Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) made a high profile trip to New Hampshire today as part of a potential 2012 presidential run, but the tea party favorite, who often refers to the early days of the Republic in speeches and media appearances, embarrassingly mangled basic American history, incorrectly stating that the battles of Lexington and Concord, and the Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock, to have occurred in New Hampshire, instead of Massachusetts:

“What I love about New Hampshire and what we have in common is our extreme love for liberty,” the potential GOP presidential candidate said. “You’re the state where the shot was heard around the world in Lexington and Concord. And you put a marker in the ground and paid with the blood of your ancestors the very first price that had to be paid to make this the most magnificent nation that has ever arisen in the annals of man in 5,000 years of recorded history.” [...]

“I’m thankful that you are the first in the nation state because you are the liberty state,” Bachmann said. “That is your charge. You keep that baton of liberty. You’ve done it very well for almost 20 generations from the time the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, and I’m sure the very first one came up to New Hampshire and said, ‘This is where I want to be.’”

Of course, as the school children in attendance at the speech could likely tell her, the Battles of Lexington and Concord that sparked the American revolution in 1775, and the Pilgrims’ landing, took place in Massachusetts, not New Hampshire, “but Bachmann did not correct her error when she referenced the battles again later in her speech.” Ironically, The Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire, which hosted the event, handed out pocket-sized copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution “on a table a few feet from where Bachmann spoke.”

This is hardly the first time Bachmann has flubbed the country’s basic history. She has repeatedly pronounced that America was founded on diversity and guaranteed freedom for all from its beginning, completely whitewashing the existence of slavery from America’s past. In January, CNN host Anderson Cooper lambasted Bachmann for “flunking history,” saying her diversity comments were “either a deliberate rewriting of our history, or signs that she has a shaky grasp on our history.”

Reporting for the progressive Maine blog Dirigo Blue, Gerald Weinand has discovered that a proposed “right to work” law in Maine mirrors similar proposals in several other states, like New Hampshire and Missouri. The legislation in Maine, LD788, sponsored by State Rep. Tom Winsor (R), would make Maine like other low-wage anti-labor states by weakening unions. Right to work laws typically allow workers to opt-out of union dues while benefiting from union contracts, a cycle that usually kills a labor union over time. But the assault on worker rights in Maine appears to be part of a larger attack coordinated by conservative front groups. Winsor’s bill contains phrases and language strikingly similar to other right to work proposals from Republicans across the country:

Maine’s anti-union bill LD788:

§ 653. Right to refrain
A person may not be required, as a condition of employment or continuation of employment, to:
1. Become a member. Become or remain a member of a labor organization;
2. Pay dues. Pay any dues, fees, assessments or other similar charges, however denominated, of any kind or amount to a labor organization; or
3. Pro rata portions. Pay to any charity or other 3rd party, in lieu of payments under subsection 2, any amount equivalent to or a pro rata portion of dues, fees, assessments or other charges required of members of a labor organization.

New Hampshire anti-union bill HB 474:

273-D:4 Freedom of Choice Guaranteed, Discrimination Prohibited. No person shall be required, as a condition of employment or continuation of employment:
I. To resign or refrain from voluntary membership in, voluntary affiliation with, or voluntary financial support of a labor organization;
II. To become or remain a member of a labor organization;
III. To pay any dues, fees, assessments, or other charges of any kind or amount to a labor organization;
IV. To pay any charity or other third party, in lieu of such payments, any amount equivalent to or a pro-rata portion of dues, fees, assessments, or other charges of a labor organization.

Missouri’s anti-union bill SB109:

Section A.290.590.2. No person shall be required as a condition or continuation of employment to:
(1) Become or refrain from becoming a member of a labor organization;
(2) Pay any dues, fees, assessments, or other similar charges however denominated of any kind or amount to a labor organization; or
(3) In lieu of the payments listed under subdivision (2) of this subsection, pay to any charity or other third party any amount equivalent to, or on a pro rata basis, any dues, fees, assessments, or other charges required of members of a labor organization.
In fact, the bills, excepting legaleese required to make the bill fit with each state’s laws, are nearly identical, down to unusual vocabulary and phrasing.

David Koch’s Americans for Prosperity group has beefed up its presence in Maine since the election of Gov. Paul LePage (R), a far-right tea party favorite. Meanwhile, Maine’s Republican Speaker of the House hired Trevor Bragdon, the former director of the Americans for Prosperity state chapter in Maine. And Trevor’s brother Tarren is the executive director of the Maine Heritage Policy Center, a conservative state-based think tank with ties to several corporate donors, including Koch Industries. Both Americans for Prosperity and the Maine Heritage Policy Center appear to be laying the groundwork for the same type of anti-labor effort as Wisconsin’s led by Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI).

