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 June 23 edition. Inclusion of a blog post does not necessarily indicate my agreement with—or endorsement of—its contents.
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At Montana Cowgirl, Montana Hat writes—Poll Shows Kathleen Williams Leading Greg Gianforte:
A polling firm came out with numbers showing Bozeman’s Kathleen Williams leading the Congressman from the Bozeman penal division, Greg Gianforte.
Gravis Marketing, a polling firm that sports a C+ from the polling report card website 538, put out numbers showing Williams with a healthy lead over Gianforte.
This is the first public polling of the race but it shows that Montanans are not happy with their Congressman. Maybe it is time to revisit the old adage “no such thing as bad publicity.”
Maybe it was the assault on a reporter, on our public lands, or on our healthcare, but it seems Montana might be ready to send Gianforte home.
Williams will have to work her butt off, but she’s got to be happy about these numbers. And she’s shown through her primary victory she’s not afraid to do the work.
This poll will also serve as a wake-up call for Gianforte. He’s sitting on over a million dollars of other people’s money as well as his own large fortune. Don’t be surprised to see Gianforte break open the piñata and spend a lot of money in the coming months to try and drive down Williams’ momentum.
At Eclectablog of Michigan, Ammara Ansari writes—To my fellow Muslims: 2018 is our wake up call:
The Michigan primaries are looming close and I have one request for my fellow Muslims: Please vote! With all that’s on the line and with all that is happening in our country today, the last thing we need is for our community to sit out another election because we feel that our vote doesn’t matter. Hillary Clinton lost the presidential election by 10,704 votes and the Muslim community could have done more to ensure that Trump didn’t become our president.
There are studies that indicate that Muslims are about as likely to vote as anybody else when they are registered to vote, but the overall national turnout rate was below any other marginalized groups in 2016 at 61%. That signals to me that our candidates and elected officials aren’t doing enough to actively engage with Muslims because they believe they don’t have to rely on their votes to win. More importantly, it tells me that my own community, who I want to see represented in Michigan and across the country, isn’t willing to get off the couch and vote.
Instead of putting ALL the blame on the Democratic Party for not performing outreach, the Muslim community needs to take some responsibility for the fact that many of them understand the concept of voting but do not take the extra step to storm the polls. The Democratic Party has a long way to go before Muslims are fully included, but I’m of the belief that we also have the power to express ourselves through our vote and can stop bigots from getting into office, Republican or otherwise.
I was a field organizer during the 2016 elections, and saw this lack of involvement first-hand.
At Blue Delaware, Delaware Dem writes—Cowards in the House Democratic Caucus Strike Again:
[...] Why are all these cowards cowards, you ask? Because on HB110, they did not vote. I prefer a no vote to a not vote. A not vote is the ultimate cynical disdain of the voter. You are saying you want a bill either to pass or defeated, but you are too scared to be held responsible for your vote either way. You are afraid to take a stand. You are afraid to piss off one constituent or another.
These legislators are elected to make these choices for us. Their first job as a legislator is to take a stand on a bill and vote it up or down. If they cannot do their first job, then they must be fired. Full stop. Schwartzkopf, Bolden, Carson, and Jaques should all be gone from the General Assembly. Pete Schwartzkopf will do this entire state a favor by never driving north on Route 1 again from Rehoboth. We’d all be better off.
So the reason for this screed is the House’s defeat of HB110 last night. HB110 would have legalized the recreational use of Marijuana. The vote tally was 21-15-5. Only one Republican voted yes, and I thank and congratulate Jeff Spiegelman for that. No Democrat voted no, but that hardly matters when 5 Democrats were cowards and sank the bill. If they had all voted yes, the bill would have passed with a 3/5ths majority. The bill needed 25 votes to pass because it imposes new taxes and fees on marijuana. It would have had 26 if those 5 Democrats had any principles or courage. I condemn them all. It matters not whatever else they have done in their careers. They are cowards and they should be gone.
