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, inside information and often an edgy voice that we just don't get from the traditional media. This week in 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.
Inclusion of a diary does not necessarily indicate my agreement or endorsement of its contents.
At Burnt Orange Report of Texas, Emily Cadik writes—Dozens of Texas Cities Arrest Black People at a Higher Rate than Ferguson:
Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, Missouri may have only been one case, but has shed light on the larger issue of discrimination among law enforcement. As part of the search for systemic bias in Ferguson, it has come to light that the city disproportionately arrests black people at a rate close to three times that of white people.
What is shocking about that ratio is how common it is. In a recent study, USA TODAY found 1,600 places where the disparity in arrest rates between blacks and whites is more pronounced than in Ferguson. Texas has over 50 of them.
Because we will never know how many crimes were actually committed by black people compared to white people in these cities, we cannot determine how much of the racial disparities can be attributed to discrimination. According to the study, “Those disparities are easier to measure than they are to explain. They could be a reflection of biased policing; they could just as easily be a byproduct of the vast economic and educational gaps that persist across much of the USA — factors closely tied to crime rates. In other words, experts said, the fact that such disparities exist does little to explain their causes.” But it certainly begs some serious questions and warrants some extensive soul-searching.
The USA TODAY study looked at the data police departments report to the FBI each year to determine the arrest rates. It’s important to note that the FBI does not track arrests of Hispanics, so many people counted as white for the purposes of these statistics are actually Hispanic.
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The Political Environment of Wisconsin,
James Rowen writes—
David Clarke makes Fox News show even dumber:
Hard to do, but the publicity-dependent Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke took time off his crime-fighting duties and managed to lower the bar on Fox News:
"When I heard the president call for calm after the rioting started, I questioned his sincerity because some of his political strategy of divide and conquer fuels this sort of racial animosity between people," Clarke said. "And so, I think when he called for calm after the rioting started, I believe it was done with a wink and a nod." |
The host, knowing stupid when he heard it, did not respond.
At Intelligent Discontent of Montana, Don Pogreba writes—Republicans Are Already Submitting Bad Bills to the Montana Legislature:
If you are curious about the priorities of the Republican Caucus at the Montana Legislature, there’s no better place to look than the Legislature’s list of bills requests for the 2015 session. A brief look shows that we’ll be fighting the Civil War one more time in the Montana Legislature, as the Republican Party tries to strip funding for anti-poverty programs and the schools, increase gun deaths, and turn Montana into Mississipi of the Rockies. [...]
Keith Regier (who famously compared pregnant women to cattle) is proposing on behalf of the Public Service Commission, to “eliminate the Montana Low-Income Telephone Assistance Program.” This proposal, no doubt inspired by right-wing hysteria about the so-called “Obama phone,” will increase phone rates for the elderly and other low-income Montanans.
Back in 2011, the PSC issued a release discussing the importance of the program, noting that it was critical for low-income Montanans to receive phone service. They wrote:
This week has been designated nationally as “Lifeline Awareness Week,” and the PSC is using the opportunity to promote the programs. “We hope that by making more people aware of Lifeline and Link-Up, we can ensure that more consumers can call life-saving services,” said Travis Kavulla, the PSC’s chairman. “The telephone is an important link and, for rural communities and the elderly, sometimes the only link to a social world of family and friends which needs to remain intact.” |
So why is the PSC proposing eliminating this program which helps thousands of low-income Montanans afford slightly cheaper phone bills? No doubt to protect the interests of the poor, beleaguered phone companies who have to pony up a whole $3.50 a month for the state portion of the program.
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BlueDaze of Texas,
TxSharon writes—
Some comments about the M3.3 earthquake in Irving:
I no longer report every frackquake that happens in this area. Who can keep up with them all? And unlike in the beginning when anyone suggesting a link to fracking and earthquakes was shouted down, now days it’s an accepted fact. But the M3.3 quake in Irving last night and a few responses on Twitter requires that I revisit the issue with some random facts and opinion.
