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March 1 of this week launched the official primary season. Let’s go first to some key announcements, then to the local education rally held on March 4th. We finish with a take-down of the infamous Bart Stupak. Shall we..?

Jerry Brown Announces for Governor

Running as the lone Dem, former Governor Brown appears to have this primary locked up and will face whoever is left standing after the Rs slug it out in their primary.

Bill Halter after Blanche Lincoln’s Spot in the Senate

In an amazing first week, Lt. Gov. Bill Halter roared out of the gates and raised over $1 million in two days with the support of the netroots. Stay tuned to this epic battle of progressive Dem versus Conservadem. Senator Lincoln is doing her best to keep the public option out the health care legislation that will be signed by President Obama.

500 Rally Against Education Cuts in San Joaquin

Roger Philips’ Stockton Record education blog posted some video of the March 4th march and rally in Stockton. Cuts are coming to California public schools for the second of three years in a row. Look for more of this to occur until Californians address the elephant in the room: Prop 13.

Get to Know Bart Stupak

Rachel Maddow takes on Bart Stupak head on. Take notes, this is how it’s done.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Conservadem Senator Blanche Lincoln has been officially challenged by liberal Democrat, Lt. Gov. Bill Halter.

Watch here:

Read here:

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2010/03/lt-gov-halter-to-challenge-sen-lincoln-in-ark-democratic-primary/1

As noted in the Saturday February 27, 2010 edition of the Tracy Press:

The City Council will appoint two people to the five-member citizens’ board at its meeting Tuesday night. Commissioners vote on land-use decisions, though the council has the ultimate say.

Charles Manne seeks to be reappointed to his seat, which he has held since May, when he was chosen to carry out Carol Blevins’ term. He is an insurance agent. Last month, Marc Shishido abruptly resigned from his seat on the commission, which was set to expire next month. Shishido quit after the city made public a letter that accused him of misusing his city post.

Other applicants

• Roger Adhikari, a finance management consultant

• John Forrest, a business systems analyst for a staffing firm

Way to go Roger and John! We wish you the best on your quest. Let us know what happens..

Editor’s Note: Changing up the posting calendar here to allow the Saturday post to include the weekly President’s Radio Address. Week in Review now moves to Sunday to reflect on the previous week.

The week of course s was dominated by the build up, the event, and the analysis of the President’s Health Forum. In case you missed it, let’s get to the video highlights of the actual event.

Obama Takes on McCain

First, the McCain smack-down:

Harry Reid Setting the Stage:

In his opening remarks, Reid takes on the Republicans over their use of budget reconciliation to pass their own legislation, including the Contract for America.

House Speaker Pelosi Reminds Us of the Public Option

Good for her, Speaker Pelosi brings the conversation back to the campaign trail and the public option, restating its case.

Mr. President, I harken back to that meeting a year ago. At that time, Senator Grassley questioned you about the public option. And you said the public option is one way to keep the insurance companies honest and to increase competition. If you have a better way, put it on the table.

Well, I bring that up because we have come such a long way….As a representative of the House of Representatives, I want you to know that we were there that day in support of a public option which would save $120 billion, keep the insurance companies honest, and increase competition. [This describes the Medicare-rates version of the public option, not in the House bill. The current version saves $25 billion.] We’ve come a long way to agreeing to a Republican idea, the exchanges…because the insurance companies opposed the public option. They couldn’t take the competition.

We have in our bill [which includes a weaker public option], market-oriented, encouraging-to-the-private-sector initiatives. I think the insurance industry, left to it’s own devices, has behaved shamefully. And we must act on behalf of the American people. We have lived on their playing field all this time. It’s time for the insurance companies to exist on the playing field of the American people.

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