Monthly Archives: February 2010

Kos on Coons-Castle Race

Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos reads the Castle-Coons race correctly, I think.

He runs down a bullet point list of factors that auger well for Coons: 1) being NCCo Executive is beneficial since the county houses 66% of the state’s population; 2) that the R2000 poll of Delaware last November showed Coons only receiving 65 percent of the Democratic vote against Castle, a figure that will only go up once the campaign gets under way; 3) Castle is still a Republican no matter how much he cowardly tries to run away from his party even while voting lockstep with his Party of No, which will hurt him as he continues to vote no; 4) Castle’s record in voting against the stimulus, against healthcare, for the Stupak Amendment despite Castle’s alleged pro-choice position and against the jobs bill when the number one issue is jobs will also hurt Castle; 5) in an anti-incumbent, anti-DC environment, Castle is the decades long DC incumbent, which can only be beneficial to Coons who will run as a populist outsider; and 6) Coons has youth on his side

Markos also points out the similarities between the Biden-Boggs race in 1972 and this one, where Biden as a NCCo Councilman defeated a longtime DC incumbent in an upset, although Markos mistakenly thought Biden was also a County Executive. I had to correct him. Markos concludes:

Castle starts of this race as the favorite, but it’s a long 10 months before election day, and in politics, that’s an eternity. If Castle continues to vote lockstep with the obstructionist Republicans, Coons benefits. If Castle tries to be that “independent voice” he claims he is, he’ll raise the ire of the teabaggers and potentially fuel a real primary challenger. The primary in Delaware isn’t until mid-September, and the filing deadline isn’t until July 30 — plenty of time for teabaggers to find a serious recruit or rally behind this one. This one will be competitive.

I love that dig at Whackjob Christine O’Donnell. Apparently not a serious recruit in Kos’ eyes. Not a real primary challenger. Hehehe.

Tea Party Racism

Last night former presidential candidate Rep. Tom Tancredo opened the Tea Party Nation Convention with a speech:

Tancredo told the audience that the country had elected “a committed socialist ideologue in the White House” because “we do not have a civics, literary test before people can vote in this country“:

The opening-night speaker at first ever National Tea Party Convention ripped into President Obama, Sen. John McCain and “the cult of multiculturalism,” asserting that Obama was elected because “we do not have a civics, literacy test before people can vote in this country.”

The speaker, former Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., told about 600 delegates in a Nashville, Tenn., ballroom that in the 2008 election, America “put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House … Barack Hussein Obama.”

I’m not sure how many of you are familiar with Jim Crowe era laws, but literacy tests were a tool used by authorities to prevent African-Americans from voting.

Tom Tancredo has been an anti-immigration demagouge for many years. I have no doubt he believes what he’s saying (because he’s nuts). Perhaps Rove, O’Reilly and Tancredo should have a talk because Rove and O’Reilly just told us the R2K/Daily Kos poll of Republicans just wasn’t true.

Sarah Palin is scheduled to give the keynote address at the convention tomorrow.

Pre-Snowgasm Open Thread

Well, it’s Friday and we’re all watching the skies waiting for the snow to start. I’m ready to dash out of here the minutes I start seeing snow flakes. I hope you all have bought your bread, milk and eggs so that you can make French toast during the storm – apparently that’s really important. So let’s open this thread.

Fox News’s Chris Wallace got called out on some sexist remarks he made on Don Imus’s show:

Yesterday during an interview with Don Imus on Fox Business, Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace was promoting his interview this week with former Alaska governor Sarah Palin. When Imus randomly asked whether she will “be sitting on your lap” during the interview, Wallace replied, “One can only hope.” This morning, Fox and Friends host Steve Doocy asked Wallace about his comment. Co-host Gretchen Carlson was flabbergasted by the exchange between Wallace and Imus, and asked, “Would you ask that of a man?” Wallace was silent for a few seconds before stumbling over a response and changing the subject to whether she would sit on Brad Pitt’s lap during an interview.

Lame! Will Sarah Palin call for Wallace to be fired like she did for David Letterman? In my opinion what Wallace did was a whole lot worse.

USC Recruits 7th Grader

Via Gather:

David Sills, a seventh-grader at Red Lion Christian Academy in Bear, Delaware has got a great arm and seems to know the game of football. Even his quarterback coach thinks he’s got big talent, but being recruited at the age of 13 seems a bit overkill.

Lane Kiffin, the new coach at USC  has offered Sills a football  scholarship for school and in return Sills has verbally committed to the school. This just after taking Pete Carroll’s job and getting his feet wet with the new football job.

Okay, it looks like the kid has real talent, but…  what were the USC coach and David’s parents thinking?  Verbally committing a 7th grader so far in advance seems risky.  First, heaven forbid, David might change his mind.  Second, couldn’t publicly committing to USC limit the 13 year old’s choices and potential (if all goes according to plan) for a better deal from another school?  And, if the parents are set on this path – which the verbal agreement would imply – then why not get the deal in writing… along with a clause that states if David commits to USC now then, no matter what, he gets a full scholarship.

h/t Jason330  (Thanks, J!)

