clear that permissible delays in kill-reporting could push the total above 150 quota unless the agency moved pure-emptively to close the season.
But as we have seen so often from the Walker administration and his "chamber-of-commerce" DNR, science, facts and data don't count.
At
Democratic Diva of Arizona,
Donna writes—
The "Establishment" Should Have Been More Careful About What They Wished, and Worked, For:
All In With Chris Hayes on the bind that traditional GOP big donors are in due to new campaign finance rules:
As Hayes and a later panel with guests explained, the post-Citizens United reality means that “bundlers”, the wealthy, connected lawyers, lobbyists, and business types who have wielded electoral power for decades by shaking down multiple contributions, are penny ante compared to billionaires like Sheldon Adelson and the Koch brothers, who have the ability to funnel piles of money directly wherever they want.
The Republican “establishment” is worried about that now, as they rightly should be. But if they weren’t exactly eager to open the floodgates to the kind of unlimited campaign contributions with no transparency we have now, didn’t they still do their utmost put the conditions in place for that to happen? Getting George W. Bush installed so he could nominate business-friendly Supreme Court Justices. Check. Gutting public financing of elections. Check. Relentlessly pushing for tax cuts and derugulation. Check, and check.
At
Burnt Orange Report of Texas,
Emily Cadik writes—
Greg Abbott May Block Dallas from Raising the Minimum Wage:
Dallas County has been considering an increase in the minimum wage to $10 an hour for county contract workers, and was planning a vote for this month. That was before Attorney General Greg Abbott weighed in.
This week Abbott issued an opinion that Dallas County’s proposal to raise the minimum wage would violate state labor law. Texas law dictates that the state controls the minimum wage, and local jurisdictions cannot overrule it. The county claims there is an exception for government contractors; indeed, Texas’s minimum wage law states that “a minimum wage established by a governmental entity that applies to a contract or agreement… entered into by a governmental entity and a private entity” supersedes. Nonetheless, Abbott claimed “a court would likely conclude” that the county doesn’t have the authority to raise the minimum wage.
Though the exemption for government contractors seems fairly clear, Abbott’s opinion is making Dallas County reconsider its attempt to make life a little bit better for low-wage workers. “I don’t know what we are going to do yet,” said Dallas County Administrator Darryl Martin. “We are going to have to discuss it.”
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, who initially raised the idea of the wage increase for contractors, said he believes everyone who works for the county should be paid a living wage. While all county employees already make over $10 and hour, many janitors, security guards and other contractors are paid the state minimum wage of $7.25. “People that work full-time should be able to pay for life’s necessities and pass on some optimism to their children,” he said.
But Abbott doesn’t feel the same way, and his opposition to raising the minimum wage extends far beyond this particular case.
At
bluenc,
scharrison writes—
Will the "police body camera" bill ever make it to the NCGA floor?
The Magic 8-Ball sez, "Don't hold your breath."
Members of the Legislative Black Caucus said Wednesday that they expect a bill to be filed when the General Assembly reconvenes in January that would require some, if not all, law enforcement officers in North Carolina to wear body cameras on duty.
The Legislative Black Caucus also plans to file anti-profiling legislation next year, said Rep. Rodney Moore, D-Mecklenburg.
Two major challenges to getting such legislation enacted: 1) Many GOP Legislators refuse to believe racial profiling even occurs, and 2) Most of those who would acknowledge it's happening believe it's not just okay, it's good police work. As such, the anti-profiling bill is dead on arrival, destined to collect dust in one committee or another, and the police body camera bill will probably do likewise, until some Republican writes a different one that merely "studies" the practice, possibly choosing as a test case some Mayberry-ish town with a one-bullet deputy sporting a camera. Prove me wrong, please.