The Daily Graphic – State by State: The Legal Battles Over Gay Marriage

NPR had a good story today on the legal wrangling over California’s Proposition 8.  If you click the graphic below you’ll go to an interactive map of the U.S. with information about gay marriage and the legal issues in all 50 states.

The Daily Graphic: U.S. Corrections Population Has Tripled in 25 Years

The Pew Center for the States released Monday a new report titled, One in 31: The Long Reach of American Corrections.  One in 31 is how many American adults are currently behind bars.

White House Releases State by State Job Creation Numbers from Economic Stimulus

According to the White House, the state of Ohio will net 133,000 jobs as a result of the recently passed – and today signed by President Barack Obama – American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

This is the economic stimulus bill passed by Congress last week in time for Diva Pelosi to make her trip to Europe.

Click Here for State by State List of Jobs to be Created

More Tough Times for State Budgets

California’s Governator is still locked in mortal battle with the legislature in Sacramento – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger even turned to bad theology the other day and said Cali is on the brink of “financial Armageddon.”

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, Kansas, has her own budget cum legislature problem.  Media reports today say that the state of Kansas is out of money in the account which pays tax refunds and state employee pay.  Republicans in the Kansas state legislature blocked Sebelius’ attempt to move funds from other accounts today.

As a reminder, Ohio’s projected deficit problem is anywhere from $3 to 7 billion.

• Kansas suspends income tax refunds, may miss payroll – Wichita Eagle
• Sebelius, legislature tangle over budget – Topeka Capital-Journal
• Op-Ed, Dan Walters: No End in Sight on Budget Battle – Sacramento Bee
• California struggles to close deficit – New York Times

And You Think We’ve Got Budget Problems in Ohio?

Governator Says This Weekend Not Passing California’s Budget Will Be ‘Financial Armageddon’

If you’re interested in state government politics, check out what’s going on in California.  Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is only one Republican vote short of temporarily taking care of a $41 billion shortfall.  Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland’s potential $3 to 7 billion problem seems quite manageable in comparison.  In looking over some of the news from Cali tonight, here are some of the bullet points:

• California’s bond rating is crushed, the state is currently unable to borrow money
• Gas tax will be hiked 12 cents per gallon
• A 5% “surcharge” will be placed on many income tax bills (WTF?)
• Vehicle license fees to double
• Currently, most state employees are being furloughed two Fridays per month
• $15 billion in program cuts in budget
• $11 billion in borrowing in budget
• Plan to sell bonds against future lottery earnings (Note to Pari Sabety: Can we do this?)
• Unemployment is at a 15-year high in California
• The Arnold is so despondent he hasn’t groped a single staffer in two weeks

Voinovich Crankiness Continues

An article which will apparently be in tomorrow Plain Dealer (it posted on the web tonight) has Sen. George Voinovich saying his budgets as governor could beat up Gov. Ted Strickland’s budgets.  He also criticized state governors for pushing for federal dollars in direct aid to state budgets.

What’s with this guy?

He never dealt with anything remotely like what Strickland and the Ohio General Assembly are facing with the current economy and drop in state revenues.  Has he forgotten that a lot of state programs are actually federal programs?  Why wouldn’t we opt for more money for Medicaid rather than cut the program when it’s needed most?

Paul Krugman had a great column in the New York Times not too long ago titled, Fifty Herbert Hoovers.  He pointed out how important federal stimulus dollars were to state governments because state governments cannot use temporary deficit spending as a tool — most states have to balance their budgets by law.  This idea was fine when Alan Greenspan and others thought we were too advanced for the business cycle, but the cycle is back and we’re not through the downslope.

Niall Ferguson Wrong on Stimulus, Right on Nationalizing Banks

Economic stimulus gets no love from Niall Ferguson in an Op-Ed in the Los Angeles Times on Friday, but he does have the broad outlines of what we should with banks in trouble in the U.S.

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Graphic of the Day: Medicaid Cost, Enrollments Rising During Recession

Check out this article from Stateline.org.  As the Senate continues considering the economic stimulus bill, Washington needs to keep in mind that Medicaid expenses are a huge part of state budgets.  In Ohio and most other states, budgets must be balanced.  Unfortunately, without federal stimulus dollars targeted directly toward state budget relief or Medicaid in particular, states will have to make cuts in health care services for the most vulnerable.  One more reason for the dire need for the stimulus to pass.

