ch: Our Values in Action

Ideas: Truman Commission on Contracting Fraud

Yesterday, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid gave a speech on the Senate floor continuing his call for a Truman Commission to help cut waste and contracting fraud in Iraq. An excerpt from Reid’s speech:

If the Iraq was has taught us anything, it’s that Congress must take seriously its responsibility to hold the executive branch accountable, and it hasn’t happened. For two years Democrats have offered constructive solutions to change course in Iraq, give our troops and the Iraqi people a chance for some type of stability and success. We have said there must be a redeployment of forces this year to transition the mission, to change the mission. We’ve said we must resolve the sectarian difference through a political settlement. That’s called diplomacy. They need to mend their constitutions.

We’ve said they must regionalize the conflict with a contract group or a conference to bring in those countries who have said they will help, to help. We need to revitalize, and we can do that by, as I’ve indicated, getting the countries who have said they will help to come in and help. There needs to be a regional solution. We need to rebuild our badly strained United States military. There is not a single undeployed army unit today that is battle ready. That says it all. And numbers of generals have witnessed this administration’s flawed Iraq policy firsthand.

ch: Our Values in Action

Ideas: Middle-Class Tax Fairness

MVP-endorsed candidate Patty Wetterling, running against single issue (gays) candidate Michele Bachmann for Minnesota’s 6th Congressional seat in the US House, has released a new middle-class tax fairness plan that would “lift the burden off of the middle class, provide them access to greater opportunities and give them hope for the future.” Some of the planks:

Universal Mortgage Deduction
A home mortgage deduction for all homeowners, not just those who itemize their taxes. This approach is less complicated, makes the benefit more accessible and will encourage more home ownership.

The College Credit (Refundable Credit for Higher Education Expenses)
A college tax credit of $3,000 for all college students. This credit will help increase access to higher education and economic success. It combines several current tax incentives: the Lifelong Learning Credit, the HOPE Scholarship, the Deduction for Higher Education Expenses and the exclusions of employer-provided education benefits and qualified tuition reductions.

You can read more of the plan here. And the Mpls Star-Tribune’s write-up here.

Bachmann on middle-class fairness? “Making President Bush’s tax cuts permanent.”

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Ideas: $1.2 billion for up to 20 ethanol plants

Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois has proposed spending $1.2 billion to help meet half of the state’s energy needs by 2017:

The plan, expected to be unveiled Tuesday, calls for investing $225 million over the next five to 10 years to build as many as 20 plants to turn corn into ethanol, five soy biodiesel plants and four facilities that would make ethanol from plant waste like corn husks. [...]

Illinois has at least seven ethanol plants, and about two dozen more are planned. One soy biodiesel plant is in operation, according to the Illinois Soybean Association.

ch: Our Values in Action

Good News: California Raises Minimum Wage to $8/Hour

In a victory for over a million workers, California is set to raise the minimum wage to $8/hour. Read the AFL-CIO’s blog for more information.

Unfortunately, the wage agreement won’t index the minimum wage for inflation—an idea that Governor Schwarzenegger nixed. Democratic candidate for Governor Phil Angelides has pledged to index the minimum wage if elected.

ch: Our Values in Action

Ideas: Kerry on Universal Healthcare

Massachusetts Senator John Kerry is renewing his call for universal healthcare—something we here at Midwest Values PAC strongly support. In pushing his proposal, Kerry framed the issue as a “fundamental moral value.”

Kerry said health care was “not only the great unfinished business of half a century, but a matter of fundamental moral values,” and he set a goal of health coverage for everyone by 2012.

“Experts—some of them here today—believe that my plan will provide coverage for all Americans by 2012,” Kerry told several hundred people at historic Faneuil Hall, where he launched and ended his 2004 presidential campaign.

“But if we’re not there by 2012, we will require that all Americans have health insurance, with the federal government guaranteeing they have the means to pay for it,” Kerry said.

You can read more of Kerry’s call for universal healthcare here.

