Archive for May, 2014

Delaware Political Weekly: May 10-16, 2014

Filed in Delaware by El Somnambulo on May 16, 2014 • 5 Comments

Robert Keesler has filed to take on incumbent Gerald Brady (D-4th RD) this fall. While the district is more hospitable to an R than the other city-based districts (the bizarrely-gerrymandered district goes from Wilmington to Hockessin) it’s still a D-leaning district. Registration figures show 8200 D’s; 5097 R’s; and 4537 I’s. Keesler is a new name to me. He has written a couple of entries on the blogs, including our own. IMHO, Gerald Brady is a hack, but he’s in a district that has elected him a few times now, and my first impression of Keesler doesn’t make me think that he’ll have any better luck than Tyler Nixon did vs. Brady.

Colin Bonini Files…

…for reelection to his State Senate seat in the district drawn just for him by Tony DeLuca. His official listed name on the ballot is Colin RMJ Bonini. Which, of course, raises the question, what does RMJ stand for? It’s contest time!

It isn’t often that Celia Cohen has a good point…

Filed in Delaware by Delaware Dem on May 16, 2014 • 17 Comments

…but…

Coons has $3 mil in the bank, no opponent, and he keeps asking for money, anyway? Inquiring minds of irked Democrats want to know why

His campaign has basically taken over the Del Dem HQ building in New Castle, and they have been phonebanking every Wednesday and Saturday since February. In fact, I was in a meeting in the conference room at the Del Dem HQ last week, and I got a fundraising call from the Coons campaign from the next room over.

There is being prepared, and then there is overkill.

Friday Daily Elsewhere [5.16.14]

Filed in Delaware by Delaware Dem on May 16, 2014 • 5 Comments

Thursday Open Thread [5.15.14]

Filed in National by Delaware Dem on May 15, 2014 • 21 Comments

If you oppose immigration reform, you should be forced to take the US Naturalization test. Like these idiots below, it is quite likely that you will not pass. In my perfect world, you, the idiot American citizen, would be deported.

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., May 15, 2014

Filed in Delaware by El Somnambulo on May 15, 2014 • 2 Comments

Today’s House Agenda features HB 308(M. Smith), ‘create(s) an Office of the Common Interest Community Ombudsman’ to address disputes between developers and residents in communities ‘created by legal documents drafted by the developer and…intended to be managed by those living in these communities. As someone who did a lot of constituent service work, I can tell you that there were a lot of issues that could have used this mechanism to resolve w/o going to court. I think this is a real good bill. Once again, excellent legislating from Melanie Smith, one of the General Assembly’s best.

Thursday Daily Elsewhere [5.15.14]

Filed in Delaware by Delaware Dem on May 15, 2014 • 1 Comment

Big Dog Hits Back

Filed in National by Delaware Dem on May 14, 2014 • 0 Comments

Famed Ohio Vote Counter Karl Rove tried to say that Hillary Clinton is brain damaged, all the while lying to American people about the nature of Hillary’s hospital stay (Hillary was in the hospital for 4 days, not 30, for a blood clot, not for brain injury). This is a typical Rovian Republican manuever: say something outrageous about a candidate just to get people talking about the candidate negatively.

But you don’t talk about the Big Dog’s wife that way:

“First of all, I’ve got to give [Rove] credit,” Clinton told moderator Gwen Ifill. Rove’s smear “embodies that old saying that consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. First they said she faked her concussion. And now they say she’s auditioning for a part in The Walking Dead.”

Damn. Now that is an insult.

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., May 14, 2014

Filed in Delaware by El Somnambulo on May 14, 2014 • 13 Comments

Here we are in mid-May, and it’s been weeks since we’ve heard anything about a gas tax for transportation funding and/or a revenue stream to clean our water. Is this a game of political chicken, or has everybody chickened out? Assuming no new revenues for transportation projects, there will be roughly $70 million less to spend next Fiscal Year on fixing our roads and bridges than has been allocated in the current Fiscal Year. This after one of the most brutal winters in recent memory. This also means $70 million less to invest in our workers and our state’s economy. Is this really (not) going to happen? What a pathetic demonstration of what passes for political leadership in Dover. There’s still time, but is there political will?

Wednesday Open Thread [5.14.14]

Filed in National by Delaware Dem on May 14, 2014 • 3 Comments

“If the Republicans don’t do it they shouldn’t bother to run a candidate in 2016. I mean, think about that. Think about who the voters are.”

Those are the words and opinion of Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue, on the need to pass immigration reform. Added to Mitt Romney’s declaration last week that the GOP really needs to raise the minimum wage, and we are started to see a real split of the Republican Business Party from the Republican Crazytown Party. For you see, say what you will about Republican businessmen, but most of them tend to be able to understand reality. They understand that without immigration reform, the Republican Party as it currently exists will never again win a presidential election. And yet… First Read:

“Immigration is really a ‘rock and a hard place issue’ for the GOP: If they don’t get the issue behind them, the GOP will struggle to win presidential elections. But the cost of getting the issue behind them — short term — could be more of a problem than many in the Acela Corridor realize. We’ve gone back and forth about whether we think immigration can get done either this year or EARLY next year. But judging by how divisive the issue still is — and how potent the issue still is in primaries — we’re just not sure how it gets done without causing major internal damage in the GOP.”

Immigration forces the GOP to make a choice: Either it wants to be the White Racist Party, or it doesn’t. If it doesn’t, it passes immigration reform and lets all the white racists out there leave the party for whatever KKK or Nazi organization they can find. If it doesn’t pass immigration reform, the GOP wants to be the White Racist Party. Simple as that.

We have a ton of polling results from the past week and this week inside….

Wednesday Daily Elsewhere [5.14.14]

Filed in National by Delaware Dem on May 14, 2014 • 6 Comments

Tuesday Open Thread [5.13.14]

Filed in National by Delaware Dem on May 13, 2014 • 4 Comments

There are now more than 70 lawsuits involving same-sex marriage pending in courts around the country. A dozen federal district courts have issued opinions in favor of same-sex marriage since last summer’s Supreme Court decision striking down the Defense of Marriage Act in United States v. Windsor. Five federal appellate courts are now considering the issue.

Today, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond will hear arguments in the case challenging the constitutionality of Virginia’s ban. No matter who wins, and no matter who wins in similar cases like it across the country, I expect that we are going to get a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court on the unconstitutionality of these bans by June 2015.

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., May 13, 2014

Filed in Delaware by El Somnambulo on May 13, 2014 • 19 Comments

Good news/bad news: The good news: One of this session’s best bills was introduced. HB 331(Kowalko) ‘removes the exemption from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and thus fully applies FOIA to the University of Delaware and Delaware State University’. Delaware may now be the only holdout when it comes to requiring academic institutions receiving state funds to open their books. The bad news: The bill has been assigned to the House Administration Committee, where Pete Schwartzkopf and Valerie Longhurst are likely to keep it buried. I also wonder why this bill wasn’t introduced earlier in session. It would have given proponents the chance to push for the release of this bill.

The Senate also passed SB 209(Townsend), a good first step in considering the potential impact of granting additional charters on existing schools. The bill ‘requires the Department of Education to promulgate regulations to further define the meaning and process for consideration of impact in the charter school application review process, to be considered and approved by the State Board no later than its October 2014 meeting. It also clarifies the conditions that an authorizer may place on an approved application, and provides that the State Board of Education may place or modify conditions to address considerations of impact’.

I think that people are finally seeing that public education is endangered by the worst elements/excesses of the charter movement. Based on the broad sponsorship here, let’s hope that this can be brought under control before it’s too late.