Economic Stimulus Bill – White House Talks About Impact for Ohio

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is the proper name of the Obama Administration’s economic stimulus bill now pending in the U.S. Congress.  The purpose of the bill is to jolt our flagging economy by government investment in infrastructure, health care, green energy efforts and other measures that create jobs immediately or over the next 18 months.  The way the bill is shaping up in Congress, much of the money will flow through state governments.  Original bill drafts and summaries made fairly clear that state governors would be key to helping to target funds for the wisest use with the most immediate job-creating impact.  Yesterday, the White House produced a fact sheet for selected potential impacts, state by state.

What the White House Said About Ohio:

• Creating or saving 141,700 jobs over the next two years. Jobs created will be in a range of industries from clean energy to health care, with over 90% in the private sector. [Source: White House Estimate based on Romer and Bernstein, “The Job Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.” January 9, 2009.]•

• Providing a making work pay tax cut of up to $1,000 for 4,530,000 workers and their families. The plan will make a down payment on the President’s Making Work Pay tax cut for 95% of workers and their families, designed to pay out immediately into workers’ paychecks. [Source: White House Estimate based on IRS Statistics of Income]•

• Making 128,000 families eligible for a new American Opportunity Tax Credit to make college affordable. By creating a new $2,500 partially refundable tax credit for four years of college, this plan will give 3.8 million families nationwide – and 128,000 families in Ohio – new assistance to put college within their reach. [Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis of U.S. Census data]•

• Offering an additional $100 per month in unemployment insurance benefits to 666,000 workers in Ohio who have lost their jobs in this recession, and providing extended unemployment benefits to an additional 92,000 laid-off workers. [Source: National Employment Law Project]•

• Providing funding sufficient to modernize at least 369 schools in Ohio so our children have the labs, classrooms and libraries they need to compete in the 21st century economy. [Source: White House Estimate]

The World Through Rod Blagojevich’s Eyes

“I thought about Ghandi, Dr. King, Mandela – and just tried to put some perspective on all of this …”

That poignant quote above is from the Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich. It’s what he told an interviewer today was going through his mind when the FBI arrested him last month.  What a complete asshat.

Never before today in our entire fabled U.S. history has such a corrupt and delusional person been given so much air time.  Charlie Manson in his prime never had as much air time.

And he’s not even done.

Yes, I’ll tune in at 9 p.m. tonight to catch this skull fuck’s act on Larry King Barely Alive.  Since I work for a living and can’t watch the Today Show, Good Morning America, The View or Access Hollywood, I’ll have to sit through Captain Suspenders croaking, “Governor, what’s your take?”  This is a car wreck I must rubberneck.

Some folks are saying on the MSNBC tonight that Hot Rod is talking to the jury pool.  My question is who the hell are we letting on juries?  Oh, that’s right, it’s Mayor Daley’s Chicago.

Obama Action Will Please Environmentalists, Peak Oil Advocates

Action that President Barack Obama will take Monday to allow California and other states to require stricter tailpipe emissions and automobile fuel efficiency standards shouldn’t just please environmentalists.

If you’re concerned about Peak Oil and the United States’ dependence on foreign oil, this is also a win for energy conservation. This could be a market force that Detroit cannot ignore, pushing fuel efficiency farther faster. Conservation isn’t everything, but for a society so totally unprepared, it’s one span in the bridge to the energy future.

The New York Times is reporting tonight that President Barack Obama will reverse Bush Administration environmental policy tomorrow and allow California and other states to mandate their stricter rules.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had requested and been denied by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2007 a waiver to set California automobile emission standards higher than federal guidelines.  The Bush Administration told California and several other states that 2007 increases in federal fuel efficiency guidelines for cars and light trucks made their efforts moot and that a national patchwork of differing emissions laws would be untenable.

