Lots of people were angered by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s announcement that he would use money gained from the foreclosure fraud settlement to plug his budget hole. I suspected that a lot of states with a budget gap would go this route. And that apparently includes Missouri, a state with a Democratic Governor and a Democratic Attorney General.

Last night Rick Santorum wildly beat expectations by pulling off the triple play, three wins in three contests. Santorum won the caucuses in both Minnesota and Colorado. He also scored a huge victory in the non-binding Missouri primary. Romney and Gingrich both did poorly, making the first seem vulnerable and the second less credible as the anit-Romney alternative.

In the Republican presidential primary race Colorado and Minnesota are having their caucuses this evening. In addition Missouri held a “beauty contest” primary that will have no effect on delegate selection. Here is an explanation for why Missouri is wasting millions on this meaningless primary. The polls closed in Missouri at 8pm Eastern. Caucuses in [...]

Tonight will feature three state events related to the Republican Presidential primary. Colorado and Minnesota will both be holding their caucuses this evening starting at 7 pm local time. There is a totally non-binding primary in Missouri with no effect on picking delegates. PPP polling shows Santorum ahead in Minnesota and Missouri; Romney leads in Colorado.

Yesterday, we began to get some accountability for foreclosure fraud in the unlikeliest of places: Missouri. This one blindsided us. Koster, a former Republican who switched parties to the Democrats in 2007, has simply not been front and center, and yet here he comes with a criminal indictment of one of the worst document processors in the country. And the indictment goes all the way to the top of the company, to its founder, who faces seven years in prison.

Tomorrow two more states, Colorado and Minnesota, are holding their Republican Presidential primary caucuses. In both states Mitt Romney is in relatively good shape according PPP, the only company that has done recent polling in the two states. In Colorado, Romney holds a big lead, while in Minnesota he barely trails Rick Santorum by two points.

Gary Jenkins, who brought us Negroes to Hire, joins us again tonight with another compelling and carefully crafted documentary about Kansas, slavery and the Civil War. With Freedom Seekers: Stories from the Western Underground Railroad, Jenkins traces the history of “Bloody Kansas,” and its place in the abolitionist movement. The Kansas Territory was key in the balance of the states before the Civil War, as neighboring Missouri was a slave state, bordered by two free states, Illinois and Iowa.

The Council of Howard County, Maryland passed legislation last night that prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression in the areas of housing, law enforcement, public accommodations, financing, employment, and health and social services.

While most of the media watches the terrible flood waters spawned by Irene begin to recede, and wonders about Tropical Storm Lee’s rain around New Orleans, those of us along the Missouri River continue to deal with record flooding. It’s been over two months since portions of Interstate 29 in NW Missouri were closed, and they’re still under water.

Iowa Republican Congressman Tom Latham came back and viewed the damage in Council Bluffs, and was surprised by what he saw.

It’s no surprise to those of us along the river, Congressman. We’ve been looking at it all summer, and we’re just hoping it’s gone by Halloween.

As Obama buys into the deficit hysteria of the GOP, he is endangering not only the social safety net on which millions depend, but also his own particular job. One aspect of the 2012 election calculus that I don’t think Team Obama realizes is that a deal like this will throw away any hope he has of holding onto the Catholic voters that supported him in 2008.

In states like Wisconsin, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York, Missouri, Ohio, and Florida, Catholics are a sizable chunk of the electorate, and Obama cannot afford to alienate them. If he caves to the GOP on the debt ceiling negotiations and sacrifices Social Security and Medicare to protect the tax gimmicks so beloved by the MOTUs and banksters, these voters will not be happy.

Just let those states sink in: Wisconsin, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York, Missouri, Ohio, and Florida. Obama’s not going to win them without significant Catholic support, and cutting the social safety net is NOT going to help get those votes.