Joel Barkin

The New York Times endorsed Adriano Espaillat today for the the 31st State Senate district in New York. This is great news for progressives and the NYT deserves credit for making the right choice.

As I wrote in a post a few weeks...

Lost in much of the New York election coverage, is a detailed discussion about one of the most important state legislative races in the state. When State Senator Eric Schneiderman announced he would be running for New York State Attorney General, the race for the 31st Senate District...

MJ Rosenberg wants to know "who exactly are these people attending the AIPAC conference?" He then goes on to label attendees at the conference as fringe and implies that AIPAC members only love America because of its friendship with Israel. For someone that purports to be an open-minded...

As yesterday's historic presidential elections shows, the nation is focused on the promise of progressive change. Amidst the momentous federal election results, it's important to remember that many of the changes that our nation undergoes in the following four years will be won or lost in state houses - whether...

Later this month, the federal minimum wage will increase to $6.65 -- hardly anywhere close to what it should be, but an improvement from where we are now. Fortunately, a number of states will also be increasing their minimum wage rates even higher than the federal rate:

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Eliot Spitzer should not resign. A pretty simple statement, but took my about 24 hours to come to that conclusion. Like many, as soon as I heard the news, I thought it was over. I thought he should step down and allow NY to move on without him. But after...

On Thursday, in a 21-12 vote, the New Jersey State Senate adopted legislation that would grant the state's 15 Electoral College votes to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote, rather than the candidate who carries the state. The bill, which was approved by the Assembly 43-32...

When it comes to the problem of privatization, we don't even know the half of it.

With all the attention currently focused on the perils of privatization at the federal level in the wake of the Blackwater debacle and the war profiteering sprees by Halliburton, Bechtel, and the like, scant...

Earlier this month New York Governor Eliot Spitzer announced that he would be issuing driver licenses to undocumented immigrants -- this is a bold and smart move. Not only is this good politics, it is also good policy. The simple fact is unlicensed drivers are almost five times more...

After the collapse of the effort to address immigration at the national level, we saw good news last week at the local level on how progressives should be addressing the issue.

Across the country in 2006, 570 bills involving immigrants were introduced in state legislatures. In 2007, that number...

With Michael Moore's new film Sicko premiering across the country, it is a good time to remember that states are leading the way to ensure health care for all residents. Wisconsin may soon launch to the front of the pack of states that are progressively moving health care reform.

In...

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a right-wing front group for corporate lobbying in state legislatures, recently announced their summer conference. The list of invited speakers doesn't hold many surprises (Rudolph Guiliani, Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee) until you get to the end: Barack Obama. What does Barack...

So as most readers know by now, all charges we dismissed against the Duke Lacrosse players, who it would seem, were wrongfully accused. There is lots of talk on the rightwing blogs about how this country owes them an apology and what a huge tragedy it is for those three...

A new United Nations report this week, backed by scientists around the world, confirms that not only is global warming real, but its effects are already here and getting worse. And the hard fact is, the United States consumes far more energy than any other country, more than China and...

From the universal suffrage to the abolition of poll taxes and literacy tests, the history of voting has been a steady -and certainly slow- march towards making it easier for more people to vote. We've come far, but if you take a moment to remember the last time you registered...

A resolution condemning the President's proposed escalation in Iraq sailed through the Iowa State Senate, sending a powerful message to Presidential candidates preparing for the critical early caucus. The resolution praises the troops courage, while criticizing President's handling of the war. The resolution goes on to urge Congressional leaders, many...

On the eve of critical U.S. Senate votes on President Bush's Iraq escalation plan, the Progressive States Network announced today that over 20 state legislatures so far have introduced resolutions opposing the President's move and demanding Congress use its power to stop the so-called "surge."

This ongoing effort, which has...

Have you heard the one about the lobbyists who got shut out of Washington, D.C.? They all decided to set up shop in the states instead. Not laughing? That's because it's not a joke. It's how lobbyists are reacting to the Democratic takeover of Congress.

BusinessWeek is reporting that "business...

Responding to universal health care initiatives from the state legislature, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal for expanding health care coverage in California would create one of the most comprehensive health care plans of any state in the country, through a mix of new rules and requirements targeting employers, insurers, and individuals.

A story out in the Washington Post today says that Majority Leader Steny Hoyer sent around a letter notifying members in the House they should expect to be in Washington longer than the three day work week they have become accustomed to. Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) says this is...