As Wisconsin Goes, So Goes Ohio

This is what happens when you vote against your own best interest, and hand Republicans control of your State Assembly, State Senate, and Governor's Mansion.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Labor stronghold Ohio assumed center stage Wednesday in the fight over collective bargaining rights for public workers as the state Legislature passed a bill that was in some ways tougher than that seen in Wisconsin and sent it to the governor.

Amid shouts and jeers in both chambers, the House passed a measure affecting 350,000 public workers on a 53-44 vote, and the Senate followed with a 17-16 vote of approval. Republican Gov. John Kasich will sign the bill by the end of the week.

Senate President Tom Niehaus threatened to clear the chamber ahead of final legislative action on the bill as pro-labor protesters shouted insults at senators and threatened to unseat them in the next election.

All I can say is, "RECALL and REFERENDUM."  And coming from California, I can tell you now that it's not going to be pretty,

Teacher Layoffs

This is just plain wrong. From The New York Times:

School authorities across the nation are warning thousands of teachers that they could lose their jobs in June, raising the possibility that America’s public schools may see the most extensive layoffs of their teaching staffs in decades.

Though many of the warnings may not be acted upon — school systems, their budget outlook unclear, routinely overstate likely layoffs at this time of year — when layoffs do occur, they cause a chaotic annual reshuffling of staff members. Thousands of teachers are forced to change schools, grades or subjects, creating chronic instability that educators call “teacher churn.”

“Most districts have not done layoffs for years, so they have no idea how bad this is going to be when it hits,” said Timothy Daly, president of the New Teacher Project, a nonprofit group that has studied the effects of teacher layoffs.

Even if these layoffs don’t come to be, the ramifications are tremendous. Talented young teachers, too stressed to put up with instability in our already too unstable economy, leave the profession. Teachers get shifted around from school to school, hurting school cohesion. Specialty schools – often popular choices in large, inner-city school systems – can suffer disproportionately, losing teachers that are hard to replace and causing loss of morale across otherwise committed school communities.

And of course, there are ties with parents that are ruptured. And loss of faith in a system that can only succeed if parents feel there is a good reason for them to be involved in their children’s education.

All around a big mess, reflecting our seriously messed up priorities. 

Updating the Updates

Just realized I have to remove both Bob Herbert and Frank Rich from my Blog Roll.  I guess that's what happens when you don't log into your own blog for three weeks...

Where have all the good columnists gone?

As The CIA Goes, So Goes The War

This can't be good:

WASHINGTON — The Central Intelligence Agency has inserted clandestine operatives into Libya to gather intelligence for military airstrikes and to contact and vet the beleaguered rebels battling Col.Muammar el-Qaddafi’s forces, according to American officials.

While President Obama has insisted that no American military ground troops participate in the Libyan campaign, small groups of C.I.A. operatives have been working in Libya for several weeks as part of a shadow force of Westerners that the Obama administration hopes can help bleed Colonel Qaddafi’s military, the officials said.

Does this mean it's a real war, yet?

Marriage Equality In Maryland

Marriage equality in Maryland could become reality.   Last week the Maryland Senate narrowly passed  “The Civil Marriage Protection Act.” It will be signed by the Governor, if it passes the lower house.

Now this:

We figured the Mormon leadership was working to kill the marriage law in Maryland. Now, we've got evidence. The Mormons took the lead role in repealing California's marriage law through Prop. 8. Now, they're gearing up to do the same thing in Maryland if the marriage law passes.

From LDSmag.org, which touts itself as "Latter-day Saints Shaping Their World," comes the evidence that the Mormons are backing the effort to repeal Maryland's marriage law, if it passes:

It would be California all over again.  Collect signatures for a referendum and put it on the ballot ASAP.  All with tons of money and huge volunteer efforts coming from religious institutions, inside and outside the state.

How terrible to again see the civil rights of others, left to the will of voters. And all at the mercy of a few religious institutions who have a lot of money, and volunteer power.  And the misguided notion that their own religious views should be made manifest, regarding an issue that in the end is about nothing but civil authority.

Teacher Firings In Providence

This is shameless:

After two hours of contentious discussion, the School Board voted 4 to 3 Thursday night to send out termination notices to each of the city’s 1,926 public school teachers.

More than 700 teachers jammed a high school gymnasium to tell school officials that their hearts were broken, their trust violated and their futures as teachers jeopardized.

