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 May 13 edition. Inclusion of a blog post does not necessarily indicate my agreement with—or endorsement of—its contents.
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At Bleeding Heartland of Iowa, desmoinesdem writes—Now we can see which Iowans will suffer most from Planned Parenthood and victims assistance cuts:
It’s not abstract anymore. [...]
Now we are starting to see which Iowans will be the first to suffer from Republican choices on how to spend the public’s money.
By creating a state-run family planning program that excludes abortion providers, Iowa will be forced to spend some $3 million in state dollars per year, rather than using $300,000 in state funds to leverage $3 million in federal Medicaid funds. But this post isn’t about the idiocy of spending ten times more on family planning when the human services budget is already under tremendous strain.
Today we’re talking about the human cost of removing Planned Parenthood as a qualified provider of contraceptive exams, advice, and supplies; testing or treatment for sexually transmitted diseases; and pregnancy or Pap tests.
Planned Parenthood of the Heartland announced on May 17 that due to an expected loss of about $2 million from the discontinued Family Planning Network, it will close four of its twelve Iowa clinics: Sioux City, Bettendorf, Burlington, and Keokuk. In the last three years those clinics have served more than 14,600 patients, mostly from Iowa but also from neighboring states. Nearly half of those using family planning services from Planned Parenthood’s Iowa clinics are “at or below the federal poverty level.” A post on the organization’s Facebook page outlined the expected consequences.
At The Mudflats of Alaska, Shannyn Moore writes—Oil First, Kids Second:
I suppose the saying “dance with the one who brought you” should be changed. “Dance with the one who bought you” is more apropos when watching the Republican Senate majority in Juneau.
This week 13 lawmakers voted to drain every single dime out of the statutory budget reserve — also known as our savings account — to pay oil companies more money than the suggested maximum amount. Why? Well, it’s not really a very well-kept secret that come election time their coffers are stuffed from oily folks to make sure our rainy day funds will make the “transfer of wealth” cycle from state funds to the richest companies in the world. Existing law, well paid for under the Parnell administration, requires $74 million be paid in subsidies this year. Our brain trust has authorized an additional $288 million beyond the already budgeted payment. Who does that? [...]
What should be embarrassing for our representatives who need oil booms and skimmers around their offices, they are proud of. They call it “austerity.” I do not think that word means what they think it does.
The majority has asked our most vulnerable to sacrifice so corporations can feel more security. That’s just gross. [...]
Sen. Bill Wielechowski asked the body if they stood for the people of Alaska. Instead of answering the question with an obvious “no” answer, they asked him to stop talking. “We need a break!” Wah! Wah! What a load of snowflakes melting under the scrutiny of someone who has a “Not for Sale” sign on his office door.
At Louisiana Voice, tomaswell writes—‘Troopergate Fatigue’ notwithstanding, new revelations keep on coming: private eyes, and no good deed goes unpunished:
At the risk of an onset of “Troopergate Fatigue,” details keep emerging involving expensive TRIPS to conferences by members of former State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson’s inner circle on the taxpayers’ dime.
But while The Baton Rouge Advocate’s Jim Mustian was busy documenting yet another of those trips, this one to Orlando back in 2014, LouisianaVoice has learned that members of the Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) now recognize that they were apparently asleep at the wheel when they approved the creation of a Chief Accounting Officer (CAO) position last August at the behest of Edmonson.
Of course it didn’t hurt that Edmonson, described by virtually anyone who knows him as a slick snake oil salesman, was able to schmooze the somnolent commission into approving his request.
But the thing that is really tragic about the whole affair is that it led directly to the forced resignation of LSPC Executive Director Cathy Derbonne when she pointed out irregularities in the procedures employed to elevate Maj. Jason Starnes into the position.
Once she was onto the scam, she simply had to go.
At Progress Missouri, Grace writes—Two Atrocities on the Floor of the Missouri House:
Monday night on the House floor, Senate Bill 43 came up for debate — this bill would gut current workplace, housing and public accommodation discrimination protections for women, religious, and racial minority groups. Not to mention, SB 43 would pull the safety net out from under whistleblowers reporting fraud or waste in the government. [...]