We have known for 60 years that injection can induce earthquakes.
Injection is injection, folks. Fracking wastewater injection, injection for enhanced recovery and fracking itself, which is also injection, have all been linked to earthquakes. For fun, scientists used to inject fluid and try to predict the magnitude of earthquake the injection would cause. [...]
Homes in Texas are built to withstand wind not earthquakes. Small earthquakes that would not be noticed in California, can cause expensive damage to homes in Texas and most Texans do not have earthquake coverage. The media normally reports that no “significant” or “major” damage was caused by these frackquakes. Significant and major are relative terms as the people in the frackquake zones have learned. Families who have foundation damage, cracks in ceiling and walls, or doors and windows that no longer close, find the repairs are expensive and often out of reach. They are stuck with a big mortgage for a damaged home.
The industry’s response is the same whether your water is fouled, you air polluted or your home has structural damage: “You can’t prove we did it.”
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Blue Jersey,
deciminyan writes—
Christie Gambled with Your Money and Lost. Again.:
In a world where government revenue is shrinking and demands for services are increasing, state governments continue to look for ways to generate more income. One such method has been state lotteries, which have been around in their present form since the mid-'80s.
In spite of the fact that state lotteries are really a form of regressive taxation, they have become a popular and essential element of the state fiscal budgeting process. In New Jersey, they represent the fourth largest source of revenue. But that source has been decreasing over the past several years. [...]
Today, the Bloomberg News Service reported that instead of meeting its goal of a 7.4% increase in revenue, the privately-run New Jersey Lottery is facing a shortfall of 9.2%, or $24 million - money that is desperate needed by the state, whether it is for education, aid for the disabled, or one of Christie's unnecessary senatorial elections.
The failure of New Jersey's outsourcing of the lottery administration should come as no surprise. Hetty Rosenstein, Communications Director of CWA - the union that once represented state lottery workers - wrote about this on Blue Jersey back in 2012. An academic study of the New Jersey lottery outlines the shortfalls of privatization. Even as far back as 2010, on a post entitled "Privatization Done Right", I cautioned about privatizing certain aspects of public service that are better left to government. I also wrote about how outsourced services should be run, which is a lot different than how they are run today.
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Show Me Progress of Missouri,
WillyK writes—
The Ferguson Commission: Change agent or spinning wheels?:
A few days ago Governor Nixon announced the formation of a commission to "address the 'social and economic conditions' highlighted by protests after the killing of Michael Brown." While the names of the members of the commission have been made public, their formal charge hasn't been released so far as I have been able to determine. The only statement about what the Commission is supposed to achieve are the three goals that the Governor described when he stated his intention to form the Commission last month: "to study the underlying causes of the unrest, to tap into expertise needed to address those concerns, and to make specific recommendations for 'making the St. Louis region a stronger, fairer place for everyone to live.'"
You have to admit that as detailed above, the Commission has been given a very big task. I'm sure that the members of the Commission are all able and dedicated people and perhaps the Governor will give them a realistic, focused charge with a set of clearly delineated deliverables. And if he doesn't, perhaps they'll do it for themselves.
Certainly, there are lots of big issues that have to do with race, class and demographic change that need to be addressed in the St. Louis area. However, I'm not sure that sixteen folks working over six months to a year, as the Governor has described the timeframe, will provide the key to solving them. It did occur to me, though, that six months to a year is time enough to let emotions raised by the Ferguson killing cool somewhat while folks are told that their problems are being addressed somewhere off-stage.
The Commission allows the Governor to claim that he is serious about change while at the same time leaving him more immediately free to pander to those who want a punitive, authoritarian response to Ferguson unrest—which the Governor signaled he intended to provide when he prematurely called out the National Guard. Nixon, like County Executive Steve Stenger who felt the need to stand in tandem with a county prosecutor tainted by a perception of bias, knows who butters his bread—or thinks he does—and wants to make it clear to Missourians who seem to harbor unrealistic fears about the extent of the Ferguson protests that strict disciplinarian Daddy Jay won't take no back-talk from uppity protestors.
