Monthly Archives: April 2010

Dirty Tricks In The Treasurer Race?

I received an email from the Flowers for Treasurer campaign about some possible dirty tricks. The Flowers campaign was getting word from voters that they were receiving late night, early morning and generally annoying phone calls purported to be from his campaign.

Hopefully, each of you saw the Dialogue Delaware story in Sunday’s News Journal regarding unauthorized calls made to likely Democratic primary voters claiming to be from the Flowers for Treasurer campaign. To keep all of you updated, our campaign received our initial complaints while at an event in Kent County last week. Our understanding is that likely Democratic primary voters are being called during dinner time and very late hours from someone stating to be from our campaign office, and once someone complains about the hour of the phone call, the caller hangs up. We believe the purpose of the calls is an early stage effort to manipulate the outcome of the Democratic primary. In short, these calls are not from our campaign office, and we (i) have initiated an investigation, (ii) are filing a complaint with the Delaware Department of Elections and (iii) will take legal action (civil and criminal) as this type of behavior will not be tolerated in this race. Chip has placed personal calls to both his opponents in the race, who have denied any involvement in the calls. Our campaign has initiated security measures with respect to our calling system and additional details will be announced at a later date.

However, to clarify, our campaign does not call outside of the late morning and early afternoon timeframe. It is a guideline within our campaign office to not call during meals or evening hours as your personal time is important to you and your family. Also, the phone numbers authorized from our campaign for outgoing calls are 302-656-7360 and 302-656-7390. We never call from a “blocked” telephone number or a number from outside the State of Delaware.

This race is getting nasty. I thought Delaware was resistant to this type of dirty politics but perhaps I was wrong.

Another Loss for the Civil Rights Community

Another leader in the fight for equality, Dr. Dorothy Height, died this morning.

Dr. Height was a towering figure in the fight for civil rights. She not only led the fight for justice in the Black community, but she was also a strong supporter of equality for the gay and lesbian community. I had the pleasure of meeting her several years ago at a Human Rights Campaign event. She was an elegant speaker and she let anyone who ever met her that she just wanted to see justice for everyone, no matter their race, creed, nationality, or sexual orientation. Her leadership will be missed.

May G-D comfort her family in this time of loss.

Is Karl Rove Setting Up a “Shadow RNC”?

This story has apparently been bouncing around for a few weeks, but has just recently come to my attention. It’s no secret that many old guard, big money Republicans have been less than thrilled with the leadership ability shown by Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele. And while many big donors have been avoiding or threatening to avoid the RNC, Steele’s unique qualification (i.e., he’s black) seems to make him unfireable. So, what’s a big time, power-hungry GOPer to do if he doesn’t want to work with the RNC? Start your own!

Well, that seems to be pretty much what Karl Rove, Mike Duncan (Steele’s predecessor as RNC head), Ed Gillespie (another former RNC Chairman and Bush White House Counselor), and Steve Laws (former general counsel of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce) have done. TPM reports:

There is growing worry that a mysterious new Republican political action committee formed by Bush-era heavyweights including Karl Rove could harm the Republican National Committee down the line. As we’ve been reporting about the RNC’s woes and chairman Michael Steele’s tenure, more and more GOPers tell me that Rove’s new “American Crossroads” group spells trouble.

“That is very destructive to the party,” a former very high-ranking RNC official told me in an interview today. The official said the group, which already has $30 million in donor pledges but does not seem to have an active Web site, will have broad implications for the RNC if it is successful during this election cycle.

The former official told me that my story about Steele sparring with Rove and his allies offers a glimpse at where the new group is headed. “They are gathering the sinews of power and drawing off RNC resources. If they have the power, the party will have to turn back to them for leadership,” he said.

Another TPM story delves into some of the backstory on the split, namely that many Bush-era Republicans are upset at how Steele cleaned them out of the RNC when he took over.