I Didn’t Elect President Shelby

WTF!?!? Is Senator Richard Shelby out to prove that the Senate is completely dysfunctional and that Republicans are full of sh*t? Sen. Shelby has placed a blanket hold on ALL of Obama’s nominations:

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) has put an extraordinary “blanket hold” on at least 70 nominations President Obama has sent to the Senate, CongressDaily (sub. req.) reports. The hold means no nominations can move forward unless Senate Democrats can secure a 60-member cloture vote to break it, or until Shelby lifts the hold.

“While holds are frequent,” CongressDaily reports, “Senate aides said a blanket hold represents a far more aggressive use of the power than is normal.”

…

According to the report, Shelby is holding Obama’s nominees hostage until a pair of lucrative programs that would send billions in taxpayer dollars to his home state get back on track. CongressDaily laid out the programs Shelby wants to move forward or else:

– A $40 billion contract to build air-to-air refueling tankers. From the report: “Northrop/EADS team would build the planes in Mobile, Ala., but has threatened to pull out of the competition unless the Air Force makes changes to a draft request for proposals.”

– An improvised explosive device testing lab for the FBI. From CongressDaily: “[Shelby] is frustrated that the Obama administration won’t build” the center, which Shelby earmarked $45 million for in 2008. The center is due to be based “at the Army’s Redstone Arsenal.”

Earmarks are for other people’s districts.

Unemployment Rate Drops to 9.7%

The number of employed Americans has risen by 541,000 since the last Jobs report, while an additional 20,000 jobs have been lost. The jobs report from November has been revised up to show a gain of 64,000 jobs. But the news is not all good, as the continued revisions to previous jobs reports of 2009 to show 1,300,000 more in job losses. All told, the Labor Department says the Great Recession has eliminated 8.4 million jobs. That’s the most of any recession since World War II as a proportion of total payrolls. Thanks Republicans for your wonderful stewardship of our economy.

O’Reilly Runs Away From His Base

The Research 2000 poll commissioned by Daily Kos has a lot of Republicans worried. Republican leaders know that the extremism of the Republican base will turn voters off so that’s why so many Republican leaders have tried to dismiss the poll. Witness Bill O’Reilly and Karl Rove:

As David Anderson confirmed right here on Delaware Liberal this poll is really what the Republican base thinks.

Comment by Republican David on 2 February 2010 at 9:54 pm:

Who would dis the poll? I would be hard pressed to disagree with any of the majority conclusions except the gay teacher and benefits that you published. There is nothing that I don’t say everyday. This poll confirms what I often claimed that there is no controversy over so called same sex marriage within the party and hardly any on DADT or ENDA.

I almost wonder about why anyone would disagree with the common sense expressed in the poll. Then I see people who can’t even laugh about a joke told to break the ice with teens and can’t admit that they are a bunch of Fabian Socialists.

This poll is gold for Democrats, if only they figure out how to use it. It’s got a second benefit as well if it splits the Republican leadership from the Republican base.

SNOWGASM!!!!!

Delaware Liberal will be providing complete coverage of the End of the World, er ah, the Blizzard of 2010, or ah, Snowpocalypse II: The Return, or as I like to call it …..

It looks like Sussex County will be completely destroyed. Look at these totals from the various computer models for Georgetown, DE:

43 inches??? Over 4 feet of snow? Nah, not possible, right? Here are the predicted totals for the region from Philly Weather, along with the posted watches and warnings map:


Tomorrow, I will be updating this post throughout the day, and our Delaware Liberal band of misfits will be on Twitter, because we are always on Twitter, so we might as well talk about the Snowgasm on Twitter.

DD
Unstable Isotope
LiberalGeek
XStryker
Nemski .

You can also follow Del_Editor for the very latest from the News Journal. And Governor Markell has himself Tweeted that we all should follow DEStormInfo on Twitter. You can also follow all the Snowgasm events at the hashtag #delsnow.

Here are some other useful links:
Philadelphia Weather Blog
WDEL
KYW
Delaware Online / News Journal
Weather Channel
NOAA / National Weather Service
Weather Underground

Here are some pictures from a Seaford supermarket from our friend ‘thatsElbert.’ (Via Twitter)


Castle Votes With Party and Against Fiscal Responsibility

Mike Castle has voted against fiscal responsibility today by voting no on restoring the Pay-Go Rules that would require lawmakers to find ways to pay for proposed spending increases in entitlement programs or for any tax cuts by offsetting them with higher taxes or reduced spending elsewhere in the budget. The Pay-Go Rules were in affect during the 1990’s and helped President Clinton balance the federal budget and produce a record surplus. Once Republicans captured the Presidency in 2000, the Pay-Go rules were abolished to allow for Bush’s tax cuts and record unchecked spending supported by the Republican Congress, including Mike Castle.