Kerry’s proposal makes both political and practical sense. According to an ABC poll taken earlier this year, 62% say they support a universal health care system “run by the government and financed by taxpayers” over the current system. (79% of Americans would support healthcare for all Americans, even if it means raising taxes).

And just last month, a bi-partisan group commissioned by Congress recommended that the federal government find a way to reach universal healthcare. With increasing momentum for universal healthcare, Senator Kerry’s proposal is an important part of the dialogue for finding a way to reach universal healthcare.

ch: Our Values in Action

Ideas: Finally Implement Sexual-Assault Tracking System

The problem: According to The Hill (DC) newspaper, in 2005, “4 percent of female Air Force cadets, 5 percent of female Naval Academy midshipmen and 6 percent of female cadets at West Point reported being victims of sexual assault in the previous year.” Sexual assaults at the Air Force academy have drawn considerable media attention in the past several years.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) is pushing for the Defense Department to implement the Defense Incident-Based Reporting System. More:

The congresswoman, who comes from a long line of family military service, is pressing the Pentagon to implement promptly an incident-reporting system that would help track sexual-assault problems in the military.

The Department of Defense has had 18 years to implement the Defense Incident-Based Reporting System (DIBRS). Pentagon officials say it will be fully functional next summer.

That is not good enough for Maloney, who with fellow Democrat Chris Van Hollen (Md.) recently introduced a free-standing bill to force the Pentagon to implement the system by Jan. 1.

In the bill, Maloney and Van Hollen take the drastic measure of deducting $1,000 from the secretary of defense’s pay for each day the system is overdue after Jan. 1. (The bill does not call for the secretary to dip into his own pockets after his salary is depleted.)

The bill, of course, won’t pass. But the Defense Department shouldn’t drag its feet on something like this—precisely what Rep. Maloney is trying to highlight with the bill.

ch: Our Values in Action

Good News: Penn and N.C. Raise Minimum Wage

While Republicans in the House and Senate block Democratic efforts to raise the minimum wage, roughly two dozen states have raised the minimum wage on their own. The latest are Pennsylvania, which increased the state’s minimum wage to $7.15 / hour and North Carolina, which increased the minimum wage to $6.15 an hour. You can read more about the efforts at the AFL-CIO’s blog.

The gap between federal and state leadership is especially prominent on the environment and the minimum wage. When Congress failed to enact greenhouse-gas emissions standards like Kyoto, local governments enacted standards. And now, on the minimum wage, both ‘red’ and ‘blue’ states are helping workers without the help of the federal government.

ch: Our Values in Action

Ideas: Better Fund Rail and Port Security

This seems like a no-brainer, but in the wake of the money-pitt that is the Iraq war, it’s hard for Democrats to push these measures in the Senate:

Democrats said they will offer several amendments this week during the Senate floor debate on appropriations in an attempt to shift priorities and add dollars to port and rail security, but they acknowledged that they face an uphill battle in a GOP-controlled Senate.

The House version of the bill being debated in the Senate raises Homeland Security funding overall, but it also includes a reduction in state and local grants – including a 40 percent cut in New York’s funding. He also said he intends to seek $300 million in additional funds for transit security for New York and other cities.

Concrete actions versus rhetoric—something some US Senators could learn a thing or two about.

ch: Our Values in Action

Ideas: Hydrogen Cars

In Vermont, Rep. Bernie Sanders helped secure a grant from the Department of Energy for New England’s first hydrogen fueling station. Sanders hopes the program will eventually help wean the region from dependence on foreign sources of fuel:

With Sanders, who helped secure a $1 million Department of Energy grant for the project, behind the wheel, the retrofitted 2005 Toyota Prius cruised up to the pump without a sound for the unveiling. Project coordinators then demonstrated the new pump, topping off the car’s fuel tank with hydrogen. [...]

“We need to break our dependency on Mideast oil and polluting fossil fuels,” Sanders said. “This will help us move sooner rather than later away from fossil fuels that are contributing to environmental degradation and global warning.”

