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There are few more potent tools for impacting the outcomes of elections
than changing what appears on the ballot. And there are no more direct
paths from public outcry to passed legislation than through ballot
issues. For years, the rightwing has been advancing policy goals,
shaping message, and marshalling voters through ballot issues (we've
already highlighted many of their current-year endeavors in this very
newsletter). Progressives increasingly are fighting back using ballot
issues -- which shouldn't be surprising, since initiatives and
referedenda were originally a progressive reform.
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As far-right funders like Howard Rich work across the country, dumping
literally millions simply into qualifying these atrocious measures for
ballots, progressives have experienced some good news and some bad
news. Here's where the campaign stands in various states:
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Diving into the world of campaign finance and investigating the funders of the takings initiatives quickly reveals a number of organizations involved: Americans for Limited Government, America at Its Best, the Fund for Democracy, and Montanans in Action. What is odd, though, is that with more digging, they all appear to be funded and controlled by the same individual: New York Developer Howard Rich.
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Despite a veto by the governor, the New York State legislature is poised to override and enact reforms to allow day care workers to form labor unions. The bill, A10060, sponsored by Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat (a Progressive States board member) and Senator Nick Spano,
would effect an estimated 52,000 day care workers in facilities
subsidized by state funds, given them standing to negotiate with the
state for wage increases, as well as benefits like health care,
workers' compensation, paid vacation or sick days.
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The Western Governors Association on Sunday acknowledged an
inconvenient truth. The bipartisan group of Governors from West Coast,
Rocky Mountain, and Great Plains states came together to unanimously
pass a resolution (PDF) that says that global warming is real, at least partially human-caused, and that now is a time for action.
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The reality for working Americans is that wages have been largely stagnant for
over three decades. For many workers -- especially those without a
college degree -- pay has actually gotten worse, meaning that this
generation is the first one in American history which is not doing
signficantly better than the previous one. Part of the reason for
these stagnant wages is that inflation was allowed to erode the federal
minimum wage-- its inflation-adjusted value dropping from $9.12 per hour in 1968 down to just $5.15 per hour in 2005.
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The Cleveland Free Times takes a long, hard look at the American Legislative Exchange Council's (ALEC) operating methods in Ohio. As usual, it ain't pretty. The right-wing, corporate-funded network of state legislators is exposed quite thoroughly.
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What was once a brilliant line from a screenwriter is now a solid rule
of politics: "Follow the money." And true to that adage, when the
federal government scaled back the estate tax, eighteen billionaire
families were behind it, as documented in a new report
by Public Citizen and United for a Fair Economy. And that "billionaire
club" assault means that thirty-two states that peg their estate taxes
to federal law lose as much as $5 billion per year in revenues.
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"Today we march, tomorrow we vote!" - the chant at the recent immigration rights rallies -- may translate into a changed electoral landscape in many states across the country.
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Hawaii is the latest state moving in that direction with a proposed Hawaii Innovations Fund which could grow to $200 million in government funds over four years to invest in Hawaii's renewable energy, life science and technology companies.
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Following the 2000 election, everyone saw just how flawed an election
could be. In 2004, even without the same closeness, America witnessed
other problems including extremely long waiting times to vote: a sign
that America was no longer even preparing for moderately high turnout
elections. Meanwhile, one state was chugging along, doing just fine.
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Following Maryland's adoption of a Fair Share Health Care Act
requiring that large employers adequately fund employee health care or
help shoulder the burden of Medicaid costs, similar efforts are afoot
across the nation and Wal-Mart, one of the primary targets of
the legislation, is moving into full-court press mode attempting to
find ways to convince the public that it isn't shirking its
responsibilities to its employees.
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