This week at progressive state blogs is designed specifically to focus attention on the writing and analysis of people focused on their home turf. Here is the July 8 edition. Inclusion of a blog post does not necessarily indicate my agreement with—or endorsement of—its contents. |
At Montana Cowgirl Blog, Montana Hat writes a parody—Intercepted Correspondence from Senator Daines:
———————-Undisclosed Location in Washington DC——————-
My dearest DC Special Interests,
The thought of leaving you breaks my heart.
The thought of leaving your warm, deep pocketed, embrace sends chills down my spine.
I can’t fathom a night away from you.
Your lobbyist filled parties, the finger foods that dance about on the trays carried by minimum waged waiters, and our secret health care bill that will leave thousands of Montanans uninsured–the prospect of spending even one day without all of that is too much for me.
I know you’ve heard the stories of this wretched time called “recess”. The legends you’ve heard are true. As an elected official, I am expected to go back to the unwashed masses of my home state and receive feedback from the folks who elected me.
Oh the horror!
But don’t you fret my love, for I have a plan to keep us together forever. [...]
At Plunderbund of Ohio, John Michael Spinelli writes—Taylor Made To Lose: Lt. Gov Will Try To Run As Reformer, Saddled By Kasich Record:
Gov. John Kasich’s governing sidekick for the last six and one-half years, Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, is hoping her co-stewardship helps her as she plunges into the Republican race for governor in 2018 with an endorsement in hand from Ohio’s term-limited, lame-duck leader.
Taylor runs the state insurance department in addition to her duties as lieutenant governor and was the go-to official Kasich put in charge of the administration’s push against regulations that team Kasich-Taylor say keep Ohio from running “at the speed of business.”
Taylor, 51, joins three other GOP governorship hopefuls: Attorney General Mike DeWine, Secretary of State Jon Husted and U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci. At her announcement event in Cleveland on Friday, she set her campaign’s course based on what she claims are Kasich’s bigger accomplishments, key among them are righting the economy, reducing regulations, fighting opioid addiction, and cutting taxes.
“I am eager for this campaign to begin, to challenge the status quo,” Taylor said, according to one published report from the Columbus Dispatch.
If she’s running against the status quo in Columbus, she’s running against herself. Renacci, who in Trump style has cranked up the status quo to mean running against corruption in Columbus, will have many targets to shoot at that Taylor is associated with in one way or another.
At Capital & Main of California, Judith Lewis Mernit writes—Cap-and-Trade Showdown: Will Big Oil Have the Last Word?
To environmental justice advocates, the [sprawling Chevron] Richmond refinery symbolizes all that’s wrong with California’s climate regulation. Cap-and-trade, the state’s carbon trading scheme and the primary tool in its climate fight, has allowed Chevron to meet its emissions cap even as it pollutes as usual, by purchasing unused pollution credits from other entities covered under the same law. As a consequence, Chevron’s greenhouse gas emissions have hardly budged in the last five years. Nor has local air quality improved much. In some ways, it’s even worse.
Local community groups, however, have managed to exert leverage over Chevron to clean up its operations. This past spring, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District agreed to cap greenhouse gas emissions at the refinery at a level that would make it difficult, if not impossible, for Chevron to process hyper-polluting tar-sands oil in Richmond. The agreement was the culmination of five years of successful activism by the Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN), Communities for a Better Environment and other environmental justice organizations. The groups have been working toward a similar win on particulate matter and other air contaminants.
But some activists worry those efforts could stall if a proposal floated by Governor Jerry Brown and legislative leaders to extend cap-and-trade clears the legislature. One of the two measures in the package, Assembly Bill 389, contains what environmental justice advocates refer to as a “preemption provision,” a clause prohibiting local air districts from regulating carbon dioxide emissions at state-regulated facilities.
