Liquefied Natural Gas

A  busy, busy day for blockbuster democracy... 10 items follow.

ARKANSAS RE-FILING: After the attorney general rejected the first version, an initiative to require proof of citizenship or legal status to receive public benefits has been refiled by its supporters. This measure appears headed for the November ballot. It creats a political dilemma in particular for Democrats, who continue to have a hold on Arkansas politics that they've lost in other Southern states. It also could complicate the efforts of Democratic presidential candidates, who would be almost certain to oppose it,  to win a state that may well be in play in a Democratic year. 

COLORADO HISTORY LESSON: The writer David Sirota goes deep -- very deep -- in explaining the history behind the current labor-business imbroglio that appears headed to the ballot.in Colorado. All the way to the Ludlow Massacre (he name-checks my Los Angeles Times colleague Scott Martelle's, whose book about that slaughter, Blood Passion, is an instant classic of Western history). Sirota sees Gov. Bill Ritter's efforts to find a compromise and head off ballot measures in a very dark, anti-union way. That may not be fair, but the piece is worth reading.

Oregonians who want to block a liquefied natural gas terminal on the Columbia River filed papers Friday for a referendum. With the LNG industry focused on expansion in the U.S., expect to see more measures like this in the West.

An Oregon county approves an liquefied natural gas terminal on the Columbia River. Citizens there are preparing a referendum to reverse that decision. LNG promoters have been trying to establish such terminals on waterways and off-shore all over the country. Expect to see more disputes over such terminals end up on the ballot.