Monthly Archives: January 2009

Adam Smith on Government

I think it is amusing (and not at the same time)  that the previous administration and conservatives in general HAD latched on to Adam Smith’s Free Market views as the model for our country to thrive upon.  Much like anything else, they were clueless as to what Adam Smith meant and only used small bits and pieces to enrich themselves and their donor friends.  As we saw for the past 8 years what the GOP says and it does are 2 entirely different things.  I think if you were to ask bush who holds an MBA from one of those elite northern universities, what a free market is and how the government he ruled upon acted in Adam Smith’s Free Market image, his head would explode attempting to answer it.

A while back I had a reading list suggested to me by several of our readers.  P.J. O’Rourke’s “Eat the Rich” suggested by Duffy was in it.  That book was out so I picked up “On the Wealth of Nations” by the same (conservative, writer for the conservative Weekly Standard)  It is essentially an abridged version with a conservative slant of  “The wealth of Nations” by Adam Smith.  Know thy enemy, as the saying goes…

Part of Adam’s Smiths view of a government was this:

First the duty of protecting the society from the violence and invasion of other independent societies; secondly, the duty of protecting, as far as possible, every member of the society from the injustice or oppression of every other member of it…; thirdly, the duty of erecting and maintaining certain public works and certain public institutions, which it can never be for the interest of any individual, or small number of individuals, to erect and maintain

I guess the GOP skipped over that part of Adam Smith’s Free Market theory

Citigroup Gets a Well Deserved Spanking

After taking 45 billion in tax payer money Citigroup unveiled their plans to purchase a 50 million dollar luxury jet that seats twelve.  Fortunately the Obama Administration stepped in – and what do you know? – bye, bye jet.  

ABC News has learned that on Monday officials of the Obama administration called Citigroupabout the company’s new $50 million corporate jet and told execs to “fix it.”

Earlier on Monday, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said made it clear ABC News asked him about the jet that the president disapproved of the deal.

“The president said this during the transition, as it related to the auto companies using private jets: [He] doesn’t believe that’s the best use of money at this point,” Gibbs said.

Citigroup’s response after the spanking…

“We have no intent to take delivery of any new aircraft.”

The mindset behind the attempted purchase of this jet sums up what is wrong with big business.

Donor List Delays in Tennessee

Last week in ¿Hablas inglés?, we wrote about a rogue Council Member in Nasville TN who started English Only Referendum which was surprisingly defeated. Eric Crafton, said rogue Council Member, did not release the donors to the English Only campaign because of fear of harassment. Crafton did promise to release the donor list late on referendum day.

Enclave is reporting Republican Jon Crisp has asked for a further delay. Word has it that Crisp is busily translating the donor list into Spanish. 😉

Eminent Domain: Nemski’s Letter and Denn’s Response

Dear Lt. Governor:

At the Delaware Liberal Inaugural Ball, you asked bloggers to help keep you honest, to keep your feet to the fire. Well, Mr. Denn, I am happy to oblige.

On Monday, you held a press conference with representatives of the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce as well as the AFL-CIO and you asked the General Assembly to proceed with caution. Let me stop there for a moment, business leaders and union leaders getting together and agreeing on something? Why does this make me a bit uneasy? Business and unions have been at odds for so long and now they agree that amendments are needed for the eminent domain legislation. But I digress and I don’t expect you to speak for business and union leaders.

However I imagine you can speak to what you said. You asked the General Assembly to take the extra time to shape a compromise (WDEL). What is that you don’t like about the current legislation? What type of amendment(s) do you and the leaders of business and unions want?

To the untrained political eye, it could seem that the office of the Lt. Governor might be representing developers and not representing the wishes of the people of Delaware. Please let me know why I am wrong.

Sincerely,

nemski

Below the fold is the Lt. Govenor’s response.

Continue reading →

Mike Castle in the Spotlight Today

Reports of Mike Castle and the Rest of the House Republican Caucus’ meeting with President Obama to talk about the economic recovery plan will start to filter out soon.

I wonder if Mike will side with the corrupt to the core Radical Republicans who call the shots in the caucus, or if his apology was sincere and he will instead side with working Delawareans? Continue reading →

Comment Rescue: El Somnambulo on HB1, Cook and Larson

The following is a public service announcement from El Somnambulo:

Speaking of fiscal notes and Sen. Cook, there is no doubt in the mind of the Beast Who Slumbers that it was Nancy Cook who sought a ‘killer fiscal note’ to derail HB 1.

Cook’s domain is the Controller General’s Office. Her modus operandi on the JFC for years has been cutting fiscal deals in JFC Executive Sessions, a way of life that would be jeapordized by HB 1. She is as anti-reform as they come, and she is a close ally of Uncle Thurm.

Finally, there is a couch in Controller General Russ Larson’s office, and Cook’s not-insubstantial buttocks (El Somnambulo is a master of understatement) perfectly match the permanent imprints in the cushion.

In order to defeat your enemy, you must know who it is. This message has been brought to you by El Somnambulo as a public service. Use this information wisely.