At Juanita Jean’s of Texas, Juanita Jean Herownself writes—Jammie Boy Still Jammin’:
Okay, so disgraced Congressvarmint Blake Farenthold, the closest thing to Jabba the Hutt we have in Texas, is in a spittin’ match with Governor Greg Abbott, the closet thing to Darth Vader we have in Texas.
But, instead of it being monumental, it’s like hair pulling in the second grade.
Darth Greg says to Blake the Hutt, “You should have to pay for the special election we’re having to have to replace you for the three months left in your term.”
Blake the Hutt says back, “No, you twit, you called this special election. We didn’t have to have it. You made that choice so you pay for it.”
Meanwhile, the good folks on Alderaan, who were devastated by Hurricane Harvey and have zero money left in their coffers, are stuck with having to pay the $157,000 this special election will cost.
Additionally, Darth Greg wanted to have this special election so a Republican would win and get to run as an incumbent. The Darth isn’t concerned with good government; he’s concerned with sounding like James Earl Jones.
So, there ya got it. They are both ten maturity points away from being socially acceptable in second grade. That’s how Republicans fight.
And, bygawd, Jabba the Farenthold is not going to pay back the $84,000 he owes us for sexually harassing his clerk because his lawyer said not to. Oh yeah, Buddy? Well, my hairdresser said I should kick your ass back to Washington, DeeCee, and dump you in the Potomac River.
At Blue Jersey, Stephen Danley writes—What small ‘d’ democracy in Camden County looks like and why it matters:
I had a conversation with an activist this week who told me that she was conflicted. She’d been doing local and issue-based activism for a decade. Now, she told me, it feels small. There are so many other, bigger things.
I thanked her for her activism — because I increasingly think it’s important to do both. There is danger that we’ll lose sight of local participation, local policy, and local political struggles as energy and attention are sucked up the the vortex of Washington. The converse is also true, that we can fight the big battles while also fighting the small, local ones.
In that spirit, I want to pick up on a story I wrote last week about the resignation of my (now former) assemblyman Arthur Barclay. He resigned after a domestic assault charge that involved punching his girlfriend.
This isn’t the first time that LD5 has had controversy. Angel Fuentes, another Camden County insider, was accused of inappropriately using state resources to support an advocacy event for a group her founded. But that wasn’t the reason he ended up vacating the seat, he allegedly left because his position at a politically-connected hospital kept him from voting on key legislation to support the politically connected hospital. In other words, it’s ok for a legislator supported by Camden County Democrats to inappropriately use state resources for political purposes. The line is being unable to support pet-legislation for a politically connected hospital.
Just like the line for Arthur Barclay resigning wasn’t when he had to be physically separated by police from a community activist at a neighborhood meeting, or when the county was informed of his dispute with his girlfriend — both of which Camden County Democrats had information on. The resignation only happened after it became public, embarrassing the party — which still covered for Barclay saying that he was leaving for “health” reasons.
At ShowMeProgress of Missouri, Michael Bersin writes—A script, in one short act:
Today at the Missouri Ethics Commission:
C180291 06/29/2018 Missourians For Freedom To Work Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry 428 East Capitol Avenue Jefferson City MO 65101 6/29/2018 $10,716.97
A while back:
C180291 05/31/2018 Missourians For Freedom To Work Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry PO Box 149 Jefferson City MO 65102 5/31/2018 $100,000.00
The script:
Caller: “Hello.”
Chamber of Commerce: “Hello.”
Caller: “I’d like to become a member and receive your member benefits for free.”
Chamber of Commerce: “No, that wouldn’t be fair to our paying members.”
Caller: “That’s exactly how ‘Right to Work’ works.”
At Blogging for Arizona, AZ Blue Meanie writes—Putin schedules Trump’s annual employee review:
Vladimir Putin has scheduled the annual employee review for his useful idiot, Donald Trump, and thrown in a vacation in Helsinki as a bonus. I’ll bet Trump get’s a glowing review from his boss, and gets a recommendation for a pay raise. He may even get that Trump Tower Moscow he has always dreamed of.
