Politics
- Democurmudgeon: Thomas Frank offers his take on Wisconsin.
This is a must watch piece that explains just what is now happening in Wisconsin, and not just in Kansas anymore. Thomas Frank and E.J. Dionne offer the simple truth. I will be talking about this when I fill again for Sly in the Morning, the first week of July.
Frank: “These guys present themselves, and they have no right to do it anyways, they present themselves as the opponents of entrenched power. Okay, they have this term that they like to throw around, the ruling class, they’re always going up against what they call the “ruling class.” It’s preposterous but they say it all the time. It sorta of makes sense in this kind of upside down world they live in. The other thing is, they have is this very Utopian view of the world. It’s very 1930’s, they have this vision of a this sorta heroic producer capitalist, whereas as a long time ago, it would have been the heroic working man who produced, who built America. But they have this vision of…if only we could get government completely out of the picture, and let the free market do everything exactly as it wanted. That would be a legitimate economy. That would be what solved all our problems.”
- The National Memo » Swing Voters Bemoan Obama’s Economy — But Strongly Distrust Romney
Climate & Climate Politics
- Global Warming Text Was Removed From Virginia Bill on Rising Sea Levels – US News and World Report
Virginia has commissioned a study to examine coastal flooding, but only after references to climate change were removed
Two Southern states have made it clear they want nothing to do with the idea of global warming.
A day after the North Carolina state senate passed a bill requiring science on rising sea levels to be ignored, Virginia lawmakers allowed a study on its coastline to begin on the state’s dime only after all references to climate change or global warming were removed from its funding proposal.
[Sea Level Bill Would Allow North Carolina to Stick Its Head in the Sand]
Looking to address flooding and encroaching sea water on the coast, Virginia lawmakers recommended a scientific study on the problem. When state Sen. Ralph Northam pushed the study through the legislature in February, he met resistance from Republicans who didn’t want any reference to “sea level rise” or “climate change” in its language.
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