State Of The Union Open Thread

State Of The Union Open Thread

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Have at it!  I'll be here all night! (Am I the only one that loves these things?  Is that wrong? Or really weird?) [Update from Delaware Dem]: Some excerpts of the speech are starting to leak, as they always do. The White House, all White Houses, do this to prep the ground and give the pundits something to talk about in the run up to the speech. Here is one such excerpt...
In Case You Were Wondering If Republicans Got Their Act Together And United…

In Case You Were Wondering If Republicans Got Their Act Together And United…

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They haven't. Here's who the GOP has responding to the President's State Of The Union address: 1. The official GOP response is to be delivered immediately after the SOTU by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) 2. Americans will also get a rebuttal from Tea Party Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) 3. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) will give a pre-recorded address (because he's psychic?) 4. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) announced Monday she will deliver her own State of the Union response in Spanish That's four - count 'em, FOUR! - different Republican responses.
President Obama’s Election Reform Commission-Small Ideas

President Obama’s Election Reform Commission-Small Ideas

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Last week the President's election reform Commission published its report with their ideas on reforming our election systems. The ideas seemed to be to improved voter participation, particularly in national elections. Because it was intended to provide a bi-partisan answer to our obvious electoral deficiencies, the solutions proposed, while mostly helpful, were incremental and did not offer answers to our long-standing crisis in our so-called participatory republican democracy.
Joe Scarborough Thinks He’s Found <i>A Way To Shut This Whole</i> Hillary <i>Thing Down</i>

Joe Scarborough Thinks He’s Found A Way To Shut This Whole Hillary Thing Down

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Here's Joe Scarborough pretending to think out loud over whether "invoking Monica Lewinsky against Hillary Clinton could be an appropriate tactic."
"If Hillary Clinton attacks the Republican Party's handling of women, and treatment of women and disrespect for women, and suggests they’re misogynists et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, it does seem to be a fair question to ask right now, a few years out, does the media have a responsibility to say, ‘Well, let’s see what happened when you were in the White House, and how women were treated when you were in the governor’s mansion and the White House?’ Is that fair?" the 'Morning Joe' host asked Monday morning, as quoted by Mediaite. [...] "Does this not compromise Hillary Clinton's ability to bash Republicans as being terrible toward women, misogynist, et cetera?" he asked.
How exactly would Republicans use Bill Clinton's infidelity against Hillary Clinton?  How does that look?  Would they say she was a-okay with infidelity because, if she wasn't then she would have divorced him?  Would they say she's sexist and misogynist because she's married to a man who had an affair?  Most likely they would do what they love to do and tell Hillary to sit down and shut up... maybe they could even tell her to go make them a sandwich. But whatever route they choose they will end up putting forth this message:  Ladies, you are merely an extension of your husbands.  Your opinions will only be considered if they align with your husband's opinion and behavior.  If they don't, well... then you may not speak on certain subjects.
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., Jan. 28, 2014

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., Jan. 28, 2014

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Well. That was quite an ambitious, and welcome, State of the State Address from Governor Markell last Thursday. There is no surer way to jump-start our state's economy and, not coincidentally, address long-postponed infrastructure deficiencies, than by proposing a massive capital upgrade.  Our roads and bridges need it. So do our workers.  I suspect that we will hear this week how Gov. Markell intends to pay for the proposed $500 million program. No doubt an increase in the gas tax will be one of the proposed revenue generators. I, for one, strongly support such an increase.  People have choices as to what kinds of vehicles they drive. If they want to drive massive gas-inhalers, that's their choice. If they opt to downsize, that's their choice. The fewer massive gas-inhalers out there, the less pollution gets emitted. Those with mass transit and/or car pool options would be more likely to consider them should gas prices rise. There would be fewer unnecessary trips if people really were concerned about higher gas prices. Less traffic, smaller vehicles, less pollution. Why not raise the gas tax to help pay for this engine of economic recovery?  There no doubt will be other revenue sources. I, of course want to see some equity restored to our tax code. But I'm completely on board with this proposal. Lotsa other good stuff in there as well, including specific job skills training for high school students, and an intense campaign to clean Delaware's waterways. The question is, will D's respond favorably to one of the best and only Democratic proposals from our D governor.  Here are two early reactions....
Tiny Facebook Page Critical of NCC Government Subpoenaed by AG’s Office

Tiny Facebook Page Critical of NCC Government Subpoenaed by AG’s Office

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This tiny facebook page with only 312 likes (as of yesterday afternoon) has someone mighty stirred up. Whoever is behind the page had apparently been doing some intriguing and often inflammatory writing about some Wilmington and NCCo fixtures until it seemed to have run out of steam. The recent lack of momentum may be associated with the fact that they went off the deep end, throwing around unsubstantiated rumors of affairs. Or it may be because they felt the heat coming on. Either way, this subpoena is intriguing. Who could induce Beau Biden to get involved with this small potatoes BS? What are they after? It appears Biden is asking for the names behind the page, but to what end? And why did someone think it was a good idea to employ the Barbara Streisand effect on this? Well, PRW has a theory...