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 last Saturday's edition. Inclusion of a blog post does not necessarily indicate my agreement with—or endorsement of—its contents.
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At Delaware Liberal, Jason330 writes—Is chaos in the Democratic Party the new normal? Maybe:
I see valued commenters Dave falling into a kind of cognitive trap. He seems to think that that Nevada was all about people (Bernie and Hillary), and their supporters. It is nothing of the sort. Nevada is part of an ongoing push-back against the out and out bullshit that has dominated capitalism (and by extension our politics) for the last 30 or so years.
In part, I blame myself for Dave’s confusion. When I said unruly Democrats would come home when “Warren is announced as VP” I was using a sort of shorthand for the Clinton campaign recognizing that there is a cancer.
Consider your take on the economy like your take on climate change. The politics of climate change are binary. You believe is it real or you don’t. Similarly, you believe capitalism in trouble or you don’t. The question yet to be settled is – what side of the issue is the Democratic Party on? If the Clinton Campaign can somehow show that they understand that climate change (e.g. rigged economy) is real… I see all Democrats coming home. If the Clinton campaign, and the Democratic Party Apparatchiks, can’t get over that hill, I see chaos ahead
At Burnt Orange Report of Texas, Andrea Greer writes—5 Things Progressive Texans Should Talk About Instead of Bernie v. Hillary:
Once upon a time, Texas progressives could cheerily compartmentalize their hostile political interactions. [...]
2016 will go down in history as the year we almost lost our squash yelling at people we agree with 80, 90, even 98% of the time because for the first time in a very long time, people on the left of the spectrum have found themselves smack dab in the middle of a presidential primary that just won’t quit. [...]
Instead, please enjoy this helpful guide to five things progressive Texans can talk about that aren’t Bernie v. Hillary. It isn’t always possible to be the change you want to see in the world, so you might as well settle for redirecting your erstwhile friends to safer conversational topics.
ONE – The Supreme Court
Of Texas, that is, a judicial body that currently has nine members, unlike the federal Supreme Court. Nine Republican members. Nine Republican members who just ruled against the 600 school districts that challenged the completely inequitable and ineffective way the state funds public schools by saying this:
Our Byzantine school funding ‘system’ is undeniably imperfect, with immense room for improvement. But it satisfies minimum constitutional requirements.
These judges do not serve for life. They serve only until a Democrat who can get 50% + 1 of the vote runs against them. [...]
At The Progressive Midwesterner of Illinois and Wisconsin, Aaron Camp writes—Former Republican aide outs Republicans who were giddy about suppressing the Wisconsin vote:
Todd Allbaugh, who was an aide to former Wisconsin State Sen. Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center), revealed the names of Republican members of the Wisconsin State Senate who were giddy about enacting a “voter ID” law designed to disenfranchise Wisconsin voters and make it easier for Republicans to get elected to public office in Wisconsin:
Former GOP aide Todd Allbaugh testified in federal court today members of the Senate Republican caucus were giddy in 2011 over the prospect of passing voter ID and its impact on their electoral hopes.
Allbaugh added some were “politically frothing at the mouth,” singling out Sen. Leah Vukmir of Wauwatosa and former Sen. Randy Hopper of Oshkosh. He added Sen. Mary Lazich of New Berlin and then-Sen. Glenn Grothman were also among the most enthusiastic members of the caucus during a closed-door meeting in supporting the bills.
Of those four, only Lazich and Vukmir are still members of the Wisconsin State Senate. Grothman is now a U.S. Representative, and Hopper is no longer an elected official after being recalled from office in 2011 over his vote for the anti-union Act 10 law and his role in a sex scandal.
What Todd Allbaugh said in his testimony as a witness for the progressive One Wisconsin Institute in an ongoing court case regarding the Wisconsin Voter ID law clearly indicates that Wisconsin Republicans had exactly one goal in mind when it came to justifying their support for the voter ID law: suppress Democratic voters. That is flatly un-American.
At Democurmudgeon of Wisconsin, John Peterson writes—CEO dupe Scott Walker can't stop the job losses:
Over and over again, job layoff announcements have been announced and no one seems to be around to add them up or point them out. Is it another Scott Walker failure? His big selling point was making the state a great place to do business. But nothing has change, and the bloodletting continues. So here's the latest:
Old National Bancorp has notified state officials it plans to eliminate 140 full-time jobs, almost all of them in Madison ... Most of the positions will terminate in September.
Caterpillar Inc. said it is moving engineering and technology jobs from its mining equipment division in South Milwaukee to Tucson, Ariz. … South Milwaukee Mayor Erik Brooks said the company told him 10 to 15 jobs from his city will be moved to Arizona this year and approximately 200 jobs could be moved over the next five to seven years … the bulk of the transfers will take place in 2018.
Caterpillar has laid off hundreds of employees in the Milwaukee area and now employs about 240 at its manufacturing plant in South Milwaukee, down from 800 a few years ago.
As always, Arizona Republicans found a way to help the supposed free market work its magic…
Some have speculated that Arizona offered Caterpillar more than $50 million in incentives in exchange for the jobs. Caterpillar didn't reach out to Wisconsin or Milwaukee officials for assistance in keeping the jobs here.
