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 Montana Cowgirl, Cowgirl writes—In Montana, No One is Minding the Store for Legislative Ethics:
Unlike many states, Montana lacks an independent commission that regulates conduct of state legislators – such as conflicts of interest, abuse of power, abuse of office, post-term employment restrictions, and financial disclosure.
The only oversight of ethics in the Montana legislature is an “ethics committee” made up of legislators themselves. But in our state, the fox isn’t even bothering to guard the henhouse. As far as I can tell, the ethics committee never meets.
There is no one watching out for whether they pass legislation or budget appropriations which would benefit their employers, their families, or themselves.
Montana legislative candidates are required to disclose their business interests, but such disclosures are not audited. No one knows whether they have really disclosed their investments nor not. Many lawmakers simply put a profession, such as “real estate” and don’t list who their employer is.
State legislators in Montana are not required to disclose the junkets they attend on lobbyists’ dime. For example, it has been an open secret in the 2015 session that Fred Thomas, Art Wittich, Cary Smith and others were treated to a trip to Florida by the Florida “Foundation for Government Accountability” the ALEC-affiliated right-wing think tank that works with AFP to oppose Medicaid expansions. Nor must they disclose how many steak dinners or gifts they accept on behalf of lobbying organizations. [...]
Please continue below the orange gerrymander for more excerpts from progressive state blogs.
At Indy Democrat Blog, Jon Easter writes—Ritz Announces She's Considering Gubernatorial Run:
From the be careful what you wish for department, Republicans wishing to undercut Glenda Ritz from her position as Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction were informed today that Ritz will announce her intentions for 2016 in June.
That could include her running for Governor of Indiana.
Back in November, Ritz announced she would be running for reelection to her position as Superintendent of Public Instruction, but that was before the blatant attempt to knock her from power by the Indiana General Assembly and the emboldening of the State Board of Education which is controlled to a great extent by Governor Mike Pence.
It could be said that the state's highest elected official on education would be the Governor since that individual seats six of the soon to be nine slots on the State Board of Education. In the waning moments of the 2015 General Assembly session and without public debate, the SBOE was placed into more of a policy-making role along side the Department of Education controlled by the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Ritz stated that she would get through this school year and decide with her family what is next for her this summer. Her possible candidacy announcement overshadowed that announcement by John Gregg that he would be running for Governor again.
At
Blue Jersey,
Diane Riley writes—
Rethink the 2016 Budget: Food is Fuel for the Body:
Here's the latest in our 7-week budget series, to talk about what NJ's spending priorities should be - Rethink the 2016 NJ Budget, in partnership with the Anti-Poverty Network. Diane is Diane Riley is Director of Advocacy at Community FoodBank of New Jersey. —Rosi
A lot of discussion around the state has focused on the gas tax. Roads in good condition are integral to our ability to get to work in a state that is heavily dependent on cars to get there. But how far would we get if our tanks were empty. Isn't food and our ability to secure enough food to "tank up" even more important to a functioning working society. Surely no one would argue that kids growing up today need healthy food now to be at their best tomorrow. So why is our investment in food shrinking, not growing?
sfppitemsI am proud to be in a state that actually includes food support in the state budget. As Director of Advocacy for the Community FoodBank of New Jersey I have seen firsthand how the State Food Purchase Program (SFPP) funding of $6.8 million dollars has allowed us to strive to meet the growing needs of families struggling to put food on the table. But ask any of the feeding programs that support those struggling families and they will tell you that there are more people not less and not always enough food to meet the growing demand. A recent study found that 91% of feeding programs say they fed as many or more people than the previous year and at the same time 28% say they had to turn away clients. The number one reason cited was that they ran out of food.
At
Blue Virginia,
lowkell writes—
Washington Post Hits Yet Another New Low with Today's Disgraceful Freddie Gray Story:
The Washington Post, which according to rightwingers is part of the mythical "liberal media," has hit many lows over the years. For instance, as we've discussed her ad nauseum, the Post routinely prints columns from people who deny climate science, who have advocated for torture, you name it pretty much. Possibly even more insidious, the paper's "reporting" routinely commits one or more of the following grave mistakes: 1) false equivalency; 2) acting as little more than court stenographers; 3) refusal to properly credit, link, and attribute other people's work; 4) giving far too much attention to topics that aren't important, while almost completely ignoring topics that are extremely important (e.g., climate change); 5) barely covering local politics at all; etc.
