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 January 28 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—Northern Michigan Republican calls for “another Kent State” to deal with campus protesters:
On May 4, 1970, members of the Ohio National Guard fired on students, killing four of them and wounding nine, one of whom was paralyzed for life. The crime for which they were murdered was, for some of them, peacefully protesting the invasion of Cambodia. For others it was simply being near the protest. 29 of the 77 guardsmen present confessed to firing on the unarmed students they were trying to disperse. This tragedy is a inarguable stain on our nation’s history and a President’s Commission on Campus Unrest called the shooting deaths “unnecessary, unwarranted, and inexcusable.”
Yesterday, Marquette County Republican Party secretary and former Chair Dan Adamini thought it would be hilarious to call for “another Kent state” to quell a protest that occurred on the campus of UC Berkeley where Breitbart writer and senior editor Milo Yiannopoulous was scheduled to speak.
On Facebook, Adamini wrote, “The violent protests at our universities certainly indicates [poor education] at the lower level. I’m thinking another Kent State might be the only solution protest stopped after only one death. They do it because they know there are no consequences yet.” [...]
He also tweeted under his handle @DanAdamini, “Violent protesters who shut down free speech?Time for another Kent State perhaps. One bullet stops a lot of thuggery.”
Joe Henderson at SaintPeter’sBlog of Florida writes—Uber, Lyft here to stay – time to level the playing field with taxis:
I have spent a lot of words arguing that Tampa and Hillsborough County should welcome the ride-share companies Uber and Lyft instead of fighting to preserve a monopoly that has been enjoyed by traditional cab companies.
I still feel that way.
However, if Uber and Lyft are allowed to operate the way they want, taxi companies should have a greater latitude to do the same – lest the free market put them out of business.
That led to an exchange Thursday at the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority that could be the sign of a gathering storm.
As the Tampa Bay Times reported, Yellow Cab President Louis Minardi wants to renegotiate his company’s contract with Tampa International Airport. He argued the contract requiring his company to pay the airport about $35,000 a month for access isn’t fair because drivers for Uber and Lyft don’t pay a thing.
The fee is financed by a surcharge passengers pay for taking a cab out of the airport. Uber and Lyft passengers don’t fork over that dough, so their ride is cheaper.
Minardi has an excellent point. That led to a lot of “er, uh, homina homina” from airport chief Joe Lopano.
DocHoc at Blue Oklahoma writes—Chamber, Local Corporations Led Fight Against SQ 779:
It comes as no surprise that local corporations and the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber led the fight against State Question 779, which would have increased the state sales tax by one cent and given public school teachers $5,000 annual raises.
They were joined by some progressives, who considered the one cent sales tax hike regressive, and thus approximately 59 percent of voters defeated the measure in the Nov. 8 election. Our teachers were jilted once again.
What’s somewhat surprising, however, are some of the dollar amounts from the “no” side that have been reported. For example, according to a media report, Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores donated $40,000 to help defeat the measure. Many if not most people who work at Love’s stores in Oklahoma were most likely educated in the public school system in the state.
Other companies that donated thousands of dollars to Oklahoma Deserves Better, the group organized to oppose SQ 779, included the local oil and gas companies Continental Resources ($20,000) Chesapeake ($20,000), Devon ($20,000) and SandRidge ($10,000), which, again, obviously draw many of their employees from a pool of job candidates educated in Oklahoma’s public schools.
Shannyn Moore at The Mudflats of Alaska writes— Storm on the Horizon:
People are still smiling about the Women’s Marches held all over the state. The pictures from the Haines march went viral and looked like they’d been taken in a Siberian snowstorm. Way to go Fairbanks! Minus 15 degrees! It really was heartening to see more than 15 gatherings in our state. In Homer, about 30 percent of the town showed up. So did a couple of pathetic losers to “coal roll” the marchers. Coal rolling is driving a Compensator model truck near people and black smoking them out. This was done to women and children. When confronted on Facebook, one of the truck passengers wrote, “Ain’t nobody but y’all mad … Me and my other Trump supporting friends had a great time showing our support for our great president.” Nice guys. Oh, here’s a hint: Don’t drive your dad’s construction truck with his logo on it if you’re going to harass your neighbors.
WillyKay at ShowMeProgress of Missouri writes—JCN extols Gorsuch on Missouri TV; will McCaskill waver?
The Donald announced the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court just last Tuesday night. Tonight, Friday, I saw an ad on my TV that presented him as the love child of Solomon and Betty Crocker, just that wise and wholesome. Interesting, I thought, that the ad was airing here in Missouri where there’s a vulnerable Democratic Senator who might be inclined to resist the nomination, but who also might be susceptible to a little public pressure if somebody could gin it up. And somebody wasn’t wasting any time.
That “somebody” is the Judicial Crisis Network (JCN). This is the group that ran a $4 million TV, radio and Internet campaign last year opposing, President Obama’s SCOTUS nominee, the centrist Judge Merrick Garland – who was, by any measure, every bit as qualified as Gorsuch. They’ve also run ads thanking Senate judiciary Chair, Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) for “holding the line” against Garland, and thanking Trump for promising to select a Scalia clone for the Supreme Court. You get the idea.
