Legosi (Tani Coyote)

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/443715-maine-senate-passes-bill-that-would-give-electoral-college-votes-to So in the span of a month, three states - Nevada, Oregon, and Maine - have all passed the National Popular Vote Compact in one house of their legislatures. Holy crap, this might actually happen before the 2020 election. Ten bucks says the Supreme Court decides to "stay" the legislation though. Even though the Constitution is VERY clear states can do whatever they want with their electoral votes.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/15/politics/bill-weld-2020-trump/index.html While the Democratic camp is currently overrun by opportunists, the Republican camp just got interesting. Former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld has announced he will be running for the Presidency on the GOP ticket, making him Trump's first primary challenger. Weld is a more libertarian flavor of Republican, having been consistently pro-choice, pro-marijuana legalization and pro-LGBT, while being fiscally conservative. He is confident he could take the nomination with support from independents. As a cherry on top, were Weld to become President, he would steal Trump's title of being the oldest inaugurated President, being 75 on Inauguration Day. Weld realistically has a tough primary ahead of him as most conservatives solidly back Trump, and no President has been outvoted in the primaries since the 1880s. But he could still give Trump a tough time if he draws in independent votes, and Presidents who face a tough primary have good odds of losing re-election, as happened with Ford, Carter, and H.W. Bush.

Trump is out praising Robert E. Lee again. Remember, any time someone praises Lee or the Confederacy's officers, ask them about General Longstreet. The fact they either don't know who he is, or assume he's the reason Lee lost, will serve to confirm the racist background of the neo-Confederate movement. For the record, General Longstreet joined the Republican Party (the Party of the North at the time) post-war, supported Reconstruction, and led a black militia against a white supremacist mob on top of it. If there is any Confederate officer deserving of praise, it would be him. But of course, he receives practically none. Goes to show what neo-Confederate thinking is really about.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/21/upshot/home-ownership-nimby-bipartisan.html?module=inline So Ben Carson finally had a good idea, and wanted to change federal housing policies so communities get funding cut if they don't get rid of tight zoning laws, veto power given to homeowners to block new development, etc. It's a policy in many urban areas that has strangled the ability to build new homes, which is why places like California are so ridiculously expensive (though I'm sure Carson and co. would claim it's the taxes, but it's actually a mix of taxes, market pressure, and wealthy people restricting housing). There's a bipartisan opposition to it... among well-to-do people. This, folks, is why the victory of the left will not come from the suburbs. The urban and rural working classes must find their common ground and join forces to destroy an oppressive elite. Social justice and economic justice must go together for full effectiveness. Economic justice without social justice creates a welfare state where only the majority group is taken care of. Social justice without economic justice creates a system where there's still enormous poverty, but hey, at least half the world's richest people are women of color. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/23/upshot/2020-democrats-court-renters.html?utm_source=pocket-newtab Meanwhile, Senators Warren, Harris, and Booker are all pushing for rent reform. Harris and Booker have introduced bills to create a tax credit for renters. You know the right is running scared now because Democrats are becoming more and more openly left on economics. Rent control. Free tuition. Universal healthcare. See the prior paragraph though. For left populism to win, it's going to need a strong base of rural supporters in order to get the necessary Senate seats. Democrats would do well to really target red states for left wing ballot initiatives. When there's no R or D on a choice, "conservative" voters are very good at passing things like universal healthcare or raising the minimum wage. And as red state voters put these things into practice, Republican politicians will feel the squeeze and be crazy to vote against them.