Each Saturday, this feature links and excerpts commentary and reporting from a dozen progressive state blogs in the past seven days around the nation. The idea is not only to spotlight specific issues but to give readers who may not know their state has a progressive blog or two a place to become regularly informed about doings in their back yard. Just as states with progressive lawmakers and activists have themselves initiated innovative programs over a wide range of issues, state-based progressive blogs have helped provide us with a point of view and inside information we don't get from the traditional media. Those blogs deserve a larger audience. Let me know via comments or Kosmail if you have a favorite you think I should know about. Standard disclaimer: Inclusion of a diary does not necessarily indicate my agreement or endorsement of its contents. |
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Eclectablog,
Eclectablog writes
There are two sides to this story:
Earlier this month, the Detroit News printed an op-ed from an anti-union corporatist group known as the Franklin Center. This Koch brothers’ funded group is nothing more than a propaganda arm of the corporate-funded effort to destroy unions, stop the regulation of corporations whenever possible, and to pass laws that benefit corporate profits at every level, often at the expense of workers, the environment, and the health and safety of the general public. My response to their odious op-ed, which tried to rewrite the history of labor in Michigan and to demonize the Netroots Nation conference in the same breath is HERE.
I reached out to the Detroit News and asked if they would entertain an counterpoint op-ed from a member of the Host Committee for NN14 about the reality of the Netroots Nation conference, why Detroit is a natural choice for a location, and also why it’s good thing for Detroit that the 3,000+ person conference will be in the Motor City next summer.
They graciously allowed me to respond. The piece ran yesterday.
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Louisiana Voices,
tomaswell writes
Jindal reveals only polls that favor him but disregards fact that polling company OnMessage is ‘OnPayroll’ for $1.2M:
There are only two ways to describe political polls if you are a candidate who turns up in one.
If the poll favors the candidate, it’s a trend—sometimes a significant trend. If not, the numbers are meaningless.
But for pure spin, there seems to be no one who can top Gov. Bobby Jindal and his treatment of the latest numbers is merely another illustration of his ability to taint, distort, twist and skew data to his political advantage.
Harsh words? Of course, but sadly accurate. We have seen over and over his willingness to tout to the point of ad nauseam the latest survey that shows Louisiana with a favorable business climate or some such statistic that, taken as a stand-alone point, would favor his administration. Disregarded, ignored and unpublicized are other, more credible studies that show Louisiana wallowing in obesity and poverty, its citizens existing in an environmental morass and in a state with one of the highest percentages of residents without health insurance.
You can find more links to, and excerpts from, progressive state blogs below the fold.
At My Left Nutmeg, ctblogger writes Special Master Steven Adamowski: Busy exceeding his authority…at taxpayer expense:
As a result of inadequate state funding, Windham's public schools are among the most underfunded in Connecticut and Windham taxpayers are consistently being told they need to put in more money to keep their schools afloat.
Windham's lack of resources was one of the reasons the Connecticut General Assembly went along with Governor Malloy's proposal to install a "Special Master" to oversee Windham's Schools.
When passing the Special Master Law, the Legislature also allocated an additional $1 million per year to help fund Windham's schools.
Of course Steven Adamowski's $225,000 salary came out of those funds, as did his tens of thousands in employee benefits and a secretary housed in Hartford.
Since then, Windham's parents, teachers and taxpayers have learned, the hard way, that Adamowski somehow thinks that money is his to dish out, rather than belonging to Windham and its schools.
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ColoradoPols,
Jason Salzman writes
On radio, Coffman says “radical environmentalists” control a lot of climate-change research grants:
Responding for the first time to a League of Conservation Voters' ad portraying him as an "Ostrich," with his head in the sand, for denying that humans are contributing to global warming, Rep. Mike Coffman told Denver radio-host Mike Rosen Wed. that "a lot" of the research grants on global warming won't go to scientists unless they submit to the "orthodoxy of climate change by the radical environmentalists."
Coffman: And one thing that I certainly read from viable sources is that a lot of the research that’s being done—when you put your application in to get a grant, if you don’t submit to the, you know, orthodoxy of climate change by the radical environmentalists, you’re not going to get a grant.
Rosen didn't ask Coffman for the specific "viable sources" Coffman read on climate-change research grants, or whether Coffman thinks the National Science Foundation, for example, a major provider of climate-change research, is in the pocket of radical environmentalists.
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Blog for Iowa,
Paul Deaton writes
Iowa’s Flight to No Preference:
Chad Brown of Ankeny, “the co-chairman of the Polk County Republican Party, has resigned and changed his party registration to independent, saying the GOP has become too conservative and is condoning “hateful” rhetoric,” reported Kathie Obradovich, political columnist for the Des Moines Register, on Tuesday. The flight of voters to no preference (a.k.a. independent) is not new in Iowa, although Brown may be the first GOP party chair to switch in a while, and it’s news.
The flight to no preference is significant. Here are the Secretary of State’s August active voter registration numbers by congressional district. Iowa Total: Democratic: 617,375; Republican: 617,141; No Preference: 706,195.