The New York Times reports, Trump and Putin Choose Helsinki for First Summit Meeting:
President Trump plans to meet President Vladimir V. Putin in Helsinki, Finland, on July 16 for one-on-one talks, the White House said on Thursday, a politically delicate meeting that will take place while the special counsel continues to investigate the Trump campaign’s possible ties to Russia. [...]
“The two leaders will discuss relations between the United States and Russia, and a range of national security issues,” the White House said in a statement.
How about not fucking with our 2018 midterm elections, is that a “national security” item on the agenda? Or is Putin going to manufacture another GOP win, so “it’s all good.”
At Blogging Blue of Wisconsin, Ed Heinzelman writes—We Need 200,000 Construction Workers!
Earlier this month I asked where Governor Scott Walker was on tariffs that were having a negative impact on businesses in that great state Open for Business Wisconsin: Where Is Governor Walker On Tariffs And International Trade? There were several articles linked and quoted in my blog post, but one in particular bears calling out now: Rising costs for labor, lots and lumber pushing up new-home prices, industry pros say.
And one quote in particular:
“The industry’s had a worker shortage for the last four years or so,” Dietz (Robert Dietz: chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders) said. “We’re probably short about 200,000 construction workers.”
So where do we get 200,000 workers…worker that since we don’t have them…will likely need some training. So since we are training anyway:
How about the 53206 zip code in Milwaukee and other similar neighborhoods throughout the US? The unemployment rate is always quoted as being higher among African Americans than the stated rates for the general population. Train them…hire them…and keep in mind that you might have to provide some transportation as well. But there’s no reason you can’t find willing employees. [...]
The real deal is we don’t have enough labor in this country to keep growing.
At Colorado Pols, a staffer writes—Sell Out Your County and Lose Your Seat:
One of the more interesting Primary Election stories that you might have missed happened in Yuma, Colorado, where Sheriff Chad Day lost his job in a Republican Primary to challenger Todd Combs.
Day will be out of a job just months after news reports detailing agreements to “deputize” a mega-rich GOP donor and his friends who were looking to take advantage of a loophole in the law that would allow them to carry a concealed weapon wherever they went. In exchange for addingbillionaire hedge-fund manager Robert Mercer and pals — none of whom live anywhere near Yuma, Colorado — to a list of volunteer “posse” members with the Sheriff’s Department, Day received a shiny new Dodge Ram 1500 Limited pickup truck for his official use, as well as $20,000 worth of tasers and an apparent promise to get more money for new handguns. Day defended this decision by making absurd claims that Mercer and his buddies were an important part of some sort of undercover police operation against a Mexican drug cartel (we couldn’t possibly make this up).
Yuma County voters were apparently not pleased that Day was selling out their community for gifts from out-of-state billionaires, and they promptly voted him out of office. Day is also the current President of the Colorado County Sheriffs’ Association, which doesn’t reflect well on the rest of the state — fortunately he won’t be holding that title much longer.
At Blog for Iowa, Dave Bradley writes—Some Very Relevant Quotes From Iowan Henry A. Wallace:
For those who are unfamiliar, Henry Wallace was an Iowan who was FDR’s vice-president from 1941 to 1945. While Wallace was best known as Vice-President, he is also the person who started the Hi-Bred Corn Company. Wallace was to the left of many in the Democratic Party of his day. Wikipedia has a good biography of Wallace.
During his lifetime Wallace became somewhat of a pariah as the McCarthy era branded him as sympathetic to Communists. Yet many of the things that Wallace stood for such as universal government health-insurance and the abolition of segregation (or today played out in ending racism) have become causes that most Dems are fighting for.
