The Polling Report [6.20.12]

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So, I have decided to start counting Rasmussen's polling in our Electoral College Map. Why? Well, they haven't woken up and decided to be a nonpartisan and unbiased polling outfit. But as Markos Moulitsas says, looking at Rasmussen gives us a sense of the worst case scenario, for every Rasmussen poll adds about 4-5 points on average to the Republican total. So keep that in mind. If Obama is down by 3 in a Rasmussen poll, he is really up by 1 or 2. If he is up by 4, it is really a blowout in his direction. So by doing that, we get a changed map, and you will see that below. The map will now include recent Rasmussen polls in Missouri (changing it to a Lean Romney state), Iowa (changing it to toss up status), Wisconsin (changing it to toss up status) and Michigan (moving it to Lean Obama status). Meanwhile, new polls in Colorado and Arizona moves the former in Lean Obama category, and the latter to toss up territory. DLMAP

The Irony: Republican Opposition to their Own Individual Mandate Idea will lead to Single Payer.

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To understand the irony of our current situation, and what is about to happen once the U.S. Supreme Court either strikes down the Individual Mandate or the entire Affordable Care Act itself because it cannot be severed from the Individual Mandate, we must first go back to 1993. President Clinton campaigned on reforming the U.S. Healthcare system to bring universal coverage to all Americans. The core element of his "Health Security Act" was a plan to place the burden of insurance coverage on employers across the country, large and small. In other words, it was an employer mandate. Republicans gathered from far and wide and labeled this as an attack on small businesses, and offered a counter proposal. Guess what it was?

The Georgetown bin Laden

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Joe Hurley:
Last week, Councilman Vance Phillips was the victim of a bin Laden attack. The terminology which will always live in American ignomy, refers to a spineless coward who sits in the darkness, and deliberately, and gleefully, inflicts pain on innocents in order to accomplish his deranged agenda. Pakistan had its bin Laden. Sussex County has one as well. ...

Cohen quotes the actual letter & Phillips’ attorney fires shot across Christopher’s bow

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These are the first direct quotes from the letter that I've seen. (Is the full text available online anywhere?)
"This letter is written to inform Delaware elected officials, elected by the people I might add, of the situation that began in 2010 and may still be ongoing today involving Sussex County Councilman Vance Phillips of the 5th District and an under aged girl," it began. ...

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., June 19, 2012

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Hmmm, this one’s really interesting, at least politically. HB 363(Keeley) requires that bail bondspersons be residents of the State of Delaware. Say-y-y, Isn’t Robert Bovell, who ran against Helene Keeley in 2010 in a primary, a bail bondsman? Why, yes, yes he is. He also ran for mayor as an R, and has run on the so-called ‘Working Families’ Party line. And, isn’t Robert Bovell running for mayor of Wilmington in the Democratic primary this year? Why, yes, yes he is. And isn’t Dennis P. Williams, who is also running as a D, a co-sponsor of HB 363? Why, yes, yes he is. So, here you have a bill introduced on June 5, 2012 that just happens to address the occupation of one of the co-sponsor’s rivals for Mayor. And, as I read the synopsis, this bill would have the effect of eliminating out-of-state competitors of this erstwhile candidate from his profession. Sure as shit smells like a big stinky quid pro quo to me. Can Bovell’s withdrawal from the race and endorsement of Dennis P. Williams be far behind?

Spot the Journalistic Fallacy

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We've had a decade of living with the havoc wrought by a radicalized GOP and an utterly impotent Democratic Party, and the press still has serious problems reporting on the modern two-party system. See if you can spot the fallacious thinking embedded in the premise of this TPM front pager.
Hard-Right Base Gives GOP Hell On ‘Obamacare’ And Taxes After spending President Obama’s first term emboldening the most ideologically intense elements of the conservative movement, elected Republicans are now finding themselves in a box on critical issues like health care and taxes with limited options to avert national crises.