The Polling Report [3.20.13]

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Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) approval rating has plummeted since the November election to 35% approval and 54% disapproval. This is a pretty shocking polling collapse from last August, when his approval rate was 50% to 32%. I guess the public read his budget. I guess the American people don't want his budget. So perhaps Paul Ryan can stop saying the American people want his budget. Yeah, asking a Republican to stop lying is like asking a bird to stop flying.

Wednesday Open Thread [3.20.13]

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I wrote about his several weeks ago, about but how our "right to vote" is illusionary as it is not enshrined in the Constitution as a right and that is why racist Republicans can get away with passing laws that burden the exercise of the privilege to vote. Well, now Roosevelt Institute Senior Fellows Jonathan Soros and Mark Schmitt agree with me and argue that we need a Right to Vote Amendment to the Constitution to focus the activist movement and help ensure that you can participate in our political system even if you don't have an "Inc." after your name.

There’s something missing here….

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U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senator Dianne Feinstein announced yesterday that Feinsten's Assault Weapon Ban will not be part of the Democratic Gun Control bill because it did not garner more than 40 Democratic votes. Instead, Feinstein's bill will be offered as an Amendment to the Gun Control Bill, and it will obviously fail. It is regrettable, but it is expected. Still, the following Democrats deserve a tip of the hat for their co-sponsorship of the Feinstein Assault Weapons ban, including Senator Carper. But as look at this list, I notice a name missing and I wonder why it is missing. Because if Carper can do it, surely he can too. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.) Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) Senator Mo Cowan (D-Mass.) Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.) Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) Senator Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) Senator Jack Reed (D-R.I.) Senator John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Wed., March 20, 2013

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Doesn't look like anything got done on Tuesday. Here is the session activity report. Until further notice, consider it a misnomer. Two huge committee hearings today. We've already talked about the continuation of the hearing on HB 35, which would mandate criminal background checks for almost all gun purchases in Delaware. Starts at 11:30 am in the House Chamber. The Senate is wasting no time in taking up the death penalty repeal legislation. The Senate Executive Committee will consider SB 19 in the Senate Chamber beginning at 1 pm. And here's something that's pretty cool: Sen. Bryan Townsend, who is a co-sponsor of the bill, will be live tweeting during the hearing. His twitter handle is @BryanTownsendDE, and he will be tweeting with the hashtag #DErepeal. I don't know what any of that means, but I'm sure virtually everyone else reading this does. (Update from DD: I added the links to Senator Townsend's twitter page and the DERepeal hashtag for those of us who use Twitter. El Som, your training begins this Saturday. ;) )