Monday Open Thread [12.9.13]

Monday Open Thread [12.9.13]

I have to admit, I find the teabagger reaction to any praise for Nelson Mandela among Republican office holders to be quite revealing. No longer can anyone anywhere state truthfully that the Tea Party, and every member of it, are not full on flaming hateful racists. Senator Joe McCarthy er ah I mean Ted Cruz offered praise for Mandela, and he is burned in effigy on his Facebook page by teabaggers. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich likewise called Mandela “one of the greatest leaders of our lifetime,” and he was savagely attacked for it. But, to his credit, Gingrich did not slink away in fear like most cowardly conservatives. He fired back at his racist base, saying he is "surprised by the hostility and vehemence” of the racists, and then he asked them “[w]hat would you do here in America if you had the kind of oppression” suffered by South African blacks for decades? He also chastened his fellow Republicans for not being more vocal opponents of the apartheid regime before its fall. Gingrich, again to his credit, was one of the few Republicans back in the 1980's that fought to end apartheid and was one of the Republicans who helped override President Ronald Reagan’s attempt to veto sanctions against South Africa’s apartheid government.
Day 70 In Pursuit of ACA Health Care

Day 70 In Pursuit of ACA Health Care

My spouse started her attempt to replace a sub-standard health insurance policy 70 days ago. She is and was a huge supporter of the ACA compromise legislation as also am/was I. We were both big supporters of single payer, still are, but understand political compromise.
Jobs in Delaware

Jobs in Delaware

The NJ on Sunday begins a series looking at the state of jobs in Delaware, pointing out what we already know -- that very low wage jobs are increasing, jobs in the middle are disappearing (or taking much less money) and there is employment in the upper end if you have the right education and skill set. And while the Governor and Alan Levin have been working at "economic development", there's been little increase in the kinds of jobs that are most needed here immediately. It is difficult to say that the Governor and his DEDO Director haven't been working hard at this -- I think they have. But most of what passes for economic development since the Great Recession pretty much everywhere is a numbers game -- figuring out how to boost the number of jobs in your state without paying much attention to either the quality of those jobs or the ROI any taxpayer subsidy might provide for Delaware taxpayers. Governments are chasing the same limited pool of jobs and working at a classic race to the bottom strategy to get them. Almost all of them are providing taxpayer subsidies to get those jobs in their states, and clawback provisions in case the employer doesn't fulfill promises are still too rare.
Sunday Open Thread [12.8.13]

Sunday Open Thread [12.8.13]

President Obama knows how to pick good Secretaries of State. Doyle McManus:
He's the same windy, stiff Bostonian who ran unsuccessfully for president a decade ago. And he's taken on a list of assignments that looked distinctly unpromising: nuclear negotiations with Iran, peace between Israel and the Palestinians, the civil war in Syria. But in 10 months, Kerry has embarked on a whirlwind of diplomacy. He helped conclude an interim deal with Iran that puts a ceiling on Tehran's nuclear enrichment. He launched new Israeli-Palestinian peace talks with the goal of producing a deal next year. And he secured a date for negotiations to end the war in Syria, although it's still not certain who will show up. ...give Kerry credit. He has dared to take big risks — in notable contrast to his revered but risk-averse predecessor, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Clinton tended to subcontract out the unpromising assignments to special envoys like the late Richard C. Holbrooke, her deputy for Afghanistan. But Kerry has taken them on himself, personally and visibly. If any of them fail — and they all could — he'll take the fall himself.
Dear God. The 2004 election was nearly a decade ago? Feels like yesterday. I am getting old.