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 December 17 edition. Inclusion of a blog post does not necessarily indicate my agreement with—or endorsement of—its contents.
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Chris Savage at Eclectablog of Michigan writes—The best/worst thing about 2016? We assumed a woman would be elected president:
History will probably only remember it for purposes of mockery but something amazing happened in 2016 — and no one seemed to notice how remarkable it was. Actually, that turned out to be exactly what went wrong.
For much of the year, experts and non-experts of all sorts spent time speculating how large the victory of our first woman president would be.
“There may never be a safer election in which to vote for a third option,” Edward Snowden tweeted from Russia in late October, noting that the New York Times Upshot model was giving Hillary Clinton a 93 percent chance of being elected president.
Less than 100 years after women began to gain the right to vote, the biggest question seemed to be “Just how many cracks will be in that ceiling?”
Earlier that month, a tape of Donald Trump bragging about sexual assault on the set of Access Hollywood seemed to confirm Americans worst fears about the GOP nominee — namely that he was rapey monster who considered others, especially women, vessels for his conquest.
But what we didn’t see coming was the confluence of a variety of unprecedented, unimaginable attacks simmering against Hillary Clinton beginning just an hour after the release of the Access Hollywood tape with the first release of John Podesta’s emails and ending with FBI Director James Comey making his second insanely improper intervention into a presidential campaign with a comically vague memo that gave Republicans cause to scream “EMAILS!” for the last week of the election while Donald Trump got off Twitter and stuck to his script. And culminated with Comey “clearing” Clinton again the day before the election so that America woke up to headlines not pondering the significance of the election but again screaming “EMAILS!”
The shocking results on Election Day confirmed what Democratic pollsters saw immediately after Comey’s memo — it had finished her off.
DocHoc at Blue Oklahoma writes—This Is Not Normal:
So just like president-elect Donald Trump what Oklahoma Republicans do is lie and create confusion. [...]
Here’s the recent Okie Big Lie: Gov. Mary Fallin tells everyone that the state faces a nearly $600 million budget shortfall for next year and a few days later that number jumps to $900 million. Does any rational person really think that wasn’t a calculated move to avoid messy questions like this one: So, governor, how do you plan to fund teacher raises you want to make a “priority” with a $900 million budget shortfall?
It’s immoral and disgusting, and the local, corporate media has been not only complicit but also a major part of Oklahoma’s Big Lie. That includes the chirpy entertainment rag the Oklahoma Gazette, the so-called “alternative” publication in this right-wing extremist place. [...]
So, as I predicted in a previous post, the shortfall was going to grow. Next prediction: The shortfall will grow beyond $900 million and education funding at all levels will be slashed again. I think the shortfall will actually be around $1.5 billion unless Trump starts a world war, which would send oil prices soaring. What we’re experiencing in Oklahoma right now is how a state becomes, essentially, not viable in any normal sense, but these are not normal times in this country as we await president-elect Donald Trump’s tyrannical presidency.
I really can’t believe I’m at this point, but, again, these are not normal times, so here it is: I’m now urging all educators, unless you’re near a secured retirement or have particular family restrictions and just can’t do it, to leave Oklahoma as soon as possible.
Kari Chisholm at Blue Oregon writes—Boom! Oregon is almost certain to get a SIXTH congressional seat:
It's late December, which means it's time once again for the Census Bureau to release its latest population estimates for each of the 50 states, and time for me to play population data nerd. For nearly a decade now, I've been tracking Oregon's progress toward a sixth congressional seat.
And with greater certainty than ever before, I can say that Oregon WILL get a sixth seat after the 2020 Census. In fact, for the first time ever, if the reapportionment were done today, Oregon would get a sixth seat.
Here's why: Not only is Oregon growing, but we're growing faster than the rest of the country. And more than that -- we're picking up speed. Each year for the last six years, we've added more residents than the year before.
In 2015-16, we added 68,831 residents - up from 54k in 2014-15, 40k in 2013-14, and 30k in 2012-13. Oregon is now 1.27% of the nation's population, up from 1.24% in 2010. It may not sound like a lot, but it's enough.
Now, this isn't a done deal. In 2007, some estimates had us on track to win the sixth seat, but the Great Recession that hit in 2008 caused Oregon to slide back. Ultimately, Oregon-6 ranked at #442, seven spots out of the running.
