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March 15 Open Thread

March 15, 2010 by Calitics

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Open Thread
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*  Judge rules that Pleasanton needs to build more housing within current city limits instead of adding jobs and forcing other cities to house them. Such policies contribute to urban sprawl, and while it shouldn't take a judge to end them, this is a good ruling.

*  Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoes tax relief for homeowners in order to protect corporate tax cheats. In case anyone wasn't clear on his priorities.

*  Even Tom McClintock is right every once in a while.

*  The city of Pacific Grove seeks to eliminate restrictive covenants that formalized racial segregation in housing there, as in many other California cities, for decades. These covenants were outlawed by the Supreme Court in 1948 but have lingered in property deeds since then. Of course, one shouldn't assume this means PG is integrated - like many such cities, residential segregation has persisted, based this time on income and not deeds.

Around the State

March 15, 2010 by Kenneth

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Original Author: 
Kenneth Quinnell

Round-ups

The latest regular features from Florida bloggers.

FLA Politics: Florida Political News

The Spencerian: Political Newsclippings

The Spencerian: Off the Radar

Tuff Titty Rap

March 15, 2010 by Bitch PhD

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Sybil Vane
Want to do some temperature taking. Just finished reading this piece about extended breastfeeding. Coincidentally, I also had a conversation about same with some womenfolk this weekend.

Joe Campos Says He's Shifting Into High Gear for Lt. Gov. Primary Election

March 15, 2010 by Democracy for N...

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Democracy for New Mexico

CamposConvention2Cr
Pete Campos speaking at DPNM Pre-Primary Convention

The Joe Campos for Lieutenant Governor Campaign released a statement today indicating they are moving ahead "with gusto" to compete in the primary race -- despite just missing the 20% cut-off for an automatic place on the ballot at Saturday's Democratic Pre-Primary Convention voting. Campos announced, "I'm in it to win it. The votes have been counted and it's game on!" The campaign said he's being "propelled by strong delegate support in the recent Democratic Delegate Convention."

Labor to Parker Griffith: One more time ... WE WANT OUR MONEY BACK!

March 15, 2010 by Left in Alabama

Right after Parker Griffith switched parties, he promised to return the contributions of any supporters who were disappointed with his action.  So far, he's done everything humanly possible to avoid making good on that promise. 

"The money is gone.  We thought we'd be able to give it back, but we can't.  It's gone."  That's what they told me when I asked for my refund -- which is total BS considering Griffith has about $700,000 in his campaign stash.  He's obviously more interested in hanging onto every penny than hanging onto his honor, but where's the surprise in that?  We are talking about Parker Griffith here.  

We may need a new candidate in Iowa House district 65

March 15, 2010 by Bleeding Heartland

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desmoinesdem
Ed and Lynn Fallon's I'M for Iowa organization sent out an e-mail blast today containing the following tidbit:

Monday, 1:00 - 4:00 pm, we talk about politics, and expose what appears to be a sneaky effort in the 65th House District in Des Moines to keep Wayne Ford's retirement a secret so party insiders can hand-pick a successor. We also talk about the Des Moines Register's love affair with Senator Grassley, Jonathan Narcisse's love affair with himself, and Iowa Senate Republicans' burning love for coal.

Tom Beaumont's latest piece on Chuck Grassley for the Des Moines Register was egregious. He depicted Grassley as an old-fashioned bipartisan hero instead of the disingenuous double-dealer he has become. But that's a topic for another post. I'm more interested in Fallon's take on Iowa House district 65, which covers a heavily Democratic area of Des Moines (map here).

Jason Hancock listened to today's radio show and wrote up the story for Iowa Independent.

Poizner and Whitman face off this afternoon

March 15, 2010 by Calitics

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Brian Leubitz
Steve Poizner and Meg Whitman are scheduled to debate in about an hour and a half.  The debate is sponsored by California New Majority, so you are likely to see some full-on wingnuttery on display.

There won’t be any teachers to teach children to read, so I imagine there will be a reduced demand for those library books anyway….

March 15, 2010 by Kenneth

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Original Author: 
R.S. Pienta

I’ve been letter writing this week to protest the proposed state library funding cuts:

Dear Leaders of the Florida Legislature:

Please restore funding for State Aid to Public Libraries to the current $21.2 million. If state aid is eliminated, branches will close all over the state and library service in rural libraries will be decimated because of their reliance on state funding!

