Around the Horn
The Death of Happy Harry’s.
Kavips wants a boycott.
Brian Shields and DP’s new contributor ThatsElbert defend Walgreens and their bottom line.
Matthews reports on the Walgreens PR campaign in response to the outrage.
Steve Newton defends Walgreens by unloading on Governor Markell. His new favorite phrase to use against me and the Governor is “I call bullshit.”
Nancy has a round-up of non DL reaction.
General Assembly Machinations
The Battle for Open Government is won. But our victory may expire in January 2011. Someone said, and I think it was Burris, that in the end we will have to amend the state constitution to mandate transparency, for the current General Assembly cannot bind future General Assemblies to this bill, and thus HB1 will only apply to the current General Assembly. If that is true, and I am not sure it is, we will have to begin the next battle for Open Government immediately: amending the state constitution.
Reaction: Delaware Politics, Delaware Watch, Delaware Way.
Kavips has the dramatic behind the scenes action that brought HB1 to the Senate floor.
HB5: Kavips teaches the Anti-Christians what an “abomination” really is.
Medical Marijuana (SB168): Mourning Constitution, Down With Absolutes, Delaware Libertarian, and Delaware Watch.
What other bills are ready?
Charlie Copeland wonders when the General Assembly will deal with child abuse by state workers. He has got a point.
Tommywonk reports on the progress of SB59 (new standards for home energy efficiency) and SB85 (net metering for electric utility customers with wind or solar installations by eliminating forfeitures of excess electric generation).
Kavips thinks we all win when the options are the Kowalko Plan or the Markell Plan or a combination of the two.
Mandatory Minimum Reform in the House Judiciary.
The Adventures of Lonnie George
Matthews finds DelTech President Orlando George Jr.’s salary outrageous, but that is not the most nauseating thing about Cris Barrish’s story in the News Journal. What is absolutely sickening is the career path of George, the new poster child of the Delaware Way.
Burris’ reaction is short and SNL-Coffee-Talkesque.
Dana takes a different look at this story, and asks why shouldn’t educators be well compensated?
The News Journal published a list of state employees making over $100K. Hey Governor, I am available.
Quick Hits
Matthews liveblogs Howard Dean. Yeaaaarrrrgggggghhhhh!!!!
The unlikely marriage between Shirley and Scott Spencer continues.
The Lt. Governor has a blog. Great.
Yet another site to visit every week while compiling this round up. Thanks Matt.
Maria Evans is not so welcoming.
Speaking of Maria and the compliment of Delaware’s Republican Bloggers … Nancy Willing documents the atrocities.
Steve Newton wonders if Delaware will lose Stimulus money if it cuts pay of state unionized workers, since it has been threatened in California. And he wonders if racism is playing a role in the fouled up DSU Murder trial.
Matthews talks about Teach For America setting up shop in Delaware, rounding up Kilroy’s and FixRedClay’s coverage.
You have, I’m sure, offended my new contributor Elbert by assigning authorship of his post on Walgreen’s to me.
Hahaha. My mistake. I will change it.
Ask anyone who survived Katrina/Rita about Walgreens and you’ll get an earful and then some. Days after the storm and flooding the undamaged stores remained locked medical personnel couldn’t get the needed meds to treat survivors. Many stores flooded by the levee breaks remain empty and untouched – at least as of my last visit in 2008. The company made a big deal of documenting the few stores that were eventually looted to gain a level of sympathy from the public. NOLA bloggers took them on with damning photos and the campaign lost traction.
What a dishonest load of crap that Steve Newton post was. This is all you could muster when it came to talking about walgreen’s business strategy of paying out tens of million of dollars in fines rather than simply not ripping off medicaid customers.
No, Walgreens is not a perfect company; it has been nailed in other States for sailing as close to the wind as possible…
Sheesh.
Walgreens isn’t the first company that I’ve heard of that made the cynical choice that breaking the law is more profitable than following it – but it is the only pharmacy I’ve heard of with that business strategy.
Another defense seems to be that it is ok for Walgreen to do this because Markell is wrong, or something.
Yeah, let’s just forget about Delaware’s senior citizens caught in the middle.
You forgot our post on the pot for pain bill at DP.
Welcome back, I look forward to around the horn.
Whoops. I must have missed it. Post a link to it in the comments, David.
Another defense seems to be that it is ok for Walgreen to do this because Markell is wrong
Wrong for these so-called “across the board” cuts. Where I get to remind people that the salary cuts and freezes are something less than 15 or 20% of the proposed budget reductions. Which means there is alot of other stuff being cut in departments — but since no one is rallying and getting on the radio for these, we apparently can’t keep the thread of the magnitude of what is being cut back. The Medicaid prescription meds reductions are the brand name meds and the reimbursement rate goes from 86% to 84%. Which isn’t to say that Walgreens may not have reason to Just Say No, but keeping the Big Picture is needed, especially when the numbers involved are so massive.
Is a pharmacy still a pharmacy if it promotes smoking by sellling tobacco?
http://www.delawarepolitics.net/medical-marijuana-advances-in-two-states/