Archive for May, 2013

Friday Daily Delawhere [5.3.13]

Filed in Delaware by Delaware Dem on May 3, 2013 • 0 Comments

A Hopeful School Solution

Filed in National by cassandra_m on May 2, 2013 • 5 Comments

What if you fired all of the security guards at a struggling elementary school and spent that money on Art programs? That is the Big Idea from this NBC news report telling the story of this Roxbury, MA school that appears to have found a path to improvement by reclaiming one of the features the school was built for.

Thursday Open Thread [5.2.13]

Filed in Open Thread by Delaware Dem on May 2, 2013 • 7 Comments

Michael Tomasky: “How stupid does the Senate background-check vote look now, I ask the pundits and others who thought it was dumb politics for Obama and the Democrats to push for a vote that they obviously knew they were going to lose. I’d say not very stupid at all. The nosedive taken in the polls by a number of senators who voted against the bill, most of them in red states, makes public sentiment here crystal clear. And now, for the first time since arguably right after the Reagan assassination attempt–a damn long time, in other words–legislators in Washington are feeling political heat on guns that isn’t coming from the NRA. This bill will come back to the Senate, maybe before the August recess, and it already seems possible and maybe even likely to have 60 votes next time.”

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., May 2, 2013

Filed in National by El Somnambulo on May 2, 2013 • 18 Comments

The question of the day: ‘Why Tuesday, Why Not Today?’ Why is HB 75 (Marriage Equality), which cleared the Senate Executive Committee yesterday, not being worked today? The questions, and my highly-speculative answer are herein reprinted in their entirety:

Dale: Does anyone have any insight as to why the Senate vote on HB 75 was scheduled for next Tuesday, a full week (not actually) after the committee vote?

El Somnambulo thought that it might be scheduled for the very next day. And I read on the site of the conservative DE Family Policy Council that they thought the same thing. Why put it off a week? Could this mean that the 2 “undecided” senators are not simply keeping their intentions under wraps, but instead might genuinely be undecided and need more time? Is Hall Long requesting the extra time so that she can “poll” her district, as the News Journal reported?

El Somnambulo: Good questions, Dale. Blevins knows what she’s doing here, and your speculation could well be accurate. If she thinks that they need a little room to come to grips with their decisions, then I think that’s the right thing to do.

There might, repeat, MIGHT, even be an Alphonse/Gaston situation here. What if two senators are reluctant to be the ‘deciding’ vote on an issue, but would each conceivably be ‘yes’ votes if theirs was the 12th rather than the 11th vote? That way, they’d have cover that their vote in essence made no difference. Seems crazy, I know, but stranger things have happened.

I know that this issue is a ‘no-brainer’ for a lot of us, but there’s lots more at play than meets the eye with some legislators. I DO know that HB 75 has a superb grassroots lobbying effort behind it, so I don’t think we’ll lose ground between now and next Tuesday. Might just gain some.

Anyone have anything to add? Keep in mind that the goal of supporters should be to help these senators get to ‘yes’.

Thursday Daily Delawhere [5.2.13]

Filed in Delaware by Delaware Dem on May 2, 2013 • 0 Comments

Wednesday Open Thread [5.1.13]

Filed in Open Thread by Delaware Dem on May 1, 2013 • 6 Comments

McKay Coppins notes that with teabagging criticism of the immigration reform effort “grow[ing] louder, many Republican operatives, donors, and consultants are bracing for an outcome that would be even worse, politically, than the demise of the bill: A fierce, national, right-wing backlash that drowns out the GOP’s friendlier voices, dominates Telemundo and Univision, and dashes any hopes the party had of making inroads to the Hispanic electorate by 2016.”

I personally think we are going to get both nightmare outcomes for the GOP. The demise of the bill will be accomplished by having the right act all explicitly racist, anti-immigrant and insane.

This Is Not An Accident

Filed in National by pandora on May 1, 2013 • 17 Comments

BURKESVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Authorities in southern Kentucky say a 2-year-old girl has been accidentally shot and killed by her 5-year-old brother, who was playing with a .22-caliber rifle he received as a gift.

[…]

White told the newspaper that the boy received the rifle made for youths last year and is used to shooting it. He said the gun was kept in a corner and the family didn’t realize a shell was left inside it.

White said the shooting will be ruled accidental. (Emphasis mine)

Who, in their right mind, gives a 4 year old a gun?

Who, after giving (or accepting) a gun to a flippin’ 4 year old, keeps it in a flippin’ corner?

Who, with a functioning brain cell, would ever call this an accident?

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., May 1, 2013

Filed in National by El Somnambulo on May 1, 2013 • 12 Comments

Yes, SB 19(Peterson) was tabled in the House Judiciary Committee, which disappoints death penalty repeal supporters like myself. However, keep in mind that this is the first of a two-year General Assembly session, so the bill is not dead, just ‘sitting in limbo.’ House sponsor Rep. Darryl Scott has stated that he may try to petition the bill out of committee. Not sure if that’s the best strategy for now, think I’d only do it if I knew that I had the votes for the bill on the floor. Timing is everything, and this might not be the best timing.

Sen. Bruce Ennis introduced SB 33 yesterday, which would require owners of manufactured home communities to seek approval for any increase above the average inflation rate.