As I was putting this post together, the thought occurred to me, “So what?” We’re all aware that the GOP is being pulled in different directions, with various groups vying for the soul of the Party. I think the most interesting part of this story is how quickly the disgraced Bushies have returned to reclaim their control of the party. They’re the reason the GOP is in such disarray. Now, with Obama-reaction Michael Steele driving the party even deeper into the hole, Rove and his merry band of Bushies are back, mounting credible competition to the “party establishment” after only two years. Did anyone else expect to see someone like Rove back so soon?

Monday Open Thread

Welcome to your Monday open thread. Are you ready for the week to start? My weekend, once again, felt extremely short. Has someone been messing with my clock?

Editing fail!

An Australian publisher is reprinting 7,000 cookbooks over a recipe for pasta with “salt and freshly ground black people.”

Penguin Group Australia’s head of publishing, Bob Sessions, acknowledged the proofreader for the Pasta Bible should have picked up the error, but called it nothing more than a “silly mistake.”

…

“We’re mortified that this has become an issue of any kind and why anyone would be offended, we don’t know,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald for a story printed Saturday.

“We’ve said to bookstores that if anyone is small-minded enough to complain about this … silly mistake, we will happily replace (the book) for them.”

I agree it’s a silly mistake but I can certainly see why someone might complain. Complaining is not “small-minded.” What is it lately with all this PR fail?

Healthy eating!

KFC’s Double Down Sandwich, an in-your-face collection of bacon, cheese and something called Colonel’s Sauce betwixt two fried chicken “buns”, is making waves for its unapologetic gluttony, compelling reviews out of everyone from the New York Times’s Sam Sifton to the Onion’s Nathan Rabin. But is it really the caloric monstrosity that it appears?

…

So instead, let’s start with the Double Down’s calorie count: 540 calories for the crispy “Original Recipe” version and 460 for a grilled variant. Those seem like big numbers, but by fast food standards, they’re pretty mild: the Burger King Chicken Tendercrisp weighs in at 800 calories, for instance, and Jack-in-the-Box’s Ranch Chicken Club will set you back 700. Calorie counts for burgers are even higher: 1,320 for a Hardee’s Monster Thickburger, and 1,350 for a Wendy’s Triple Baconator. Even the humble Big Mac, a lightweight by modern standards, contains 540 calories, exactly the same number as the Double Down.

…

Here, the Double Down’s credentials are more impressive. Those 540 calories contain 145 milligrams of cholesterol (more than twice that of the Big Mac and about half of the USDA’s daily allowance) — along with 1,380 milligrams of sodium (the USDA recommends no more than 2,400 per day) and 32 grams of fat (65 will keep you slim, says the government). So, for getting only about one-quarter of the calories that you need in a day, you’re exhausting about half your budget of “bad stuff”.

The conclusion of the article is that the Double Down isn’t all that shocking in terms of calories but contains the most “bad stuff” (cholesterol, fat, salt) and the least good stuff (fiber) per calorie than any other sandwich out there.

Volunteers Needed This Weekend

As you may have heard, this week has been declared a week of service here in Delaware and it is National Volunteerism Week.  In that spirit, Delaware Liberal has volunteered to help out a regional charity, Rebuilding Philadelphia,  with a project for them this Saturday.  This is how the project was presented to us:

This year, we will be helping a single-parent family in Westville, NJ (near Gibbstown).  The family evacuated to this area from Mississippi prior to Hurricane Katrina. They lost their home, but have started again, living near relatives in this area. They also lost her 10 year old daughter to cancer two years ago. The family purchased a home last year, but it is need of repairs. She shares the home with her two daughters, two nephews, and one niece. All of the children are between the ages of 7 and 15 years.

We will be providing some manual labor in the form of painting, light carpentry and insulation.  The coordinator of this project is a friend of mine, so that is how I got hooked up with this team.  If you are interested, please email me at liberalgeek@delawareliberal.net and let me know.  I’ll give you more details, including the waiver form and meeting place and time.  Plan for a full day of service.

