This week at 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. Here is the September 17 edition. Inclusion of a blog post does not necessarily indicate my agreement with—or endorsement of—its contents.
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countrycat at Left in Alabama writes—Seriously, Are We Going To Elect That Orange Skittle?
Just when you thought the Trump campaign couldn’t sink any lower (or hoped, anyway), Donald Trump’s son (and campaign spokeskid) unleashed a Tweet that compared desperate Syrian refugees to… Skittles. Next thing we know, the Trump clan will be plagiarizing “A Modest Proposal” as a position paper and solution to world hunger and poverty.
Or perhaps, in little Donald’s opinion, the poor can just eat elephant meat.
In any case, the Wrigley Company, manufacturer of Skittles, was not amused:
“Skittles are candy,” a company official said in a statement. “Refugees are people. We don’t feel it is an appropriate analogy.”
But leave it to former Seinfeld writer, David Mandel, to point out the orange elephant in the Skittles bowl:
Alabama’s voter registration deadline is October 24 and you can register online. Do it. The country and the world are depending on you November 8.
Incidentally, I searched in vain on the Alabama Secretary of State’s Web site to find the state’s voter registration deadline. Their cheerful phrase “everything about voting” doesn’t include the deadline!
Chris Savage at Eclectablog of Michigan writes—GOP House candidate Steve Marino: House Speaker Cotter “does a bad job in Lansing…Doesn’t have any real backbone”:
Last week I wrote about 27-year-old Republican Steve Marino. Marino is a Macomb County Commissioner and candidate for the state House. In recordings made by a Michigan Democratic Party tracker at a coffee hour, Marino bragged about cheating on his taxes and, apparently, lied about picking up bar tabs for other Republicans as a lobbyist among other things.
Earlier this week another recording was released where Marino brags about his company in China and makes it clear that he finds shipping jobs overseas is fine because it saves him money. When an attendee said, “China’s not a democracy!”, Marino replied, “I know, I have a company over there [China]…” He then added, “Why am I going to pay an individual $80,000 a year, when I can pay somebody $5,000 a year in a different country and do it however I want to do it.”
It’s worth noting that when a resolution to oppose the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement came before the Macomb County Commission, Marino was one of only three that voted against it. Job-killing in America does not appear to be a big issue for Marino.
Today, we get more recordings and these are epic. In these recordings you can hear Marino disparaging Republican House Speaker Kevin Cotter as “spineless”, saying he “does a bad job in Lansing” because he has “has no real backbone” and has no control over his Republican caucus.
Zach Roberts at The Mudflats of Alaska writes—OWS – 5 Years Ago Something Big Started:
Five years on and what has changed? Some might say nothing. We still have candidates of the 1% – this time one of them proudly running as the king of the Billionaires, the other just your standard SuperPAC funded politico. Transparency in government and in the business world sure as hell hasn’t gotten any better. Wells Fargo defrauds thousands and no one gets in trouble, Clinton runs a private e-mail server to avoid FOIA laws and transparency and she just gets a scolding.
But what did we expect? Did we ever dream that OWS would have changed all that? A bunch of hippy kids hanging out in a park in lower Manhattan changing the world? Or even American politics? Nah. But what they did do is change the conversation. The Democratic Party very nearly elected a socialist from Vermont for their Presidential nominee. Everyone in the US now knows what the 99% [is] – Obama used the language of Occupy in his speeches and many more candidates sprung up from the movement. Black Lives Matter, and other movements have sprung up from the ashes of OWS and made something even larger.
And this is just 5 years on.
Sean Kitchen at Raging Chicken Press of Pennsylvania writes—PA GOP to Run Bill Allowing Voter Intimidation by Out of County Poll Watchers:
The Pennsylvania House GOP is planning on running House Bill 29 today, which would allow out of county poll watchers to show up at your local polling place this November. Under current Pennsylvania law, poll watchers are only allowed oversee the polls in the county they reside in.
The bill breezed through the State Government Committee with 23 yes votes and zero no votes back in June. State Representative Rick Saccone – the prime sponsor – wants to change that stating “many of the Commonwealth’s elections have statewide and federal implications, which mean Pennsylvania’s registered voters, regardless of location, have a vested interest in ensuring that the electoral process is properly administered in every election district.”
Saccone also admits in his legislation that many House and Senate districts encompass multiple counties and those living inside their districts should be able to watch the polls throughout the whole entire district.
That reason or voter ignorance is probably why it got the support of all of Democrats on the committee, but this comes at an odd time, given that we’re less than 50 days from an important national election. The bill would take effect 60 days after it would be signed by Governor Wolf – if it would be signed – but State Representative Moul has an amendment that would make this bill law as soon as it is signed.
Last month, Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump claimed that the only way Hillary Clinton would win Pennsylvania was through massive voter fraud and given how Trump rallies have been synonymous with modern day Klan rallies, this bill would allow Trump supporters from around the state to “watch” over the polls in minority communities throughout the state.