“How do we feel? Disrespected,” said Julie Latessa, a special-needs teacher, before the vote. “We are broken. How do you repair the damage you have done today?”

At stake here is the fact that the teachers will be outright fired, rather than laid-off.  Under layoff provisions, teachers are returned based on seniority.  This may not necessarily the case when dealing with fired teachers.  No one knows for sure

At first I thought this was a just a silly power play on the part of the new mayor, Angel Taveras, mostly representative of the type of cluelessness so often found in school districts around the country.  Lay everyone off because you don't really know what all else to do, and then call most people back.  Now I am not so sure.

I do know that right now I am irked by own support of the mayor's candidacy this last summer.  Son of Dominican immigrants.  Former Head Start kid.  Harvard graduate. Respected attorney.

For the sake of his own political future, the new mayor better fix this one, and fast.  Providence has come too far, too fast to risk the future of its students.

Why I Want To Be Your President: Republican Round-Up

I know former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is on a thing with his new book about how out-of-wedlock births are a downer on the economy, but this goes too far:

In a radio appearance on Monday, Mike Huckabee attacked actress Natalie Portman for having a child "out of wedlock." Huckabee said that it's "troubling" to see people like "Natalie Portman or some other Hollywood starlet who boasts of, 'Hey look, you know, we're having children, we're not married, but we're having these children, and they're doing just fine.'" Huckabee added that "it's unfortunate that we glorify and glamorize the idea of out of children wedlock."

Nothing about Bristol Palin?  I am remembering when Dan Quayle tried the same thing. But at least Natalie Portman is a real person. Murphy Brown wasn't.  I don't think either blessed event had/will have an effect on the economy.

Newt Gingrich still seems to be having a hard time deciding if to announce, when to announce, how to announce...

On Thursday Gingrich appeared at an event with Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R) in Atlanta where former House Speaker was expected to announce the formation of an exploratory committee for the presidency. Instead, Gingrich's single announcement was the unveiling of a new website: NewtExplore2012.com. Gingrich said at the event that he would examine a presidential run "very seriously."

Maybe he'll make the announcement that he-is-still-thinking-of-forming-an-exploratory-committee-in-anticipation-of-considering-a-run, on his new website!

Sarah Palin had to clarify her writing on the Supreme Court's 8-1 ruling that protesting outside military funerals is protected under the First Amendment.

Just hours after the ruling was struck down, Palin took to Twitter and wrote, "Common sense & decency absent as wacko "church" allowed hate msgs spewed@ soldiers' funerals but we can't invoke God's name in public square."

Palin sought to clarify her remarks in an exclusive statement issued to the Daily Caller. She signaled she agrees with the decision of the Supreme Court.

"Obviously my comment meant that when we're told we can't say 'God bless you' in graduation speeches or pray before a local football game but these wackos can invoke God's name in their hate speech while picketing our military funerals, it shows ridiculous inconsistency," Palin told TheDC. "I wasn't calling for any limit on free speech, and it's a shame some folks tried to twist my comment in that way. I was simply pointing out the irony of an often selective interpretation of free speech rights."

 She still gets it wrong, but hey, she tried.

And Michele Bachmann let us all know that she is pro-choice, about light bulbs.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) this week introduced legislation that would eliminate federal light bulb standards passed in 2007 that are expected to have the effect of phasing out some incandescent bulbs in the next few years.

Bachmann said her "Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act" is needed because "government has no business telling an individual what kind of light bulb to buy."

"In 2007, Congress overstepped its bounds by mandating that only 'energy efficient' light bulbs may be sold after January 1, 2012," she said. "This mandate has sweeping effects on American families and businesses and needs serious consideration before taking effect."

Let there be light!  

Acts Against The State, Cuban Style

American contractor Alan Gross was found guilty in Havana today of working to destabilize the Cuban government.  He has already been in jail for 15 months, since his arrest for distributing satellite communications equipment for internet access, to Havana's Jewish community.  Not surprisingly, an act outlawed by the Cuban government.

The trial was quick -- it only lasted two days.  Prosecutors are seeking a 20-year prison sentence.

I am with the people who think a political solution to this will come quickly.  While I am not sure the Cuban government is that interested in improving relations with the U.S., I don't think they are in the business of making them any worse at this moment.  As soon as the Cuban government feels an appropriate example has been made with this case, I think it will be over.  

Save face.  Call it a day.  Shift the attention elsewhere.