The JCN is the creature of Republican activists Neil and Ann Corkery and California real estate mogul Robin Arkley II. It is part of a network of interlocking organizations dedicated to moving the judiciary in the conservative, pro-corporate direction desired by the web of dark-money donors who keep it charging ahead. OpenSecret.org writes that that the JCN:
… fought to block Obama’s nominees to the high court, but it has spent millions to sway state judicial elections and attorneys general races, helping to uphold state laws backed by conservatives, nurture like-minded talent in the states, and advance pro-business, limited-government legal agendas aligned with its donors’ leanings.
To expand its influence in state elections, JCN has emerged as a pipeline for secret money to other, better-known dark money groups like the Wisconsin Club for Growth and the American Future Fund which, in turn, have spent big bucks in state Supreme Court and AG races.
Here it is folks, the Great Right Wing Conspiracy, judicial branch. And the only thing we’ve got to fight it with is our progressive grassroots and a Democratic congressional minority. Where are our TV ads, I ask? Where is George Soros when we need him? Certainly not in the dark places occupied by JCN donors.
Pray that Senator McCaskill will stand strong. The stakes are high.
Andrea Greer at Burnt Orange Report of Texas writes—Mike McCaul and the Case of the Mysterious Flip Flop on the #MuslimBan:
Congressman Michael McCaul, who represents the sprawling 10th District of Texas and chairs the House Homeland Security Committee has some explaining to do, given his flip-flop of the highest order over the weekend about Trump’s executive order banning entry to people from some, but not all, Muslim countries. Given that he chairs the committee that actually oversees U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, you’d think he would have had his story straight from the beginning. On Friday, when the executive order was released, McCaul seemed to be 100% for it, issuing this statement (which includes the patented we-can-have-it-both-ways rhetoric we’ve been getting from Republicans throughout the Syrian refugee crisis):
Then on Saturday, we learned that one likely reason for McCaul’s approval and pledge to take action was that he helped co-author the order.
According to Republican-gone-wild Rudy Giuliani, McCaul was part of the inner circle tapped to assist in crafting to Trump’s Muslim ban so that it wouldn’t seem like a Muslim ban but would function like a Muslim ban. (Confused? You’re supposed to be.)
Shelby Steuart at Better Georgia writes—Sonny Perdue: A regressive choice who will decrease regulations:
Sonny Perdue, Trump’s appointment for the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, is a regressive choice. Perdue is known for his hostile treatment of immigrants and questionable connections to agribusiness.
Although some reports describe Perdue as “less of a hard-liner on immigration than Trump,” in reality, he led horrific “immigration crackdowns” in Georgia that led to families being separated and a town pretty much emptied. Fueled by the propaganda that people “sneak into this country illegally on Thursday, obtain a government-issued ID on Friday, head for the welfare office on Monday and cast a vote on Tuesday,” he not only harmed individuals and families with his draconian policies but also decimated one company that belongs to the industry he will be expected to protect as Secretary of Agriculture.
Perdue is too intertwined in farming to oversee the American farming industry. As governor of Georgia, Perdue oversaw the nation’s number-one state in chicken production. He has accepted more than a quarter of a million dollars from agribusinesses. According to Mother Jones, “Over his career in politics he netted $328,328 in donations from agribusiness interests, including $21,000 from Gold Kist, a large, Georgia-based chicken-processing company that was later taken over by chicken giant Pilgrim’s Pride.”
Perdue, is supported by Indiana power brokers because they believe he will roll back regulations. According to Politico, “Lucas (of Indiana’s Lucas Oil) and his cohorts ultimately will get what they want in Perdue: A familiar Republican who’s poised to roll back regulations.” Perdue, as an international agribusinessman himself, would also probably benefit from decreased regulations. Perdue currently runs Perdue Partners, Inc, with his cousin, Georgia Senator David Perdue.
Donna at Democratic Diva of Arizona writes—Oh, Shut Up, Glenn Hamer:
Somehow Glenn Hamer, who heads the AZ Chamber of Commerce and Industry, manages to keep his high-paying job despite being possibly the worst advocate for Arizona businesses ever and having a compulsive tendency to open his mouth and insert his foot.
Per the AZ Capitol Times Yellow Sheet Thursday:
Hamer and his Chamber are pushing for “reforms” to the state’s initiative process that will (duh) make it harder for citizens to pass them. That’s what’s behind his derisive comments about Prop 206. But Glenn can’t leave it at that, oh no. He then proceeds to pit teachers against other types of school workers, as if the latter are unworthy of decent pay. Of course, Hamer undoubtedly subscribes to the right wing ethos that public schools shouldn’t exist and that care work done primarily by women on behalf of children should be done for free or as close to it as possible.
A staffer at Colorado Pols writes—Quick! Throw Some Cold Water on Sen. Kevin Lundberg:
Nothing gets state Sen. Kevin Lundberg (R-Berthoud) frothing at the mouth like “abortion.” Just say the word within earshot, and Lundberg reacts like Pavlov’s dog. You can practically see the ripples of electrical activity inside that ham sandwich between his ears.