If reapportionment were done today, Oregon-6 would rank #433. And if Oregon grows as fast in the next four years as it has this past year, well, it won't even be close -- with Oregon-6 coming in at #417.
desmoinesdem at Bleeding Heartland of Iowa writes—Grassley still determined to hold short, early Sessions confirmation hearings:
U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley announced on December 21 that he will continue to chair the Senate Judiciary Committee in the new Congress. In doing that job, his priorities will be “the hearings and confirmation process on executive branch nominations to the Department of Justice, starting with United States Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions. The committee will also receive and process the nomination of a new Supreme Court justice. [...]
Sessions can expect a less than “rigorous” vetting when Grassley’s committee takes up his nomination next month.
Within hours of President-elect Donald Trump announcing his choice for the country’s chief law enforcement officer, Grassley praised Sessions as “a respected member and former Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee who has worked across the aisle on major legislation. He knows the Justice Department as a former U.S. attorney, which would serve him very well in this position. With this background, I’m confident he would be reported favorably out of the committee.”
Not only does Grassley expect his committee to support their longtime colleague, he promised last month not to allow this confirmation process to resemble the Senate’s consideration of John Ashcroft for attorney general in 2001. Grassley characterized those hearings as a “reckless campaign that snowballed into an avalanche of innuendo, rumor and spin.” He wants to begin hearings on Sessions on January 10 and wrap them up the following day, having called only a small number of outside witnesses.
Joe Rubin of Capital & Main of California writes—How Sacramento Fumbled a Lead Cleanup Program:
On November 15 Mangan Park residents got more bad news. Homes near the neighborhood’s public gun range were discovered to also have been contaminated by lead, almost certainly from the facility. For Jeff Van Slooten, a retired official from the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) and a lead expert, the results came seven months too late.
In April, concerned about what he was learning about lead contamination near the range, Van Slooten independently gathered samples from a few nearby homes, paying for the lab work himself. The tests indicated that the homes were contaminated. But more extensive testing was needed. He sent his results to the DTSC and urged the agency to conduct its own testing. But more than half a year went by before tests were conducted.
“Having worked at the DTSC, I get that government does not operate at the speed of light. But they should have immediately gone out and tested at least the homes across the street.”
In the city’s recent tests, Mayra Arellano’s house was one of the homes with lead levels above what the DTSC considers safe for long-term exposure. Arellano, who is five months pregnant, fought back tears as she described her reaction to the news. “I’m scared and worried about my baby and my little sister — she is only 8.” According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, lead in pregnant women can be passed on to infants and cause problems in brain, kidney and nervous system development.
Progressive Cow at Montana Cowgirl writes—Montana Gets a Special Election:
Ryan Zinke’s at Interior. All in all, it could be worse. Zinke, for those don’t remember, was once a moderate Republican state legislator from liberal Whitefish who once supported many things environmental, as well as basic abortion rights too (his position on abortion in his state legislature days was “government stops at the mailbox.”) Once in Congress, he began behaving more like a Tea Partier, and will do so, in all likelihood, as SOI. But at least we have a Montanan in there. And of course, Jon Tester can breathe easy now.
Much more fun than a Zinke discussion is to ponder the scenario by which he will be replaced: a special election, the first in Montana since 1969. The political parties will privately nominate candidates by convention, to run against each other in a special election which will take place about three months after the day on which Zinke resigns from Congress (unlike for Senate vacancies, there is no appointment by the governor to fill the vacancy). So this means anywhere from April to June, in all likelihood, depending on Zinke’s confirmation.
On the Republican side, Ed Buttrey has announced that he will run. Buttrey will have to overcome the serious obstacle of having carried the Medicaid expansion bill for Governor Bullock, not a good credential at a convention of crazies. Richard Spencer, the neo nazi, has also declared interest. Greg Gianforte must surely be thinking about it. He has unlimited funds, higher name ID than anyone else, and probably feels confident that he can do what Steve Daines did–become a Congressman and then immediately run for Senate two years later. The problem is that the several dozen lunatics who show up to the nominating caucus might not like him. [...]
On the Democratic side, look for the usual suspects–Denise Juneau, Monica Lindeen, Jesse Laslovich, Dirk Adams, and perhaps even Amanda Curtis to throw their hats in the ring. Juneau could be perceived to be an heiress, but Curtis has [won] this tournament once before, at the special nominating convention in 2014 to replace Jon Walsh for the Senate. [...]
