Roll Call item on Beau Biden throws a curve ball

Roll Call item on Beau Biden throws a curve ball

This Abby Livingston Roll Call item on Beau Biden unfolds pretty much as expected. The "local operatives" were probably a couple of people at Dem HQ. Maybe Ed Freel, touting the 'new' Tom Carper (still a 'pup' after close to 40 years on the public dole). Perhaps the Chamber of Commerce lackey Rich Heffron or Celia Cohen touting the timeless beauty of the status quo. You know, the usual. Then suddenly the needle scratches a new groove. Why is Senator Hall Long pictured? Find out inside...
Sunday Open Thread [7.7.13]

Sunday Open Thread [7.7.13]

National Journal:
"With an anxious eye toward the coming debt-ceiling negotiations, House Republicans are drafting what members call a 'menu' of mandatory spending cuts to offer the White House in exchange for raising the country's borrowing limit." "This menu is more a matrix of politically fraught options for the Obama administration to consider: Go small on cuts and get a short extension of the debt ceiling. Go big - by agreeing to privatize Social Security, for example - and get a deal that will raise the ceiling for the rest of Obama's term." "It's a strategy meant to show the GOP is ready to deal. But even conservatives admit that this gambit might do little to help them avoid blame should the negotiations reach a crisis stage."
The country's improved economy, which brings in more revenue, and the raising of the taxes on the rich, has delayed the moment of reaching the debt limit for most of this year. But eventually, this fall, it will have to be raised again. Hopefully the President sticks to his guns as he has since the 2011 debt ceiling sequester deal, in that he says he will not negotiate on the debt limit. Either Congress raises the limit or it gets the blame for the untold disaster that occurs if it is not raised. I will tell you one thing, the second that Democrats regain control of the House, the first order of business is to do away with this arbitrary debt ceiling one and for all by passing legislation that says the Fed must always pay the nation's debts. Otherwise, the internets are pretty quiet with political news this holiday weekend. I hope you all are enjoying yours.

Saturday Open Thread [7.6.13]

President Obama, in his weekly message, focuses on the meaning and importance of our Independence Day. Governor Markell's weekly message, in which he lauds the just concluded legislative session and the bills he sought to get passed.
Friday Open Thread [7.5.13]

Friday Open Thread [7.5.13]

Jobs report: The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that, seasonally adjusted, the private sector added 202,000 new jobs in June while government shed 7,000. The official unemployment rate remained steady at 7.6 percent. The private sector has now added more jobs than it has lost for 39 consecutive months. The monthly tally makes no distinction between full-time and part-time jobs, nor does it consider how much those jobs pay or provide in non-wage benefits compared with the ones that have been lost. June is also tough for the BLS to measure accurately because of the large number of youth who enter the job market that month. The 175,000 jobs gain the BLS reported for May was revised to 195,000. Gains in April were revised from 149,000 to 199,000.

Fourth of July Open Thread [7.4.13]

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Wednesday Open Thread [7.3.13]

I think Kavips is right. We have a libertarian Supereme Court.
There appears to be a solid libertarian bias that leans through this court. If progressive, they are libertarian progressives, if conservative they are libertarian conservatives, and if split, then the most libertarian of them all, Justice Kennedy, is the decider. Let me first touch on those decision made last week. a) Voting Rights Act… If there is no firm reason not to leave it to the states, then leave it to the states… Libertarianism. b) Repeal of Clause 3 of DOMA… If the government is picking favorites of one custom over another, that is not the government’s business… Government needs to butt out… Pure Libertarianism. Those inured in thinking only in terms of “left” and “right” are by their blinders.. baffled. However there is a very clear aim through out this court and that aim clearly states that the government should not be interfering with people’s rights to decide things for themselves.