Having said all that, today the Post hit a new low, even by its already abysmal/non-existent standards. I'm talking, of course, about the Post's top headline all day on its website:
The problems with this story are so legion, it's hard to know where to start. But let's go with the video, in which WBAL reporter Jayne Miller completely demolishes the stinking pile of rotting trash.
1. "The medical evidence does not suggest at all that he was able to injure himself. The force of this injury, akin to have the force involved in a car accident, with all that momentum going, that is much more force than you would get trying to bang your head against the wall of the van." 2. "According to our sources...at that stop, when that prisoner is loaded, Gray is unresponsive, not ABLE to bang his head against the wall of the van." 3. "If you watch the video of that stop, what you see are several police officers opening the door - the back door of the van and the inside door - and peering in. Now, if you've got a prisoner in there that he's so irate that he's banging his head against the wall, I don't think that's the kind of thing you do...open the door and give him the chance to escape." 4. "You have to have other injuries. You can't bang your head against the van, to injure yourself in a fatal way...There is just no information that would corroborate that."
Right, this all makes perfect sense. Yet the Washington Post, acting as court stenographer, mostly just repeats the laughable story - by an anonymous prisoner, credibility completely unknown - that a handcuffed/shackled Freddie Gray was somehow able to sever his own spine in the police van on the way to the station. As Media Matters explains, although the Post wrote that it's "not clear whether any additional evidence backs up the prisoner's version," there actually IS "available, credible information that contradicts the other prisoner's account, which the Post could have included before the story was uncritically repeated in other mainstream outlets."
At
Blogging While Blue of Georgia,
Gary S. Cox writes—
Loretta Lynch and the Political Power of African American Women:
When Attorney General Lynch’s appointment seemed to languish in the U.S. Senate, women and some men all over the country started asking questions. Some went into action starting with the sisterhood of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. that was joined by other Greek organizations.
Atlantic magazine’s Theodore Johnson wrote in his recent article, The Political Power of the Black Sorority, “….unlike most other sororities, membership in a black sorority is not simply a college phase, but a lifelong commitment. Alumnae comprise 75 percent of the active membership of these groups. Black sororities do not confine their concerns to college campuses. And their fight for Lynch’s confirmation only represents the surface of over a century’s worth of work.”
Black sororities and fraternities have been active advocates for over a century and with Lynch’s confirmation in limbo they activated their vast network to push for her confirmation. There was no loyal to letters instead it was collective political activism joining together to do the right thing.
Last week all the “action” finally paid off and America can proudly celebrate the crushing of yet another glass box that separates qualified candidates from public service. Unfortunately Georgia Senators voted against Lynch’s confirmation putting them on the wrong side of American history. African Americans represent a large voter constituency in Georgia and 70% of eligible African American women voted in 2012 [...] Their numbers are not likely to be ignored. When African American women put their issue-based advocacy into action they can influence elections in political races, especially when the numbers are small
At
Blue Oregon,
Rick North writes—
Wyden and Blumenauer Push for Fast Track - What They're Saying (And What They're Not):
The ever-growing list of organizational opposition to Fast Track/TPP is a virtual Who’s Who of Main Street America, including labor, environment, consumer protection, food and agriculture, political fairness, communities of color and religion. In fact, it’s difficult to find anyone who actually supports it other than large corporations.
So why do Wyden and Blumenauer favor it, spurning a significant majority of their constituents?
I don’t know. Many accuse them of being bought out by corporations, but I don’t think it’s that simple. On other issues, they’ve been excellent and I’d probably vote the same way they do 90% of the time. Maybe I’m incredibly naïve, but I think they’re trying to do what they think is right, especially for Oregon’s exporters.
But I have to wonder if their decades-long support of trade has morphed into some strain of ideological tunnel vision, where inconvenient truths are ignored or suppressed. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead, no matter how much collateral damage results from TPP’s provisions. Only five out of 29 sections even deal with trade -the rest are greasing the skids for unfettered corporate control.
The capitulation of nations and their citizens to multinational corporations is the crux of the opposition to Fast Track/TPP. In addition to the potential loss of jobs, loss of sovereignty is THE key issue, its significance far outweighing any possible benefits.