The Republican challenging Sanders is Rich Tarrant. More about him:

Another good sign for Sanders is his potential opponent, corporate executive Rich Tarrant, who is making news driving around his exotic new Bentley sports car. Last I checked, Sanders still drives a beat up Saturn. And in many ways that car contrast really tells the bigger story. If Tarrant is the GOP nominee, this will be a race between a wealthy fat cat and a common man of the people. That’s the kind of contrast every progressive candidate for office should want.

ch: Our Values in Action

Ideas: Property Tax Relief in Montana

Read David Sirota’s op-ed explaining how Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, a progressive populist, is showing “how progressives can redefine the entire tax debate” by targetting tax cuts not to the wealthiest taxpayers (like the Estate / Paris Hilton tax cut).

ch: Our Values in Action

Tim Walz: Republican Nightmare

City Pages, one of the alt-weeklies here in Minneapolis, has a great interview with Tim Walz, who is running against Republican rubber-stamp Gil Gutknecht in Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District. Local and national pundits say the race is very competitive in a district that ordinarily goes Republican. [...]

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READ THIS: How Camp Wellstone Has Helped an Office-Seeking MVPer

Rodger Koopman, who is running for Wake County Commissioner in North Carolina, wrote in our Community Blog about his background and training at Camp Wellstone. I’m posting part of his blog entry below. Rodger’s story is exactly what we’re trying to do here at Midwest Values PAC: motivate and organize the next generation of progressive activists to help take back seats across the country, even in “red states” like North Carolina.

Late last year one of those guests was Bill Lofy, Paul Wellstone’s biographer. At the time, Bill Lofy mentioned that the two Wellstone sons had started the Wellstone organization in their parents’ and sister’s memory in part to help spread the progressive message their dad so ably crafted and promulgated. Part of the organization is an outreach effort called Camp Wellstone, which is intended to help Progressives be better prepared when either running as candidates or helping candidates run. It has always been my feeling that Republicans win elections not because of qualifications or ability, but because they seem better at running politics like a business with a potent marketing machine. Progressives have traditionally been fragmented so it’s an uneven match when you’re facing highly organized and angry middle-aged white men. Camp Wellstone is part of the effort to counter some of that through training and organization.

Camp Wellstone is divided into three tracks. One is for folks who want to be candidates, and the other two are for people who help organize and/or run campaigns. Camp Wellstone is great because it puts you in a room with like-minded people and outstanding and highly motivated workshop leaders. Moreover, during the course you meet experienced politicians who are guest speakers and you learn a ton about what it takes to not only run but also WIN!. During Al’s interview with Bill Lofy, Bill mentioned that the last Camp Wellstone in 2005 was going to be held in Raleigh and at a location literally down the road from my house.

The minute I heard that I turned off my iPod and immediately registered online for the “candidate track.” It turned out to be a fantastic experience. During the workshops several of the course leaders as well as many of my fellow students told me they thought I would make a great candidate and that I should consider running for office. I had always been interested in doing more than vote but never really knew how to get started. I had contacted my local Democratic party to volunteer but I was never called back. Now that I’m a candidate I understand why. Most local organizations are woefully under-staffed and ill-equipped to seriously organize an ongoing effort to dislodge the “Republican machine.”

As a matter of fact, if you’re interested in becoming more involved you’re better off contacting one of your local candidates or representatives and talk to one of their staffers or the candidate him- or herself. They will usually do a better job of reaching out and responding to your questions. I’ve found that members of Congress are fairly hard to reach, but local folks generally are a lot more approachable than even I realized. For example, a lady recently called me to ask me to show up at a “meet & greet.” Well, when you’re a local guy with limited means you jump at any opportunity to meet more voters. It’s not only good politics but also a lot of fun. The woman was surprised how easily she was able to get a hold of me. I also offered to invite other local candidates who are running. In other words, by reaching me all of a sudden she was plugged into four other local candidates as well. I don’t think she would have been able to accomplish anything like that if she had tried to get a hold of the county party. And all of this only took 10 minutes. So get out your phone book and call your local politicians. I’m discovering the system really works if you take the first step and not accept “No” for an answer.

