June 25, 2008 2:32 PM

State party

Good times over at Progressive States Network last week. It was one of those events that makes you proud to be working in state politics, where contrary to conventional wisdom, you can actually get a lot done to move the kind of populist progressive agenda to which the usual suspects in D.C. are so resistant.

June 24, 2008 2:30 PM

Whither New York?

Our friend Mr. Sirota has a new diary today about the topic that's on just about everyone's mind where I work in NYC: what's going to happen now that stalwart Republican Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno is on the way out?

If you want to catch the most up-to-date dirt on the shady FBI investigation subplot to Bruno's exit or the swirling gossip around his likely successor, be sure to check out the Albany Project, which, as always, are keeping it on lock when it comes to tracking even the smallest minutiae of New York State politics.

However, if, like David, you agree that Bruno's exit is a major opportunity for progressives to make a national impact through state-level, then you'll want to do a little more than that. The most important question to be asking right now is not when or why or how Mr. Bruno is leaving but rather what exactly a newly emboldened New York progressive caucus in the New York legislature should do once he does.

Continue reading Whither New York?

June 17, 2008 8:57 AM

Another vote against Real ID (guest post)

This today from the head of Maryland's ACLU in the Baltimore Sun:

Frustration with this misguided, expensive and unworkable federal mandate also compelled another governor, Republican Mark Sanford of South Carolina, to call Real ID "the worst piece of legislation I have seen during the 15 years I have been engaged in the political process." If Real ID has any friends in the states, they're not speaking up.

Working at an organization that tracks state level policies, I can vouch for the increasing consenus against Real ID. Even states like Arizona that are leading the charge to crack down on illegal immigration realize that this "solution" is a crackpot idea. The Arizona State Senate gave Real ID a thrashing last week when they passed a bill by a 51-1 vote that would bar the state from participating the federal program. In doing so they joined the growing list of 10 states

Arizonans cite the cost of implementing the program as well as the unfairness of states taking on what should essentially be a federal expense. Others cite the incredible risks of identity theft that the creation of such a comprehensive unencrypted database would open citizens up to. Even if you are a staunch opponent of undocumented immigrants, you'd have to admit that there is no substantial evidence that Real ID will decrease the flow of illegal immigrants into the country.

Again, as with border fences, if we're going to have a real debate about creating a manageable flow of immigrants into the country, we need to come up with more serious solutions than the ones being floated by typically out-of-touch DC pols.

June 17, 2008 7:06 AM

An incredibly thoughtful look at border security (guest post)

Whether you agree with advocates for undocumented immigrants or not, this piece just posted by Duke over at Sanctuary is worth reading. It's one of the most thoughtful pieces I've read outlining the underlying economic forces behind the current immigration situation and the flaws in current plans for "securing the border," and it links to a host of useful resources on the issue.

Highlights include this astute analysis of the effect of NAFTA on Mexican peasants and workers:

NAFTA, while bringing trade and investment to Mexico, has had unintended negative consequences on both sides of the border for working people and the poor. Whole segments of the US manufacturing sector have been relocated to Mexico resulting in job loss for US workers. At the same time, the lifting for trade restrictions in Mexico have allowed cheaper US commodities to enter the country, decimating Mexican agricultural markets and throwing millions of small farmers out of business. Additionally, the availability of even cheaper labor sources in places like China has forced manufacturing wages to go down.

I would add to the causes of declining wages in the Mexican industrial sector the typical trend of prices outpacing wages that happens in most developing countries as free trade policies enable foreign investors to take a disproportionate share of newly generated wealth, a phenomenon that is also not too uncommon in the developing world, as David points out in a recent HuffPost piece on NAFTA.

Continue reading An incredibly thoughtful look at border security (guest post)

June 16, 2008 3:12 PM

A Monday smattering (guest post)

Here's a brief cross-section of what's going on in states across the country today:

In Connecticut, Republican Governor Jodi Rell vetoed what would have been one of the most promising health care reform bills yet enacted by a state government. (Yes, more promising even than Massachussett's health insurance industry corporate subsidy program, although much simpler.)

In Ohio, Dem Gov. Ted Strickland signed a $1.57 billion economic stimulus package that aims to create 50,000 jobs by investing in infrastructure construction and the development of renewable energy sources. It's nice to see at least some people in government realize that actually investing in job creation is a more sound way to going about fixing the nation's economy than $300 checks in the mail. The focus on creating green jobs also offers a refreshing snapshot of one of the more promising roads out of the oil addiction that is saddling our country with $4/gallon gas and three trillion dollar wars.

And for those Lou Dobbs fans out there (and I know there's a lot of them on this site), it looks like you'll have to wait at least another election cycle before the populist titan makes a run at the governorship of the fair state of New Jersey.

June 12, 2008 11:44 AM

How about this for a perversion of justice? (guest post)

A recent expose in BusinessWeek sheds some chilling light on mandatory arbitration scams set up by credit card companies to deliberately, in their own words, "squeeze small sums of money out of desperately poor people." The piece details the functioning of the National Arbitration Forum, an extension of the collections industry hired to resolve disputes between consumers and corporate behemoths like Sears, Bank of America, and Citigroup.

How does it work?

