The incredible shrinking party
After the "autopsy" and rebranding this spring, the GOP declared the corpse to be alive and not really in need of any changes - particularly with regard to being viewed…
President Obama Speaks at Knox College
President Obama is making a series of speeches on the economy -- focusing on an economic vision for supporting and expanding the middle class. There will be other campaign-like speeches advertised to try to change the conversation. What I'm hoping is that these speeches serve as a launching point to start the 2014 effort to remind people that it isn't "Washington" that is the problem -- it is the GOP in Washington who have fought against middle class interests (while they aren't completely ignoring them) every step of the way. The President rallied with the OFA folks on Monday (and who heard about this? rally that includes Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and the President and where is the news coverage?), and this is what gives me (small) hope:
The Open Thread for Wednesday, July 24, 2013
The Delaware ADA is holding two events on Friday, July 26, up and down the state. At 11:45 am down at Bethany Blues in Lewes, and at 5:30 pm at the Home Grown Cafe in Newark, the Delaware ADA is having Matt Gardner, the Executive Director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, speak about what taxes DuPont does and does not pay on the federal and state levels, as well as the how and why behind those numbers. In Lewes, there will be a luncheon, and in Newark, there will be a Happy Hour.
The Delaware GOP Is Waiting for What?
The NJ had an article in Tuesday's paper with this misleading title: Republicans wait as O'Donnell weighs another campaign. That title gives you the impression that there is something weighty and momentous going on here -- that party leadership is somehow deferring to their local wingnut welfare grifter to give her first shot at running for the U.S. Senate against Chris Coons.
Tuesday Open Thread [7.23.13]
Michael Mann is one of the most famous and most referenced scientists on Climate Change. He is the creator of the famous Hockey Stick graph, a graph that the writers at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the National Review used to specifically denigrate by accusing Penn State (at the time wrapped up in the child-abuse coverup business) of covering up research fraud by Dr. Mann. Mann filed a defamation lawsuit against them both and.....
Late Night Video — The Anniversary of the Aurora Shooting
One year ago on 20 July 2012, 12 people were killed and 70 injured by shooter James Eagan Holmes at the Cinemark Cinema in Aurora, Colorado. The Mayors Against Illegal Guns group put together this ad that's been airing Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire and Washington, D.C. since Saturday. This is a pretty powerful way to ask why we haven't made background checks more comprehensive. This is approx. 1 minute long.
Carper and Coons Give a Big Thumbs Up to TBTF
And a big thumbs up to letting banks put the money in deposit accounts in the same kind of risky bets that their investment accounts are in. I can't say that I'm too surprised at this -- banks do own the road here -- but I'm still appalled at this position. It is a position that is ONLY good for banks -- the rest of us with deposit accounts (and who pay taxes) are definitely the losers here. Because the point of a Glass-Steagall 2 is to separate the deposit accounts (the only part of the banking business explicitly guaranteed by the feds), from the investment business (which is not insured). The point of Glass-Steagall 2 is to dismantle one more part of the TBTF scheme -- specifically the part where banks get to privatize their profits and get to socialize their losses. Until taxpayers get a say in the risks (and get a cut of the benefits) of the TBTF business, taxpayers should not backstop what the banks do here.
Monday Open Thread [7.22.13]
You've probably heard that Nate Silver and FiveThirtyEight are leaving the NYT and going to ESPN/ABC. This deal will give him a chance to expand his franchise, it seems, but I just care about the political modeling, really. I'll maintain a subscription to the NYT for his work, but won't be getting cable to keep up with it, so do hope that the website is still the centerpiece of his work. TPM quotes Political (of all people) on why Nate left:
Sunday Open Thread [7.21.13]
Charles Blow at the NYT has been one of the best and most moving commentators on the injustice done to Trayvon Martin. Today, he talks about Barack Obama's impromptu Friday speech on the matter: