Monday Open Thread [3.31.14]

Obamacare looks to be working and is on target, with 6.7 million previously uninsured people signed up for private insurance plans as of today's deadline.
Americans are signing up for the Affordable Care Act. And they appear to be doing so in really big numbers. As of the latest official update, last week, more than 6 million people had selected a private insurance plan through one of Obamacare’s new state marketplaces. But that was before a weekend of huge traffic to healthcare.gov and state-run websites, record call volume to telephone help centers, and queues outside outreach offices in California and even Texas. Charles Gaba, the Michigan-based analyst who runs the website ACASignups.net, now projects that 6.72 million people will sign up for private insurance by the time open enrollment ends.
In fact, Gaba now projects that we will officially hit the 7 million mark, as the law and the Congressional Budget Office originally projected. Indeed, the law itself has now covered between 13.1 and 16.8 million previously uninsured people in total, through Medicaid Expansion, the Private Insurance Exchanges (both state exchanges and Healthcare.gov), and allowing those under 26 years of age to remain covered under their parent's policies.
Multimillionaire du Pont family heir was spared jail for raping his three-year-old daughter because judge decided he would ‘not fare well’ behind bars

Multimillionaire du Pont family heir was spared jail for raping his three-year-old daughter because judge decided he would ‘not fare well’ behind bars

The headline above is from the UK's Dail Mail The News Journal's own headline (Judge said du Pont heir 'will not fare well' in prison) also does a good job laying out the brutal facts of the case. The wealthy literally have a different set of rules. They have judges like Jurden and an entire criminal justice system devoted to keeping the screws on the middle and lower classes while ensuring that the well connected 1-per-centers don't need to feel the slightest discomfort regardless of the egregiousness of their crimes.
Charter School Cherry Picking Was Predicted

Charter School Cherry Picking Was Predicted

Mike O., The Seventh Type blog, found an interesting document in his inbox.  Go over to his place and read the whole thing - the link to the entire document is at Mike O's place.  I'll post some of the highlights from this 1995 Delaware Senate debate on SB 200 (DE Charter School Law).  This document pretty much puts an end to the but, but... whocouldhaveknown debate. Here's part of the question and answer segment with Bill Manning (Red Clay's School Board President at the time)
SENATOR MARSHALL: Understanding that the harshest critics of charter schools around the nation where they’ve been in place and operating, is the issue of the schools skimming off the top and creating an elitist academy with public money. My concern is looking at the focus of the charter schools by attracting the best at times for a specific educational discipline offered by that charter school; and the concern of recruitment. I looked at children throughout New Castle County in moderate low income neighborhoods, I looked at the City, the west side, the east side, hilltop, I need to understand how your board and how you will guarantee fairness and equal access to every student from every unit.
Delaware Political Weekly: March 22-28, 2014

Delaware Political Weekly: March 22-28, 2014

Granted, he’s a Libertarian. Scott Gesty. Unfortunately, he’s not a Steve Newton Libertarian. More like a ‘they’re taking away our freedoms’ Libertarian. He congratulates himself on predicting that ‘Obamacare is destroying the healthcare system’. Man, can’t at least one of these third party types not make you unclean when considering casting a protest vote for them? Paging the Green Party… Looks like the Republicans are doing better in concentrating on recruiting candidates in General Assembly races...
Are “attracted” voters really worth more than “chased” voters?

Are “attracted” voters really worth more than “chased” voters?

The thesis at the heart of all my recent posts has been that "attracted" voters are inherently more valuable to a campaign than "chased" voters. I look at recent history and see the lackluster performance of Democrats during midterm elections, and mentally discount a chased voter to some fraction of a voter while I mentally add a premium to attracted voters. So, let's say each voter that the DNC manages to frighten into thinking about voting is worth .95 eventual votes and every teabag that is inspired by the teabag nonsense is worth 1.05 future votes. On election day a vote is a vote, but over the course of a campaign the marginal difference between the chased and the attracted must add up. Right? ...

Thursday Open Thread [3.27.14]

Look at the graphic on the left there. Those are results from the latest Kaiser Family Foundation poll on Obamacare. 59% who want to either keep the law as is or keep it and improve it. Only 29% want it repealed. With such a number, and their entire midterm campaign based on repeal of Obamacare, the GOP has to hope that only those 29% turn out to vote. Which, given the typical midterm demographics, is not that bad of a bet.
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., March 27, 2014

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., March 27, 2014

Let's talk about the $51 million dog that didn't bark. Namely HB 265(Schwartzkopf). Was on Tuesday's House Agenda.  Would 'increase(s) the annual tax assessed on partnerships, limited partnerships and limited liability companies on file with the Secretary of State from $250 to $300 and increases the corporation franchise tax by $100 for those corporations that file on the authorized shares method". $51 mill, just like that. So, why didn't it happen? I think that Gary Myers, one of our commenters, identified the reason. He asked why wasn't this a supermajority bill since it raises revenue.  Enter House Amendment 1. Adds a supermajority (3/5) enactment clause.  Makes 25 the magic number of votes needed, not 21. It's possible that Pete has the votes. However, the bill isn't on today's agenda. So, I'm guessing he doesn't have the votes right now. I'm honestly not sure how he could possibly have tried to push this bill through as one requiring only a simple majority. Things are just not flowing smoothly in the House right now.