Yes, CEOs are saying the business climate great, but they're not lifting a finger to help. Even after Scott Walker’s gift of lax environmental regulations for mining, Caterpillar is still leaving.
At Virginia Blue, Andy Schmookler writes— Can Anyone Stop Bernie’s Breaking Bad?
Note: I write as one who has supported Bernie from the beginning, and voted for him in the Virginia primary.
Various good commentators are noting that Bernie has lately been campaigning in a way that fails to deal honestly with the reality that the race for the nomination is over and that is making more likely the election of Donald Trump to the presidency. (For example.)
The failure to come to grips with the reality that Hillary Clinton will be the nominee — Bernie will not win the remaining primaries with the necessary blow-outs, and the superdelegates are not going to switch to him — is being combined with feeding in his followers an essentially inappropriate sense of grievance. This combination is threatening a degree of division that would hand the election to Donald Trump.
Bernie Sanders has said most emphatically that a Trump presidency absolutely must be prevented. That alone should be reason enough to motivate Bernie’s way of campaigning to one that attacks the GOP and its presumptive nominee more than the Democratic Party and its presumptive nominee.
But if a second source of motivation for such change is necessary, there’s another one readily available: Bernie is in serious danger of turning what would have been a positive, even heroic legacy — for his movement going forward, and for his place in history — into a shameful one.
Is there someone in a position to deliver this message to Bernie so that it has the necessary impact?
At Green Mountain Daily of Vermont, BP writes—Phil Scott supports Hillary Clinton!
Republican gubernatorial primary candidate Phil Scott is helping Hillary Clinton run for President. It must be true: Newt Gingrich thinks so.
Gingrich : “You’re either for Hillary Clinton or you’re for Donald Trump.
If you’re not for Donald Trump, you are functionally helping Hillary Clinton. I think it’s just that straightforward.”
He can still frame an issue with the best of them, but it seems Gingrich lifted this concept from the Bush era war on terror refrain: you are either with us or against us.
Scott’s declared presidential choice, former Governor Jim Douglas, could prove problematic for those who agree with Gingrich. Bruce Lisman, Scott’s primary opponent, hasn’t jumped on the imaginary Douglas-for-president bandwagon, and significantly, he hasn’t ruled out supporting Trump.
At the Dakota Free Press, Cory A. Heidelberger writes—Noem Votes to Ban Confederate Flag from National Cemeteries:
In a sign of patriotic good sense, Rep. Kristi Noem voted yesterday for an amendment to the Veterans Affairs and military construction bill that would ban flying the traitor Confederate flag over national cemeteries. Rep. Noem was among 84 Republicans and 181 Democrats who supported the amendment from Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman of California.
In South Dakota, the amendment would prohibit display of the Confederate flag at the Hot Springs, Fort Meade, and Black Hills national cemeteries operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Cemetery Administration.
According to Huffman’s office, the amendment does not apply to cemeteries operated by the Army, the Interior Department, or the states. It also does not prohibit families from placing small traitor banners on individual graves.
Rep. Noem weighed in against official displays of the Confederate flag three years ago, when she said traitor flags displayed at the Hot Springs VA hospital could “jeopardize” the VA’s ability to offer patients a comforting and welcoming health care environment. The flags in question were removed in May 2013.
At Raging Kitchen Press of Pennsylvania, Sean Kitchen writes—As 25 Year Phila. School District Employee Dies from Boiler Explosion, PAGOP Wants to Roll Back Workers Rights in the Classroom:
When the General Assembly returned from their primary vacation, Republicans began to move forward the “Protecting Excellent Teachers” Act, which would remove teacher seniority and replace it with an evaluation metric imposed by former Governor Tom Corbett. A side by side comparison of House Bill 805, which was introduced by Representative Stephen Bloom and Senator Ryan Aument last year, shows that sections of the bill was lifted from a white paper produced by corporate education reformers Students First. The bill passed the House last June and then breezed through the Senate at the beginning of May. While it was making its was to the Governor’s desk the PennLive editorial board and a group of Democrats who did not vote on the bill’s final passage urged Governor Wolf to sign the bill, but Governor Wolf followed through with his veto promise.
When the Governor vetoed the bill, Republican leaders held a press conference vowing to roll back decades long struggle to obtain seniority rights in the workplace – this time the classroom – as a negotiating chip in the classroom. [...]
As this one-sided debate has been going on, a 25 year Philadelphia School District employee and Service Employee International Union member Christopher Trakimas had been laying in a doctor induced coma with his lower body covered in third degree burns since January when a boiler nearing the end of its life exploded. When Governor Wolf finished giving his blistering budget address to the General Assembly in February, State Senator Vincent Hughes took time to talk to reporters and explained Trakimas’ story. The root of Hughes argument went to the systematic under funding of public education that has happened in Pennsylvania since Governor Corbett took office.
Yesterday, while leaders in Harrisburg were threatening to put the abolition of seniority for those in the classroom on the budget table, Christopher Trakimas, at 62, passed away from the burns he endured five months ago. Trakimas may not have been a public school teacher, but he was one of the many employees, students and teachers who have felt [the] wrath of under funding public education.