Through the training and the contacts I made at Camp Wellstone I got in touch with my local county Democratic party. The chairman told me he was desperately looking for four Democrats who would be willing to run for the four contested seats on the Wake County Commission. There are seven seats and every two years they alternate three and four seats for elections. I was surprised to find that few good people are interested in running for office. My assumption had always been that it would be hard to “get in.” But there’s actually quite a shortage of smart, good people who want to go through the process. When I checked a little further I found out the incumbent Republican was not seeking re-election. The convergence of all these factors was too good to be true so I paid my $170 filing fee to run for one of the county commissioner’s seats. [...]

Whenever I meet folks I often hear that they think I work so hard. My perspective is slightly different. I usually tell folks that migrant farm workers picking strawberries in the blazing sun for $5 an hour work hard. Showing up at parties and functions, eating good food, drinking nice wine, and talking to smart people about issues you really care about is not work. I thoroughly enjoy that part of it. True, you do have to get in your car almost every night for some type of event. But I’ve discovered it energizes me. My wife recently told me she hasn’t seen me so happy in years. I’m somewhat of a romantic idealist and the idea that I’m engaged in something that in some small way may make our world a better place does make me happy. It makes me feel like I’m plugged into something meaningful. As much as I like money, it just doesn’t turn my crank that much when someone tells me we sold another widget. That just means a sales person made a good commission. And sure, it’s important because it feeds my family. But the idea that I can be part of a group of people that might actually do something that positively affects other people is powerful and feels great. For me at least it’s a a very good feeling.

Before I started this whole process I was a solidly middle-class guy making a pretty good salary. And don’t forget this was only about four months ago. Now as a candidate I go to many fund raisers and “meet & greets” and have met many political insiders, business leaders, as well as several prominent politicians. So if you move to a new area and want to meet everybody all at once I recommend you run for office. You literally meet everybody who claims to be anybody. For several years I was moping around trying to figure out what I could do differently so that I would feel my life had more meaning. I’m 46 and after having been in my corporate career for a while I was kind of depressed about the idea that when I die I might not have done much to improve anyone’s life other than my own and my immediate family’s. By taking these first few steps I have dramatically altered my life and invented a whole new possibility. To be sure, there will be moments when all of this will feel stale or perhaps old. And I’m sure that when my notoriously conservative opponent begins slinging mud there may be times my feelings get hurt. But to be part of something you know is much bigger than yourself and that has the potential to truly and measurably do something “right” is simply fantastic. I highly recommend it.

ch: Our Values in Action

Ideas: Plug-In Hybrids

Here in Minnesota, two DFLers pushed legislation (H.F. 3718) that will help reduce our dependence on foreign oil by promoting hybrids. The gist:

The law instructs the state to buy plug-in hybrids on a preferred basis when they become available. It also encourages Minnesota State University-Mankato to develop flex-fuel plug-in hybrid vehicles, and creates a task force consisting of business, government and utility representatives to develop a strategy for using, and producing such vehicles in Minnesota.

The legislation was approved by both DFLers AND Republicans. For more, visit The Institute for Local Self-Reliance, which helped push the initiative.

Visit Progressive States for other clean power initiatives states can adopt.

ch: Our Values in Action

Good News: Calif., La. Legislatures Vote to Increase Minimum Wage

Read the AFL-CIO weblog for the news.

The $5.15 federal minimum wage has not been raised since 1997.

Progressive States Network has other ideas beyond the minimum wage that government can use to help low-wage workers.

ch: Our Values in Action

Read This: Clean Energy Solutions

The Apollo Alliance, a non-partisan group devoted to freedom from foreign oil through clean-energy solutions, just issued a report documenting “dozens of existing state-level policies that could be combined to provide a blueprint to end our nation’s dependence on foreign oil, promote clean fuels and create millions of good jobs.”