Boehner On DOMA

How calculating. The emphasis is mine:

“I will convene a meeting of the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group for the purpose of initiating action by the House to defend this law of the United States, which was enacted by a bipartisan vote in Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton. It is regrettable that the Obama Administration has opened this divisive issue at a time when Americans want their leaders to focus on jobs and the challenges facing our economy. The constitutionality of this law should be determined by the courts -- not by the president unilaterally -- and this action by the House will ensure the matter is addressed in a manner consistent with our Constitution.”

John Boehner knows full well the American people want everyone to concentrate on job creation. So, he releases a statement that makes it sound like he has no choice, because of the unfortunate choice others have made.

Notice that the statement says nothing about his opinion on the matter.  A divisive issue, with no word on which side of the divide he is on.

Two Americas, Or Two Economies?

Some months ago I made some flippant remarks about Dollar General opening up new stores and going on a hiring spree. Flippant remarks of a particular variety, as in: “how do you expect people to make it on lousy salaries?”

I also mentioned that I was reading Robert Reich’s latest book, Aftershock: The Next Economy and America’s Future.  More on Robert Reich, his fabulous blog and his book, later.

Well, today everyone is talking about the February jobs numbers just coming out.  In short, 192,000 new jobs last month -- 220,000 new jobs in the private sector with a drop in government employment.  Unemployment has fallen below 9%.

I offer an article published earlier in the week as a backdrop for trying to understand what is happening. Something I am admittedly not too good at.

From The New York Times:

While the country’s recessionary job losses skewed to middle- and higher-paying jobs, its job gains since then have skewed to lower-paying jobs.

That is the conclusion of an unsettling report from the National Employment Law Project.
America’s private payrolls shrank from January 2008 through February 2010, losing 8.84 million jobs on net. They have been growing every month since that nadir, adding 1.26 million jobs on net. (Public payrolls are another story — they’ve been falling over the last year.)

All this means, of course, that the private sector job market still has a long way to go before it returns to its previous peak. Worse, those jobs that have been created in the last year typically pay less than the jobs they’re replaced.

According to NELP:

Lower-wage industries (those paying $9.03 -$12.91 per hour) accounted for just 23 percent of job losses, but fully 49 percent of recent growth.

Midwage industries ($12.92 -$19.04 per hour) accounted for 36 percent of job losses, and 37 percent of recent growth.

Higher-wage industries ($19.05 -$31.40 per hour) accounted for 40 percent of job loss, but only 14 percent of recent growth.

You can read the complete policy brief the article is based on, here.

So just how can the economy fully recover under these circumstances?  If the buying power of the middle class is, well -- shrinking, as it seems to be doing?

And this from President Bill Clinton's former Labor Secretary Robert Reich today as he addressed the statistics put forth in the NELP study.  The emphasis is mine:

But to get to the most important trend you have to dig under the job numbers and look at what kind of new jobs are being created. That’s where the big problem lies.

The National Employment Law Project did just that. Its new data brief shows that most of the new jobs created since February 2010 (about 1.26 million) pay significantly lower wages than the jobs lost (8.4 million) between January 2008 and February 2010.

While the biggest losses were higher-wage jobs paying an average of $19.05 to $31.40 an hour, the biggest gains have been lower-wage jobs paying an average of $9.03 to $12.91 an hour.

In other words, the big news isn’t jobs. It’s wages.

I highly recommend Robert Reich’s latest book, Aftershock: The Next Economy and America’s Future as a way of understanding how we got to where we are. And how to make changes. It is the story of two economies: a high-wage economy based in corporate centers that is indeed in recovery vs. most of the rest of us.

Reich does not necessarily believe that Americans buying too much and saving too little is all the idea that it’s cracked up to be. Quite the opposite. Reich believes there is no way the rich can spend us out of the mess we are in, even if they wanted to. That in reality only the middle class has the power in numbers to do so, with a caveat: it’s the declining earnings potential of the middle class, and thus the lack of middle class buying power that is largely responsible for the slump in growth. Give more of us more money to spend, and we can start to grow our economy again.  Getter jobs.  Better wages.  Better benefits, so we have money to spend.

