Archive for March, 2013

Friday Daily Delawhere [3.8.13]

Filed in Delaware by Delaware Dem on March 8, 2013 • 1 Comment

This is St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church, on Union Street in Wilmington. The church is the center of the Forty Acres neighborhood, which was settled by Irish immigrants in the 1860s through 1880s. St. Ann’s was built in 1887.

Kinder Morgan Deal Is Dead

Filed in National by cassandra_m on March 7, 2013 • 20 Comments

In today’s Open Thread, SussexWatcher points us to the news. Both the NJ and WDEL have reports up providing a summary of what was in the Kinder Morgan letter and some local reaction. EDIT — WDDE has put up their report with some additional detail on why KM walked away. It looks like the deal is off of the table, although the NJ discussion with KM seems to leave a slim bit of wiggle room for everybody.

Late Night Video –What If You Rammed Every Car That Cut You Off

Filed in National by cassandra_m on March 7, 2013 • 4 Comments

Ever been cutoff by a clueless driver? Where you had to accomplish the feat of standing on your brakes while also spewing forth every curse you’ve ever known? Me too. So what if you didn’t hit your brakes and just hit the offender’s car? That is what the maker of these videos has done — Alexei Volkov, a bus driver in Zelenograd, Russia not only just hit the cars that cut him off, but he videotaped them. This video (approx. 1 min, 30 secs) is a compilation of some of these events. It is funnier than it should be and I do not endorse this, but damnit, I sure do understand why he did it!

Hey Senator Coons, do you want your fame to live beyond eternity?

Filed in National by jason330 on March 7, 2013 • 8 Comments

Be the guy who brings up closing the Social Security earnings cap loophole on the floor of the Senate.

Money Isn’t Working In School Board Elections

Filed in Delaware, National by pandora on March 7, 2013 • 7 Comments

When it comes to school board elections something is different. Just ask Michael Bloomberg, Rupert Murdoch and Michelle Rhee. They lost big in Los Angeles.

Despite Michael Bloomberg, Michelle Rhee and Rupert Murdoch’s big contributions, LAUSD board member Steve Zimmer was re-elected to the board, defeating their hope that Los Angeles would become the next big pathway to privatized education.

It seems that money, which is a must in other elections, doesn’t count for much in school board elections. And we don’t need to look at Los Angeles for proof. We experienced this phenomenon in Delaware.

Last year I wrote several posts on the upcoming school board elections. I hadn’t been paying much attention at the time, but as the election drew near, my attention was snagged. Something different was happening:

I haven’t really commented on the upcoming School Board elections, mainly because I can’t wrap my head around what’s going on. With all the attention on these races – phone polls, money, PACs – I keep feeling I’m missing something – Big. What is going on? What’s on the line? And why the hell is so much money being dumped into an election that, I predict, will still have a dismal turn-out.

Basically, what’s the agenda? For the life of me I don’t see it. Yeah, I get the split is between Charter and Choice (Ed reformers) supporters vs Traditional Public School supporters, but that’s hardly new. What’s new are the aggressive tactics being employed and the money being spent. All of this keeps me wondering… Am I missing something about these races; something that makes them vitally important? Is something major about to change depending on who wins these elections? If so, what?

So that’s where I started. The amount of money being dumped into our local school board races caught my attention. What held my attention was the emergence of Voices 4 Delaware, a nebulous PAC, that, in essence, became the school board candidate. You couldn’t turn around without being hit with one of their mailers or receiving another one of their phone calls. As I write this today, I can’t even remember the names of most of the candidates they supported, but I remember them.

And just like what happened in Los Angeles, big money lost in Delaware last year.

Thursday Open Thread [3/7/2013]

Filed in National by cassandra_m on March 7, 2013 • 3 Comments

Welcome to No Snow Thursday. So it looks like we come to the end of this winter with No Snow. Sad.

Economic Myths

Filed in National by jason330 on March 7, 2013 • 6 Comments

I talk to people. I listen to people a lot too. You may not know it from my blog persona, but I am very good at having grown up conversations. Recently, a surprising number of people I’ve spoken to have said that they think that the DJIA being high means that the economy is better. Some slightly more sophisticated people think that the DJIA being high means that economic improvement is right around the corner because these “flush with cash” companies will start building factories and hiring people.