Democrats Introduce Bill To Repeal Health Insurance Anti-Trust Exemption

Two House Democrats are introducing legislation to repeal the anti-trust exemption of health insurance companies.

Freshmen Lead Charge to Bring Competition into Health Care Market

WASHINGTON—Congressman Tom Perriello and Congresswoman Betsy Markey will introduce legislation this week that will repeal the special anti-trust exemption for health insurance companies and medical malpractice insurance companies. The measure would end special treatment for the insurance industry that allows them to fix prices, collude with each other, and set their own markets without fear of being investigated. Removing this exemption has been a common priority of these two freshmen lawmakers, though they voted differently on the initial House health care reform bill.

“It’s time for Washington to decide whether we stand with patients or profiteering, whether we believe in market competition or a collusion between politicians and insurance monopolies. It’s time to end the monopoly protections that Washington has protected for decades as prices skyrocketed. It’s time for a simple, clean bill – no carve-outs or special deals – that forces insurance companies to compete. It’s time to put patients and cost relief first,” said Rep. Perriello. “Americans deserve to know who stands with them against the price gouging of middle-class and working-class folks. Today, we do.”

“I’ve heard from tens of thousands of Coloradans across my district, and though people’s opinions may vary, the common message is clear: the current health care system is crushing our families and businesses,” said Rep. Markey. “Support for removing this unfair exemption cuts across party lines, and is a major piece of common ground that I’ve been working toward in our country’s health care debate. This is about bringing sorely-needed competition back into an industry that has for too long wielded monopoly control over hard-working American families.”

Under the Perriello-Markey bill, health insurers will no longer be protected from liability for price fixing, dividing up market territories, or bid rigging. In the last 14 years, there have been 400 mergers among health care insurers so that 95% of health insurance markets are “highly concentrated,” which means consumers have little or no choice between insurers. This non-competitive market has played a role in health insurance premiums having more than doubled in the past decade.

A measure similar to the Perriello-Markey bill passed earlier in a House committee with bipartisan support.

More like this, please. I have no idea why health insurance companies enjoy an anti-trust exemption in the first place. The anti-trust exemption repeal was in every version of the Democrat’s health care bill except the Senate Finance Committee bill and the final Senate bill. It was removed because of Ben Nelson. How do you think Castle will vote on this one?

Those Evil Republican Indianapolis Colts

I always suspected that the supporters of the Colts were Republican, for only people so evil so as to be Republican could support the equally evil Irsay family, which ripped the hearts of out of fans of the Baltimore Colts over twenty five years ago.

A new Public Policy Polling survey found that there is a noticeable partisan divide over support for the Colts or Saints in Sunday’s Super Bowl.

“There’s a significant partisan divide within those numbers, as Democrats prefer the Saints by a 36-21 margin while Republicans say they want the Colts to be victorious by a closer 26-25 spread. Independents lean toward the Saints as well, 33-20.”

As a whole, American voters favor the New Orleans Saints over the Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl by a 32% to 22% margin, which is just further confirmation that Democrats reflect the will of the people, and the GOP reflects the wealthy elite. 😉 The truth of the matter is Democrats favor the Saints because they are from New Orleans and are the underdog. We Democrats love the underdog, and there will always be a soft spot in our hearts for the Bush-neglected city of Mardi Gras. And Americans as a whole probably support the Saints for the same reason, plus the Colts have already won a Super Bowl recently while the Saints have never won one.

Senate GOP Considering Suicidal Filibuster of Jobs Bill

What is the #1 issue in America?

JOBS.

What is the Senate voting on on Monday?

A JOBS BILL.

What will the Senate GOP being doing on Monday?

BLOCKING SAID JOBS BILL.

According to the Senate’s top vote counter, there is currently no Republican support for the proposal Democrats are putting forth–and with Scott Brown to be seated today as the 41st Republican Senator, they’ll need at least one member of the minority to come aboard. That sets the stage for a potential showdown between the two parties on the first major issue since the Democrats lost their supermajority, and put health care reform on the backburner.

Does Castle Want Our Seniors to Die?

We will soon see if Mike Castle has any moderate credentials that Celia Cohen and the News Journal claims he has.

Wisconsin GOP Representative Paul Ryan is drafting the GOP Budget proposal. So far we have learned he plans to privatize both Social Security and Medicare in order to cut spending in the proposal, because we all know that the GOP can never cut defense spending and/or raise taxes. Ever. So we are going to find out pretty soon just how much of a lemming Mike Castle really is.

Does he support selling your Social Security portfolio to AIG? Does he support giving away Medicare to the same insurers who ration people to death? Since Castle voted against healthcare form, we know that Castle is in favor of denying insurance coverage because of preexisting conditions and he is in favor of allowing those same insurance companies to drop your coverage if you ever get sick. And that means once Medicare is privatized and run by these very same insurance companies, thousands of Delaware seniors will lose their coverage over just one preexisting condition, or if they dare to get sick.

Does Mike Castle support his party, or does he support Delaware seniors? To support the latter, he must oppose publically and vote against the GOP budget.