Archive for December, 2012

The Inane CRI strikes again

Filed in National by on December 18, 2012 12 Comments

In a series of analyses CRI has argued that the New Castle County (NCC) government is facing a serious fiscal crisis. This crisis was precipitated by Adam Sandler’s performance in ‘The Water Boy’ released in 1998. Within just a few years after the release of ‘The Water Boy’ employment in NCC flat-lined and residential building permits nose dived….

Simple cause and effect right? Who could argue with those facts? Substitute “the UDC” for “The Water Boy” above and that is the level of thinking going on at that “think” tank. I mean, they are absolutely ripping off their benefactors.

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The 2012 MVP Award-Winners Are…

Filed in National by on December 18, 2012 15 Comments

10. LT. GOVERNOR MATT DENN: No one in Delaware fights harder for children. Few, if any, in Delaware, are as committed to quality public education for all. He’s also on the list because he ran on what he considers to be his mission. I’m paraphrasing: “If you don’t seek office in order to help improve people’s lives, then what’s the point?” He works at that every day. He’s ‘only’ #10 because he’s ‘only’ Lieutenant Governor. I, for one, hope to see that change in 2016.

9. SUSSEX COUNTY COUNCILPERSON JOAN DEAVER: One of the few sane voices in Sussex County at a time that Sussex County needs more sane voices, but seems to be in full-blown flight from sanity. Successfully winning reelection against one of these ‘Agenda 21’ Chicken Littles (the ‘chicken’ reference is deliberate) in a year when Sussex County voters have not yet come to grips with the problems facing them, and the UN is not among them, is a singular accomplishment for someone who is part of the solution in Sussex.

8. REP. EARL JAQUES: It’s possible that he’s more populist than progressive, but we need more like him in Dover. And we need both populists and progressives. After all, you can be both, and I think that Earl Jaques is. Sponsored single-payer health insurance, opposes the blatant Delmarva ‘smart-meter’ rip-off, seems immune to ‘Delaware Way’ incestuousness, votes the right way, and does his homework. He also sponsored and helped pass this bill, which I strongly support. The General Assembly is becoming more progressive, and I look forward to what Jaques can accomplish in such an environment.

Come inside for the rest….

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Carper Pressing Reid to drop the “talking filibuster” requirement

Filed in National by on December 18, 2012 11 Comments

Harry Reid is planning to announce at a democratic caucus TODAY that he is going to drop the talking filibuster measure from the package of reforms the caucus will push in January because of push back from Nelson, Baucus, Carper and a few others. Nelson and Bachus because they need to fund-raise and don’t want to be stuck in DC for three days at a stretch. Carper…? who knows why he objects to the talking. Maybe because Nelson and Baucus did? It’s a theory.

Anyway, a call to Carper’s office today asking him to keep the requirement for the talking filibuster in the reform package might do some good.

Carper: 202 224-2441

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2012 MVP Awards Announced Today At…

Filed in Delaware by on December 18, 2012 0 Comments

10 am. Simultaneously here at DL and on the Al Mascitti Show, WDEL Newsradio 1150 AM on your radio dial. Don’t wait to see/hear it from others, be the first to know.

BTW, time permitting, we’ll also talk Port Of Wilmington, and remind Pete Schwartzkopf that he isn’t the Speaker of the House just yet.

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Mayor Bloomberg Wants the Violence to Stop

Filed in National by on December 18, 2012 0 Comments

NYC’s Mayor Bloomberg is mad as hell and he wants Congress and the President to work to stop the gun carnage. He’s been at this for awhile, even creating a SuperPAC this past election that (I think) had a more winning track record than the NRA’s SuperPAC did. He took to the airwaves today with a room full of victims of gun violence to call for very specific actions from Congress and the President. It is worth every minute to watch this (approx. 6 minutes):

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We are coming for your guns.

Filed in National by on December 18, 2012 45 Comments

And you can do nothing to stop us. For if you do, you will be rightly and justly characterized as the defenders of the murder of children. You will accept common sense regulations, limitations and restrictions on your oh so precious right to bear arms. And you will do so without complaint, just as you have been mostly silent over the last few days. And we all know you have been silent because you have nothing to say. You can’t defend this. You cannot defend yourselves. Really, your silence is an admission of guilt. You, and we, saw this coming. Really, you had to know, eventually, our most vulnerable would fall prey. It was only a matter of time.

And now that time is here.

Take a cue from a fellow NRA 100% approved Conservative Republican, and follow his lead.