Reich is also sympathetic to the idea that most of us do indeed want to increase consumption. Why not? After all, we see the rich do it. And, we live with the memories of what the post-WW II generation was able to accomplish with fair wages and good benefits. Furthermore, if we work hard, don’t we deserve to have things? And by that he doesn't just mean the newest cell phone and flashiest electronic toy.  He means the buying power for instance, to send our children to good schools so they in turn can climb the economic ladder.  That certainly was true in the past. The problem again, this time perhaps from a sociological perspective rather than a purely economic one, is that it’s stagnant wages and a declining pool of benefits that have kept most of us from reaching our (personal and rather reasonable) economic aspirations.

Read the book. It’s good. I don’t think we can understand how to get out of the mess we are in without some thought as to how we got here.  Frameworks matter.

Good Help Is So Hard To Find

The hypocrisy represented here is remarkable. The emphasis is mine:

Amid a number of bills filed in Texas that address the issue of illegal immigration, one, proposed by Republican state Rep. Debbie Riddle, stands out.

As proposed, House Bill 1202 would create tough state punishments for those who "intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly" hire an unauthorized immigrant. Violators could face up to two years in jail and a fine of up to $10,000.

But it is an exception included in the bill that is drawing attention. Those who hire unauthorized immigrants would be in violation of the law -- unless they are hiring a maid, a lawn caretaker or another house worker.

It is a tough immigration bill with a soft side that protects those who hire unauthorized immigrants "for the purpose of obtaining labor or other work to be performed exclusively or primarily at a single-family residence."

Texas state Rep. Aaron Pena, a Republican, said the exception is a wise one.

"With things as they are today, her bill will see a large segment of the Texas population in prison" if it passes without the exception, he said.

Yea, right – the exemption is because too many people will end up in jail. They want cheap, cheap, cheap labor and then cry foul when one of their workers needs to see a doctor or send their kid to school. This is nothing but worker exploitation to the advantage of financially well-off homeowners.

The tragedy, of course is that this is what flies as “immigration reform” at the state level these days.  Smoke and mirrors. Another bill recently filed in Texas would require police officers to ask every person they stop what their citizenship status is. I wonder if non-citizens who happen to be maids, gardeners and babysitters will get a pass when stopped. Don’t want anyone waiting around too long to have houses cleaned, weeds pulled or diapers changed.

As South Dakota Goes, So (Does Not) Go NYC

The same week that the South Dakota legislature passes a bill forcing women seeking abortions to receive counseling from state-approved Pregnancy Crisis Centers, New York City puts the heat on these same clinics.  Clinics most often run by anti-abortion, Christian groups.

The City Council passed a bill on Wednesday seeking more transparency from crisis pregnancy centers that present themselves as medical clinics but that critics say offer little more than pregnancy tests and counseling intended to steer women away from abortions.

“The goal of this bill is to ensure that women are fully informed and not deceived,” the Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, said. “Women need to know, they have a right to know, whether they are consulting with a licensed medical provider.”

A spokeswoman for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Evelyn Erskine, said the mayor would sign the bill in the coming weeks.

Under the legislation, centers would be required to disclose whether they provide abortions or emergency contraception and if they have a licensed medical provider on site.

Standing on the steps of City Hall before the vote, supporters of the measure, including representatives from Planned Parenthood and the New York Civil Liberties Union, said the bill was an issue of consumer protection and truth in advertising.

Really starting to think that there are indeed, two Americas.

As Wisconsin Goes, So Goes Ohio

And over in Ohio:

Ohio took its first step Wednesday toward passing sweeping legislation that would curtail collective bargaining rights for public sector workers by banning strikes and putting the power of breaking labor impasses in the hands of local elected officials.

Amid boos and shouts of “shame on you,” the Republican-controlled Ohio Senate voted 17 to 16 for the bill, with 6 Republicans voting against it.

The bill is expected to be passed next week in the House and signed into law by Gov. John Kasich, who issued a statement applauding the Senate vote. Democratic lawmakers said they would take it to a ballot referendum this fall.

The only way the bill got out of the necessary committees, was through the removal of two Republicans State Senators considered to be pro-union:

It took the removal of two -- count 'em -- union-sympathetic Republicans from Ohio state Senate committees, but supporters of Gov. John Kasich's (R) plan to limit collective bargaining rights for state workers were able to move their plan one step closer to Kasich's desk today.
By a vote of 7-5, a State Senate Committee charged with reviewing the collective bargaining proposal -- known as Senate Bill 5 -- moved the bill toward a floor reading and its expected passage. Shortly after that, a similarly close vote moved the bill out of the Senate Rules Committee.