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Bluestem Prairie of Minnesota,
Sally Jo Sorensen writes—
West Central Tribune calls for resignation of Big Stone County GOP chair for anti-Muslim posts:
Part of the Forum Communications newspaper chain, Willmar's West Central Tribune is the only daily newspaper in west central Minnesota.
Via the op-ed page of sister paper, the Worthington Globe, the editors of the Tribune has called for the resignation of Jack Whitley as the Big Stone County Republican Party. In As others see it: Shame on bigoted county GOP leader, the editorial board wrote:
... Jack Whitley, who is the current chairman of the Big Stone County Republican Party, posted a series of inflammatory remarks on his personal Facebook page attacking Muslims.
He said Muslims in Minnesota are “terrorists” and “parasites” and suggested the best solution was to “frag ’em” all.
“(Muslims) do not belong in this country,” Whitley told the Star Tribune Thursday. “They cause terror and discontent …”
This and other views by this Republican Party leader in Big Stone County are horrible, narrow-minded and, simply, just plain bigoted. ...
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The editorial makes clear that state leaders of both major parties condemned the statements, then calls for Whitley's resignation.
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bluenc,
Posmo writes—
He blinded them with science:
North Carolina's poorly conceived Coal Ash Commission is off to a rocky start. To begin with, Guvnor Pat is suing Tillisberger because Pat doesn't get to appoint enough of his cronies to the commission.
And in case you missed it, the person appointed to fill "science seat" on the commission isn't all that strong on science.
Herbert Eckerlin is one of the commission members. He has been an engineering professor at NC State for nearly five decades. In the early 1980s, he built the Solar House, which later became the NC State Solar Center. He was also a treasurer at the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association.
...
But as a man of science, Eckerlin is outside of the mainstream on at least one topic: global warming.
When he presented at the North Carolina Energy Policy Council in September, he had this to say:
“Unfortunately global warming is not an issue that we can prove or disprove. |
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I wonder if Prof. Eckerlin agrees with other scientists that coal ash is not a good thing to have loose in the environment?
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The Prairie Blog of North Dakota,
Jim Fuglie writes—
The Best Thanksgiving Meal Ever:
My plan was to hunt pheasants way out in western North Dakota, and then spend Thanksgiving night camping at Cottonwood Campground in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The forecast was for daytime temperatures in the 50s and nighttime temperatures in the 20s. Perfect late fall camping weather, if a bit nippy when I crawled out of the sleeping bag in the morning, because I wasn’t hauling firewood and it was illegal to pick it up in the park.
It was to be my first Thanksgiving all alone in some time, and I had spurned a couple of invitations from family members to join them. I didn’t feel like trying to pretend to get into a festive or even remotely thankful mood. I had been a widower for almost two months, I suffered from anxiety attacks—a common symptom of grief, I had been told—and my best hours were when I was off by myself in a place with no walls or ceiling. I was not particularly morose, just subject to fleeting bouts of sadness which I could fend off reasonably well by being somewhere I really liked to be, generally by myself. It was my third escape to the Bad Lands in the two months since Rita had died, and I knew the trip would help me continue the process of healing.
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The Left Hook of California,
The Left Hook writes—
The Number of San Jose Cops Will Fall to Lowest in 30 Years:
The San Jose Police Department projects it’s staffing level of officers will be its lowest since 1985, according to a report the department prepared for City Council. At the rate offices are leaving, either through retirement, or because they can find a department elsewhere that will offer appropriate retirement and disability security, the force will dip below 1000 officers by the year 2017, for the first time in 30 years. Back then, there were 300,000 fewer people to protect.
Chief Larry Esquivel notes in the report that it’s been hard to keep officers from leaving the department, (according to the report, in part because of ongoing legal battles over pension and disability) and the academy program is challenged by a “lower qualified candidate pool.” What officer wants to work in a city where they may get seriously injured putting their life on the line and not be taken care of with appropriate disability coverage?
