Terror in Tiny Tony Town??
Turns out that Tiny Tony DeLuca’s personal employment records weren’t the only records being withheld by the Department of Labor.
And, get this, turns out that the records being withheld, this time the “records and construction site visit logs of labor law officers to see which companies were investigated for allegations of workplace fraud and not paying the prevailing wage rates on the public works projects in 2010 and 2011”, are in the possession of one, wait for it, Tiny Tony DeLuca, owner and operator of SCTV Head of the Office of Labor Law Enforcement.
That’s right, Delaware’s self-appointed tinhorn despot has once again placed himself above the law. Fortunately, as reported by Chad Livengood in today’s News-Journal, the Attorney General’s office has determined that those records were unlawfully withhheld by Tiny Tony and his Mindless Minions:
“We think that the legislative intent is not to exempt all records of routine inspections and citations, but only those records of investigating where disclosure would impede or inhibit enforcement of law,” (Deputy AG Charles) Butler wrote in an opinion issued late Monday.
The Department of Labor did not defend its interpretation of the law, but instead sought to have The News Journal’s appeal dismissed on procedural grounds.
That Tiny Tony is a stickler when it comes to following proper procedure. Except when he’s the one making a mockery of following proper procedure.
After the Department of Labor twice denied the News-Journal access to these documents, the News-Journal filed a FOIA request with the Attorney General’s office, and this was the result.
While the information that is gleaned from this may or not turn out to be a big deal, the very fact that Delaware’s Most Blatant Double-Dipper continues to place himself above the law is, IMHO, a very big deal. If you are currently represented by a Democratic state senator, contact them and demand that this ethical deadbeat be removed as President Pro-Tem. Do it politely, of course, but let them know that you are watching. There is recent precedent for deposing senate leadership during a session. Tom Sharp was replaced by Roger Martin when the caucus took offense to Sharp’s attempts to bully Democratic senators with anti-busing mailings into the districts of Democratic senators.
Oh, and AG Beau Biden? It’s also time to revisit your single worst opinion, you know, the one that held that Tiny Tony’s personal security would somehow be at risk if we were allowed to see just how much of a double dipper he is. I’ll even give you incentive, but you have to act this week: You are already on my MVP List for the year in spite of this opinion. I’ll cut you a deal: Reverse your opinion, call for the records to be made public, and I’ll make you #1. Yes, I’m that easy.
Your Amigo,
El Somnambulo
King-Maker
Tags: Tony DeLuca; Beau Biden;
“While the information that is gleaned from this may or not turn out to be a big deal….”
Bet it does turn out to be a big deal.
The personal security dodge that the AG cooked up was pretty effed up.
Delaware Liberal readers,
Though you and I may not agree on everything, I think we can all agree on one thing, it’s time for Senator DeLuca to be replaced. He doesn’t feel like the rules apply to him. Whether it’s spending money for extra security doors for his office (as if that REALLY had something to do with his “safety”), failing to comply with the initial FOIA request for his timecards and ACTUALLY ALLOWING the AG to make a ridiculous claim that it would be a national security risk for us to know if there was any overlap in his work with the executive and legislative branches or this latest refusal to comply with FOIA and ethics laws, it’s clear that Senator DeLuca just doesn’t get it. We need a cleaner government with people who value the rules of the system and who genuinely WANT the people to see what goes on in Dover. I’m that person. I will do everything in the open and with complete transparency. I’ll tear the security door down myself, comply with FOIA requests BEFORE the deadlines and make sure that you all know what I’m doing before you even HAVE to ask. Also, I can promise you this, should I be fortunate enough to win, I would only seek two terms. That’s it, just two terms. No dynasty here, won’t have enough time to earn a pension, won’t need lifetime medical benefits or any of the other legislative retiree perks. Save that and give it to the folks who need it. I just want to go to Dover and shed some light and spread some truth. I’m even willing to put this pledge in writing. We have absolutely GOT to change the way business is done in Dover if we’re EVER going to achieve our shared goals of prosperity, transparency and openness.
Sincerely,
Evan Queitsch
Candidate 11th Senate District
Sorry, Evan. We’re mostly just pissed about the redistricting that damaged other Democrats. Can you fix that?
The enemy of my enemy if my friend, unless the enemy of my enemy is Evan Queitsch. Someone said that. Gen. Patton? Yep. I think it was Patton.
@puck – Not till the next redistricting period but I can tell you this much, when I get my chance to shine a light on the process,you’ll know who does what and why.