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MN Progressive Project,
Dan Burns writes
Most women who’ve had abortions call it the right decision:
You’ve probably heard, from a certain faction not given to great regard for the truth, that any woman who exercises her fundamental right to reproductive choice will be wracked with soul-destroying guilt and anguish for the rest of her life. That is mega-BS.
Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco have been taking part in a five-year study designed to measure the mental, emotional and economic effects that abortion regulations may have on women. Contrary to right-wing myths, the researchers found that ninety percent of women believe that they made the right decision, one week after the procedure. Even in cases where women described feeling some negative emotions such as guilt or sadness, eighty percent still said that it was the right choice for them. Additionally, the research revealed that women who did not have access to abortion services expressed more regret and negative emotion than women who chose to have the procedure.
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Blue Virginia,
lowkell writes
Mark Herring: Virginians Can't Trust Mark Obenshain on Ethics Reform:
Today, on the Kojo Nnamdi Show, Democratic candidate for Attorney General Mark Herring called out his opponent, Senator Mark Obenshain, for voting against a bill to ban gifts, and for remaining silent as the gifts scandal engulfs two of Virginia’s highest elected officials.
“I do want to take this opportunity to point out some very serious differences between Senator Obenshain and myself on these ethics issues,” Herring said. “When the story first broke, I was the one that called for an independent investigation back in April.
Senator Obenshain was silent. I’ve called on the Governor and the Attorney General to return and reimburse Star Scientific for those gifts. And I think even on this show a couple of weeks ago, Senator Obenshain was ambivalent and kind of waffled on that; later he said, 'well, that’s a political calculus.' It’s not a political calculus. It’s about doing what’s right.
"And when he had the opportunity to vote for a gift ban in the legislature, a gift ban on legislators, he voted against it. He voted to kill it.”
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West Virginia Blue,
Thomas J. writes
Del. Meshea Poore To Run for Congress.:
West Virginia House of Delegates Member, Meshea Poore announced on Twitter Tuesday that she is running for Congress in the 2nd Congressional District.
A young, educated, firebrand, Democratic lawmaker from the West Side, Meshea is exactly who we need fighting for West Virginians in Washington. Meshea has been a public servant all of her life and it just makes sense for her to want to serve in a higher capacity.
Meshea also launched a new website on Tuesday:
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R.I. Future.org,
John Berard writes
Fixing RI Part 3: What the green economy looks like:
So what will this new, green economy look like? I have my own vision, but part of Rhode Island’s problem thus far has been that, for the most part one single person or entity has been responsible for determining the direction of the state’s economic development (i.e video gaming was a bad choice). Instead, a network of stakeholders – entrepreneurs, economists, policymakers, land developers, labor officials, academic institutions, bankers and funders, nonprofits, and so on – must collaborate to create a viable solution.
All of these entities will need a seat at the table because cooperation from all will be required. One person or entity or government agency cannot helm an entire economy – it must be a collaborative process to be truly fruitful. State and local governments must put in place policies that spur green business growth. Capital needs to be made available from both public and private sources. Antiquated zoning ordinances must be reworked to allow for high-density, mixed-use developments.
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Cottonmouth of Mississippi,
Ryan Brown writes
Senate Conservative Coalition Opposes::
Senator Angela Hill, a member of the tea party Senate Conservative Coalition, took to Facebook to blast the book The Bluest Eye as having material that may be objectionable to high school juniors.
"This book is indeed on the Common Core's list of exemplar texts for the 11th grade. I would hardly call it 'exemplar'!! I looked it up, printed it, just in case they remove it in the future off the Common Core Appendix B list of Exemplar Texts for ELA. There is much more objectionable material as people finally review it after it has been already adopted. WE CAN UNADOPT IT. Help me do it."
Hill noted that the book was on a reading list proposed by Common Core education standards, standards that have been adopted by local education officials across the country. She went on to say that there is content in the book not suitable for the eyes of youngsters. On top of that, she goes as far as suggesting that this book not be allowed in schools. This backward mindset is reminiscent of cries for prohibiting books like The Catcher in the Rye in the 1960s.
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Cowgirl Blog,
Cowgirl writes
The Montana GOP Hypocrite of the Week Goes to:
….Montana Attorney General Tim Fox, who has worked himself into a tizzy because people will have helpers available if they want it to sign up for health insurance.
Fox is talking about the so-called “navigators” hired to help with the new health care law. He told the Billings Gazette that, “The federal government’s lackadaisical approach to handling Americans’ private information doesn’t pass muster under any standard, and in particular Montana standards.”
But Fox was utterly silent about the exact same kind of navigators helping people with the massive government health insurance program known as Medicare that have been operating in Montana and across the nation for 20 years. That’s a hypocrite for you.
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Blue Oklahoma,
peacearena writes
Oklahoma law restricting emergency contraception blocked in district court:
Today District Judge Lisa Davis blocked a law that made emergency contraception less accessible to women in Oklahoma.
Passed by the legislature with bipartisan support and signed by Governor Fallin this spring, HB 2226 made Oklahoma the only state with a law keeping the emergency contraceptive Plan B One-Step behind the counter. The law requires that all women show identification to a pharmacist and teens have a prescription in order to purchase the contraceptive.
Because of the judge's temporary restraining order, this law does not go into effect on Thursday as planned and the drug will be available for sale like all other over the counter drugs.