For example:

• In Washington state, the Apollo Alliance helped to pass an energy efficiency bill that will save tax payers $489 million over fourteen years and conserve enough electricity to power over 90,000 homes by the year 2020.
• In California, with the backing of the Apollo Alliance, the California Public Utilities Commission committed $3.2 billion for solar power over the next eleven years. The initiative will install 3,000 Megawatts of solar power in the state, which is the equivalent of one million roofs.

Read the report here.

ch: Our Values in Action

Ideas: Mine Safety

You’ve read the headlines, and heard the stunning statistics: for example, the “company that owns the mine where Saturday’s explosion occurred, Kentucky Darby LLC, is operated by John D. North and Ralph Napier. MSHA records show the mine has had 265 citations and orders and $27,651 in penalties since April 2001.”

How to solve the problem? Democratic Congressman George Miller of California has introduced mine safety legislation that would protect mine workers, and punish companies like the one in Kentucky which operate under gross violation of safety laws. More:

• Increased penalties against scofflaw mine operators. The legislation would impose new fines of up to $1 million for operators who engage in a “pattern of violations” that could lead to injury or death. It would also increase the regular schedule of fines, with the minimum fine increasing from $60 to $500 and the maximum fine increasing from $60,000 to $500,000. The legislation would also ensure that the fines are collected, rather than being allowed to remain unpaid, as they often are today.
• Improved equipment and technology to help miners survive an underground emergency. The legislation would require better communications and tracking equipment, increased and reliable oxygen supplies, and underground refuge stations where miners can go while they await rescue.
• Improved mine rescue teams. The legislation would ensure that mine rescue teams are familiar with the mines they cover. Mine rescue teams must be located within an hour of smaller mines (those with fewer than 36 miners) and they must be located on site at larger mines. The legislation also boosts training for rescue teams, and requires mine operators to notify MSHA within 15 minutes of a serious incident.
• Uniform rules for accident investigations. There are currently no uniform federal rules that govern how a mine accident investigation must be conducted. This legislation would require the Labor Department to issues such rules. In addition, MSHA must hold public hearings as part of every accident investigation.

ch: Our Values in Action

Ideas: Prescription Drugs

Today is the deadline for seniors to sign-up for Medicare Part D, the Bush administration’s prescription drug plan which has confused seniors and experienced numerous start-up pains. Seniors who do not sign-up by today will potentially lose drug coverage for the rest of 2006, notes Paul Krugman in a column in today’s NY Times. In calling the program a “debacle,” he observed there were initially only 300 customer service representatives to help nearly 43 million Medicare recipients.

In this context, it’s time for another edition of ‘Democratic Ideas’ with someone who’s not actually a Democrat – Independent Representative Bernie Sanders of Vermont. In the great northeast, the Vermont legislature approved a bi-partisan bill that would allow seniors to purchase their prescription drugs from Canada, where prices are cheaper. Their federal Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), an endorsed candidate of Midwest Values PAC, was one of the first members of Congress to help seniors get access to affordable drugs in Canada. How can we reduce the costs of prescription drugs?

There is a better way. I have introduced the Medical Innovation Prize Fund Act (H.R. 417) to address this situation. This legislation would change the paradigm for financing medical R&D and pricing prescription drugs in the United States, ensuring that we increase innovation and decrease costs for presctiption drugs at the same time.

Rather than rely on high drug prices as the incentive for R&D, the bill would directly reward developers of medicines, on the basis of a drug’s incremental therapeutic benefit to consumers, through a new $60 billion Medical Innovation Prize Fund. Prices for prescription drugs to consumers would be at low generic prices immediately upon entry to the market. […]

Last year, the U.S. House of Representatives passed strong legislation to allow American individuals, pharmacists and whoelsalers to buy their prescription drugs from 26 well-regualted countries. Right now, the Senate has the task of passing its own bill so that Congress can put something real on the President’s desk this year. The good news is that Sens. Dorgan (D-N.D.), Snowe (R-Maine), Stabenow (D-Mich.), McCain (R-Ariz.), Daschle (D-S.D.), Lott (R-Miss.) and Kennedy (D-Mass.), among others, have come together to sponsor a very strong bi-partisan reimportation bill. While this legislation is narrower than the House-passed bill, in that it is limited to imports from Canada for the first year, it is a very thorough and sensible bill that should be passed – and there appears to be a real prospect for its passage this year.