The conservative strategy for decimating the labor movement is being replicated with great speed — and little creativity. Each state, from Wisconsin, to Ohio, to Maine, and others across the country face a similar threat of phony Tea Party groups, business front organizations, and even nearly identical legislative proposals.

For years, Missouri earned the dubious distinction as the nation’s “puppy mill capital” because its lax humane regulations and enforcement allowed dog breeders to raise puppies at low costs in terrible, overcrowded conditions. Last fall, Missouri voters approved a referendum to finally solve this problem — the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act — which mandates regular veterinarian inspections of breeding facilities and ensures a basic level of treatment for dogs, such keeping temperatures between 45 and 85 degrees. Tea party groups stridently opposed the referendum, arguing it was “just another example of big government meddling in people’s lives.” Now, capitalizing on the big gains they made in November, Republicans in the state legislature are poised to repeal the regulations Missouri’s voters enacted:

Saying the new requirements would put the dog breeding industry out of business, the state Senate voted 20-14 on Thursday for a wholesale rewrite.

On the cutting room floor: rules limiting kennels to 50 breeding dogs and requiring annual hands-on veterinary exams and larger, ground-level cages with access to the outdoors.

Instead, veterinarians would do walk-through inspections at least twice a year and provide exercise plans for dogs. Dogs could be confined in stacked cages so long as they had solid surfaces to lie on.

The bill still has to make it through the state House, and Gov. Jay Nixon (D) has not yet said whether he would sign or veto the bill. Editorializing against the state Senate vote, the Kansas City Star wrote that the “senators showed an arrogant disrespect for Missourians” who voted for better treatment of the animals. “The state legislature, held hostage to interests that regard dogs as just another form of livestock, has ignored the problems for years,” the paper added.

Next week, the cost of preventing premature childbirth will skyrocket when a drug given to high-risk pregnant women goes from around $10 a dose to $1,500 a dose. The drug, called Makena, which has been made cheaply for years and is given as a weekly shot, could make the total cost during a pregnancy as much as $30,000. Why? Because KV Pharmaceutical of St. Louis recently won FDA approval to exclusively sell Makena last month.

By receiving “orphan drug status,” KV’s subsidiary Ther-RX Corp. will now be “the sole source of the drug for seven years.” In justifying the 14,900 percent price hike, KV Pharmaceuticals says that pregnant women will be willing to pay the new price because if they don’t, they could have a premature baby, or “preemie,” which could cost much much more:

The cost is justified to avoid the mental and physical disabilities that can come with very premature births, said KV Pharmaceutical chief executive Gregory J. Divis Jr. The cost of care for a preemie is estimated at $51,000 in the first year alone.

“Makena can help offset some of those costs,” Divis told The Associated Press. “These moms deserve the opportunity to have the benefits of an FDA-approved Makena.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is not involved in setting the price for the drugs it approves.

The question, however, is not whether high-risk pregnant women would elect to offset further cost by using the drug, but whether they can afford the elevated price in the first place. The issue, doctors say, is that “the price hike may deter low-income women from getting the drug, leading to more premature births.” “That’s a huge increase for something that can’t be costing them that much to make,” said Massachusetts’s Medicaid deputy medical director Dr. Roger Snow. “For crying out loud, this is about making money,” he added. Ther-RX launched a patient assistance program Tuesday to help alleviate the cost for some women.

What’s more, KV is seeking to prevent other pharmaceutical companies from producing a cheaper version. Last month, KV sent out a letter to compounding pharmacies to cease and desist from producing the drug. KV claims that because the FDA designation now makes Makena “commercially available,” “continuinig to compound this product after FDA-approval of Makena renders the compounded product subject to FDA enforcement of violating certain provisions of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, as well as FDA guidance.” Thus, Ther-RX’s privileged status now threatens companies trying to provide a cheaper version and copay to pregnant women with potential problems.

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) sent a letter to KV Pharmaceuticals Thursday demanding they “immediately reconsider the massive price increase.” Noting that African-American women have a higher percentage of premature births, and that fewer women will be able to afford the drug, Brown said he is “gravely concerned” that premature birth rates will increase nationwide. “[H]ealth insurance companies could either stop coverage of the treatment or impose higher premiums on consumers,” Brown said, adding that “state Medicaid programs — which are already struggling to make ends meet — will be forced to deal with the financial repercussions” of the “exorbitant” hike. “This isn’t in the interest of children, new mothers, or taxpayers,” Brown told ThinkProgress. As Snow and other health professionals said, “someone is going to have to pay the higher price.”