Wednesday Open Thread [6.5.13]

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), "the leading Republican behind the Gang of Eight comprehensive immigration reform bill, says he will not vote for the legislation he helped write and has staked his political future on, unless substantial changes are made before final Senate consideration," Byron York reports. What a tool, and such an amateur. And what a coward.
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., June 5, 2013

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., June 5, 2013

SB 97(Henry), which would add 'gender identity' to the "already-existing list of prohibited practices of discrimination and hate crimes. As such, this Act would forbid discrimination against a person on the basis of gender identity in housing, employment, public works contracting, public accommodations, and insurance, and it would provide for increased punishment of a person who intentionally selects the victim of a crime because of the victim’s gender identity." In Senate Judiciary Committee.  The committee will also consider HB 88 As Amended(Barbieri), which attempts to keep weapons away from those who are dangerously mentally-ill. The bill passed the House with only one no vote. You can read a compelling narrative on behalf of SB 97 here. I can't hope to top that, and I won't. Except to say that the Senate has an agenda today. I don't find much of interest there, but feel free to rummage around.
Did Wilmington’s Mayor Try to Funnel $4 Million to Southbridge Church?

Did Wilmington’s Mayor Try to Funnel $4 Million to Southbridge Church?

On today's Al Mascitti Show on WDEL, featuring notable guest El Somnambulo, both a City Council member and  a city pastor alleged that the Williams Administration budgeted $4 million that would go to a Southbridge church to help build a gymnasium. According to both Wilmington Councilman Michael Brown and Reverend Derrick Johnson, the church in question is the church of City Councilman Justen Wright.

Tuesday Open Thread [6.4.13]

The Washington Post has a interesting article on the House GOP breaking into factions after the fiscal cliff vote and how Speaker John Boehner ultimately held onto his job during the Williamsburg Summit. Basically, God spared Boehner.
"Barely 36 hours after the caustic New Year's Day vote, Boehner faced a coup attempt from a clutch of renegade conservatives. The cabal quickly fell apart when several Republicans, after a night of prayer, said God told them to spare the speaker. Still, Boehner came within a few votes of failing to secure his speakership on the initial vote, an outcome that would have forced a second ballot for the first time in nearly a century."
You know, I pray. But I have never received an answer to those prayers from God. I may discern God's intentions and will myself from subsequent events, but that is my own deduction and analysis, based on my knowledge of God and myself. But I never heard God's voice, either disembodied in the air somewhere or in my own head, answer my prayer. So I think we need some clarification here from our wonderful Republican congressman. Did they hear a voice? Or instead, did they estimate what God's probable answer would be from their own reflections and knowledge? I would respect them if the answer is the latter. If the answer is the former, they are psychotic and must be institutionalized as soon as possible.
The Deliberate Destruction Of Public Schools

The Deliberate Destruction Of Public Schools

First, Education Reform has very little to do with improving education.  It does, however, have a lot to do with union busting and corporations tapping into all that delicious tax payer education money.  It also thrives on propaganda. When discussing education today there's one theme that remains consistent:  Public education is failing our kids!  Our children aren't learning!  Just look at the test scores! Okay, let's look at the test scores:
  • The chart below shows overall reading and math scores for 9-year-olds starting in the early '70s. Since then, reading scores have gone up 12 points and math scores have gone up 24 points. Ten points on the NAEP roughly equals one grade level, which means that today's 9-year-olds are performing more than a full grade level better in reading and two grade levels better in math compared to the '70s.
  • Scores for blacks and Latinos are up more than scores for whites. In reading, as the chart above shows, white kids' scores are up 14 points, while Latinos' have risen 24 points and blacks' 34 points. In math, scores for white kids are up 25 points, while Latinos' have jumped 32 points and blacks' 34 points. There's still a significant gap between whites and other groups, but we've been making steady—and largely unheralded—progress for the past 40 years.
  • Private schools have done well, with reading scores up 10 points and math scores up 22 points, but public schools have also improved in reading (4 points) and math (25 points). Overall, the rise in test scores is due to improvements at both private and public schools.
Interesting, no?  And yet you rarely, if ever, hear about these results.  Don't get me wrong.  There are problems, especially when children reach high school, and that must be addressed, but the idea that public schools aren't educating children is nothing more than the Ed Reformers' Marketing Strategy.
Guest Post: It’s Time for Fairness for Transgender Delawareans

Guest Post: It’s Time for Fairness for Transgender Delawareans

We welcome back to DL a Delaware politico who made her mark on Delaware politics while still in high school as a member of the Jack Pack. Sarah McBride writes today about her experience as a Transgender person. My name is Sarah McBride. I’m a daughter, sister, friend, film-buff, political volunteer, and a recent college graduate. I’m also transgender. When I came out a little over a year ago, I asked Delaware Liberal to publish my coming out letter in order to raise awareness around gender identity nondiscrimination and the lack of basic protections for transgender Delawareans. It’s 2013. Yet, in Delaware, a person can be fired from their job simply because they are transgender. We can be denied housing or insurance for no reason other than our gender identity. And we can be thrown out of a restaurant or denied service because of who we are. According to a recent survey, more than 25% of transgender people report losing their job because they are transgender and nearly 20% report being denied housing. While the vast majority of Delawareans are inclusive and accepting people, it only takes one person’s prejudice in a state without basic protections to harm someone and to destroy the reputation of a great state. Discrimination based on someone’s identity is inherently wrong and it is certainly not the Delaware way. This month we can take an important step forward in ending discrimination in our state. Last week, Senator Margaret Rose Henry and Representative Bryon Short, as well as nearly 20 other members of the General Assembly, introduced the Gender Identity Nondiscrimination Act of 2013. This bill would add gender identity, a person’s deeply held sense of their gender, to our state’s hate crimes and employment, housing, insurance, and public accommodations laws.
General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Tues., June 4, 2013

General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Tues., June 4, 2013

With the final budget details being worked out, the Delaware General Assembly begins its final sprint to the June 30/July 1 session finish line. At least one issue of note has arisen since the Memorial Day two-week recess--alleged unprofessional and dangerous conduct by at least one employee of Planned Parenthood.  You can bet that the Bob Venables' and Greg Lavelles of this world will use this to further their anti-choice agendas. You can expect tougher legislation regulating clinics as a result of the scandal surrounding Dr. Liveright (his real name?) and Planned Parenthood. And, as a Planned Parenthood supporter (financially as well as philosophically), such scrutiny is deserved. One of the most powerful arguments for availability of legal abortion services is that, without them, clients (and there will always be clients) will be forced to seek less safe alternatives. However, when you have Eric Harrah, Dr. Gosnell, and Dr. Liveright serving as cautionary examples, it is incumbent on legitimate providers to demand standards above the minimum of what the law will allow. Planned Parenthood knows their foes will use any pretext to go after them, which is why I really worry about why PP gave it to them. And, in so doing, placing their clients at risk.  Memo to PP and supporters: Don't bury your heads in the sand here, face the problem head-on.