Hinting that she can't take the heat in this "new political environment," Sarah Palin resigns as Governor of Alaska.

The NC Senate Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and Natural Resources is set to vote on revised version of Senate Bill 1068, Permitting Wind Energy Facilities in NC, on Tuesday July 7th that will ban all wind energy projects in the NC mountains, driving away jobs, economic benefits, and clean electricity from the region.

Read more

The following is the summary of the public option from Senate HELP Committee.

A Strong Public Option

The Community Health Insurance Option

A strong majority of Americans believe that a strong public option is an important component of any health reform bill that keeps costs down, expands coverage, and offers American families a wide variety of affordable options. Backed by the government for the public good, not private profit, the HELP Committee’s public option – called the Community Health Insurance Option – will be a strong, effective national plan that provides Americans with a real alternative to traditional, for-profit insurance.

Read more

Use this thread to keep the conversation going over this welcome long weekend. For those in need of some patriotic festivities, please join us on Saturday from 4 to 7 in Chapel Hill. We'll have barbecue, tea and lemonade, and are asking folks to bring a side dish or dessert. The weather promises to be splendid, and I'm sure turnout will be great. Last year about 130 people attended, and Jane and I always say ... the more the merrier! Our address is 451 Lakeshore Lane.

In the meantime, there will be plenty to talk about. For instance, we might want to talk about why Obama's policies in Afghanistan are almost guaranteed not to work.

Yesterday, in a first for the 5,000 workers at the Smithfield Foods pork processing plant, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) and the employees or the Smithfield plant ratified a contract with Smithfield Foods granting the better benefits, pay increases and working conditions.

The Press Release from UFCW:

WORKERS AT WORLD'S LARGEST PORK PLANT RATIFY FIRST-EVER UNION CONTRACT

Deal raises Tar Heel workers’ wages and brings up benefits and working conditions to union standards

(TAR HEEL NC)—Five Thousand workers at the world’s largest pork processing plant have their first-ever union contract, after a majority of workers ratified the agreement over a two-day vote. Members of UFCW Local 1208 will join more than 10,000 other Smithfield workers, and more than 240,000 others who work in the meat packing and food processing industry who have a UFCW union contract.

The new contract includes:Read more

Senators Kennedy and Dodd sent a letter to the rest of the HELP (Health, Education, Labor & Pensions) Committee outlining the final plan from the committee. The plan has a smaller price tag than originally reported and will provide coverage for 97% of Americans. It has a healthy public option and is unlikely to garner bipartisan support.

I have a call in to Senator Hagan's office to verify her support for the plan. With all of the hyperbole and nastiness thrown at Kay Hagan the past two weeks, if she comes out in support of the plan I not only expect some here to offer apologies, but I expect us all to embrace the new Kay Hagan Health Care Plan and work like hell to see it through both houses of Congress.

If she fails to support the plan then I provide the next round of rotten tomatoes.

At my first job as a community organizer with Maryland ACORN I organized tenants in a number of apartment complexes all owned by the same slumlord.

It was a good organizing opportunity because just about everyone living there (over a thousand families) had the same problems: vermin, flooding on the 1st floor, lack of repairs, and issues with safety and lighting. Also Maryland has some basic laws protecting renters. These weren't sufficient, but there was at least a limit to what renters were expected to tolerate.

Read more

Cross posted on Ampify

Open Mic talked about the bullying bill that passed here in North Carolina last week, and I wanted to share some more great news. HB 88, the Healthy Youth Act of North Carolina, passed it final hurdle last week at the state legislature and Gov. Purdue signed it into law today! The NC legislature website has all the versions of the bill, all the vote history, and other legislative info for those who are interested. Also, the News and Observer had a nice front-page story about the Healthy Youth Act, they were so kind as to ask me for a quote. You can check that out here. Read more

If you take only one political action this month, take this action. Stand with breast cancer survivors of North Carolina.

Thanks to Jane Hamsher at FireDogLake for leading the charge.

Read more

Kay Hagan may be talking about a public option as she tours the state this week, but her office says she's still considering various plans and has not yet even endorsed any form of public option — let alone a robust one.

That's interesting, because Talking Points Memo is reporting that a draft of a public option has been leaked from the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee - one of the committees Hagan sits on, and the committee most likely to introduce a public option in the Senate. Here's TPM's take on the draft:Read more