Juanita Jean Herownself of Juanita Jean’s of Texas writes— Y’all, This Is So Cute and Sad:
I have told you guys about Sid Miller, the Texas Agriculture Commissioner, being a man who is so crooked that he has to screw on his socks in the morning.
It ain’t gonna get any better.
Travis County prosecutors will not press criminal charges against Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller for tapping taxpayer funds for two trips that involved personal activities — including an appearance in a Mississippi rodeo and the receipt of a medical injection in Oklahoma called the “Jesus Shot.”
The reason?
“Our office has determined that criminal intent would be difficult to prove in this case.”
So that means Miller is too stoopid to know right from wrong. That’s kinda sad.
Here’s the cute part.
In her memo, Oswald [the prosecutor] wrote “it is clear that Commissioner Miller used campaign and state funds to pay for the two trips,” but noted that he had fully repaid the state.
“Additionally, the total amount spent on the trips was relatively small, the state has been refunded all the money it expended on these trips, and the facts have been made known publicly so that Commissioner Miller is likely to be more careful in the future,” the memo said.
So if I rob a bank in Austin of just a little money and then pay it back we’re okay?
Jim Fuglie at The Prairie Blog of North Dakota writes—Time To Just Shut Up:
I’ve tried to follow the events at Standing Rock pretty closely, and I’ve written about it a few times. Let me repeat what I said earlier: I think we need to build this pipeline because it is the safest way to move our oil, and it is the only pipeline project on the table right now.
Do I wish we could free ourselves from dependence on oil and not need pipelines? You bet. Someday, maybe, that will happen. But for now . . .
I just wish we would not put the pipeline across Lake Oahe, which is what all this fuss is about. I wish we would move it somewhere else, if for no other reason than to show some respect for our First People, who don’t want it there. All arguments aside, if they don’t want it there, that’s good enough for me. Put it somewhere else.
When I first went to Cannonball to visit what was then a small encampment, just over a month ago, this was all so innocent. It was about protecting the Standing Rock Tribe’s water source, and some sacred grounds which were about to be disturbed by construction work. That was what this was all about that summer Friday afternoon.
But as summer turned to fall, and the story spread nationwide, it became more—it became about pipeline versus no pipeline. That’s unfortunate, because that’s not an argument the Tribe is likely to win.
Cory A. Heidelberger writes—Conservatives Join Fray Against Kochs in Favor of IM 22:
It would be easy to confuse TakeItBack.org and TakeBack.org. TakeItBack.org is the website of the ballot question organization founded by liberal Democratic South Dakotan Rick Weiland to promote ballot measures to take politics back from big-money donors. TakeBack.org is the website of Take Back Our Republic, a largely conservative group dedicated to taking politics back from big-money donors.
These two groups are working together to promote Initiated Measure 22, the Anti-Corruption Act. IM 22 co-chairs Don Frankenfeld and Darrell Solberg have brought two of TakeBack.org’s leading thinkers, John Pudner and Dr. Richard Painter, to South Dakota this week to make the conservative case for IM 22.
Read that again: conservative leaders are coming to South Dakota to defend an initiative composed by a liberal Democrat against attacks from the Koch Brothers.
To confound us further, conservatives Pudner and Painter laid out their conservative case for IM 22 in an interview with liberal Dakota Free Press last night. Also joining the conversation were Republican Don Frankenfeld and Represent.us political director Dan Krassner.
Lovell Estell III writes—Renters Revved Up for Rally and March:
Renters across the country are having an increasingly difficult time keeping a roof over their heads, with Californians who search for affordable housing finding the task a particularly challenging one. State rents increased by 0.7 percent from April to May, up 3.8 percent over last year, according to the June 2016 California Rent Report, published by apartmentlist.com. Rent Jungle, an online site for apartment seekers, lists the average rate for one-bedroom apartments in Los Angeles at $2,299 a month as of August 2016, and Forbes recently designated Los Angeles as the fifth-worst city in the country for renters.
To raise public awareness about the crisis in affordable housing, soaring rents and Ellis Act evictions, the activist group Tenants Together (TT) is co-organizing, with Homes for All, a National Renters Day of Action September 22 (#RentersDayOfAction or #RenterPower). The Thursday event will involve 10 cities in California and 45 others throughout America to press the following demands:
- A freeze on all unjust evictions and rent increases.
- The establishment of both a national livable rent standard to restrict rents to 30 percent of a family’s income, and of a living wage for all workers.
- The right of all tenants to organize and bargain collectively with landlords without fear of discrimination, retaliation or eviction.
- The transfer of vacant, foreclosed and underused land to community control through community land trusts and cooperatives to meet the needs of communities of color and working class communities. The coalition claims these groups, which were hit hard by the foreclosure crisis and the current eviction epidemic, have historically been victimized by such policies as disinvestment and redlining.
Angelenos will rally at Lafayette Park at noon, then march to the location of an “undisclosed political target,” to be followed by a sit-in, street theater and the sharing of stories about displacement and gentrification.