At
My Left Nutmeg of Connecticut,
abg22 writes—
ICYMI: Who is George Gallo? Ultimate GOP Insider and Joe Lieberman BFF:
After pleading guilty to mail fraud charges this week, former Connecticut House GOP chief of staff George Gallo is scheduled to be sentenced on July 29. He could face 1-2 years in prison for orchestrating a scheme to steer GOP campaign dollars (mostly taxpayer funds obtained through the Citizens Election Program) to a Florida mailing services company from which he was receiving kickbacks. Gallo pled guilty rather than facing trial against the same assistant US attorney, Christopher Mattei, who led the successful prosecution of John Rowland -- whose last campaign for governor in 2002 was, coincidentally, managed by Gallo.
Prominent GOPers like Gallo's former boss Larry Cafero are taking great pains to dissociate themselves from Gallo and insist that he was acting as a lone wolf. Strictly speaking, that may be true. The problem is that Gallo is the ultimate GOP insider whose connections with the entire Connecticut Republican establishment run broad and deep. [...]
The Connecticut GOP's tacit endorsement of Joe Lieberman enabled him to fend off Ned Lamont in the general election. To what extent did Gallo coordinate his actions with the Lieberman campaign? We don't entirely know the answer and probably never will.
The Lieberman-Gallo love affair continued into 2008, when Gallo essentially endorsed Lieberman as John McCain's vice presidential choice, telling right-wing Human Events magazine that he would be "ecstatic" about Lieberman joining the McCain ticket. Now that Gallo is in the doghouse, does Joe Lieberman have any thoughts about his Republican BFF?
|
If there is a silver lining in Gallo's downfall for the Connecticut GOP, it is the manufacture of new ammunition for their low-intensity war against public financing, which prominent Republicans like Tom Foley have always criticized even while accepting it for their own campaigns. (Since Jodi Rell left office, it has become acceptable again for the GOP to express open contempt for the public financing system that Rell helped to create.) What better illustration is there of the folly of public financing than the fact that it opens the door for taxpayer dollars to be abused by nasty, greedy crooks like GOP insider and Joe Lieberman BFF George Gallo?
At
Burnt Orange Report of Texas,
BOR writes—
Guest Post: Ted Cruz vs. the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce:
Today Ted Cruz is meeting with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Washington DC to explain his positions on issues that matter to the Hispanic business community. Hope he has enough time blocked off on his calendar, because he’s got a lot of explaining to do and it’s probably going to be pretty awkward.
On immigration reform:
Hispanic Chamber of Commerce: “The United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) strongly urges Congress to set aside political posturing, embrace the economic imperative of comprehensive immigration reform, and pass long overdue legislation now.”
vs.
Ted Cruz: Voted against comprehensive immigration reform in the United States Senate, called it “a disaster.”
On the Affordable Care Act:
Hispanic Chamber of Commerce: “The USHCC has been a vocal advocate of ACA, and we are proud to support initiatives that educate and empower America’s small businesses and workers, specifically those that provide useful tools that increase their knowledge on how ACA will impact their lives.”
vs.
Ted Cruz: Led the push to shut down the government in an attempt to stop the Affordable Care Act.
On climate change:
Hispanic Chamber of Commerce: “It’s important for all of us to collaborate to protect our environment from harmful climate change. Majorities of people, including Latinos, agree that action is needed.”
vs.
Ted Cruz: “In the last 17 years, satellite data shows there’s been no warming whatsoever.” [...]
At
The Political Environment of Wisconsin,
James Rowen writes—
Walker hoodwinked Iowa. Also Minnesota. Who's next?
:
We noted the other day that Walker, as a self-proclaimed preacher's kid speaking before a religiously-infused get-together, no less, told Iowans that things were better in Wisconsin since he took over when data ranging from jobs created to wages paid to potholes filled were sharply in decline.
Iowa hoodwinked, I said.
I'd also written a few days earlier about absurd political and economic claims Walker made in Minnesota, where, in fact, jobs are being added and the economy is stronger than Wisconsin has been under Walker.
It's well known since Walker was sworn in that Minnesota has been eating Wisconsin's lunch.
You might as well be a Vikings fan, travel to the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame, and convince the locals there that the Vikings are the superior team.
Yet Walker told Minnesotans their state was in better shape than Wisconsin because Democrats had run the show in Wisconsin for a longer period than they actually did, and PolitiFact today rates Walker's claim "false."