Why Are We Talking About Tiger Woods But Not Ben Roethlisberger?

After looking at the release of the police report, I don’t understand why Ben Roethlisberger was not charged with rape.

In one of two handwritten police statements, the woman recalled that she told Roethlisberger, “No, this is not OK, and he then had sex with me. He said it was OK. He then left without saying anything.” After the woman reconnected with friends, they left the club and “went to the first police car we saw,” according to one statement.

The alleged victim, in a second statement, told investigators that she met Roethlisberger at The Velvet Elvis, a Milledgeville bar where the athlete called her and her friends “a tease.” Later, at Capital City, the football star’s bodyguards “told my friends they couldn’t pass through to get to me,” she recalled. A Milledgeville Police Department incident report indicates that the woman, whose name was redacted from investigative reports, initially told a cop that she was “sexually assaulted or sexually manipulated” by Roethlisberger.

…

One witness, Ann Marie Lubatti, told investigators that she saw one of Roethlisberger’s bodyguards guide the alleged victim to a side door. Lubatti said that she immediately approached another bodyguard and said, “This isn’t right. My friend is back there with Ben. She needs to come back right now.” Lubatti, who described Roethlisberger as “noticeably intoxicated,” said she was rebuffed by the bodyguard, who remarked, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

Apparently the policeman who took the victim’s initial statement has now resigned. He made insulting remarks about the victim and posed for pictures with Roethlisberger. It’s now being reported that Roethlisberger will be benched for 2-4 games by the NFL. Is that all the punishment he’ll ever see? This is actually the second time that Roethlisberger has been accused of rape.

Tiger Woods was an arrogant, entitled prick who thought he could do anything he wanted without paying the consequences. Roethlisberger is the same – he saw something he wanted and he took it. Her feelings weren’t important. Now we’re going to see the victim smeared and Roethlisberger defended by too many people – all because he’s good at throwing a football.

Republicans’ False Populism

Republicans have been pretty shameless in their attempts to exploit the financial crisis for electoral gain. Even though the bailouts were done under Bush, they’ve managed to pretend it was all Obama’s fault. Now Republicans have been pretty shamelessly pushing talking points that the new financial regulation bill will create more taxpayer bailouts despite the fact that it’s designed to prevent them. Democrats have actually been pushing back against these talking points pretty hard and now the New York Times has published an editorial in support of the Democratic bill called “Whose Side Are They On?”

Their battle cry of “no more bailouts” is disingenuous. They are not worried that reform will make bankers’ lives too easy, they are worried that it will make them too hard.

…

Ms. Lincoln’s proposal is not perfect. But among other smart reforms, it would require that nearly all derivatives be traded on exchanges. The only exemptions would be for unique contracts, which would be policed by regulators, and for a tightly defined group of companies that use derivatives for a narrow range of purposes.

It would be better — and safer — if there were no corporate exemptions. Legislators should fight to make that the law when reform is debated on the Senate floor. The proposal is a very good start, and if strengthened in a few areas, it would be a huge improvement over the status quo. And that is why Republicans are so upset.

…

The White House and Democratic leaders need to push back hard against Republican posturing, making it clear to Americans that robust reform is the only way to protect the system — and taxpayers — from a repeat catastrophe. When Republicans try to block reform, they are doing nothing more than shilling for the banks.

It’s long been a Republican policy to funnel taxpayer money to big business in the name of “privatization.” Republicans are the ones who funneled taxpayer money to banks to give student loans (while the banks took their own cut, pretty profitable since the banks weren’t putting up their own money). Republicans are the ones who gave no-bid contracts to Halliburton and lost billions of dollars in Iraq. Republicans stood for the status quo for health insurance companies, so that they could continue to take your money and then deny you coverage if you got ill.

