ALEC

Monday, Oklahoma's Republican governor, Mary Fallin, a lock-step right-wing ideologue and pawn of the Koch brothers, signed a bill fining or taxing Oklahomans who want to use solar power. It had passed both Houses of the Oklahoma legislature, and, in fact the House passed it 83-5. (Now this is a very, very red state but there are still 29 Democrats in the state House--72 Republicans-- and 12 Democrats in the state Senate--36 Republicans). Many of those Democrats, however, aren't Democrats that actual Democrats would recognize as Democrats.

Yesterday MoveOn.org released a new set of polls conducted by PPP from red and purple states. In all seven states-- Maine, Kansas, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Florida, Kentucky and Virginia-- large percentages of likely voters thought that their state should accept federal Medicaid expansion dollars.

Gary Peters, the Democratic candidate for the Michigan Senate seat Carl Levin is giving up, is a careerist and a New Dem with a mediocre and distinctly uncourageous record. Look as hard as you want at the Blue America Senate page but you will never find Gary Peters or anyone like him. That said, his likely GOP opponent, Koch puppet candidate Terri Lynn Land, is far worse. He's a nothing; she's a negative.

It's how the Bourbons saw themselves; it's how conservatives always see themselves, especially the plutocratic onesRight after Obama was reelected, the Republican-controlled state government of North Carolina kicked an ALEC-initiated plan into high gear--