You sign a form that has some fine print mandating that you wave your rights to resolve disputes in an independent court of law and instead agree to have disputes resolved by an "independent" third-party arbitrator selected by and paid for by the corporation with whom you have your dispute. A problem comes up. You get a string of baffling, jargon-laden letters in the mail. Next thing you know: presto! Your dispute has been "resolved." 98.8% of the time you lose. 93.7% of the time you don't even get to show up at a hearing.

Wow. What a great system. Why haven't we figured out how to privatize more parts of the legal system yet? Oh wait a second, we have.

Thanks to my colleague Nathan for the link.

June 11, 2008 9:44 AM

From the horse's mouth (guest post)

Now, it's kind of funny to be blogging about David on his own blog, but since there's been some confusion recently about his position on both immigration and Lou Dobbs, I thought it worthwhile to point readers toward David's recent post on his HuffPost diary about his appearance on Lou Dobb's radio show.

One of the main points that David tried to make in his debate with Dobbs and which he emphasizes in his post is that Dobbs "deliberately separates the issue of free trade from the issue of immigration specifically to stoke anger." He emphasizes that while Dobbs has "admirably progressive views on trade policy," he unfortunately uses those views to "stoke anti-immigrant and xenophobic sentiment."

To my mind, the important thing that David reminds us of here is that we must not lose sight of the fact that "free" trade has been bad for workers everywhere, not just in the US. The solution to the problem is not pitting US workers against immigrant workers, but to fight for increased workplace and wage standards for everyone.

Continue reading From the horse's mouth (guest post)

June 10, 2008 10:00 AM

States and gas (guest post)

While we're on hot-button issues, how about $4/gal. gas?

Over at my place of employ, the Progressive States Network, we just posted on smart energy policies that states can use to provide relief at the pump while fueling their economies.

The most innovative proposal? "Pay-as-you-go" car insurance to incentivize less driving. The most controversial? Increasing the gas tax. That's right, increasing.

Check it out.

June 9, 2008 7:45 PM

Good news bears (guest post)

Seeing as how immigration seems to be the hot topic around here these days, I thought I'd throw a bit more fuel onto the fire. If you follow the issue, then you probably read today's front-page New York Times article on the subject of state efforts to crack down on illegal immigrants. The upshot of the story is pretty familiar: sick of the Feds' failure to solve the problem of illegal immigrants, state and local officials take matters into their own hands with get-tough enforcement measures that disrupt immigrant communities and send them packing back to where they came from.

You know: good riddance and don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Sadly, this article is only the most recent example of a national media narrative that reports ad nauseam on anti-immigrant policies but fails to take into account the budding progressive movement to implement more inclusive and economically sensible initiatives.

Of course, in the midst of the current anti-immigrant frenzy, you might think I'm crazy for proposing that there might be any kind of pro-immigrant storyline out there to report. And I would cede that the amount of anti-immigrant legislation being introduced in the states is on the rise. Just as I would cede that an awful lot of that legislation is downright scary in its nativism and economic shortsightedness.

But that's hardly the whole story.

Continue reading Good news bears (guest post)

June 2, 2008 2:30 PM

What part of "worker exploitation" don't you understand?

If you're like me, you've had it up to here with the refrain of "what part of illegal don't you understand" from right-wingers trying to use the immigration debate to distract hard-working Americans from the structural reasons behind their ongoing economic woes.

Rather than running scared from this simple-minded chorus of xenophobia, it's high time progressives stood up and called a spade a spade. Allowing immigration status to be used as an excuse to exploit workers is not only morally wrong, it's bad for other workers. Standing by while hundreds of working parents are rounded up like cattle, separated from their children, and detained for days to weeks without regard for due process is not only cowardly, it's un-American.

Instead of tolerating the completely impractical solution of deporting 14 million undocumented immigrants, we need to come up with practical plans for integrating them into our society and helping them continue contributing to a national economy that they are already propping up. In the meantime, we need to make sure that the hysterical calls for cracking down on "illegal" immigrants doesn't continue to victimize the very same class of "legal" workers that the crack-down is putatively intended to protect.

Fortunately, a few enlightened state leaders in Iowa are taking some moderate but laudable steps toward achieving this agenda.

Continue reading What part of "worker exploitation" don't you understand?

May 30, 2008 10:25 AM

Update on landmark Connecticut Healthcare Bill

This today from Connecticut blogger Beau Anderson on the most recent developments in the unfolding drama around the Connecticut Healthcare Partnership I blogged about on Tuesday.

May 30, 2008 10:15 AM

Paterson steps up to the plate

I've been a little down on Governors this past week, but in my own back yard, New York Governor David Paterson has taken a bold step in ordering state agencies to recognize same-sex marriages from other states.

Joan Garry has a thoughtful post on the HuffPost today about the strong example of understanding across cultural lines provided by Paterson's leadership, following up on an similarly thoughtful article in the Times about the personal experiences that went into shaping Paterson's stance on LGBTQ rights.

Also, the Times puts an appropriate emphasis on the national leadership role that a Governor can play when he or she steps up to the plate like Paterson is doing:

... he is stepping to the forefront of an issue that has often tripped up his party nationally, and he is going further than either of the two Democratic presidential candidates have been willing to do.