I reside in rural Wakulla. We only have one library in our county. On any given day, our library parking lot is packed with cars. Adults and children make ample use of our library resources. When new books arrive, the reserve waiting list is months long.

On school days, every computer in the library is utilized. Children who live in the area walk to the library to do their homework. I see students accessing library resources to write papers and to do research for their classes.

In Wakulla, the library is a community hub where residents can gather to watch films, participate in educational programs, and access vital community information.

CA-SEN: NOM Aims For Purity

March 15, 2010 by Calitics

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Brian Leubitz
Last we heard from NOM, they were busy getting into trouble for interfering with Maine's election system and not wanting to disclose donors.  Well, they've also been writing about the federal Prop 8 trial, but they have no official capacity in that.

But, they are now back in California! Huzzah! And as you can see from the ad to the right, they're still up to their old fear-based campaigning methods.

DPVA Calls On McDonnell To Rein In "Extreme" Cuccinelli

March 15, 2010 by Blue Virginia

Original Author: 
noreply@blogger.com (Lowell)
Democratic Party of Virginia Executive Director David Mills writes about Ken Cuccinelli's "apparent comments in support of Virginia pursuing legal challenges to federal laws based on questioning President Obama's birth certificate."
Unlike Republican leaders, Virginians are more concerned with their jobs and their children's schools than with pursuing conspiracy theories and a narrow social agenda. But in the last month, under the leadership of Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and Governor Bob McDonnell, Virginia is rapidly becoming a national laughingstock.

Attack on California Education Continues - 22,000 Layoffs Loom

March 15, 2010 by Calitics

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Robert Cruickshank
In 2009, 16,000 teachers and other public school employees lost their jobs. The devastating effect on the quality of education in this state is just beginning to be felt. Now we learn that insane policy of mass firings of teachers and school employees is going to be renewed, as 20,000 more have received pink slips this month:

Faced with another year of potentially deep budget cuts, California's public schools have sent out 22,000 pink slips to teachers and school employees, according to the state's superintendent.

"Our state budget crisis has forced districts to lay off thousands of teachers over the past few years," said Jack O'Connell, the state superintendent of public instruction. "The governor has proposed cutting another $2.4 billion from public education. While the education community opposes these cuts, our schools are forced to prepare for this potential outcome by issuing a massive wave of potential layoff notices."

Arnold Schwarzenegger's office tried to spin this as not their fault, and even claimed the governor wasn't making further cuts to K-12 budgets:

Still, a spokesman for Gov.

Can you say 'arms dealer?'

March 15, 2010 by Uppity Wisconsin

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xoff

Neil Shively, retired Capitol bureau chief of the old Milwaukee Sentinel, writes a "Where are they now?" piece for WisPolitics.com every now and then. Recently featured was ex-US Sen. Robert Kasten. Shively treats him kindly:

Bob Kasten is still in Washington, however -- and in New York City, and Egypt and the Middle East. And he's still a major player, though now in the field of defense contracting using lessons he learned in the Senate. Heard of Oshkosh Corp.'s bonanza with billions in defense contracts? Well, Kasten helped stimulate deals for Oshkosh with foreign nations, such as Egypt.

“My business is not so much a lobbying business. When I was in the Senate, I was chairman of the sub-committee on foreign operations, security and economics,” he said, offering the path to his business today. “We (the U.S.) give large numbers of military and economic aid … $1 billion to Egypt, for example.“So I work for U.S. businesses and try to help them sell to Egypt and other countries in the Middle East,” he said.

What does that business sound like to you?

Emergency! Scott Robinson Needs A Waaaaambulance!

March 15, 2010 by Blue Virginia

Original Author: 
noreply@blogger.com (Lowell)
As I wrote on Saturday, Krystal Ball swept 1st CD caucuses this weekend in Stafford County and Fredericksburg, demolishing Scott Robinson and making his candidacy for the Democratic nomination a longshot at best. Now, Scott Robinson is reacting with class, restraint, and poise. Whoops, wrong Scott Robinson! Ha. Actually, this is how the real 1st CD candidate Scott Robinson is reacting.
This email is being sent with the intent of informing you of troubling events that have developed over the last few weeks involving a fellow Democratic Committee (Stafford County) and what actions the Robinson campaign intends to use to remedy the situation.