In the end, the two State Senators who were stripped of their committee memberships in order to get this thing though, joined all 10 Democrats in voting against the bill.

Playing dirty.  Getting their way.

Why I Want To Be Your President: Republican Round-Up

The wild and wacky things coming out of their months continues:

Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty made his debut in front of the Tea Party, addressing the Tea Party Patriots at their national conference in Phoenix:

Like many speakers, Mr. Pawlenty also slipped in a jab at the president. “Now, I’m not one who questions the existence of the president’s birth certificate,” he said. “But when you listen to his policies, don’t you at least wonder what planet he’s from?”

No, Gov. Pawlenty.  Actually not something I wonder about.

Newt Gingrich wants me to forget about his affairs, and that he is on wife #3:

On a recent winter night here, Mr. Gingrich, 67, stood on stage at a Catholic school with his wife, Callista, and introduced a film they produced about the role Pope John Paul II played in the fall of Communism in Poland. As Mr. Gingrich looked out over a crowd of 1,300 people, he warned that the United States had become too secular a society.

“To a surprising degree, we are in a situation similar to Poland’s in 1979,” he told the audience, which had gathered at a banquet for Ohio Right to Life, one of the nation’s oldest anti-abortion groups. “In America, religious belief is being challenged by a cultural elite trying to create a secularized America, in which God is driven out of public life.”

To most audiences, Mr. Gingrich does not talk directly about converting to Catholicism, but his faith has become an important part of his dialogue with conservative voters.

Now, I could be wrong about his, but I don't think the average voter wakes up every morning and thinks that what is wrong with American is that we're a lot like Poland was in 1979.

Then there's Mike Huckabee, who went all-birther on us this week.

During a radio appearance yesterday, Mike Huckabee repeatedly falsely claimed that President Obama grew up in Kenya. After questioning Obama's purported secrecy about the birth certificate, radio host Steve Malzberg asked Huckabee if "we deserve to know more about this man." Huckabee responded, "I would love to know more. What I know is troubling enough."

Speaking on WOR's The Steve Malzberg Show, Huckabee -- a Fox News host and potential presidential candidate -- said that "one thing that I do know is his having grown up in Kenya, his view of the Brits, for example, very different than the average American ... his perspective as growing up in Kenya with a Kenyan father and grandfather, their view of the Mau Mau Revolution in Kenya is very different than ours because he probably grew up hearing that the British are a bunch of imperialists who persecuted his grandfather."

He then took it all back, very, very, very badly.

Says his spokesman Hogan Gidley to POLITICO:

“Governor Huckabee simply misspoke when he alluded to President Obama growing up in ‘Kenya.’ The Governor meant to say the President grew up in Indonesia.”

“When the Governor mentioned he wanted to know more about the President, he wasn’t talking about the President’s place of birth – the Governor believes the President was born in Hawaii. The Governor would however like to know more about where President Obama’s liberal policies come from and what else the President plans to do to this country – as do most Americans.”

The extent to which these guys spit out lies in order to do damage, and then later hide behind the mea culpas is amazing.

I know New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is no where near announcing a run in 2012, but he certainly is a darling of the party. Cover story of The New York Times Sunday magazine. From there:

The argument you heard most vociferously from the teachers’ union,” Christie says, “was that this was the greatest assault on public education in the history of New Jersey.” Here the fleshy governor lumbers a few steps toward the audience and lowers his voice for effect. “Now, do you really think that your child is now stressed out and unable to learn because they know that their poor teacher has to pay 1½ percent of their salary for their health care benefits? Have any of your children come home — any of them — and said, ‘Mom.’ ” Pause. “ ‘Dad.’ ” Another pause. “ ‘Please. Stop the madness.’ ”

By this point the audience is starting to titter, but Christie remains steadfastly somber in his role as the beseeching student. “ ‘Just pay for my teacher’s health benefits,’ ” he pleads, “ ‘and I’ll get A’s, I swear. But I just cannot take the stress that’s being presented by a 1½ percent contribution to health benefits.’ ” As the crowd breaks into appreciative guffaws, Christie waits a theatrical moment, then slams his point home. “Now, you’re all laughing, right?” he says. “But this is the crap I have to hear.”

