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

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. ;) )

BREAKING: State Republican Executive Director Backs Gay Marriage

Story just broke at the News-Journal:
John Fluharty, who took the GOP director job after the last election, declared his support for marriage equality in an interview after attending a fundraiser last week for the group leading efforts to pass legislation legalizing gay marriage in the state.
Good for him. No change in the official Party position, however:
The Republican party’s national platform declares a pledge to preserve and protect traditional marriage. Delaware GOP Chairman John Sigler released a statement saying Fluharty’s views on gay marriage and his sexual orientation are totally separate from his job. "John Fluharty is a valued and capable employee of the Delaware Republican Party who works extremely hard for the party and is good at his job,” Sigler said. “What he chooses to do on his own time with his own money is his own business. He did not attend the recent event in question on behalf of the party or in his capacity as an employee of the party.”
Maybe not, but this is a brave and principled stand. Man, gay marriage really could pass this year...

BREAKING: Superior Court Rules that Jeff Christopher Is Not a Police Officer

Here is the key language from the decision:
To summarize, Delaware’s constitution recognizes the office of sheriff but does not enumerate any specific power or authority held by the office. The Court concludes that the common law authority and responsibilities of the Sheriff are subject to modification and restriction by the legislature. The 2012 legislation extinguishing the Sheriff’s law enforcement powers is valid. This Court declares and holds that a sheriff in Delaware shall not be involved in law enforcement and shall not act in any capacity as a police officer or peace officer. This decision moots the Sheriff’s complaints that the County has not properly funded his office and attempts to meddle in his business. IT IS SO ORDERED.

The Last Letter

I write this letter, my last letter, to you, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney. I write not because I think you grasp the terrible human and moral consequences of your lies, manipulation and thirst for wealth and power. I write this letter because, before my own death, I want to make it clear that I, and hundreds of thousands of my fellow veterans, along with millions of my fellow citizens, along with hundreds of millions more in Iraq and the Middle East, know fully who you are and what you have done. You may evade justice but in our eyes you are each guilty of egregious war crimes, of plunder and, finally, of murder, including the murder of thousands of young Americans—my fellow veterans—whose future you stole.

Tuesday Open Thread [3.19.13]

"We've got a socialist in office right now -- how's that working for us?" -- Republican National Committeeman Henry Barbour (R), quoted by The Hill, while talking about the Republican Party's need to improve its brand. Well, Haley, it is working out quite well, actually. The Stock Market is hitting record highs, the economy is growing and showing real signs of a take off this year, the unemployment rate is falling, millions of new jobs are being created each year, and we have cut our deficit in half over the last four years. If that is what socialism is called, then hell yeah, give me more socialism!

Email the House Judiciary Committee Today.

We have an action item for you this morning: can you all please take some time today to email or call the members of the State House Judiciary Committee (their email addresses are below) and ask them all, whether they are a Democrat or a Republican, to support the Criminal Background Check Bill, or House Bill 35. At the last hearing on this bill, our side was severely outgunned in terms of vocal support, as the hearning room was full of NRA members and other pro-gun advocates who wrongly believe that any regulation on guns amounts to a violation of their Second Amendment rights. If these members just rely on what they heard at the Hearing two weeks ago, they would think that 90% of all Americans and Delawareans oppose this bill, when in fact it is the opposite. The vast majority of all Americans and Delawareans support this common sense regulation to make sure that guns do not get into the hands of criminals and the mentally ill. Right now, federal law requires federally licensed firearms dealers to perform criminal history background checks on prospective firearms purchasers. However, when the sale or transfer of a firearm does not involve a licensed dealer, no background check is required. This loophole is how convicted felons, those with mental illnesses, minors and other prohibited purchasers get their guns. One step we as a community and a state can take to make sure that tragedies like Newtown, Aurora, Tuscon, and Virginia Tech never happen again is to make sure that everyone who buys a gun is subjected to background checks. The plain truth of the matter is that this bill does not infringe on the liberty of responsible gun owners, hunters and anyone who is legally permitted to own a gun. It seeks only to prevent those who are legally not permitted from purchasing a gun from purchasing a gun. How any responsible citizen or gun owner can rise in opposition to that principle is beyond our understanding. Here is the contact information: Rebecca Walker 302-744-4351; Rebecca.Walker@state.de.us Melanie George Smith 302-744-4351; melanie.g.smith@state.de.us Gerald L. Brady 302-744-4351; Gerald.Brady@state.de.us James Johnson 302- 744-4351; jj.johnson@state.de.us John L. Mitchell Jr. 302-744-4351; john.l.mitchell@state.de.us W. Charles Paradee 302-744-4033; trey.paradee@state.de.us Charles Potter Jr. 302–744-4351; Charles.potter@state.de.us Darryl M. Scott 302-744-4351; Darryl.Scott@state.de.us Stephen T. Smyk 302-744-4321; Steve.Smyk@state.de.us Jeffrey N. Spiegelman 302-744-4171; jeff.spiegelman@state.de.us David L. Wilson 302-744-4150; David.L.Wilson@state.de.us There is also another hearing on this bill tomorrow at 11:30 am in the House Chamber. If you can be there, be there!

Ten Years Ago Today

Ten years ago today, President George W. Bush commenced the U.S. invasion of Iraq, to "disarm" the country, "free its people," and transform it into a "united, stable and free country," all the while knowing that his sole basis for justifying the war (that Iraq had WMD) was a complete and total lie. It seems quite appropriate that the Iraqis celebrated this anniversary today with a dozen car bombs that killed 50 people. Yea, Freedom!

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., March 19, 2013

Go ahead. Pick a hot-button issue. Any hot-button issue. This year's General Assembly is considering it. Can't remember this many controversial issues under consideration. Gun control? Check. Gay marriage? Check. Death penalty? Check. Minimum wage? Check. I'm not sure if there's enough time/political capital to go around. So. Please allow me to prioritize. To me, there are no excuses for the Delaware General Assembly not passing gun control and minimum wage legislation this year. The votes are there for minimum wage. Only the Governor's (a) unwillingness to get on board, and/or (b) the Governor's opposition to minimum wage stand in the way. Last year, it was (b), and friendly house leadership buried the bill in an unfriendly House committee. This year, the Governor has stated that he's excited about the debate (Truthometer says? BZZZT), but won't take a position. Only with Jack Markell could that be considered as progress. Let's be practical here. Markell's best chance to stop the bill, and it's not good, is in the Senate. But, the Senate voted for minimum wage last year and, other than Sen. Venables, I think it's unlikely that any other D's will vote no. The margin of support for minimum wage is even larger in the House, so Markell's only chance there is to get the bill buried in committee.

Monday Open Thread [3.19.13]

You want proof that Hillary will run in 2016? Well, she just released a video announcing her support for marriage equality, which was not a surprise, but since she had to steer clear of making any political statements while Secretary of State, Hillary has been silent on the issue since the 2008 campaign. In my opinion, if she were just a private citizen enjoying her retirement, I don't think such a video would be released.

AZ Job cuts demonstrate the weakness of conventional “economic development”

It sucks that AZ is leaving. And it is probably too tender right now for "lessons learned," but here it goes... You can look like a hero for a few years by throwing a bunch of money at a large corporation to get them to locate in Delaware, as Tom Carper did with AstraZeneca. Or you can be more like Portland and Seattle and do the harder work of trying to invest in building infrastructure for new ventures and make the public investments in of quality of life factors that entrepreneurs look for when building companies. Both methods cost money, but I think the Seattle model beats the shit out of the Tom Carper model.