A few very sophisticated people know that “the Dow” isn’t related to our economy much at all anymore. They know that the widespread mythology that the DJIA is related to the economy is a testament to the success that the investor class has had framing their goals and aspirations as the country’s goals and aspirations.

Who knows though, maybe if we all believe in the DJIA hard enough, if we light candles and kneel before our Jim Cramer (sp?) shrines, companies will put some money back in the system? Maybe the egg heads who are always looking for clear connections between “cause” and “effect” just need to shut up and enjoy a day at the dog track. Maybe it is time for a good old fashioned ghost dance?

Sequester, schma-quester – Happy days are here again!!

Thursday Daily Delawhere [3.7.13]

Filed in Delaware by Delaware Dem on March 7, 2013 • 0 Comments

Alexis I. DuPont built St. Joseph on the Brandywine Roman Catholic Church, which is located on Old Church Road, near the intersection of Montchanin Road and Delaware Route 141 near Greenville. The church was built in 1841.

Republican chicanery creates renewed interest in filibuster reform

Filed in National by jason330 on March 6, 2013 • 18 Comments

This, from TPM, is good news. Although it probably depends on Harry Reid not being played for a sap, so…

…Democrats may revisit filibuster reform in the wake of high-profile Republican filibusters including the Chuck Hagel nomination, the plan to avert sequestration and the judicial nomination of Caitlin Halligan.

Wednesday Open Thread [3.6.13]

Filed in Open Thread by Delaware Dem on March 6, 2013 • 54 Comments

Marc Ambinder agrees with Jason that Jeb Bush will never be President (even though his moves this week clearly show that he is running):

“Bush is an ideal Republican presidential candidate. He has a national stature, an enviable record as governor, a solid temperament, and nothing significantly scandalous in his past. He is one of his party’s best voices on immigration. But he is a Bush. That’s going to be a problem. It’s not going to be an insurmountable problem, but the Republican base is definitely wary of the Bush brand and will not embrace him, no matter how hard he tacks to the right.”

It’s not the base that is weary of the Bush name. In fact, the GOP teabagging base loves them some George W. Bush. I am sure you have seen the billboards and the Facebook post with the Chimperor smiling and waving saying “Miss Me Yet?” The base loves Bush. What the base does not love is anyone that disagrees with them. And with Jeb Bush being a successful moderate Governor, that necessarily meant that he disagreed with the base over issues. Exhibit A was Immigration Reform, where until Monday, Bush was for a Path to Citizenship. Now he is not, all to appease the base, whose votes he needs in 2015 and 2016. It is the GOP Conundrum. Any candidate they have that is potentially a viable and attractive general election candidate cannot win the GOP nomination without abandoning that which made them a viable and attractive general election candidate.

Shockingly – Chávez passing mourned

Filed in National by jason330 on March 6, 2013 • 14 Comments

Maybe it isn’t terribly surprising that a guy who fought against having his country’s natural resources depleted in order to enrich some bloated American plutocrats isn’t so popular in the good ole’ U S of A.

Elsewhere his passing is being mourned.

School Boards and the big picture

Filed in Delaware, National by jason330 on March 6, 2013 • 13 Comments

What the Appo referendum brings home for me is the fact that the Republican Party never sleeps. They are very good at playing the long game. There are no small elections for them. Whenever a voting booth is set up, it is an opportunity to build up competencies, mailing lists, donor channels and candidates.

If you doubt it, just look at how “Appo Truth” goes from being “all about the kids” and “we respect the teachers” to “Markell, Denn, Ennis, Hall-Long, and Walker must be defeated” in under 300 words. Beating Democrats is the north star, and a measly little referendum is acceptable collateral damage.

When you have no policies that can connect with most voters, all you have left is hustle and they have it in spades. Between hustle and their willingness (eagerness?) to not be bound by the truth, the GOP is still a force to contend with here in Delaware and nationally.

As Democrats, we only rally ourselves to match their hustle every four years. That doesn’t cut it.