Wisconsinites will not be surprised about Walker's vetted ability to speak falsely: PolitiFact finds his "False" and even-worse "Pants on Fire" misstatements happen almost three times as frequently as remarks he makes that are fully "True."
At
Blog for Iowa,
Dave Bradley writes—
Write Grassley And Ernst Regarding The TPP:
Charles Grassley, like it or not, will be up for re-election in 2016. There is no time like the present to let him know what he should be doing for the people of Iowa. Joni Ernst is in her first months and has already taken many steps that should be making her unpopular among voters. Like it or not, they are our senators and they need to hear from us.
The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) may be up for a vote in the senate next week. My expectation, as I am sure yours is, is that Grassley and Ernst will vote for fast-tracking the TPP in lockstep with other Republicans. Remember this vote is not to approve the TPP, but to give the administration the ability to negotiate and approve the TPP basically behind closed doors. This is not what representative democracy is about.
Approving a trade pact the size of TPP in the dark just tears at all the basic tenets of democracy. From what we know TPP will affect every segment of our society. We have also learned that there are many troubling aspects to problem resolution within TPP that may overrule our laws from outside. Not a situation that America should allow itself to get into.
There appear to be many other troubling aspects of the TPP but we do not know for sure what is in this pact since all negotiations have been under super secrecy. The latest rumor is that the TPP is based on the model of the recent (2011) trade pact with South Korea (KORUS) that has been disastrous for the United States.
At
Dakota Free Press,
caheidelberger writes—
Polygamist Compound Near Pringle Wants More Water; Permit Hearing Delayed Again:
Pierre doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to pump much of anything West River. First the PUC delays the Keystone XL oil pipeline hearing; now the state Water Management Board delays the Pringle polygamists’ water-pumping request for the second time this year.
The fundamentalist Mormon “United Order of South Dakota” has run a secretive compound 15 miles southwest of Pringle for a decade or so. No one outside the compound knows for sure, but outsiders estimate about 300 people live there. Toward the end of 2014, the Pringle group applied to the state water board to triple the amount of water it can draw from the Madison Aquifer, from 94 gallons per minute to 300 gallons per minute. National Park Service water rights chief William Hansen estimates that increased water draw could serve 4,372 residents, more than twice the population of Custer.
United Order water honcho Seth S. Jeffs has since asked the Water Management Board to reduce the requested maximum draw rate from 300 gpm to 200 gpm. In that February 18 request, Jeffs says that while his people do not plan to use more water than their current permitted amount, the compound has only one functional well, and that well can’t keep up with summertime usage. The additional well and capacity requested in the pending permit, writes Jeffs, would allow the compound to do maintenance on the existing well without shutting off water access, provide better fire protection, and support additional agricultural production.
The Water Management postponed its hearing of the Pringle application from March to May at the request of one of many permit opponents. Rapid City attorney David Ganje signed on to represent the United Order of South Dakota in the contested permit hearing. Ganje filed one game response to “immaterial, inflammatory, accusatory, and irrelevant” remarks in petitioner filings about the Pringle compound being a threat to twelve-year-old girls, but then quit just twelve days after taking UOSD as a client.
At
Beach Peanuts of Florida, writes—
Scott Poised To Sign Abortion Waiting Period Bill Requiring Documented Proof Of Rape:
Even as the House Republicans shut down the session early in a tantrum over the working poor having access to health care, some bills managed to make the cut beforehand. Some were bad bills, and one in particular is now on Rick Scott's desk and awaiting his signature.
The Florida GOP who cried "We can't let the government come between you and your doctor!" in opposition to Obamacare have now once again placed themselves between women and their doctors by passing another restrictive abortion bill.
If Rick Scott signs it into law, and there's little doubt he will, women will be forced to make at least two trips to a doctor to have an abortion, and it will impose a 24-hour waiting period on them. Because the GOP gynoticians in Tallahassee think women aren't smart enough to grasp the realities about their own health choices and their own bodies, and it behooves them to step in and show them the light.
Yes, the same lawmakers who don't care much for Florida's waiting periods on gun purchases, and who won't allow doctors to ask patients with small children about guns in their homes without facing prosecution, feel that women really need the extra time, expense, health risks and GOP ideology imposed on them before having the procedure because a women's own mind, intellect, and her understanding of her own personal circumstances can't be trusted.
If that isn't bad enough, it gets worse. [...]