Rep. Kevin Engler (R-Farmington) was one of several representatives that stood up and spoke against any inequalities LGBT Missourians may face.
Rep. Rick Brattin, on the other hand, had something else to say:
via KC Star:
“When you look at the tenets of religion, of the Bible, of the Qur’an, of other religions,” [Rep. Rick Brattin] said Monday, “there is a distinction between homosexuality and just being a human being.”
The statement, made on the Missouri House floor, was deplorable. It betrayed a stunning lack of understanding of theology and self-government: The Constitution protects all Americans from the tyranny of any single faith-based approach to secular law.
We asked Rep. Brattin to explain his statement, but he did not return a phone call to his office.
At Delaware Liberal, Jason330 writes—Yes. Trump is the worst, but so what?
The WaPo reports that the popular vote loser gave top secret info to the Russians.
President Trump revealed highly classified information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador in a White House meeting last week, according to current and former U.S. officials, who said Trump’s disclosures jeopardized a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State.
The information the president relayed had been provided by a U.S. partner through an intelligence-sharing arrangement considered so sensitive that details have been withheld from allies and tightly restricted even within the U.S. government, officials said.
Republicans still put their loyalty to the GOP above their loyalty to the country. And when I say Republicans, I mean your Neigbor, your Uncle, Charlie Copeland. We are through the looking glass. The country is less safe, and the GOP simply does not give a fuck.
At fortboise of Idaho, Tom von Alten writes—Bears Ears:
Just submitted my comment to the Secretary of the Interior, regarding the Bears Ears National Monument, part of the larger demand of Executive Order 13792 of April 26, 2017, concerning TWENTY SEVEN National Monuments, designated since 1996 under the Antiquities Act.
Given the current administration's demonstrated lack of competence in other matters, it is rather mind-blowing to have such a consquential review whipped up in a few weeks, but here we are.
The full list subject to review comprises more than 11 million acres in 21 monuments in 10 states (including Idaho's Craters of the Moon) subject to "initial review" [sic]; the 87,563 acre Katahadin Woods and Waters in Maine, designated last year, to be "reviewed to determine whether the designation or expansion was made without adequate public outreach and coordination with relevant stakeholders"; and five Marine National Monuments (the Marianas Trench and Pacific Remote Islands, Papahanaumokuakea, and Rose Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts in the Atlantic). [...]
The general docket—concerning all 27 monuments—is open for comment until July 10, but comments specific to Bears Ears must be submitted by May 26, just over a week from now.
It's Department of the Interior docket number DOI-2017-0002-0001, here:www.regulations.gov/document?D=DOI-2017-0002-0001. They can also be submitted in writing to
Monument Review, MS-1530
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street NW
Washington DC 20240
At NC Policy Watch, Melissa Price Kromm writes—North Carolina is not alone: The Right’s nationwide assault on state judiciaries:
In the past few months, North Carolinians have seen our General Assembly make national news several times. At least a couple of those times were due to the continuing and shameless partisan assaults on the independence of our courts.
A recent report from the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice, a leading national legal think tank, revealed that North Carolina is leading the country in what has become a nationwide attempt to dismantle the last line of defense against state lawmakers’ often unconstitutional and unconscionable laws.
With no one to stop them, North Carolina’s legislative leadership had already made the state Supreme Court and Court of Appeals races into partisan affairs, politicizing the highest courts and increasing partisanship where we interpret our laws. But as the Brennan Center reported, in recent months, lawmakers have taken their attacks on the judiciary to a whole new level, proposing bills that would snatch appointment powers for the judges who control the fate of their unpopular bills, change the size of the courts to upend majorities counter to their interests, and more.
The Brennan Center’s report found North Carolina isn’t the only state that is forcing judges to focus on politics rather than upholding the law. The report documents how, “across the country, a wave of bills this year has sought to limit courts’ power to politically manipulate the judiciary in troubling ways.” It catalogues a troubling 40 bills across 15 states that target the courts. These attacks are wide ranging, from changing the way judges are selected to giving legislatures the ability to override checks and balances—a constitutionally dubious proposition.