Democrats seem like they’re ready to take on Republicans on this issue. I hope they do a better job at communicating than they have with the health care reform bill. I hope they’ve learned that Republicans fight dirty and that it’s going to take more than facts to convince people. It’s going to take a real communication strategy and I hope Democrats have been working on one.

Chris Coons Kicks Off His Campaign

After spending the first two months since his announcement proving that he can certainly raise money, Chris Coons is officially ready to click off his campaign this Monday 19 April 2010. From an announcement in my in-box from the campaign:

Our Sussex County event will be at 10 a.m. on the boardwalk in Rehoboth.

Our Kent County event will be at 12:30 p.m. at the Agricultural Museum in Dover. Senators Carper and Kaufman will be there to show their support!

Our New Castle County event will be at 3 p.m. at the IBEW 313 Hall in New Castle. Governor Markell will be joining us!

You can get more information and RSVP for any of these events here.

After the announcement event in Wilmington, the campaign hosts a reception to celebrate at the Delaware Association of Police Hall in Wilmington starting at 5:30PM. Dinner will be served. Click here for more information and to RSVP. Tickets for the after-announcement celebration event at 40.00 each.

Too Good for Their Own Taxes

That could be the alternate title of Celia Cohen’s latest soft shoe — this time around Senator Colin Bonini’s past tax issues with the IRS. His tax issues resulted in a lien on his house for a short time. Now, Bonini’s story looks plenty incomplete here and we could spend alot of time taking a look at some details that don’t entirely add up, but I want to get to another point.

That point being the complete silence by the local winguts who had a great deal to say about Timothy Geithner’s and others’ pretty small tax problems when they were being vetted for various positions. Let’s refresh our memories at Delaware Politics. In that post, Obama nominees with tax issues were called “tax cheats” and called upon the Senate Finance Committee to reject any nominees who had any record as a “tax violator”. Charlie Copeland dramatically places the back of his hand over his forehead to manage the case of the vapors that Tim Geithner’s tax problems (cleared up, I should say) was causing him.

So when do they (and these blogs) call Bonini a “tax cheat” or proclaim that Bonini “can’t figure out his taxes”? Do you think that these repubs who were so clear that being a tax violator automatically made you unsuitable for office are preparing a case to remind people that a man who can’t do his own taxes isn’t fit to run the Treasury of the State of Delaware?

Yes, I crack myself up too. But while these local repubs furiously scribble on their hands looking for today’s lame excuses for their own hypocrisy, let’s think of Bonini’s tax issues in a larger frame.

Bonini was also the purveyor of last year’s clusterf*ck of a Republican “budget response” to the looming deficit. A response that was short of properly sourced information; short on concrete actions that would actually and immediately reduce the deficit; and short on real ideas for any long-term budget reductions. basically, it was a recycle of the usual local hobby horses against the prevailing wage; early retirements to reduce the size of government (which doesn’t do anything about the job that just got vacated); and a proposal for the Californication of Delaware budgets. No budget was actually included, no budget line items were analyzed, no numbers were made to make sense.

I’ve long made the point about the basic innumeracy of the GOP. Their philosophy towards numbers seems to be that as long as there is an ideological proof, the numbers proof can go fuck itself. With a caveat that applies to making sure that their friends get all the taxpayer money they can eat — those numbers they keep with precision.

But what you can take to the bank is that someone who can’t follow the numbers is certainly no someone who can even identify wasteful spending, much less do something about it. Someone with no grasp of how data gets managed and published is in no position to provide any certifications that the state is actually stating its financial position truthfully. And what does that have to do with Bonini’s taxes? It seems to me that evaluating Bonini’s fitness for the job based on his “tax violator” status should be done in accordance with the same standards they used for Tim Geithner, et al — asking for him to stand down from running for this post.

City of Wilmington to Live Stream City Council Meetings

I was at City Council last Thursday where Bud Freel brought up an ordnanceordinance (pdf) that would allow the City to sign a contract with a firm that would take he video recorded by WITN of Council Meetings and live stream them over the internet. The intention is to expand the live streaming to other Council Committee meetings and the other programming on WITN. The meetings (at least) would also be available on demand — so you could catch up with the City Council meetings at your own convenience. Especially after you read about a dustup in Council the day after.