I guess I just don't get what passes for funny these days.  I must have little, if any sense of humor.  He sure is cocky, though:

“I have people calling me and saying to me, `Let me explain to you how you could win,’” he said in the interview, which was conducted last week when he was in Washington. “And I’m like:`You’re barking up the wrong tree. I already know I could win.’ That’s not the issue. The issue is not me sitting here and saying: `Geez, it might be too hard. I don’t think I can win.’ I see the opportunity both at the primary level and at the general election level.”

But, despite the fact that he says he can win, he still insists he's not running.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour sticks to the pit-bull tradition, offering up no new ideas while pinning everything on the President. In a speech to the U.S.Chamber of Commerce this week he accused the Obama administration of purposely trying to drive up the price of gasoline.

In 2008, four dollar gasoline brought my state to its knees, before Wall Street melted down, and we have blown through three dollars a gallon on our way to four," Barbour, a Republican who is seriously considering a White House bid, said Wednesday in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "We don't need that where I am."< "But this administration's policies have been designed to drive up the cost of energy in the name of reducing pollution, in the name of making very expensive alternative fuels more economically competitive," he said.

And there's more:

"In the United States, it's harder to get a permit to mine coal than it is to get a heart transplant," he said. "If you look at the moratorium in the Gulf yesterday, it was announced there was a drilling permit issued for the Gulf of Mexico. Turns out it wasn't for a new well, it was to resume drilling for a well that they shut down, because the federal government made them shut down. We're going to produce about 13 percent less petroleum in the United States this year than last year. Now how is that good policy at any time when energy security is supposed to be a priority, but particularly at a time of turmoil in the Middle East and the oil-producing states? I hope the Obama administration is going to announce a reversal of course. But I'm not optimistic."

Shouldn't it be easier to get a heart transplant in this country than a permit to mine coal? Quite an insight into Gov. Barbour's thought process.

And we can add former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer to the list. The former governor, is also a former Democrat.

Former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer (R) will announce Thursday he will explore a bid for president, according to a top Republican source.

Roemer is already scheduled to head to Waukee, Iowa, for a forum hosted by the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition on Monday. He will announce an exploratory committee on Thursday at the Baton Rouge bank he runs, according to WAFB-TV.

Roemer served four terms in Congress as a Democrat between 1981 and 1988 before being elected governor in 1987. He switched parties to become a Republican in 1991, then lost a gubernatorial primary as a Republican to former Ku Klux Klansman David Duke.

Looks like lots of people with the word "former" in their titles maybe, maybe, maybe making taking the plunge.

Fox News, In The News

In an attempt to show that the protests in Madison, Wisconsin have gotten increasingly violent, Monday night’s O’Reilly Factor showed a video to prove the point. The only problem, is that the video was not from Madison. Unless a palm tree grows in Madison. In February.  On a windy, snowy weekend.



My favorite part is when the reporter interviewed said it would take too long to answer Bill O’Reilly’s question about what organizations the outside infiltrators were associated with. Even my seven year old knows better than to pull that tactic with her 2nd grade teacher.

And in more news from Fox News, possible presidential contenders and Fox News analysts former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum have been suspended for 60 days. After that, they have until then May 1st to notify the network that they are not running.  Otherwise, bye-bye contracts.

A good take from Americablog Elections: The Right’s Field:

It's good that they're not precluding other announcements down the line, because Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee are in the same boat as Gingrich and Santorum. If I was Gingrich and Santorum, I'd be pushing Fox News executives to immediately treat Palin and Hucakbee the same.

It's also curious that in a cycle where leading Republicans have shown hesitance to formally announce, it will be the network that dishes out most major candidates' welfare checks that calls the question.

Will there be a similar timeline for Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee? Inquiring minds want to know.

The Youngest Witness Ever

To be filed in the truly unbelievable column:

A fetus has been scheduled as a legislative witness in Ohio on a unique bill that proposes outlawing abortions after the first heartbeat can be medically detected.

Faith2Action, the anti-abortion group that has targeted Ohio to pilot the measure, called the in-utero witness the youngest to ever come before the House Health Committee at nine weeks old.

Faith2Action president Janet Folger Porter said the intent is to show lawmakers who will be affected by the bill, which is opposed by Ohio Right to Life and abortion rights groups as unconstitutional.

An aide to committee Chairman Lynn Wachtmann said a pregnant woman will be brought before the committee and an ultrasound image of her uterus will be projected onto a screen. The heartbeat of the fetus will be visible in color.

You can read the press release put out by Faith2Action here.

The fetus will be testifying tomorrow, Wednesday, March 2nd, at 9:00 a.m.