Our friends at Douglas Gould and Company, a pr firm for progressive causes, said we could share their case study of why the Prop 82 preschool for all initiative failed at the polls last week in California:

So it's come to this.

Omaha's troubled urban school district is now poised, with the blessing of Nebraska's legislature and governor, to divide itself into three separate districts -- one mostly black, one mostly hispanic, and one mostly white. And the man behind it is the state's one-and-only black lawmaker, State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha.

Trickle-down theorists argue that cutting taxes for the rich will make everyone else richer. If it were true, the pace of tax cuts since 2001 should have made us all millionaires!

Trickle-downers also argue that holding the line on taxes will make America's economy more competitive and stronger. But here too the theory doesn't meet the real world test. More tax cuts will burden our economy with more debt. Despite spending cuts in vital social services in the budget they just approved, Congress is still going to have to raise the official debt limit, again, to $9 trillion by mid-March.

The House of Representatives has postponed a March 2 vote on the "National Uniformity for Food Act" (H.R.4167) until next week. Food safety advocates say this bill would not set national food safety standards that raise the bar but would eliminate key food safety measures in the states, like those that protect Californians against chemicals causing birth defects. H.R. 4167 would also limit states' ability to enact new food-safety laws in areas where the federal government has not acted, like mercury levels in fish.

This is a critical week for advocates trying to make sure families get the assistance they need to pay their heating bills. Congressional reporters say Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has decided to resolve a dispute over spending for flood insurance and home heating subsidies by considering the two issues together later this week.

Is our land of opportunity turning into a dead end for Hispanic students who graduate high school college-ready but lack a pathway to legalize their citizenship status?

On March 22 Connect for Kids hosted a Talktime Live! online chat on the Dream Act, with experts on education issues faced by immigrants and a student who will speak from experience.

Congressional reporters say many of President Bush's FY2007 budget proposals drew a “decidedly cool reception” from House committees that submitted their annual "views and estimates" to the Budget Committee to help it in drafting the congressional budget resolution for FY2007.

When you were in college, how many times did you call home for comfort, advice, a recipe -- and maybe some help paying that long-distance bill you ran up while breaking up with your boy/girlfriend? Or, say you went to work after high school. Did your folks lend you a hand with that first month's security deposit on a new apartment? Bring you a meal and a care package of pots, pans, and laundry detergent?

The President's budget plan would put spending for energy, K-12 and higher education, housing, natural resources and environment, and other domestic priorities on a path of deeper cuts -- an overall 13% cut by 2011, according to official data assembled and analyzed by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Just yesterday I was whining about how Tuesday night's State of the Union speech lacked substance. Turns out the substance, in this case, was the sideshow.

I'm talking, of course, about the T-shirts. Talk about your teachable moments!