At Bleeding Heartland of Iowa, desmoinesdem writes—Reynolds staff won't provide Branstad administration records to Democratic lawmaker:
Governor Kim Reynolds has said many times that she was a “full partner” in former Governor Terry Branstad’s administration. Other well-placed Iowa Republicans likewise have attested to Reynolds’ role as a “full partner” or “active partner” in running state government during nearly six and a half years as lieutenant governor.
But when Democratic State Representative Chuck Isenhart recently requested communications with the governor’s office pertaining to the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University, staff for Reynolds informed him that “our office cannot reach back and review and release records from the previous administration.”
In a surprise move near the end of the legislative session, Republican lawmakers zeroed out or redirected all funding from the Leopold Center and approved language removing the 30-year-old research institution from Iowa Code. Branstad signed into law the provisions taking away the center’s funding, vetoing only sections of the bill that would have eliminated any mention of the center in the code (which could have jeopardized some bequests to Iowa State University). Staff for the governor later told me that almost all of the more than 1,400 people who called or e-mailed Branstad’s office regarding this issue supported maintaining the Leopold Center and its funding.
As the ranking member on the House Environmental Protection Committee, Isenhart took an interest in the ambush that left a nationally-renowned institution unable to carry out its mission of supporting research related to environmentally-friendly farming methods and local food networks.
At Blue Delaware, Pandora writes—Did Pence Have Meetings With Russians?
I said this months ago – Mike “I led the Trump transition team” Pence is in this Russia scandal up to his eyeballs.
Jonathan MartinVerified account @jmartNYT Now Pence folks won’t rule out Pence met w Russians, after all those denials from Pence himself ? (via @playbookplushttps://mobile.twitter.com/i/web/status/885316072471121921 …
Holly O’Reilly @AynRandPaulRyan Mike Pence’s spks refuses to answer whether Pence had meetings with anyone from Russia. Three times he was asked. Three times he refused.
Horrible job at trying to distance Pence from this mess. After that video, I’m expecting Pence to be the next one shown to have met with the Russians, because – come on! – saying whether, or not, Pence met with anyone from Russia is only difficult if he met with the Russians.
As this scandal moves on I’m beginning to wonder if more than Team Trump met with Russians. Yeah, I’m looking at you, House and Senate Republicans. For a while I thought they were ignoring this in an attempt to implement their agenda, now I’m not so sure.
At MN Progressive Project, Dan Burns writes—Regarding that poll about Republicans and college:
This has been causing a stir online, as it should.
While a majority of the public (55%) continues to say that colleges and universities have a positive effect on the way things are going in the country these days, Republicans express increasingly negative views.
A majority of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (58%) now say that colleges and universities have a negative effect on the country, up from 45% last year. By contrast, most Democrats and Democratic leaners (72%) say colleges and universities have a positive effect, which is little changed from recent years.
(Pew Research)
That’s quite a swing. Some of it may have to do with Republicans who went to college now being unwilling to identify themselves as such, or even as “Republican-leaning,” due to entirely legitimate embarrassment, even shame, over being connected in any way with the pitiful, disastrous buffoon currently in the White House. (Though most will unfortunately continue to vote Republican, unless things get really awful.) Response bias is real, though its significance varies.
As for most of it, though, how much is because colleges purportedly “indoctrinate” atheism, feminism, socialism, and so on? And how much because they believe those who went to the fancy colleges are getting all the money? Especially when the college guy boss down at work is always full of sincere, regretful reasons why, though you’re a good worker and they really like you, they’ve only been able to come up with a total of $0.60/hr in raises, total, for the last four years?
I don’t claim to know the answer to that.
At Left Wing Cracker of Tennessee, Steve Steffens writes—On the issues with the Democratic Party at the national level:
Let's get a few things out of the way, shall we? Yes, I voted for Hillary Clinton in the general despite the fact that she had no chance of winning Tennessee. Do I think Bernie Sanders would have had a better chance of winning the state in the general? No. He had problems reaching the base in Tennessee, and Clinton's decades-long connections with the state party's movers and shakers gave him no chance. He still had my primary vote because I agreed with him on what was most important for the country, and that is what primaries are for, people.