This is a win not only for environmentalists but also those concerned about the Peak Oil crisis and America’s continued over reliance on fossil fuels.  The stricter standards set by states will be a market force that the Big Three and other automakers will not be able to ignore.  According to the Times’ reporting, California’s action alone could have a great effect on fuel efficiency in the nation’s car and truck fleet:

The California law, which was originally meant to take effect in the 2009 model year, requires automakers to cut emissions by nearly a third by 2016, four years ahead of the federal timetable. The result would be an increase in fuel efficiency in the American car and light truck fleet to roughly 35 miles per gallon from the current average of 27.

In order to deal with the strategic, economic and societal changes which will brought on by a world where oil is harder to find and harder to extract, the U.S. and other nations will need to build bridges to the next energy economy.  Actions such as the one Obama will take on Monday will make it easier to build the “conservation” span of our nation’s bridge.

One question remains — will the Big Three automakers fight this in court? Probably, but they should be shamed out of the courthouse.  U.S. taxpayers are keeping two out of three of them afloat.  They should be discouraged from using our cash to fight our government …

Transcript: CA Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger State of the State Address | California is in a State of Emergency | January 15, 2009

(Source: State of California, Office of the Governor) 12:14 PM PST, January 15, 2009

Official transcript of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2009 State of the State address

Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much, Lt. Gov. Garamendi, for the nice introduction. Chief Justice George, President Pro Tem Steinberg, Speaker Bass, Senate Republican Leader Cogdill, Assembly Republican Leader Villines, members of the Legislature, ladies and gentlemen:

First of all, I want to congratulate the four that have been responsible for creating, really, the Martin Luther King holiday. So I want to say thank you because Martin Luther King has been a great hero who has given his life for justice and for equality and has been a great inspiration not only to Americans but to people all over the world. So congratulations to all of them. Let’s give them a hand, again, for the great work that they have done. (Applause)

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Newsclips – Blagojevich Impeached – January 9

• Guide to the impeachement process – MSNBC
• Blago Impeached, Blago goes jogging – CBS2 Chicago
• Court rebuffs Burris on signature – Chicago Tribune
• Senate won’t seat Burris without signature – Chicago Tribune
• Objections to prosecutors – Chicago Tribune
• Impeachment “No Surprise” – Chicago Sun-Times
• Lone ‘no’ in vote – Chicago Sun-Times
• What’s Next? – Chicago Sun-Times
• Blago impeached – Washington Post
• IL House impeaches Gov – New York Times

Ohio Newsbreak – Jess Goode, Jenn Urban, Obama Stimulus, Ohio DYS, Paul Tipps, state budget, Voinovich, Finkbeiner

• Changes in Strickland communications team – Columbus Dispatch
• First Energy appeals PUCO rate rollback – The Plain Dealer
• Voinovich to unveil plans Sunday night - The Plain Dealer
• Is this Voinovich’s last term? – The Plain Dealer
• Op-Ed, Brent Larkin: Voinovich in 2010? – The Plain Dealer
• Will Obama put light rail back on track? – Columbus Dispatch
• Juvenile facilities to close - Columbus Dispatch
• Editorial: Boehner, McConnel have shot at history – Dayton Daily News
• Ohio jobless fund to get loan – Columbus Dispatch
• Prosecutor seeks info from Cordray – Dayton Daily News
• Cordray forces 9 out of AG’s office – Columbus Dispatch
• New state treasurer, AG sworn in – Columbus Dispatch
• State Street Consultants – Columbus Dispatch
• Absentee balloting broke record – Columbus Dispatch
• State cuts take toll on little guys – Columbus Dispatch
• Harris calls for rainy day funds – Columbus Dispatch
• Cleveland mayor asks Obama for $730 million – The Plain Dealer
• Toledo city workers reject contract – Toledo Blade

Bill Richardson a Single Example of Democratic Party Core Off the Beam

N.M. Governor Withdraws Name from Commerce Secretary Consideration

This is what happens when we finance all of our political activities the way that we do.  Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico is under investigation for allegedly pressuring N.M. state authorities to steer financial services business to a firm which donated money to his political organizations.

Since the Clinton Administration – of which Richardson was a high-profile member – our Democratic Party has been owned by hedge funds, limousine liberals and other interests who make their money through market manipulation and investing rather than by adding to the economy in a manner which creates tangible value and employs people.  When these big donors come calling, the doors to Congressional suites and governors’ offices come flying open.

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