@jason330 – Love you too brother
Evan – we figured out months ago who did what and why (thanks El Som). Got anything else?
And by the way, somebody other than El Som needs to run a Post of the Year competition, because El Som is going to sweep, and it wouldn’t look right for him to be running it.
I’m not going to over promise here but I’ll do whatever is necessary to gather the support in the Senate to make sure that future redistricting is done with the citizens in mind FIRST and not for political gamesmanship. I’ll make sure the process is fair and open. Other than that, there’s not much we CAN do.
This is remarkable. Evan is actually trying to win support from an anonymous liberal who doesn’t live in his district. Now that’s what I call fire in the belly.
As expected, uber-liberals will vote for a self-serving, political punisher (se: Katz, Sokola) & double-dipper with a (D) after his name instead of a (R) who’s fiscally responsible & unafraid of open & transparent government, doors open to all. It’s this very attitude that brought you the glorious and memorable governorship of Ruth Ann Minner. Nice job. You own it.
Hard to know where to begin there, Rick. Uber-liberals (anyone to the left of Tom Carper, does that fit your definition?) have actually come up with a primary challenger to Tony DeLuca.
As much as I agree with ‘The Q’ on his listing the sins of Tony DeLuca, it’s because we ‘uber-liberals’ have listed them for him for, oh, about two years now.
There’s also this little matter that, as far as I can tell, no ‘uber-liberal’ has claimed on this site that they will vote for Tony DeLuca. So your straw house of an argument really blows. C’mon, didn’t Rush teach you better than that?
‘The Q’s exploits have been well-documented here, so it’s not like we’re unaware of the reasons why he would be utterly unqualified to hold public office.
BTW, come to think of it, ‘The Q’ was on the Al Mascitti Show a few weeks back, and he used the term ‘uber-liberal’ to describe, wait for it, Tim Geithner.
Which just goes to show that you and ‘The Q’ have at least one thing in common: A love for the term ‘uber-liberal’ that borders on the fetishistic.
I now know why your listeners don’t believe in evolution. Because they haven’t gotten there yet.
@puck – it’s more about addressing concerns that are likely shared by those in my district. I’m sure you aren’t the ONLY person in Delaware who thinks like you.
Yep. It follows that since I don’t want a Christine O’Donnell acolyte anywhere near public office, I’m what’s wrong with America.
Rick, you know who likes your logic? …. Hitler.
Unqualified to hold office? I meet all of the requirements to hold office sir.
Far from an acolyte Jason…but I do love how we’re going to try to run this campaign with you trying to turn me into O’Donnell when really, nothing could be further from the truth. That’s ok, I think most folks are sophisticated enough to see beyond that kind of silliness and see the solutions to the problems that I’m presenting.
and there it is! It didn’t take Jason long to call a conservative talk show host Hitleresque! That MIGHT be a record for the quickest to go for the Hitler reference…you’re a hoot J Diddy.
You embody the problems facing America today. Unless your solutions involve boxing yourself and a bunch of other teabags up and sending that box to the Belgian Congo, I’m not interested.
I embody America’s problems? Our problems are massive deficit spending, a crushing national debt, corrupt politicians and a lack of ethics and morals in business and politics. These are all things I’m speaking out AGAINST. I think Senator DeLuca embodies these problems more than I do.
See? Our problems are people like you saying that the problem is a “crushing debt” when the wealthy are enjoying 1920’s level tax rates and many corporations pay $0.00 in taxes.
Thank you for making my case so succinctly.
Succinctly means something expressed in a few words. (I wanted to spare you the trouble of looking that up.)
Good day sir.
You mean corporations like GE who hang out with the corrupt politicians?
And Jason, just so that you understand, the top 50% (those making more than $32,000/yr) pay more than 97% of all the taxes…the top 1% (those over $343,000 per year) pay more than 36% of all the taxes. How much SHOULD they pay Jason? What’s the number you would put on them.
All taxes? I think you mean income taxes, not payroll taxes and excises taxes. You have just lied by omission. I’m not sure if you are aware of that or not. I doubt that you are. Don’t beat yourself up about it, you’ve probably never exposed yourself to actual economic thought.
As for me, I think 1941’s patriotic 81% is about right during wartime. During the post-war economic boom years of 1950-63 the top rate was at 91% – I guess that’s why the wealthy were so eager to invest in building business, not socking their money away like they are today. (I’m looking at you Michelle Rollins)
BTW – I said “Good day Sir.”
the top 50% (those making more than $32,000/yr) pay more than 97% of all the taxes…the top 1% (those over $343,000 per year) pay more than 36% of all the taxes.