For today we will post some quotes from Mr. Wallace that seem to be very relevant in today’s political world:
“The obvious types of American fascists are dealt with on the air and in the press. These demagogues and stooges are fronts for others. Dangerous as these people may be, they are not so significant as thousands of other people who have never been mentioned.
The American fascist would prefer not to use violence. His method is to poison the channels of public information.
With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power.”
At Dick and Sharon’s LA Progressive, Jasmyne Cannick writes—L.A. County’s Bail Reform Proposal Lacks Actual Reform:
JusticeLA, a grassroots coalition of organizations fighting the $3.5 billion expansion to L.A. County’s jail system, today released a critical report describing in detail a continued institutional commitment by the County of Los Angeles to attempt to triage a flawed money bail system rather than address the profound structural inequalities of the current pretrial system including the racial and economic disparities in the criminal justice system. Authored by Ivette Alé, Statewide Coordinator for Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB) and Lex Steppling, Lead National Organizer for JustLeadershipUSA , the report is in response to the L.A. County Office of County Counsel’s reportcommissioned by the Board of Supervisors regarding their 2017 Bail Reform motion authored by Supervisors Sheila Kuehl and Hilda Solis.
A recent study by UCLA’s Million Dollar Hoods Project reveals that $19.4 billion of money bail was levied on persons arrested by the LAPD between 2012 and 2016. Of the $198.8 million paid in nonrefundable bail bond deposits to bail bond agents, Latinos paid $92.1 million, African Americans paid $40.7 million, and Whites paid $37.9 million. But most money bail was never paid, leaving 223,366 people in LAPD custody before arraignment during that four year span.
The study also found that Black and Latinx women disproportionately paid the nonrefundable bail bond deposits. Pretrial incarceration compromises the public safety of everyone and shifts the financial burden to vulnerable communities, but the answer is not an expansion of community surveillance. We will not accept a bail system or “reform” that continues to devastate lives while furthering home jailing through restrictive pretrial release conditions.
Grassroots efforts to overhaul bail systems and reduce the number of people who are incarcerated exist from coast to coast and have facilitated a moment of inevitable change. It forces us to ask the L.A. County Board of Supervisors and Los Angeles County Counsel–the Board of Supervisors legal advocates and advisers–what are the real goals of the “bail reforms” on the table?
At FortBoise of Idaho, Tom van Alten writes —Supreme Court, Next Generation:
In a week of bad decisions, the one from Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy to call it a day is perhaps the most disheartening, even as it seems the quintessential embodiment of this moment in US politics. He's indisputably the man in the ideological middle among the current members of the Court. [...]
I remember the loss to the Court when [Sandra Day] O'Connor retired, too. I can't fault either one for retiring early (i.e., while still alive—Kennedy is only 81), but their work is, and will be missed. Granted, not all of their work: Kennedy voted with—or made—the majority in Bush v. Gore, Citizens United, gutting the Voting Rights Act with Shelby Co. v. Holder, rewriting the 2nd Amendment with Heller, and this week's parting shots included "a pair of decisions ducking the question of whether the Constitution prohibits partisan gerrymandering."
Kennedy's departure will make the Court more polarized, and if the current president maintains his position in spite of the growing dossier of his high crimes and misdemeanors (or his manservant-in-waiting takes over), and gets to name a replacement, the Court will tilt further to the judicial activism of the extreme right. Never mind the occasional genuflection and crossing themselves with the holy water of "originalism."
And it will do so thanks to the illegitimate and despicable manipulation of the Senate Majority Leader, obstructing Merrick Garland's nomination until an unpopularly elected Republican could sidle into office and appoint the likes of Neil Gorsuch. What we're now calling it Mitch McConnell's "rule" that Democratic presidents shouldn't get to appoint Supreme Court Justices in an election year. Such as... 2018? But no, the rule doesn't apply this year. It's only for Democratic presidents, remember.
When you decide to violate your oath to uphold and defend the Constitution, foolish expectations of consistency are no obstacle.