Unfortunately for the rest of us, Sen. Lundberg is a member of the powerful and important Joint Budget Committee (JBC), a seat from where he’s happy to waste time on pointless discussions of imaginary abortion-related problems. As Lundberg happily explained to constituents via an email newsletter this week, he took the opportunity during a Jan. 25 JBC meeting to voice his opposition to funding school clinics because of some mysterious belief that school “nurses” might be referring sick kids to abortion providers. [...]
Maybe Lundberg has uncovered some vast new conspiracy.
Or…or maybe the Department of Education doesn’t actually have a formal policy that their school clinics are forbidden from referring children for abortions because why would they??? [...]
So…until we can assure Sen. Lundberg that school clinics are not recommending abortions to students, he cannot in good conscience approve any increased funding for children with disabilities.
Got it?
Cory Allen Heidelberger at Dakota Free Press writes—Solano & Haugaard Wrap Religious Discrimination Ploy Around Adoption Agencies:
Senate Bill 149, introduced by Senator Alan Solano (R-32/Rapid City) and Representative Steven Haugaard (R-10/Sioux Falls) would allow adoption agencies to discriminate against prospective parents (and, arguably, adoptees) who somehow violate the agencies’ religion or morals:
The state may not discriminate or take any adverse action against a child-placement agency or an organization seeking to become a child-placement agency on the basis, wholly or partly, that the child-placement agency has declined or will decline to provide any service that conflicts with, or provide any service under circumstances that conflict with a sincerely-held religious belief or moral conviction of the child-placement agency [2017 SB 149, Section 4, introduced 2017.02.01].
This is “Sharia for Jesus” again. Last year, Republicans tried to grant this right to discriminate on the basis of religion and sexual ethics to darn near everybody—individuals, businesses, clubs, but not hospitals!—but after winning the House vote, sponsor Rep. Rev Scott Craig saw the constitutional light and withdrew his bill.
This time, Republicans are testing their ability to sneak bigotry in to law by wrapping a pro-discrimination bill around adorable little babies. (That tack works for unconstitutional abortion restriction, so why not unconstitutional religious discrimination?) The language of SB 149 matches some of the phraseology of last year’s faux religious freedom bill; SB 149 has simply been pared down to applied strictly to child placement agencies.
Mary Moe at Montana Cowgirl writes—Eebie-Jeebies:
You really had to be there. No summary can capture the spew-a-thon of unmitigated religious bigotry that passed for proponent testimony last week on SB 97, the second coming of the 2015 session’s “anti-sharia law” bill.
Sharia law isn’t mentioned in the new bill, probably because the court struck down a similar Oklahoma law as discriminatory. No matter. As former Senator Ed Butcher pointed out in the only cogent shard of his testimony, sharia law was “the elephant in the room” last week. And the proponents were taking that big boy out for a ride.
Butcher warned that our country is seeing “dangerous immigrants” now, not your “traditional German and Scandinavian immigrants” of the good old days. These new immigrants aren’t all “acting terrorists,” he assured us, but they all adhere to sharia law. They’ll pose as moderate Muslims, they’ll get elected to office, and then, Fathima bar the door.
This theme of infiltration was much on proponents’ minds. “The first stage is infiltration,” one woman told us. “They hide their Muslim faith,” another intoned. “They believe it is imperative to create chaos.”“They create their own laws in their own communities,” a present-day Californian and one-time Iranian immigrant warned. “They will stone women – amputate hands – and you won’t know it.”
A nurse complained that pretty soon ICU nurses would have to turn hospital beds toward Mecca, work with colleagues who refused to wash their hands for religious reasons, and be forced to accept the pederasty and spousal abuse commanded by Islam. “It’s already happening,” she said. “Just look at the materials I provided.”
desmoinesdem at Bleeding Heartland of Iowa writes—Four things I learned about the Iowa Republicans who just voted to defund Planned Parenthood:
On Thursday Iowa Senate Republicans approved a bill that would end most state and federal funding for Planned Parenthood’s family planning services. All 29 Republicans and independent Senator David Johnson voted for Senate File 2, while all 20 Democrats voted against the measure. The Senate Judiciary Committee had approved the bill on a party-line vote the previous day.
Passage was a foregone conclusion, since the entire GOP caucus co-sponsored the bill, and statehouse Republicans have been trying to defund Planned Parenthood for years.
Although I already knew Republican lawmakers were willing to force the state to spend ten times more for family planning services, with no reliable funding stream, I still learned some new things watching Senate File 2 move through the upper chamber.
Republicans didn’t even try to claim Planned Parenthood doesn’t offer quality family planning services.
Planned Parenthood is the largest Iowa provider under the Medicaid Family Planning Waiver, which covers not only contraception services, but also pregnancy tests, Pap smears, and testing or treatment for some sexually transmitted diseases. According to Iowa Department of Human Services spokesperson Amy Lorentzen McCoy, about $963,000 of the $3.4 million spent on the Iowa Family Planning Network during the last fiscal year went to Planned Parenthood clinics. She could not say how many of the 12,219 Iowans who used the network last year obtained their services through Planned Parenthood. They must number in the thousands.