But we’ve been close before, only to be disappointed in the end. The tentacles of the drug giants reach far and deep, penetrating conference committees and last-minute negotiations so that what comes out is, quite often, counterfeit. In 2000, the drug giants slipped some crafty loopholes into the MEDS Act that rendered the bill dead on arrival by the time it was signed into law. Since then, they have spared no expense and betrayed no sense of shame to fight off every attempt to correct those loopholes and fulfill the will of Congress and the American people. If a strong Senate bill is passed, the American people and their representatives in Congress must demand that the leadership in both Houses sees that a bill gets to the President’s desk this year.

ch: Our Values in Action

Ideas: Roadless Area Conservation

The problem:

The Bush administration [May 5, 2005] opened the door to logging, mining and other development on 58 million acres of roadless national forests.

Maria Cantwell, one of our MVPs, with a solution:

Just a few weeks ago I introduced the Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2006. This bill would block the Bush administration’s attempts to open these 58 million acres of pristine, roadless forest by permanently protecting them against logging and road building. I need you to join me in this fight. I will be asking my fellow senators to cosponsor the legislation and today I ask you to join me as a citizen co-sponsor of the Roadless Area Conservation Act.

The Bush plan—surprise—reverses a Clinton-era rule that was widely hailed by environmentalists and conservationists.

ch: Our Values in Action

Missourians to Decide on Minimum Wage Increase

While DC Republicans allow inflation to eat away at the $5.15 federal minimum wage, working family advocates are bringing the minimum wage question to state ballots. In Missouri, for example, the “Give Missourians a Raise” coalition delivered more than 200,000 signatures this weekend to the Missouri secretary of state, virtually guaranteeing a ballot spot for the measure. More on the measure, which would raise the minimum wage to $6.50 an hour:

The measure also would index the wage to the cost of living, ensuring inflation doesn’t diminish the increase.

Says Hugh McVey, president of the Missouri AFL-CIO: It’s not right that some hard-working Missourians can’t get ahead because their paycheck isn’t enough to live on. It’s common sense. If we are truly going to value work and the workers who keep our economy going, we need to reward that work with a wage that they can support their families on.

State figures show there are approximately 42,000 people in Missouri who work for the current minimum wage and would be directly affected by this measure—as would tens of thousands of others who are paid slightly above the minimum wage.

ch: Our Values in Action

Min Wage: Conservative Rhetoric vs. "Evidence"

Last week, I noted a study that found minimum wage increases actually help small businesses. Now comes even more evidence that the minimum wage helps, not hurts, business.

In 2005, Florida was a battleground for the minimum wage fight; there, Floridians voted to raise the state minimum wage to $6.15 (and eventually $6.40 due to inflation).

At the time, according to a new report by professors at The University of Chicago and Florida International University, conservatives sounded the alarm that the minimum wage increase would effectively kill the Florida economy:

Senator Mel Martinez claimed the law would cause job loss, and Governor Jeb Bush also opposed it. Darrell Kelley, president of Enterprise Florida, claimed the raise could result in a decline in health benefits coverage. Finally, national opponents chimed in. Grover Norquist claimed that “Florida cannot afford the economic pain of job losses compounded with the inevitable increases in the costs of essential goods and services.”

One year later, a pesky thing called ‘evidence’ appears to contradict those alarmist claims:

Ten months after the law took effect, Enterprise Florida reported that “Florida continues to lead the nation in job growth” and the state “ranks 5th in the nation in the total number of insourcing jobs.” In a survey of Floridian retailers following the law’s implementation, “71 percent said the overall business climate in Florida would be better in the coming quarter than in the same quarter last year”, and in a recent publication by the Florida Retail Federation on the state business climate, there is no mention of the minimum wage as a pressing issue of concern. Finally, a recent Tampa Tribune article reported that some big contributors to a coalition of opponents of the state minimum wage “have had stellar financial performances since May, including Publix Super Markets of Lakeland and Darden Restaurants of Orlando”.

