Thursday Open Thread

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Ezra Klein: "Right now, the protests are at a tipping point. The unions and MoveOn.org are mounting a sympathy march this afternoon. Van Jones’s Rebuild the Dream and Russ Feingold’s Progressives United are blasting messages of support. Prominent elected Democrats such as Rep. John Larson, Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus; Rep. Louise Slaughter, ranking member on the House Rules Committee; and Sen. Jeff Merkley have all applauded the movement. What these Democrats and liberal-activist groups are looking for is something similar to what conservatives found in the tea party: an opportunity to recharge and rebrand."

Scott Brown just stepped in it.

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So we all know that Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts posed nude in Cosmo in his youth. Last week, during a Democratic primary debate this week, Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren was asked how she paid for college. “I kept my clothes on,” Warren replied. “I borrowed money.” This morning, on a right wing radio show, Scott Brown was asked to respond to that, and he laughed and said “Thank God.”

Wednesday Open Thread

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Comedian Stephen Colbert incorporated his nonprofit "Anonymous Shell Corporation" in Delaware last month. He has since changed the name of the company to the "Colbert Super PAC SHH Institute." Colbert is making fun of anonymous corporations that now can form one week, donate millions of dollars the next week to a candidate, and the dissolve the next day, all as a result of the Supreme Court's horrible decision in Citizens United.

Discuss Legislative Reform on WDEL at 10 and at the PDD Meeting at 7

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El Som will be on the Al Mascitti Show this morning at 10 am to discuss his 2012 Legislative Reform Package. Please sure to listen in and comment here. He will also be participating in a discussion tonight at the regular monthly meeting of the Progressive Democrats for Delaware at 7 p.m. at the Democratic Party Headquarters, 19 E. Commons Blvd., New Castle. The PDD has invited him and representatives from the Delaware Coalition of Open Government, the League of Women Voters, and Common Cause to discuss legislative, ethics and lobbying reform.

Open Letter to John Carney On the Occasion of Your “Town Hall” Conference Call

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Dear Congressman, I listened to your conference call "town hall meeting" and I was amazed by how many times you mentioned the magical effects that a payroll tax cuts could have on our economy. As a small business person, I'd like to disabuse you of this notion that payroll tax cuts stimulate hiring. Unlike you and every member of Congress who is in love with this idea that payroll tax cuts are the most awesome thing in the world, I am someone who pays payroll taxes, and I can assure you that payroll tax cuts are practically invisible to both the employee and the small business employer. The only thing that will stimulate hiring is increased demand. No sane business person is going to hire new employees absent increasing demand for their product or service. I want to like you, but you have been brainwashed and are spouting nonsense. Please stop it. Consider this, if tax cuts are the job creating machine that you make them out to be, where are all the jobs? Since George W. Bush's first term we've been feed a steady diet of magical tax cuts and look at the employment paradise that the tax cuts have created. Stick to talking about infrastructure. You mentioned that in passing. But you mentioned infrastructure spending once for every five times you mentioned payroll tax cuts last night. Flip that ratio around if you want to continue enjoying the support of Delaware's small business community. Sincerely, Jason330 PS. The "Town Hall" Conference Call format is a travesty. Just saying.