This poll should be a helpful boost to Governor Dan Malloy (D), who is actively pushing both to legalize medical marijuana and reduce the penalty for minor cannabis possession to a small fine. With a state legislature also controlled by Democrats, there is a good chance both reforms will happen during Malloy’s first term.

The folks at the Fed who run our economy apparently believe in the Easter Bunny. And Casper the Friendly Ghost. And Santa Claus.

I mean, I can only conclude the folks over there are completely unhinged from reality given their claim that no people–not a single homeowner–was wrongly foreclosed.

Personally, given how stupid all three trade deals are, this is one time I would be perfectly happy to see the Republicans shoot the hostage, but I fear Obama will use this as an excuse to make a bad piece of legislation even worse.

The Assembly Minority Leader, Peter Barca, has filed an official complaint that yesterday’s conference committee violated state open meetings laws. The complaint has a number of findings of fact, and then asserts that the conference committee “was not conducted in compliance with Joint Rule 3″ of the Wisconsin Legislature, as well as not being exempt from open meetings law requirements, specifically the stipulation that 24 hours notice be given for a public meeting. This complaint goes to the Dane County district attorney.

According to Bradley Manning’s Article 138 complaint, written in his own voice, Commander James Averhart put Manning on suicide watch on January 18 to demonstrate that he was, for all practical purposes, God.

Last month, Paul Krugman noted that the battle in Wisconsin is not about the state budget, but about power. Against a political reality that is dominated by Those With Big Money, Krugman calls for “institutions that can act as counterweights.”

Perhaps I could interest him — or you — in joining Firedoglake,

Keep in mind that in a press conference today, Scott Walker basically said that yes, stripping collective bargaining has a fiscal impact, but no, it doesn’t conflict with quorum laws, so go pound sand. The lawyers are going to have a field day with this bill, I predict.

As I predicted in my liveblog, the most emotional moment of Peter King’s MUAC Hearing came when Keith Ellison saluted the sacrifice of Mohammed Salman Hamdani.

The kind of crackerjack political instinct that led to a 63-seat loss in the House last year.

I’ve been calling a lot of the people who have joined the FDL Membership Program over the past couple of days, and it’s been one of the most fun things I’ve ever done in the five (yikes!) years since we opened the doors. Much to my surprise, many were people who have never even commented here before, and it was the first time I’d ever had the opportunity to interact with many of them.

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