Read the report, “The Florida Minimum Wage After One Year,” here

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Montana Grassroots Campaign to Raise the Minimum Wage

Read this: Time for a minimum-wage hike in Montana

So far, 17 states have increased their minimum wage above the federal level of $5.15/hour, and Montana hopes to be the 18th. If the minimum wage is increased, an estimated 30,000 Montana workers and their families would be affected.

We’ve stated this sobering statistic over and over again on MidwestValuesPAC.org, but it bears repeating: “A full-time employee earning $5.15 per hour brings home $10,712 a year — 31 percent less than the federal poverty level for a family of three.”

Congressional Democrats have tried, and been blocked, in their attempts to increase the federal minimum wage, which is why good grassroots groups like Raise Montana, and local politicians like New Mexico mayor David Coss, are organizing locally. As November nears, we’ll continue to spotlight local efforts like these on MVP.

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$13,700 and $10,500

$13,700: amount the CEO of ExxonMobil earns in an hour.

$10,500: amount a full-time worker making minimum wage earns annually. [Source]

See something wrong with this picture?

Ohio is one of the many states that relies on the federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour, an amount that hasn’t changed since 1997. In Ohio, Congressman and Senate candidate Sherrod Brown is making a minimum wage hike to $6.85 an hour a key part of his campaign.

In Ohio, a minimum wage hike would affect nearly 719,000 Ohio workers, or 14% of the state workforce. 3/4s of those workers are age 20 or older, and nearly 30% are married. To learn more about Brown’s minimum wage proposal, visit his website.

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States Enact Pollution Controls

Since taking office in 2000, the Bush administration has resisted each and every meaningful attempt to implement federal pollution controls. Out of frustration, both state and local governments have initiated their own efforts without the help of the feds. For example:

219 cities have joined the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. Started by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, member cities agree “to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.” The 219 cities represent some 44 million people.

And, just this past week, Republican Governor Robert L. Ehrlich signed legislation that made Maryland the 8th state to be part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. The law compels member states “to reduce carbon dioxide emissions 10 percent by 2019 while establishing the nation’s first market system for trading greenhouse gas credits.”

Make no mistake: our environment would be in better condition if we had an administration that believed in global warming. But these two examples show that, despite six years of depressing news on the federal level, all hope isn’t lost.

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Michigan Passes Minimum Wage Hike

Nate Newman in the Progressive Legislative Action Network’s blog with the details:

Illustrating the political juggernaut of the nationwide minimum wage movement, the Michigan House voted today to raise the minimum wage $1.80 per hour—the first increase in nine years. The state Senate unanimously approved the wage increase last week, so the bill will go to the Governor.

Polls showed 74% support for raising the minimum wage and a ballot initiative is heading for the November ballot; the Republican leadership stated that they enacted the minimum wage increase to try to prevent undercut the provision in the initiative that would index the minimum wage to inflation in the future.

The bill enacted by the legislature also lacks some of the tough enforcement language contined in the ballot initiative, including a fine under the initiative of not less than $1000 per week for employers violating the minimum wage.

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Francine Busby on Daily Kos

MVP-supported candidate Francine Busby, running for Duke Cunningham’s old seat, on Daily Kos:

The campaign that started in my kitchen three years ago is now the hottest congressional race in the country. We have the support of the DCCC, Emily’s List, MoveOn.org, Democracy for America and many others. I have spent 20 painful hours a week for the last eight months calling potential donors. We’ve now raised $1.1 million dollars from over 7000 donors. We have knocked on over 54,000 doors. We have called over 100,000 voters. This campaign is real and we will win because people in the 50th are ready for change.

This race isn’t about me; it is about changing the direction of this country. It’s one step toward new leadership in the House and our government.