Do your conservative friends know you are over here making the case against excessive income inequality?
What’s the number you would put on them.
That’s easy. A 39% top marginal rate would be about right for economic conditions at this time (currently it is 36%). I might even go a few points less on the top personal rate, if capital gains was raised to 25%, and dividends once again treated as regular income, and the carried-interest loophole closed. Clinton had it about right, although conditions change over time.
The bottom 50% should pay more too – when their wages grow until they enter a higher bracket. THAT is how you get the bottom 50% to share more of the tax burden – not by raising their taxes or cutting taxes on the rich.
In other words, if the rich want the working class to pay more taxes, all they have to do is give them a raise. And the rich can then cut their own taxes by deducting the extra wages. Simple really.
“Now that’s what I call fire in the belly.” – actually, that’s gas.
“Our problems are massive deficit spending, a crushing national debt…” – hmm, seems that 2 unpaid for wars and the shitting away of a budget surplus the Democrats built up caused this. And who was in control? Wait for it – yep, rethuglicans like Evan Q. And just because you meet the age and residency requirements set forth for office doesn’t mean that you’re qualified to hold office, Evan.
@puck – You do realize that you could tax the rich 100% of their income and not make much of a dent in the overall numbers right? This video shows how much you would have to “increase revenue” just to cover the current budget for 1 year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=661pi6K-8WQ
The above should also deal with MJ’s nonsense about the wars…as for the budget “surplus”…well as usual, we’re playing fast and loose with the facts…this site illustrates just how the accounting tricks of the Clinton Administration made green out of red: http://www.craigsteiner.us/articles/16
I guess the voters will decide if my policy suggestions pass muster MJ, that’s what matters. I look forward to giving them the opportunity to decide.
Now, if you all wanted to get serious about “raising revenue” and cutting into the $15 Trillion national debt, you could START by putting people back to work. Enable job creation in the private sector by creating incentives for companies to hire workers and increase pay. Grow the economy by employing more people and you’ll increase the tax base and drive up revenues. The fact is that we HAVE to address our spending, to include the “2 unfunded wars”. It’s time to cut back on everything from defense to legislative pay. We have to look at how to spend money effectively. So there is plenty we can do from a national standpoint to bring things back into balance but simply taxing the rich more doesn’t get it done. You’re going to have to come with more than that.
Of course, I’m running for State Senate and so I’m worried about how we create jobs here and what it all comes down to, as I see it, is creating incentives for companies to hire Delaware workers. The government has been pretty bad at picking winners and losers (more job losses at banks and pharma this week) so I think we need to let the markets start dictating the jobs again. No one is suggesting we let them pollute or destroy whatever they want to, but we can ease some regulations, get rid of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and Renwable Portfolio Standards that are crippling business and doing nothing to increase Delaware’s already stellar example as a leader in emitting less and less toxic emissions. That will create jobs almost immediately and make companies like DuPont stronger and more vibrant which will also increase their revenue stream back to the government.
“as for the budget “surplus”…well as usual, we’re playing fast and loose with the facts…this site illustrates just how the accounting tricks of the Clinton Administration made green out of red”
All the more reason, isn’t it, that Bush shouldn’t have cut taxes if you’re serious about the debt?
“simply taxing the rich more doesn’t get it done.”
And yet it helps get it done. You’re using a logical fallacy of an argument — because it wouldn’t close the entire gap, we shouldn’t tap into them at all. Absurd. We could end Medicare entirely, and that wouldn’t end the deficit either. Works both ways.
As long as you’re tossing around cherry-picked facts, try this one: If we spent the same amount per capita as Europe does on health care, we’d have no annual budget deficit. And sorry, shifting the costs to those on Medicare, as the Ryan plan would, is not an acceptable solution.
Evan, your video was the most juvenile pile of crap I have seen in a while. And yes, I will bear the shame of actually having followed your link. Apparently in wingnut land, any steaming heap of random numbers becomes a devastating indictment when said with a sneer. Come back when you get yourself some real numbers.
If the Q-ball gets any votes by posting his CRI generated drivel about regulations “crippling” business here.. at Delaware Liberal…I’d be very surprised.
Evan – how were the illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan paid for then? Hmm – cutting taxes and just printing money. How very rethuglican. You’re so full of shit your eyes are brown.
The voters will see through you, EQ, and my bet is that you don’t get more than 23.6% of the vote.