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Tuesday Daily Delawhere [12.18.12]

Filed in Delaware by on December 18, 2012 0 Comments
Tuesday Daily Delawhere [12.18.12]

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Mike Huckabee’s puny God

Filed in National by on December 17, 2012 19 Comments

Mike Huckabee’s God is not a majestic king of the universe. Huckabee’s savior is a sulky, dickwad who lets children get murdered because a school doesn’t allow Christian prayer.

Following the shooting on Friday, Huckabee asked why we should “be so surprised” at the violence when “we have systematically removed God from our schools.”

That’s a puny-ass excuse for a deity. If you are going to worship something Huckabee, try a deity that has a little more grit than the one you’ve got now. Try a God that wants the best for humanity even when humanity isn’t kissing its ass in homeroom every morning.

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Where Are The Big, Brave Gun Owners?

Filed in National by on December 17, 2012 41 Comments

Funny how they suddenly have nothing to say. Usually you can’t shut them up. And if they really believed they had nothing to do with this then they should be making their case. But they can’t, because they aren’t part of any solution.

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Monday Open Thread [12.17.12]

Filed in Open Thread by on December 17, 2012 11 Comments

Multiple reports over the weekend have Senator John Kerry being nominated to succeed Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. If that is the case, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick (D) will have to appoint an interim Senator who will serve until a special election can be held to fill the remainder of Senator Kerry’s term. That special election must be held no later than 180 and no earlier than 160 days after Senator Kerry resigns.

Assuming that Kerry resigns at some point on or near January 20, then the election won’t be until July 8 at the earliest. So we will need an interim Senator for six months. Jonathan Karl has heard that Governor Patrick has talked to Senator Kennedy’s widow, Vicki Kennedy, “about the possibility of replacing Kerry in the Senate and that she did not rule it out.”

Another reported possibility is a blast from the past. Former Governor and 1988 Presidential candidate Michael Dukakis (D) “may be headed back to the political spotlight as he’s considered a likely interim replacement for Sen. John Kerry (D-MA),” The Hill reports.

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Tom Carper’s Email – Translated into English

Filed in National by on December 17, 2012 4 Comments

Hi there,
I hear a lot about the “fiscal cliff” every day, and chances are you do too — either in the paper or on the news. But we rarely hear the details of how we got into this mess and what it really means for Delaware and our country. So, as we used to say in the Navy, I want to give you the “straight skinny,” as best as I can give it.

Hi There Peons and losers – My advisers told me to write you an email about the “fiscal cliff” so here it is. Also, I was in the Navy bitches! Unlike some squirrely looking hippy c*&cks#@ker who will remain nameless.

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On Privatizing the Port of Wilmington, Bob Marshall Says ‘Not So Fast, My Friends’.

Filed in National by on December 17, 2012 8 Comments

In what I consider to be a masterfully-crafted letter, Sen. Bob Marshall has made clear that he does not intend to let Markell/Levin push a Port of Wilmington privatization proposal through without legislative oversight.

As you may recall, a recent Friday news dump by the Markell Administration contained the announcement that Kinder Morgan had emerged as the ‘preferred partner’ to run the Port. Both Kinder and Morgan made their corporate bones at Enron, and their company specializes in pipelines and the fluids that run through them.

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Twenty Children Are Dead – Don’t You Dare Forget That

Filed in National by on December 17, 2012 9 Comments
Twenty Children Are Dead – Don’t You Dare Forget That

This will be a difficult post for me. I simply cannot stop thinking about the children and the families in Newtown, Connecticut. I can’t stop envisioning the parents walking past their child’s empty bedroom, filled with stuffed animals and probably a pair of tiny socks that didn’t make it into the hamper, and knowing that that bedroom will remain empty. I can’t stop imagining how these parents are stumbling across the Christmas presents hidden in that secret hiding place. Everywhere they turn they will see the evidence of their child’s existence. The Cap’n Crunch cereal. The juice boxes. The Legos. The Barbies. The candy wrapper under the bed.

My heart is breaking. And all I can think is This Has Got To Stop. What The Hell Is Wrong With Us? Because this is bigger than Adam Lanza and Jared Loughner and James Holmes. This is about how we’ve come to accept these events; how we almost take them in stride, because, you know… Freedom.

I’m so sick of that lame response. I’m sick of hearing about the freedom to arm yourself to the teeth because, you know… Government. I’m sick of hearing about how someone needs to 30 rounds per second because someone is trying to get you. I’m sick of responsible gun owners being in bed with with these paranoid, fantasy driven freaks who need to live, and act out, their delusions. And I’m sick of the body count.

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