The big unknown, of course, is the 800 lb. gorilla, Brian Schweitzer. It’s doubtful he’s much interested since he took a pass on an easy Senate run in 2014. Schweitzer is now making money as a mining executive and it’s not often that politicians cash their chips out and leave the casino, and then return later and cash them back in to play some more. The exceptions are the cases in which there’s little work to do, and this qualifies. Schweitzer could literally show up at the convention, clear the field, take the nomination, clear out any A-listers from running on the GOP side, and then run a two-and-a-half month campaign against whatever hapless yokel the GOP puts forth. That’d enable Democrats to take the seat for the first time in twenty four years.
Jane Kleeb at Bold Nebraska writes—Support Bold action to stop Trump, Keystone XL and Dakota Access:
In 2016, the Bold Alliance launched nationwide, expanding on Bold Nebraska’s successful organizing model of unlikely alliances protecting the land and water.
We grew our team from three to eight Bold staff members in Nebraska, Iowa, Louisiana, and Oklahoma.
Bold worked with union and progressive partners to stop the TPP, a trade deal bad for family farmers and ranchers but great for Big Corporations.
We stood with Standing Rock to help stop the Dakota Access pipeline, building tiny solar-powered barns to shelter Water Protectors and delivering meat and supplies to the front lines. We organized nonviolent acts of civil disobedience to stop pipeline construction across Iowa and stood proudly with landowners fighting to end eminent domain for private gain pipelines. [...]
This year, Bold Nebraska launched “Made in the Neb” — a web-based interactive map that highlights businesses, clean energy projects, and small farmers and ranchers in Nebraska who support five objectives Bold is working toward to help make Nebraska a great place to live and work.
Sue Prent at Green Mountain Daily of Vermont writes—A visit from Old Nick:
Christmas is just one week away, and democratic oblivion may not be far behind. In this darkest of times, I thought it appropriate to revisit a classic, seen through a new lens:
‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
Prayers had been said and candles snuffed out,
The children lay dreaming, no clue what about.
The grownups were gone; they succumbed to the flu
Leaving two little girls to try and make do.
The peace of their sleep was abruptly ended
As the clear sense of evil upon them descended.
Away to the window Meg crept from her bed
And peeped through the curtains, heart pounding with dread.
The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow
Lent an eerie suspense to the quiet below.
Drawn as she was to see what was out there
Meg failed to notice the smell of burnt hair.
It came from the hearth in that very room
And from it delivered a Creature of Doom.
Out from the chimney his minions they came
And he whistled and cackled and called them by name;
“Now Hellfire! Now Brimstone! Now Pitchfork and Vixen!
On Pestilence, Plague! On Donder and Blitzen!”
“To the one by the window! To the one in the bed
Don’t let them escape or it’s off with your head!” [...]
A staffer at Colorado Pols writes—What’s Gardner’s Game on Russian Election Hacking?
As Politico’s Burgess Everett reports, Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado, fresh from concern trolling about nonexistent “riots” after Donald Trump’s Electoral College formality yesterday, might be acting out of something like genuine concern over reports of Russian state-sponsored intervention in the 2016 elections.
Or, as readers can decide for themselves, maybe not:
Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) told POLITICO he would introduce a bill that, if passed, would mandate a new select Senate committee on cybersecurity. The move could intensify pressure on Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who so far has resisted appointing a select committee on cybersecurity. He insists the chamber’s traditional committees, led by the intelligence panel, should handle the issue.
Gardner’s move came a day after GOP Sens. McCain (R-Ariz.) and Graham (R-S.C.), along with incoming Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), called for a special panel in a bipartisan letter to McConnell. It’s unclear, however, how extensive GOP support will be for a select committee, since any Republicans who get behind the proposal will be implicitly siding with the Democratic Senate leader instead of their own…
On the one hand, Gardner is making noise about an issue that, on balance, most Republicans would prefer to let expire on its own as quickly as possible. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is on record opposing Gardner’s proposal for a new cybersecurity committee, and other GOP committee leaders in the Senate are reluctant to cede any of their own power to some new committee.
But there’s a larger problem with Gardner’s bill to create a new cybersecurity committee in the Senate to investigate attacks like the apparent Russian intelligence operation to disrupt the 2016 election in support of Donald Trump.
Is Gardner setting up a way to bury any specific investigation of what happened in 2016?
