By: Inoljt, http://mypolitikal.com/

Over the next few posts I will be previewing a select few competitive Senate elections. These posts will focus less on individual personalities and more on overarching state dynamics – what parts of the state vote Democratic, swing, and vote Republican.

These states will be mainly Democratic strongholds, rather than swing states, because this election cycle is the first in many in which they have been competitive. Another opportunity for analyzing these places will probably not occur for a while.

Discussion of the July 2010 Jobs Report, the “analysis” and other economic news.

Some facts about Ohio’s unemployment rate overall, and my hometown’s unemployment rate in particular.

Once again, the states are leading the way on health care reform. This past week, the Vermont House and Senate passed two versions of a bill that would essentially get a consultant to design three systems for health care in Vermont: something similar to Canadian single payer, something similar to a private system with a public option, and something similar to the recently passed federal health insurance bill.

In a lengthy interview on Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman, Congressman Dennis Kucinich explained why he would not vote for the present health care bill and defended his position against attacks from people on the left like Markos Moulitsas. He also spoke about the subjects of Afghanistan, campaign finance, and the passing of activist Granny D.

I mean, I have a responsibility to take a stand here on behalf of those who want a public option. There’s about thirty-four members of the Senate, at least, who have signed on to saying they support a public option. If I were to just concede right now and say, “Well, you know, whatever you want. All this pressure’s building. Just forget about it,” actually weakens every last-minute bit of negotiations that would try to improve the bill. So I think that it’s really critical to take this stand, because without it, there’s no real control over premiums. Without it, we have nothing in the bill except the privatization of our healthcare system.

What’s the simplest, quickest way to create a snapshot of 50,000,000 uninsured Americans? If we ‘mapped out’ the population of uninsured Americans, how many state populations would we have to add in order to total that figure of 50,000,000?

After a prolonged period of Conservative political dominance, Minnesota, New York, Massachusetts, Florida and Illinois consider selling or leasing toll roads, parks, lotteries and other assets to raise cash.