Economy

mahatmakanejeeves

(57,600 posts) Thu Feb 26, 2015, 01:30 PM Feb 2015

States Are Blocking Local Regulations, Often at Industry's Behest

U.S.
By SHAILA DEWAN FEB. 23, 2015

Darren Hodges, a Tea Party Republican and councilman in the windy West Texas city of Fort Stockton, is a fierce defender of his town’s decision to ban plastic bags. It was a local solution to a local problem and one, he says, city officials had a “God-given right” to make.

But the power of Fort Stockton and other cities to govern themselves is under attack in the state capital, Austin. The new Republican governor, Greg Abbott, has warned that several cities are undermining the business-friendly “Texas model” with a patchwork of ill-conceived regulations. Conservative legislators, already angered by a ban on fracking that was enacted by popular vote in the town of Denton last fall, quickly followed up with a host of bills to curtail local power.

“The truth is, Texas is being California-ized, and you may not even be noticing it,” Mr. Abbott said in a speech at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, an influential conservative think tank, just before he took office last month. “Large cities that represent about 75 percent of the population in this state are doing this to us. Unchecked overregulation by cities will turn the Texas miracle into the California nightmare.”
....

So-called pre-emption laws, passed in states across the country, have barred cities from regulating landlords, building municipal broadband systems and raising the minimum wage. In the last two years, eight Republican-dominated states, most recently Alabama and Oklahoma, have prevented cities from enacting paid sick leave for workers, and a new law in Arkansas forbids municipalities to protect gays and lesbians from discrimination. Already this year, bills introduced in six more states, including Michigan, Missouri and South Carolina, seek to do the same. At least five states have pre-empted local regulation of e-cigarettes. And in New Mexico, the restaurant industry supports a modest increase to the minimum wage only if the state stops cities from mandating higher minimums. ... Often these efforts are driven by industry, which finds it easier to wield influence in 50 capitols than in thousands of city halls, said Mark Pertschuk, the director of Grassroots Change, which opposes the pre-emption of public health measures.

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States Are Blocking Local Regulations, Often at Industry's Behest (Original Post) mahatmakanejeeves Feb 2015 OP

Libertarians Versus Corpratists drm604 Feb 2015 #1

I think there may be an opening to realize we have a bigger problem & choosing a side should mother earth Feb 2015 #3

We shouldn't choose a side? drm604 Feb 2015 #6

If we are to tackle the multitude of problems cause by the plutocrats, we need to unite over mother earth Mar 2015 #8

The whole idea behind globalization and the trade agreements is to demolish borders so the jwirr Feb 2015 #2

2016 means nothing, do you honestly think the vote isn't preselected? Just like our candidates and mother earth Feb 2015 #4

Oh, I agree with that but I am one who does not stop trying especially when it is something that jwirr Feb 2015 #5

Pre-selected more than you realize. Fuddnik Feb 2015 #7

Fuddnik, I totally realize, since MSM shaped Kerry as the frontrunner when Howard Dean was mother earth Mar 2015 #9

drm604

(16,230 posts)

1. Libertarians Versus Corpratists

Reply to mahatmakanejeeves (Original post)

Thu Feb 26, 2015, 01:42 PM

Feb 2015

The Tea Party (which I am NO fan of) is beginning to see through the Republican lies. They took the party's anti big government rhetoric to heart and now they're discovering that it was empty rhetoric.

It's all about protecting business. Republicans hate big government when it regulates, and love it when it keeps local citizens from regulating.

I think there may be an opening here for Democrats to win over some Tea Party votes.

mother earth

(6,002 posts)

3. I think there may be an opening to realize we have a bigger problem & choosing a side should

Reply to drm604 (Reply #1)

Thu Feb 26, 2015, 07:05 PM

Feb 2015

become a thing of the past. Sure the tea party is waking up to the corporatist/oligarchy takeover...unity will take them down quicker than a divided populace...how we go about achieving that and both sides coming to terms with that will determine if we can have our own takeover, like the one this country was formed by.

All we have to do is look at the two potential "frontrunners", the status quo of a Bush vs. Clinton, more of the same shit, different day.

drm604

(16,230 posts)

6. We shouldn't choose a side?

Reply to mother earth (Reply #3)

Fri Feb 27, 2015, 01:19 AM

Feb 2015

That doesn't make sense to me. Am I on the side of uncontrolled corporate growth and power or on the side against it? Am I on the side of protecting the environment or on the side against it? Am I on the side of the oligarchs or the people? Of course we need to take sides. Not taking sides means apathy.

mother earth

(6,002 posts)

8. If we are to tackle the multitude of problems cause by the plutocrats, we need to unite over

Reply to drm604 (Reply #6)

Sun Mar 1, 2015, 06:51 PM

Mar 2015

common ground bigger issues, mainly recovering our hijacked democracy. These times are not business as usual times, every faction is either purchased, corrupt or both.

How are the people to tackle the oligarchs if we continue to battle over divisive issues, common ground is key.

jwirr

(39,215 posts)

2. The whole idea behind globalization and the trade agreements is to demolish borders so the

Reply to mahatmakanejeeves (Original post)

Thu Feb 26, 2015, 01:52 PM

Feb 2015

corporations can do as they please. That the Koch brothers are destroying WI and other states should come as no surprise and that it has reached the local level is only the next step.

We should have woken up in 2014 but we did not. Will we wake up in 2016?

mother earth

(6,002 posts)

4. 2016 means nothing, do you honestly think the vote isn't preselected? Just like our candidates and

Reply to jwirr (Reply #2)

Thu Feb 26, 2015, 07:10 PM

Feb 2015

frontrunners? We should have waken up after the two stolen elections, Gore & Kerry were consecutive robs.

jwirr

(39,215 posts)

5. Oh, I agree with that but I am one who does not stop trying especially when it is something that

Reply to mother earth (Reply #4)

Fri Feb 27, 2015, 12:49 AM

Feb 2015

can be so easy as voting. If I am supposed to stop trying then I might just as well set down in my chair and let Alzheimer's take its course. I will not do that.

Fuddnik

(8,846 posts)

7. Pre-selected more than you realize.

Reply to mother earth (Reply #4)

Fri Feb 27, 2015, 11:49 AM

Feb 2015

Back in the fall of 2007, me and two friends, who were also activists had an invitation to hang around the Green Room for the day at a Presidential Forum in Orlando, and spend the day with the 8 Democratic candidates. Just us, a couple of aides, security and the candidates. No press or anyone else. The only two, who didn't show up back there were Hillary, and Bill Richardson.

We spent the day, just bullshitting with the candidates, one on one, and in groups. Very informal.

Then Obama floated into the room, and his presence seemed to suck the air out of the place. And all the other candidates seemed to defer to the Jr Senator from Illinois. The newbie. I happened to be conversing with Elizabeth Kucinich at the time, and I remarked to her, "It appears that The Anointed One has arrived". She replied "It sure does seem like it, doesn't it"? Now, this was months before the first caucus or primary, and you could already see who the nominee was probably going to be.

As an aside, if you ever wanted to go out drinking with one of them, Joe Biden is the guy. He's a bullshit artist of the first magnitude. In a fun way.

mother earth

(6,002 posts)

9. Fuddnik, I totally realize, since MSM shaped Kerry as the frontrunner when Howard Dean was

Reply to Fuddnik (Reply #7)

Sun Mar 1, 2015, 07:00 PM

Mar 2015

a whirlwind grassroots newcomer...it wasn't the "Dean Scream", it was the mainstream media choke that took down his rise, coupled with some smart early maneuvering via the machines....presto, an easier to beat (or steal from, as it turned out) candidate.

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