Cory A. Heidelberger at Dakota Free Press writes—Bartscher/FHA to Head off Transgender Potty Initiative with Legislative Distraction:
The main headline is that right-wing religious fundamentalists plan to distract the Legislature with more anti-transgender paranoia in the 2017 Session:
Dale Bartscher, executive director of the Family Heritage Alliance, said the conservative Christian group approved a draft of a bill last week that would bar transgender students from using the bathroom, locker room or shower room if it doesn’t match their biological gender at birth. The bill calls for schools to offer accommodations for “students with unique privacy needs, including transgender students” [Dana Ferguson, “Conservative Group to Push Transgender Bathroom Bill,” that Sioux Falls paper, 2016.12.21].
But Jack Heyd is organizing a ballot measure, right? Why not just let the voters decide this issue?
[Bartscher: “Quite frankly, we don’t want to see any initiated measure in 2018, we want to see the Legislature approve it and the governor sign it…. This issue is on the front burner for a lot of South Dakotans” [Ferguson, 2016.12.21].
Wait a minute: tax revenues are down, the budget is tight, and the next President’s chief strategist is a Leninist radical who wants to destroy the federal government on which South Dakota depends for 35.8% of its budget, and a lot of South Dakotans think kids choosing which bathroom to belongs on the Legislature’s front burner?
John Peterson at Democurmudgeon of Wisconsin writes—Walker hopes to Wreak Havoc by Rewriting Constitution, passing a Balanced Budget Amendment:
The odd game of one party's egomaniacal majority redefining, even changing, the Constitution to fit their ideological agenda runs counter to their claims of being "strict constitutionalists." Thus, 32 Republican states have passed, and are still pushing for a "constitutional convention." They just need two more:
As laid out in Article V of the Constitution, two-thirds of the country's state legislatures can call for a convention to amend the Constitution. Any amendments passed in such a convention would then have to be ratified by three-fourths of the states to take effect. it could be used to pass a balanced-budget amendment and to impose term limits on members of Congress and the judiciary.
Republicans now hope to take advantage of the myth they've created around themselves of being fiscally responsible, by inserting the downright stupid "balanced budget" amendment into our Constitution. More on why this is so dumb is below.
Blissfully getting behind the numbskull ideas of a constitutional convention and balanced budget amendment? Who else, Scott Walker. It's not like he's has had deep thoughts on these subjects; these are right out of ALEC, so pushing it requires a minimal amount understanding by Walker:
Walker: "The reason I support that is I believe, like our state and other states, that we should have a requirement to balance the budget that you can’t get around."
Yup, a simple solution for a massively complex set of problems, with no escape hatches to "get around" it (more on that highlighted below). The devastating consequences don't bother Walker in the least, because let's face it, he's shown sociopathic tendencies before.
Martha Jackovics at Beach Peanuts of Florida writes—Rick Scott: "Day One Would Be Nice For Me" On Death Sentence For Floridians Thanks To ACA Repeal
Rick Scott, the Grim Reaper of the health care industry, is unsurprisingly giddy at the prospect of Republicans finally killing off President Obama's health care law, and possibly thousands of Americans right along with it. In fact, he was so excited about it that he recently fled Florida once again to offer his assistance with ending it to the person Donald Trump passed him over for to run the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Republican Tom Price. After meeting with Price, Scott, who normally avoids press coverage, couldn't wait to share his glee, saying this about the end of health insurance as we know it for thousands:
"Day one would be nice for me."
Of course "day one would be nice" for him. He's not the one who will lose his health insurance, nor will he have to worry about paying more for it as long as he's a public servant and has those he presumes to govern for footing the bill for him. (Republicans in the Florida legislature voted to keep his and their own premiums low, but Floridans still have to pay for it, whether they themselves have insurance or not.)
Because for people like these Republicans in general, and Rick Scott in particular, it wasn't enough just to block 800,000 of the state's working poor from getting health care by their refusal to expand Medicaid. No sir. They hope to end coverage for thousands more while throwing the insurance industry into chaos in spite of this:
Florida has more people signed up for private insurance coverage under the ACA marketplace than any other state: at least 1.5 million. Since the marketplace opened in 2013, the percentage of Floridians from 18 to 64 without insurance has dropped from 21.5 percent to 13.2 percent, according to Enroll America, a coalition formed to promote the ACA.
And it's not just those without Medicaid, or those who will lose coverage and/or subsidies who will be hurt by repeal (and let's be clear, that's all the Republicans have plans for as of now: repeal.