by Cody Lyon

It might also serve Americans to call upon the greater spirits of worker history in this nation and remember too, that it wasn't unions who over time stripped private sector workers of any sense of collective bargaining power over the years, it was instead company hunger for a better bottom line on Wall Street.

The floods in the Midwest have continued and I include some information where I can in the Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin sections. Best of luck to all readers in the hard hit areas.

This week I return to an issue I discussed before: Republican cronies litterally killing our troops with no government oversight. This week Democratic Sentor Bob Casey is demanding an investigation of the electrocutions due to bad wiring that have been plaguing our military bases managed by a Hallibruton subsidiary. More below.

This week's newsletter includes another discussion about the Republican neglect of our infrastructure. Since I wrote it two more levees have failed, flooding Des Moines, which aren't included in my analysis. If you want to help the Midwest, you can go here.

Turning to the election, the attacks have begun in earnest. Republicans rolled out a whole slew of attacks against Barack and Michelle Obama...some borderline racist, some merely lies, and none all that effective. In most states Obama's popularity has surged such that if the election were held today, Obama would easily win with over 300 electoral votes, just like Senator Chuck Schumer predicts will happen. But keep in mind, this is just the first volley of attacks.

The primary is over and our nominee is Barack Obama.

This was going to be a historic moment no matter what. Once the field narrowed to Obama and Clinton, we KNEW we would make history. We would have either the first black or first woman nominated for President by one of the two major parties. Well, THIS, folks, is history. Real and amazing history. We have now done what our parents couldn't do.

This coming week is a big primary in California. This week I highlight some of the progressives running in that primary and I hope my California readers will consider helping them out. Focusing on these kinds of local elections is so critical, yet so neglected. In California this week we have the chance to elect the next generation of progressive politicians.

This last week was the week when John McCain's campaign took a serious blow. Bob Barr, a Republican who is about as conservative as they get but who got fed up with Bush's war and invasion of civil liberties, has been nominated as the Libertarian Candidate for President. This potentially will hurt McCain big time...but we shall see.

This week a friend of ours threw his hat in the ring running for a judicial seat in Brooklyn and two Progressive Majority candidates I have been highlighting in Arizona (McCain's state, mind you) won historic victories in the Tempe and Maricopa City Councils. The progressive grassroots continues to grow and is actually winning some real, solid victories. And we all have been part of this, so conrgatulations to all who have been active in these victories.

I'm putting out a somewhat shorter newsletter this week. Been busy with work and family. But it has been a big week. The primary continues...and it is probably a good thing. Let's face it. The fierce primary between two such excellent candidates has raised Democratic voter registration to record highs and has brought out many new voters who, if we can maintain the momentum, will blow the Republicans away. This week's newsletter includes some statements from one of my Senators predicting such a rout of the Republicans in November.

One of the highlights of this week was a slapdown of a Texas Republican by a Wisconsin Democrat in the House during a debate over funding the Iraq Quagmire. Check out the video. It is wonderful to watch.

Another wonderful video is Chris Matthews, not someone I generally like, slamming a Republican for making references to Neville Chamberlain without having a clue of the real history. Parroting lame talking points is no longer working for the Republicans. Their gross ignorance is showing and even conservative talk show hosts are getting irritated by it.

Last week was the 5th Annniversary of Bush's idiotic "Mission Accomplished" moment. And John McCain tried defending Bush, blaming it on the Navy. This led to a considerable amount of attention on John McCain's own suggestion that we should stay in the Iraq Quagmire for 100 years. Howard Dean in particular slammed McCain for his willingness to sacrifice American soldiers for oil profits for 100 years. Poor John McCain didn't like having people pick on him, so John "wimp" McCain began whining and complaining about it. Well, Mr. McCain, if you can't take criticism of a stupid policy, how the hell are you going to stand up to al-Qaeda? Oh, yeah...just like Bush you plan on wasting time, money, and lives in Iraq for 100 years rather than actually fighting al-Qaeda, the people who attacked us.

This week was Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. It also was the fifth aniversary of Bush's infamous "Mission Accomplished" speech. This aniversary was unique in that for the first time the Bush administration has admitted that the banner was a huge mistake...though John McCain blamed it on the military, excusing Bush for the fiasco. The Republicans are finally acknowledgig the dismal failure of "Mission Accomplished" but refuse to take the blame. Typical. Absolutely typical. Republicans wouldn't know responsibility if it bit them in the ass.

This week I am once again candidate oriented. Somewhat coincidentally I focused this week mainly on women. There are some particularly great women running in Alaska, and locally in Wisconsin that I want to introduce you all to. And I continue to try and keep my focus on what's going on state by state as up to date as possible. Interestingly, Georgia, Virginia and Pennsylvania are now the three states after California and New York where I have the most readers. Pretty good diversity of readership I think. I keep thinking I should cut back on the states I try to cover, but next week I may be adding Ohio!

This week's newsletter below.

This week I have been focused on my real job, so this week's newsletter not quite as in depth as I sometimes do. This week I am focusing on what I consider some interesting races around the country. I may do that for a few weeks or so because I am learning about so many really good people running who I want to help. This week I focus on Nebraska Senate, Oklahoma Senate, and an Iowa state legislature race.

Last week I discussed the economic mess we are in. Someone commented that I am making things up and that job growth has been fine under Bush. She claimed I gave no evidence that job growth has been nearly flat during the Bush administration. Well, let me quote Paul Krugman, with an illustration:

Today on Current TV I heard a headline that some of the virtual currencies in online games are now worth more than the dollar. That CAN'T be true. But apparently a study showed that some virtual currencies carry more weight than the US dollar. Well, I haven't been able to follow up that story, and I am sure it really is more a faux entertainment kind of story than a real one. But it is indicative of how far the dollar has fallen under Bush's "leadership." I work with many foreigners from around the world. They all tell me how weak the dollar is...they are all AMAZED at how weak the dollar is. From Spain, Israel, France, Peru, Russia, Bulgaria, Cyprus and many other nations they all tell me they are amazed at how weak the dollar is. It used to be that nations around the world tied their currency to the dollar as a way of stabilizing their currency. Now some of those nations have abandoned the dollar standard in favor of the Euro. Right now the Euro and the British pound reign supreme. The dollar is becoming a sad, backwards currency.

This last week I think marks when Iraq is finally sinking into genuine civil war. And our troops are caught right in the middle with no loyal allies, no goal, no exit strategy. I'd say there's a 50/50 shot it will calm down again, but if so it will be on Sadr's terms. Like last time. It could also spiral into even worse chaos and the Republicans have no idea what to do. I fear for our troops and I fear for the civillians of Iraq. 50/50 it calms down if Sadr wants it to...50/50 it will get really ugly.

It has been an eventful week. The economy has shown signs of considerable collapse. One of the most stodgy and respected banks, Bear Stearns, collapsed from being worth some $130 a share to being bought out for a mere $2 a share. AND it needed bailing out by the government as well. Inflation and stagnation...what used to be called stagflation. That is what we are seeing. Back when we first saw this horrible combination, at least our Presidents admitted it. Ford's slogan was "WIN: Whip Inflation Now!" It was worthless, but at least it admitted the problem. Bush merely "reassures" us that there is nothing to worry about. He claims there is no recession, no inflation, no problem. "Don't worry, be happy." The mantra that worked so well for his father.

This week it was all about the economy, the war and race. That's a pretty heavy week!