Next, neither Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders will ever be elected President of the United States, nor should either of them run again. We need younger candidates (at ALL levels, frankly) to carry their messages. To be blunt, we need a combination of their messages; he is correct on economics and she is correct on social issues, and we cannot win without BOTH.
Yes, I wish Bernie would become a full Democrat, because you cannot reform ANYTHING from the outside, and the DNC, the DCCC and the DSCC desperately need reform. The DC consultants, who make their money from ad buys, have provided nothing but losing advice to candidates for the last decade, or since President Obama made the grievous error of dismantling the foundation Howard Dean had made and replacing it with Obama for America. This has crippled the Democratic Party throughout the country, especially state parties. While Tom Perez had a great record as Labor Secretary and has stood for great things then and before then, no one expected him to clean out the cesspool that is the DNC. And, sadly, he really has not.
To those of you who want the Sanders people to go away, you had better be careful what you wish for. If they leave and form a 3rd party, it will ensure decades of GOP rule. We CANNOT regain control of the House, Senate, and state legislatures without bringing them into the fold. And we can't bring them into the fold if we do not listen to what they have to say and then IMPLEMENT it. [...]
At The Mudflats of Alaska, Shannyn Moore writes—Alaska Family Action’s Obsession with Where People Pee:
My dear Alaskans, there are only two Sundays left. This isn’t a doomsday prediction. There will be Sundays to come – months of them, but I found out from email this week that there are only two Sundays left to encourage my preacher or board of elders to mention from the pulpit to sign a petition in the church foyer to get something on the ballot. Oh, darlings, the pressure is on. I feel it.
The email stated, “This is a wonderful opportunity for the church to not only participate, as it should, in shaping public policy in a manner that is consistent with God’s created order. ” Praise the Lord and pass the punch! Finally! Churches are realizing they have a place in creating laws just like the separation of church and state forgot to mention! What could they possibly find in the Holy Scripture to weigh in on in such a poignant way as collecting thousands of signatures for a ballot initiative? I know you’re probably thinking the same thing I was even if your favorite book of the Bible isn’t Matthew like it is mine.
Maybe something from the Sermon on the Mount. Oh, glory could it be something about the peacemakers because they haven’t really been focused on a lot. Perhaps it’s a ballot initiative saying health care is important and we should protect and expand affordable access to doctors, not deplete it. That would really be appropriate since so many of the miracles of Christ were to heal people. Could there be an outside chance that we’d be voting on a city wide excess food collection or mandatory gardens for the hungry? Jesus wasn’t vague about our call to feed the poor. He was specific and even worked up a lunch for 5,000 with a few fishes and a couple of loaves. There wasn’t even an admonishment of, “And next time you come hear the Messiah speak you’ll think and pack a lunch.” What a great guy. I mean it. That wasn’t sarcastic. I have such a high opinion of the teachings and life of Jesus I often expect more from folks who say they work for him.
Sorry. All those miracles of Jesus, none of which were to make any gay people straight, have been lost on the posers over at Alaska Family Action. When they look around the city of Anchorage they don’t see the problems of homelessness, addiction, domestic violence, potholes or panhandlers. Their priority is where people go potty. This is ballot bait to try to get people frothed up about their issue to show up and vote for conservatives running for office.
At R.I. Future.org, Capri Catanzaro writes—Progressive Dems to Speaker Mattiello: get back to work:
Speaker Nicholas Mattiello is drawing a lot of attention to himself, and he is not handling it well. Instead of taking responsibility for shutting down the House before a budget was passed, he is responding to criticism by finger pointing, complaining, and trying to shift the spotlight and the blame onto anyone but himself.
Speaker Mattiello’s decision to close the House is solely his, yet he argues that Senate President Dominick Ruggerio’s budget amendment breached a contract between the two—a handshake which is still unconfirmed. Perhaps, Mattiello should review the Rhode Island Constitution, the Rhode Island General Laws, and the rules by which the legislature functions, and show us where handshakes are discussed. Our reading of the law suggests that the Senate has a right and a duty to review and amend the budget where it deems necessary or appropriate for the public interest. Is Mattiello suggesting that only the President and Senate Finance committee have the right to amend the budget, rather than individual senators?