At Plunderbund of Ohio, Dick Graham writes—Mandel Mugged By Former Republican Friends Turned Foes:
Since 2012 when Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel lost his first go at unseating U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, he’s been the odds-on favorite to take another run at the task in 2018. [...]
In the wake of Donald Trump winning by such a hefty margin last year over Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, Mandel wants to win the next poker hand with Brown by playing some of the same cards Trump played. [...]
Mandel’s recent Twitter jihad against Islam is an alignment causing some in Ohio’s Republican establishment to “fret” about Mandel’s chances to do to Brown next year what Trump did to Clinton last year.
Josh Kraushaar at National Journal observes some forces bearing down on the ilk of Republicans Mandel belongs to. And with Mandel tweeting hate for Islam of late, Ohio Democrats have seen a better target, while Democrats in other states are also seeing heaven instead of hell in the 2018 election cycle.
One fellow Republican who acts more like a foe than friend to Mandel is central Ohio U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi, who took over Gov. John Kasich’s old seat in Washington in 2000 when Kasich first ran for president, a dream that still remains a dream.
Last year, Kasich didn’t receive Mandel’s endorsement for president in the GOP primary race for the White House, an endorsement that Mandel gave to Florida Sen. Marco Rubio instead.
At Democurmudgeon of Wisconsin, John Peterson writes—Walker Republicans return to 1910 Child Labor, know better than Parents what's best for Kids:
Wisconsin Democracy Campaign's (WDC)
Urban Milwaukee article spelled it out quite clearly; unregulated child labor is back with a vengeance.
And you thought parent knew what was best for the kids education, a familiar refrain to school privateers? Not anymore. Now parents don't have any control over teens 16 and 17 who want to work. WDC pointed out how two laws passed under Walker will make child exploitation a walk in the park for Wisconsin Manufactures and Commerce, who has been backing legislation that envisions children manning dangerous machines again without regulatory accountability.
The GOP-controlled legislature has given final approval and sent to Republican Gov. Scott Walker a bill that would loosen child labor laws. Assembly Bill 25 removes the requirement for 16- and 17-year-olds to obtain permits signed by a parent or guardian in order to work. The measure was approved on a party line 20-12 vote. Democrats maintain the bill would allow children to make important life decisions that could adversely affect their educations — against their parents’ wishes.
Welcome back to those nostalgic days of pre-Depression labor. Oddly, Republicans chose not to narrowly define the bill to accomplish their stated goal...I wonder why?
Republicans said the measure would make it easier to secure jobs for children who have parents who are incarcerated or otherwise absent.
At R.I. Future, Ghalil Oliveira writes—The media helps the military cover up the horror of drone strikes:
The headline reads “American Drones Winning Air War from Afar.” In this article, Jim Michaels of USA Today (4/18/17) writes that in the Mediterranean country of Libya, a “handful of drones” remotely controlled by soldiers seven thousand miles away in Nevada is able to play a “decisive role in defeating the Islamic State.”
He notes that the “495 airstrikes conducted in the densely packed city of Sirte [were]…literally across the street from friendly forces.” David Deptula, a retired air force general, purported that the drones were the “most precise and effective means of applying force” that “highlight[s] the effectiveness of a remote-controlled operation”.
Mr. Michaels’ article celebrating drones is a continuation of that global power elite’s master narrative of neoliberalism’s politics of hyper-expansion and hyper-militarism. It is a demonstrable example of the unhealthy, anti-democratic and interconnected relationship of government, corporate and media industrial complexes, and the public relations propaganda corporations that orchestrate, spin, and whitewash basic truths about world events. And it disguises distance—humans are not imaginary avatars on video games.
This article negligently omits the true social reality. It speaks nothing of the innocent lives inevitably lost in the bombings of “densely packed” urban areas. It says nothing of the Human Rights Watch report entitled “unacknowledged deaths” that detailed “eight specific incidents where at least 72 Libyan civilians perished as a result of NATO bombing campaigns, a third of which were children.”