Photos Part 3: Friday Fun at DPNM Pre-Primary Convention 2010

March 15, 2010 by Democracy for N...

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Democracy for New Mexico

DenishDanceFloor
Diane Denish tearing up the dance floor

This is one of a series of posts about this weekend's Democratic Pre-Primary Convention. Check back for more photos, videos and commentary on all the action as we get everything processed and organized. Click to see the whole series of posts.

Social events were the order of the day on the Friday before the DPNM Pre-Primary Convention's business meeting on Saturday, March 13, at Buffalo Thunder Resort on Pojoaque Pueblo. Delegates and politicos started arriving in late afternoon to register early and attend a variety of fun events hosted by the Party and various candidates.

Democrats have candidates in all Sioux City races

March 15, 2010 by Bleeding Heartland

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desmoinesdem
Kudos to the Woodbury County Democrats for recruiting strong candidates for all three open Iowa House districts as well as both Iowa Senate districts representing parts of Sioux City. Two of those races became open very recently, when Democratic State Representative Roger Wendt announced his retirement from House district 2 because of a cancer recurrence and Republican State Senator Ron Wieck said he won't run for re-election from Senate district 27.

Two new candidates announced their intentions at the Woodbury County Democratic Convention over the weekend. In House district 2, covering much of the east side of Sioux City, our candidate is Chris Hall. Bret Hayworth writes,

Hall comes from a political family -  his mother, Tina Hall of Sioux City, has served as  Woodbury County Democratic Party Chairwoman and ran unsuccessfully for county treasurer in 1994.

Cooch: Climate Change Denier, Gay Basher...Birther!

March 15, 2010 by Blue Virginia

Original Author: 
noreply@blogger.com (Lowell)

Once again, Ken Cuccinelli demonstrates why: a) many of us think he's batshit crazy; b) why Democratic activists worked so hard to prevent him from becoming Attorney General of Virginia; c) why he's a complete and utter embarrassment to our Commonwealth; and d) politically speaking, why he's the "gift that keeps on giving" for Democrats. This time, thanks to a great scoop by NLS, Cooch reveals himself as someone who seriously questions whether Barack Obama was born in the United States.
Q: Because we are talking about the possibility that he was not born in America.

Cooch: Right. But at the same time under Rule 11, Federal Rule 11, we gotta have proof of it.

Counterpunch: Is Our Health Care System Broken?

March 15, 2010 by Left in Alabama

This is episode 2 of Counterpunch, and the first of a short series on Health Care. 

Not the real McCoy; Another Republican shill

March 15, 2010 by Left in Alabama

If you stopped one hundred random people on the streets of your Alabama city or town and asked them "Who is Betsy McCaughey?", I wager not one in ten could answer accurately. But if you ask the same hundred folks "What are 'death panels'", they would immediately tell you they are an Obama plot to kill old people.

Some of these folks are actually quite intelligent; a few have educational backgrounds that would lead one to expect better of them, but what they have in common is a blind reliance on the right wing media for all their current-affairs education. Let me discuss this a bit below the fold.

 


Recently on Facebook, a couple of friends of mine agreed that, after the Obama Health Care Reform plan takes effect, there might be cost savings from the killing off of the elderly, or the implementation of the death panels might actually drive costs up. Hmmm...

What seems to be missing here is the consideration that there might not actually be any such critter as death panels, since nothing like that is actually in the bill.  No, the conversation went on blithely ignorant of that fact, until I stuck my left wing radical nose into their chat.

AL-05: Parker Griffith Photo Attends Republican Symposium

March 15, 2010 by Left in Alabama

This is funny. 

Where was Parker Griffith yesterday morning? The Tennessee Valley Republican Club had a splendid, packed (despite the rain) symposium between Mo Brooks, Les Phillip, and a picture on the podium of Parker Griffith, whose R.S.V.P. to the event was “yes.”

The picture of Griffith was a source of humor more than once. I told the picture that its time had expired, for example; later in the morning Mo Brooks jocularly flicked the picture while saying that the incumbent is a flip-flopper.

Perhaps Griffith is tired of folks pointedly avoiding him at these events -- he appeared to be inside a roughly 4 foot zone of distaste last time I saw him at a Republican meeting. 

Look for the Party of Parker to start holding it's own debates soon.  Should be entertaining -- Griffith's already been on both sides of most issues.


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