Tom van Alten at Ft. Boise of Idaho writes—Notice of delinquency:
Irony isn't completely dead just yet; the RNC's zombie fundraising scam is back, and its trigger word makes a perfect caption for fearless leader Reince Preibus. Did he approve that message in exchange for a membership card in the Basket of Deplorables? Or is he too busy sweeping up elephant dung to keep track of what his organization is up to?
If you can't measure up to the ethics standards of the Direct Marketing Association, oh my. (For the younger readers in the audience, DMA = junk mail, what old people used to get before there was spam.) The Hill's contributor has an intereting angle, as former director of the United States Mint and the person who oversaw marketing to numismatists. (A.k.a. coin collectors, but what a fun word to write. And try to pronounce.)
"Direct mail campaigns are typically aimed at older, middle-class consumers because, unlike younger consumers, they read and respond to mail. Since U.S. Mint customers are older and middle class, I know this market.
"These consumers (and others) take their financial responsibilities very seriously. Failing to pay bills on time is not just an oversight; it's seen as a character flaw. ..."
That last sentence is spot on. The mere implication that I'm late on something is alarming to me. I'm not personally susceptible to appeals (let alone trickery) from Republican fundraisering, and not likely to pay an "invoice" "reflexively," but the inevitable question: does this actually work?
A volunteer staffer at NH Labor News writes—Van Ostern Pushes For Expanding Renewable Energy While Sununu Continues To Deny Science:
Today, Colin Van Ostern, Democratic nominee for Governor, toured the Oyster River Forest Solar Array in Lee, where he discussed his plans to create renewable energy jobs and protect New Hampshire’s natural resources as Governor. On the Executive Council, Van Ostern successfully fought to secure funding for the second largest renewable energy project in New Hampshire that’s now powering the town of Durham’s municipal buildings. Van Ostern’s opponent, Chris Sununu voted against this project and has consistently opposed other renewable energy projects across New Hampshire. [...]
Colin Van Ostern is committed to supporting renewable energy technologies that have strong local support to create good-paying jobs, lower energy costs for New Hampshire residents, and make the state less dependent on fossil fuels. Working on the state Executive Council, he has successfully championed energy efficiency initiatives and solar and renewable energy projects in Manchester, Peterborough, Plymouth, Durham, and Berlin, all of which had the support of local communities.
Chris Sununu has consistently opposed solar and renewable energy projects on the Executive Council while taking thousands of dollars in contributions from the oil and gas industry. Just two weeks ago, he continued to openly question the science of climate change in a Republican primary debate on WMUR.
Between 2013 and 2016, Sununu voted ten times against solar and wind projects in New Hampshire—six times, he was the only councilor to vote no.
Don Smith at Washington Liberals writes—Steve Litzow: Neck Deep in Debt to the Upper Class:
According to letsfreecongress.com, in the 2012 US House elections, 95% of the candidates that outspent their opponents won, and 1% of the donors contributed 68% of the campaign funding.
In 2010, spending by Charles and David Koch’s Americans for Prosperity unseated Democrats Eric Oemig and Randy Gordon from the Washington State Senate in the 41st and 45th LD, replacing them with Republicans Steve Litzow and Andy Hill. (The State Republican Party was later fined for violating election reporting requirements in that election. See also How the Koch Brothers worked to defeat Democrats in Washington State.) Litzow beat Gordon by about 200 votes, because of last minute attack ads.
The Washington State Public Disclosure Commission lists contributions to Litzow’s campaign.
D.C. DeWitt at Plunderbund of Ohio writes—Kasich’s Continued Presidential Ambitions And His Trouble With Trumpism:
On one hand, Ohio Gov. John Kasich probably knows and sincerely believes that a Donald Trump presidency would be an unprecedented disaster for the United States. He’s said as much, often enough. On the other hand, Kasich’s unslaked thirst for the highest office of power compels him to hope the Trump candidacy is as much a disaster for the Republican Party as he’s been claiming it will be.
He pines for this, of course, because he wants to be the Grand Old Party’s savior, eyeing his chance to challenge the inevitably vulnerable incumbency of Hillary Clinton in 2020. As much as I would hope that Kasich is right, and that the Trump nomination is a disaster for the Republican Party, I’m dubious.
Trump is unlikely to win Nov. 8. His path to victory is not impossible, but highly improbable. Nevertheless, I don’t think the Republican Party will pay very seriously for nominating the most ill-temperate, ignorant and unqualified candidate for president in American history. That would require an “a-ha” moment and a sense of shame heretofore undemonstrated by the Republican Party in my lifetime.
No, even if 2016 is as bad as it can get for the Republican Party, they will likely enjoy a 2018 rebound after two years of HRC in office, riding the low turnout of mid-terms (as they have been; see: 2010, 2014) and the likely unpopularity of the incumbent president (after spending two years hammering and obstructing her mercilessly, as the playbook demands; see: the tenure of President Barack Obama).