At Blue Oklahoma, DocHoc writes—Sally Kern Goes Out Giving Hate One More Chance:
It will be said and remembered about Sally Kern that she went out swinging with punches of hate to the very end of her legislative career. It’s obviously what she wanted. She knew she could get everyone’s attention at least one more time.
The controversial Oklahoma Republican state representative gave a goodbye, hate-filled speech to her legislative colleagues last week, and she didn’t even begin to apologize for how much she has embarrassed Oklahoma throughout the world with her vitriolic rhetoric aimed at gay people and minorities. She’s leaving the state Capitol because she’s term limited this year, not because of the damage she leaves behind.
It seems weird and discombobulating to realize that we’ve been dealing with Kern’s fundamentalist thinking and mean-spirited rhetoric since she took office in 2005. What’s weirder to consider as open-minded and inclusive Oklahomans is that she was elected to office by people who think like she does. Bible-thumping, right-wing, hate-filled arguments and rhetoric are not unique to Oklahoma, of course, but Kern took it to a new level, and her conservative constituents and colleagues mostly supported her.
Actually, I wouldn’t even write about Kern because it’s tiresome and, frankly, it creeps me out a bit at this point that I expended so much mental energy on her antics, but I need to do so at least one more time for the historical record. This blog has chronicled her career through ALL her years in office in a countless number of posts. Okie Funk was established the same year she was first elected. You might say Okie Funk and Sally Kern’s political career were a fated Oklahoma binary.
At NC Policy Watch, Billy Ball writes—ECU chancellor-elect brings complicated, political past to new role:
Late last month, when Cecil Staton—Republican politician, religious scholar, businessman and right-wing book publisher—was named the future chancellor of East Carolina University, the news came and went with little reaction from most North Carolinians.
Staton, one of the first major university appointments under controversial new UNC system President Margaret Spellings, was hailed as a celebrated academic with an Oxford degree, a successful entrepreneur, a vaunted academic fundraiser and a “cheerleader” for higher education at his former home in Georgia.
But, based on a N.C. Policy Watch investigation, Staton’s past is more complicated and, apparently, much more bizarre than that.
During his decade-long stint in the Georgia state Senate, Staton was perhaps the legislature’s leading proponent for voter ID laws. He was also a consistently hard-line, conservative lawmaker, backing expansive worker citizenship checks and police crackdowns condemned as anti-immigrant by many advocates. [...]
“This is very troubling, that an appointee to lead a major state-supported university in North Carolina has more experience in voter suppression and attempting to undermine the constitution than furthering education,” says Rev. William Barber, president of the N.C. NAACP.
At NH Labor News, Matt Murray writes—The US International Trade Commission Shows The TPP Is Bad News For Working Families:
Yesterday, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) released their findings on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). To nobody’s surprise the results are not good.
The TPP would not deliver the economic benefits promised by the U.S. Trade Representative. Instead, the report shows that the deal would be disastrous, increasing the U.S. trade deficit by over $21 billion per year and harming employment in key industries.
Basically they found that miniscule gains would be made in most of the sectors of the economy. By miniscule I mean that after 15 years the TPP would increase our GDP by a whopping 0.15%.
Most alarmingly, the ITC report projects that the TPP would increase the U.S. trade deficit in both manufacturing and the services sector. According to the report, once fully implemented, the TPP would decrease manufacturing output by over $11 billion per year and would decrease U.S. employment in manufacturing by 0.2%. The report also highlights concerns that the TPP would put call center jobs at particular risk of being offshored.
The weak economic projections in the ITC report are especially notable given that ITC’s track record is one of being overly optimistic about the effects of free trade deals on American workers and our economy.
At Progress Illinois, Ellyn Fortino writes—Chicago Car Wash Workers Dealt Major Blow In Wage Theft Case:
Eight former Little Village Car Wash workers who have been fighting for years to recoup over $262,000 in alleged stolen wages faced a major setback Thursday.
A court hearing that had been scheduled in the wage theft case, which dates back to 2012, was canceled after the employer abruptly filed for bankruptcy.
Workers had been expecting a ruling Thursday in the case, which the Illinois Labor Department brought against the employer to recover unpaid wages stemming from minimum wage and overtime violations.
The car wash, which was sold last year by owner Octavio Rodriguez, was located at 2600 W. Cermak Road.
Miguel Angel Fernandez, 43, worked there from 2006 to 2014 and has yet to receive $19,755 in unpaid wages.
"I feel scammed," he said through a translator outside the Daley Center. "We've been fighting this for a long time. And he was able to sell his business and recover his money. We weren't able to recover anything, at least not yet."
Workers claim they were not paid an hourly minimum wage. Instead, they were paid per car they washed.
"They were paying us 50 cents per car," Sabino Cervantes, 63, who worked at Little Village Car Wash for about four years, said through a translator. "After we organized and we did a little bit of negotiation, we were able to get a dollar per car. It still wasn't adequate wages. We wanted justice."
The employer reportedly owes Cervantes $38,475 in outstanding wages.