Oh, and if Russ Larson and Sen. Cook are really serious about fiscal responsibility, all they have to do is head across the hall from the Controller General’s office to Legislative Council, which is staffed primarily by long-time cronies of Sen. Cook’s. On most days, their most strenuous activity is to play solitaire on the computer. Either get one of them to actually do some work, or excise the dead weight, and you can more than afford the phony cost to carry out HB 1.

Which Republican Blogger/Candidate Will Save the DE GOP?

In the fight to “save the DE GOP” we have two people who have been shadow boxing in the gym for a while, but now seem ready to RUMBLE!

In this corner wearing gold trunks with embroidered duckies is the man from Greenville, Charlie “Don’t call me Charles Lamot Dupont” Copeland and in this corner wearing a pornstache is the Mike “The Router” Protack..

*Ding!*

Copeland looks hungry. He comes out fast with his genius plan for saving the DE GOP by losing elections and letting father time take out Democrats.

Protack counters with a picture of Ronald Reagan next to a quote by Jason C’ ONeill

Who?

Exactly! Points for Protack there.

Copeland looks stunned, but has THE TRUTH about Roe v. Wade in his corner. Oh My God! he is swinging that truth at Protack’s head like a giant salami. Protack is on the ropes having never figured out that 65% of Americans want to keep Roe v Wade because they don’t understand it.

Protack looks desperate. He throws out a typo on the front page of his blog to buy himself some time and regroup. Now he is saying that collobarative is how they spell it in “the Corps.” Yes, that was a crazy gambit, but that rationalization might have turned the tide. Copeland is back on his heels.

Protack circles in hoping to deliver the coup de grace in the form of a hail of nonsense bullet points:

4. We must need a brand new kind of candidate not enmeshed in the role of party acceptance of a few but electability at the ballot box

Copeland staggers. Protack, suddenly goes “southpaw” and seems to be running for Governor by pressing for more one way streets. Copeland throws a weak haymaker in a desperate attempt to fight off the ropes by having a proxy attack “the media.”

“The media will do their best to find some dirt, any dirt on Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger” because the media “hate(s) heroes unless they are Democrat.”

That random craziness connected with this crowd, but the media jab was too little too late. Copeland is spent. He hits the canvas but is saved by the bell.

The GOP crowd cheers “pornstache! pornstache! pornstache!” the fighters get sponged down and ready for round two.

(to be continued)

.

and a quote by

HB 48: Motor Vehicle Document Fee Income Tax Deduction

While Gov. Markell is looking at ways to get us through our current budget crises, State Rep. Charles Bill Oberle (R 24) has sponsored some odd legislation that will take money out of the state budget, HB 48, just when it is needed most.

This Act allows for a Personal Income Tax deduction for the amount of motor vehicle document fee paid during the tax year 2009. If manufactured in Delaware, the deduction allowed is doubled.

Forget about the asinine double deduction. I understand why lawmakers might want the double deduction, but Delaware only makes up 0.28% of the US population and I don’t see how Delawareans buying cars made in Delaware is going to keep auto manufacturing jobs here.

More to the point, the Document Fee is a large revenue stream for Delaware and if a portion of this is actually deducted, it could mean more devastation to our state budget at absolutely the wrong time.

I am really trying to grasp why this legislation is needed now. What are Oberle and his  co-sponsors thinking? The co-sponsors are Republican Representatives Booth, Cathcart, D. Short, Hocker,  Lavelle, Outten and Ramone; Republican Senator Connor; and Democratic Representatives Brady, Carson, J. Johnson and Kowalko.

A Deliberate Mess or More Incompetence?

How is this possible?

President Obama’s plans to expeditiously determine the fates of about 245 terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and quickly close the military prison there were set back last week when incoming legal and national security officials — barred until the inauguration from examining classified material on the detainees — discovered that there were no comprehensive case files on many of them.

Instead, they found that information on individual prisoners is “scattered throughout the executive branch,” a senior administration official said. The executive order Obama signed Thursday orders the prison closed within one year, and a Cabinet-level panel named to review each case separately will have to spend its initial weeks and perhaps months scouring the corners of the federal government in search of relevant material.

Several former Bush administration officials agreed that the files are incomplete and that no single government entity was charged with pulling together all the facts and the range of options for each prisoner. They said that the CIA and other intelligence agencies were reluctant to share information, and that the Bush administration’s focus on detention and interrogation made preparation of viable prosecutions a far lower priority.

But other former officials took issue with the criticism and suggested that the new team has begun to appreciate the complexity and dangers of the issue and is looking for excuses.

No comprehensive case files?  New team doesn’t understand the complexity and dangers of the issue?  Obviously not that dangerous since files are scattered willy-nilly across various agencies. Was anyone in charge of this situation?  Is there any rational explanation for why these files weren’t housed in one place?  And if we believe the claim that these prisoners are a direct threat to our safety then why such sloppy record keeping?  

Again and again, we are told that Guantanamo is necessary, important, vital.  Keeping track of who’s detained there?  Not so much.