The contract is with a firm from Texas called Swagit Productions and would cost 18K per year, in addition to a one time $10,500 initial fee. I don’t have any idea how reasonable this cost is, but I am definitely glad that they are taking this step towards making these meetings and other content more readily available to citizens.

Too bad that the NCCo County Council is hiding behind their lame excuse that bloggers will be mean to them if they put their meetings up on line. Time to step up, NCCo!

Gandhi Tea Party Quote Campaign FAIL

gandhi

I’m always impressed with Republicans and their dependence on quotations to attempt to settle any political or policy argument.

The latest incarnation of this trend is a quote attributed to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi that’s been making the rounds of Republican circles, used to defend criticism leveled at the Tea Party movement and to seemingly usher in the GOP’s pre-ordained victory in 2010:

“First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.”

Too bad Gandhi never said it.

It was actually said in a 1914 U.S. trade union address made by Nicholas Klein, as he described the stages of a winning strategy of nonviolent activism and progressive reform:

“And, my friends, in this story you have a history of this entire movement. First they ignore you. Then they ridicule you. And then they attack you and want to burn you. And then they build monuments to you. And that, is what is going to happen to the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America.”

So I have three suggestions for Republicans:

One – Don’t depend on quotations from anyone to win your arguments for you. I don’t want to hear any more Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Payne or Sam Adams quotes taken out of context.

Two – Everything posted on the internet isn’t true. Please check your facts before you cut and paste.

Three – Understand the irony of misapproating a quote that was actually said by the representative of a labor union known for its support for “social unionism” and progressive political causes.

Weekend Open Thread

I hope everyone is having a beautiful spring weekend! You shouldn’t be inside looking at your computer, but if you are here’s an open thread to play in.

Hooray for sanity in Arkansas!

Circuit Judge Chris Piazza ruled today that Act 1, an initiated act approved by voters in 2008 that bans any unmarried person living with a partner from serving as an adoptive parent, is unconstitutional, and amounts to an unwarranted invasion of privacy. Jerry Cox of the Family Council, the group who sponsored Act 1 and fought for its passage, called the decision “judicial tyranny” and says they plan to appeal the decision to the Arkansas Supreme Court.

Here is a copy of Judge Piazza’s order. Piazza writes, “Due Process and Equal Protection are not hollow words without substance. They are rights enumerated in our constitution that must not be construed in such a way as to deny or disparage other rights retained by the people.”

Holly Dickson, with ACLU Arkansas, says the ban on adoption was too broad and excluded potentially good foster parents. “This is going to allow the state of Arkansas to consider all potentially good homes for kids who are in state custody that sorely need them. At this point, considering that Arkansas courts have twice found that bans like this do not protect children, I would hope that we could move on past this issue.”

Denying homes to children because you feel icky about LGBT people is just wrong and counterproductive.

It’s about time that someone paid a price in the financial collapse. The SEC is charging Goldman Sachs with fraud:

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Goldman Sachs with defrauding investors by allegedly “misstating and omitting key facts” in the marketing of a financial product linked to the performance of subprime mortgages right as the housing crisis was beginning to unfold.

The complaint comes down just as the attention of Washington is turning fully to financial reform.

“The product was new and complex but the deception and conflicts are old and simple. Goldman wrongly permitted a client that was betting against the mortgage market to heavily influence which mortgage securities to include in an investment portfolio, while telling other investors that the securities were selected by an independent, objective third party,” said SEC enforcement chief Robert Khuzami in a statement.

In other words, Goldman Sachs was explicity selling CDOs to people while also making bets that these CDOs would fail. They were intentionally selling bad products and I’ll bet it’s all legal. That’s why GS is being charged civilly instead of criminally.