Mattiello repeatedly insists that it is accepted practice for Rhode Island legislators to make deals behind closed doors rather than in full public view, but it will not get him off the hook. People with integrity do not make excuses, and our Speaker must recognize that the broken assurances of one or two state senators do not relieve him of the duties of his office and his responsibilities to the state. But as his recent actions clearly demonstrate, Mattiello is not an honorable man. Rather than doing his job, he ordered everyone home so he could avoid negotiations with the Senate, and the possibility of losing them. Now, instead of putting aside his personal qualms and working toward a solution, he rejects any and all attempts at compromise and insists that the issue is closed.
At Blue Virginia, lowkell writes—Corey Stewart Vows to Run “Vicious” Campaign, Says “the Era of the Kinder, Gentler Republican is Over”:
Well, I’ll give Corey Stewart one thing: he’s honest and unabashed about his viciousness, and that of his party. Hey, it’s better than pretending these guys are sane, civil, reasonable, or whatever. As the Democratic Party of Virginia puts it, “Virginians don’t want the extreme nastiness that @CoreyStewartVA is vowing. We want someone who fights for all Virginians. That’s @timkaine.” [...]
Among other things Stewart said he was “disgusted” when George HW Bush used the phrase “a kinder and gentler nation.” He vowed to run “the most vicious, ruthless campaign to dethrone Tim Kaine from the United States Senate,” to support Donald Trump 100% in his quest to “Make America Great Again.” According to Stewart, Democrats have been “fighting a UFC fight” while Republicans have been “playing by Marquis of Queensbury rules for too long.” Charming, eh?
lowkell also has posted a 50-item list of the “neo-Confederate, xenophobe and bully” Stewart’s not-so-greatest moments. And that, apparently, is the short list.
At Juanita Jean’s of Texas, Juanita Jean Herownself writes—Quick! Somebody give Jeff Sessions Some Drugs:
Jeff Sessions is real worried about drugs. The damn government is crashing down around him and Nero Sessions is real worried about pot.
When Willie Nelson was told that Jeff Sessions said that pot is “only slightly less awful than heroine,” Willie philosophied (yeah, I made up that word. It’ a good word. Willie is a philosopher.) …
I wonder if he’s tried both of them. I don’t think you can really make a statement like that unless you tried it all. So I’d like to suggest to Jeff to try it and then let me know later if he thinks he’s still telling the truth!
Yesterday, Sessions made the argument that all we need to do is bring back the DARE program in schools because it “was working” when we had it. The best response?
Radel was caught buying cocaine in 2014 from an undercover agent in Washington and spent nearly a month in a rehabilitation facility.
At Raging Chicken Press of Pennsylvania, writes—Why Does Being Laid Off Feel Like I’ve Done Something Wrong?
As of June 22, 2017, I’ve officially been laid off from my job.
What I’m quickly realizing is that being laid off is a feeling entirely of its own. Unlike the choice to leave or quit a job, your job is taken away from you with little to no notice.
I feel powerless. I feel like a failure. I can’t help but view this entire process as a personal attack on who I am, my work ethic, and my character. I’m angry, scared, and—probably worst of all—uncertain.
While working the final two weeks at my job, I couldn’t help but think I had done something wrong to deserve this. Was I not efficient enough? I thought to myself. Did I not meet their expectations?
But the answer is I was completely efficient. I did meet their expectations, AND I exceeded them. Yet, here I am still being laid off. Here I am worrying about how I’m going to pay my bills next month. I’m left wondering, When will my next job offer be? What will this gap in employment do to my resume? Does being laid off make me look bad to other employers? How can I survive on unemployment when my regular paychecks were hardly enough to get by? How am I going to do this? How did my family get through this? How have other people gotten through this? [...]