Since the $10-million set aside to fill open positions isn’t doing much good there, it’s being used to cover the massive overtime costs to keep patrol and 911 response at baseline levels in the face of the staffing shortage.
If Mayor-elect Liccardo continues the court fight to defend illegal pension reform, we see no improvement in sight.
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MN Progressive Project,
Eric Ferguson writes—
Minnesota looking more like the rest of the country:
When Pres. Obama announced his support for net neutrality right after the election, I thought I understood how Republicans felt when Bush Jr. forced out Defense Sec. Don Rumsfeld right after the 2006 election. Well, that was nice, but couldn’t you have done that before we got toasted in the midterm election?! Of course my first response to Obama’s announcement was to be glad he came out so strongly on the side of the angels, but my next thought was to recall an image of Rumsfeld’s resignation being announced. Why not do this before the election, and maybe save some seats?
The silver lining of an election loss is it makes us more likely to consider our assumptions. We may not even realize we’re making assumptions. The assumption in this case is the spinelessness of Democratic candidates and elected officials. We in the Democratic base have pleaded for more spine for I don’t recall how long. Back to the 80’s maybe? The 70’s? The 90’s at least. Election after election, but especially during midterms when there’s a Democratic president, we see one self-defeating move after another. The seeming political cowardice wasn’t just on the part of Obama, despite my reaction to the timing of his net neutrality announcement, and despite his failure to do anything on immigration until last night, which I blame for the lower than expected (lower than expected by me anyway) turnout among Latinos. I’m inclined give him a pass on the timing of his strong stances on global warming since those likely had to wait for summits in China and Australia, though that doesn’t explain other Democrats not running on it.
Nor do Obama’s decisions excuse Democratic candidates who avoided him during their own reelections, and the many who avoided other Democrats at all, as if they weren’t running on a ticket. There were exceptions: Minnesota’s statewide candidates very much ran as a ticket, campaigning on the Democratic successes most Democrats rarely mentioned, for example; but in general, Democrats ran every-candidate-for-themselves with campaigns focused on appeasing, if not conservatives, then those mysterious centrists.
But was it really cowardice? I’m asking the base to question our assumption of gutlessness. Maybe this was strategy; lousy, awful strategy. If that’s the case, if spine isn’t the problem, then no wonder our appeals for political courage seem to achieve so little. We’re making the wrong demand.
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Miscellany Blue of New Hampshire, writes—
'Third Way' Democrat prepares to challenge Ayotte:
Yesterday James Pindell uncovered two job ads placed by an unnamed “New England Democratic US Senate Candidate, who will formally launch a campaign early in 2016 to unseat a Republican incumbent.” (Ayotte is the only incumbent Republican senator in New England up for re-election in 2016.)
Today, Pindell reported Stratus Prep CEO Shawn O’Connor “has been quietly meeting with Democratic politicians and operatives” in advance of a senatorial campaign and noted O’Connor matches the candidate profile in the ads.
This would be O’Connor’s first run for public office but he telegraphed a potential campaign theme in an article for Forbes in which he criticized Republicans and Democrats for their 2013 budget proposals.
"The leaders of both major parties, seeking political advantage, have presented voters with a dangerous false choice that has paralyzed our nation," he wrote.
"House Republicans want to cut income taxes on the wealthiest Americans from 39.6% to 25% and turn Medicare into a voucher program which could leave some senior citizens without critical medical coverage," he continued.
"At the same time," O’Connor wrote, "Senate Democrats want to increase federal taxes by another $1 trillion dollars (when many in New York City, for example, already pay 54% of their income in federal, state and local taxes) adhering to an orthodoxy that more federal spending will automatically drive growth and job creation."
O’Connor proposed a “Third Way" alternative. "America needs to return to its entrepreneurial roots so that we can grow our way out of this crisis. A rebirth of American small businesses will slash the unemployment rate while substantially increasing tax revenues without raising rates."