It says nothing of the civilian death toll of 380-801 in 2016 alone, due directly to drone usage.
At Voice of OC of California, Nick Gerda writes—Homelessness and Poverty Keep Growing in Orange County, Studies Find:
More and more Orange County residents are struggling to afford rising housing costs and end up living on the streets, according to new reports from public agencies and nonprofits.
The two studies, both of which were overseen by the county government, confirmed a series of troubling trends.
There’s been a 54-percent increase in homeless people living on the streets in the past four years, according to data released last week from the county’s Point in Time count. From January 2013 to this January, the count of “unsheltered” homeless people grew from 1,678 to 2,584. Organizers of the count said the actual number of homeless people on the streets is almost certainly higher, because the count’s volunteers aren’t able to cover the whole county.
And the region’s shortage of homes, paired with stagnant employee wages, has fueled a housing crisis that is pushing families into poverty and homelessness, according to the 2017 Community Indicators Report. [...]
According to the indicators report, a household needs to earn $27.62 per hour to be able to rent a median-priced one-bedroom housing unit. But 68 percent of jobs in OC pay less than that, with the median hourly wage being $19.12, according to the report.
At NH Labor News, a staffer writes—ACLU Launches Multi-State Legal Action on Voting Rights:
“The President of the United States has alleged that “millions of votes” were “illegally” cast “for the other side” during the November 2016 General Election. No concrete evidence has been provided thus far to support the President’s serious indictment against American democracy. Yet the President’s allegations are the basis of an Executive Order, issued today, directing the Vice President to establish a “Commission on Election Integrity.”This FOIA demands that the government release the factual bases and evidence supporting the President’s allegations,” wrote the ACLU in a May 11th Freedom of Information Act request. [...]
Today, the American Civil Liberties Union sent coordinated Freedom of Information Act requests to officials in Kansas, Indiana, New Hampshire, Maine, and the U.S. Election Assistance Commission seeking information related to the Trump administration’s new “Presidential Commission on Election Integrity.”
“We believe the outcome of the commission’s investigation is preordained,” said Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. “It’s time to shed light on whether any commission members were crafting policy recommendations before their investigation was launched or the commission was even formally announced. If they’ve got evidence, it’s time to stop hiding and start sharing.”
At The Prairie Blog of North Dakota, Jim Fuglie writes—Who’s Looking Out For The Little Missouri State Scenic River – Redux:
I’ve given some more thought to the issue of Little Missouri River water permits since I last wrote about it on May 3.
I reported then that Gov. Doug Burgum had signed into law an amendment to the Little Missouri State Scenic River Act, making industrial use of Little Missouri water legal for the first time since the Act was passed in 1975. But at the same time he sent word over to the State Water Commission, which issues water permits in our state, not to issue any of those permits in the upstream reaches of the river—between the North Dakota-South Dakota border and the Long-X Bridge at the north Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Quick geography lesson for those not familiar with the Little Missouri: It rises in the hills north of Devils Tower in Wyoming and flows north through Montana and South Dakota, entering North Dakota in the extreme southwest part of the state, and flows north and east into Lake Sakakawea east of Killdeer. Carving the North Dakota Bad Lands, home to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, along the way.
It’s that stretch between the North Unit of the National Park and the big lake that Burgum has left open for industrial development. It’s no coincidence that the focus of oil development along the river is along that stretch.
That’s his concession to the oil industry. In fact, his own Water Commission staff admitted to a reporter for The Dickinson Press the other day that “That’s where most of the oil industry activity has been.” Commission engineer Jon Patch said “They’ve been using local supplies that then pipe the water to nearby wells that are ready to be fracked.”
Using that water illegally, until now, it should be pointed out. There’s still the issue of those 600 permits that were granted by Patch and his staff, illegally, over the past ten years or so. It appears that nothing is going to be done about that. As far as the state is concerned, that’s water under the bridge, so to speak.