Archive for June, 2014
John Carney Primary Challenge Imminent ?
So I guess this is happening now. If I get some pledges, and Mrs. (not as) Liberal (as me), doesn’t kill me – I guess I’ll have some news to announce.
For the record – if John Carney paid a crumb’s worth of attention to the Democratic base, this wouldn’t be necessary. I actually had high hopes for Carney, but there is no more room left for hoping for the best. He is a complete and total sell out. His constant overtures to the obstructionist Republicans are hard to swallow, but you can chalk that up to a warm and open personality. Doing the Koch Brother’s bidding is the last straw, however. It isn’t an issue of style. Now he is openly working against the interests of middle class Delawareans.
This country has moved to the right over the past 20 years because the GOP has primaries which force the party to pay attention to the base. The Democrats don;t have primaries, so Democrats like John Carney are free to utterly ignore the legitimate concerns of the Democratic base.
I think I have to primary John Carney. Not because I want to be in Congress, or be a O’Donell type spoiler and risk throwing the seat to the Republicans. John Carney will easily beat me in the primary.
But I want to do it to just have a chance to tell him to his face that he is wrong to take $300k from the financial services industry. That he is wrong to enable the Tea Party like he does by giving “bipartisan” gloss to all the bullshit they are pulling. That he is wrong to use his seat to benefit billionaires like Pete Peterson at the expense of Delawareans he is supposed to be representing.
What’s the filling fee? I would surely lose – but if I could just tell him to be a Democrat to his face it might shame him into thinking twice about being the Republican’s boy on the other side of the isle. Even if is didn’t, it would make me feel better.
Whoa! Cantor Stepping Down As House Majority Leader
What a roller coaster ride. Here’s a tweet from Chris Cillizza:
Eric Cantor will announce today he is stepping down as House Majority Leader effective July 31.
So, Eric Cantor says… ‘eff you? Any theories on why he’s stepping down? Other than… ‘eff you – which is my deep, political insight.
Meanwhile, David Brat can’t answer basic policy questions.
Wednesday Open Thread [6.11.14]
![Wednesday Open Thread [6.11.14]](http://delawareliberal.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Wednesday-240x180.png "Wednesday Open Thread [6.11.14]")
Well, it’s reaction day. Cantor Day. Brat Upsets Cantor. Sounds like a headline out of a failed Bar Mitzvah. Anywho, our dear friend Unstable Isotope asked last night on Twitter if the Cantor defeat was bigger than the Castle defeat. I answered Cantor is bigger because we all saw Christine O’Donnell coming, Palin endorsed her, the Tea Party Express got involved in the campaign, Castle got very nervous and went negative, and a poll from PPP five days before the election showed Christine in the lead. You can’t say that about this Brat guy.
Here is some reaction from the punditry….
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., June 11, 2014
OK, let’s talk about Delaware’s position as the nation’s corporate leader. Our lofty perch is not based on having ‘better’ lawyers, ‘better’ judges, or having the abiding respect of the corporate community. We’re in this position because we’ve passed laws that enable corporations to engage in unsavory practices that otherwise would be considered criminal activity. We make it impossible for people to know who are behind straw corporations, or why these shells exist in the first place. We enable the worst kinds of criminal activity, including arms sales, drug-running, and, yes, human trafficking, by enabling corporations to create impossible-to-follow paper trails. The entire political establishment props this up by worshipping at the feet of the Court of Chancery and by placing those who are its most effective defenders in positions of power. It’s no accident that the preponderance of judgeships go to those from the corporate law community . It’s no accident that people like Ed Friel and Jeff Bullock, both from Carper Cyborgenics, have served as Secretaries of State. They’re all in on Delaware’s dirty secret: Our vast revenues generated by Delaware’s corporate hegemony are derived from Delaware’s willingness, no, eagerness, to enact laws that benefit even the worst actors at the expense of, well, people. In Delaware, corporations are not merely people, they have rights superior to people. You can put suits on these people, and they can be heralded as Delaware’s best, but they are merely well-learned shills and shysters.
Hey, it’s no surprise that Delaware was the state to legalize usury. We were the most experienced when it came to legalizing criminal activity via corporate shell games.
So it was no surprise that HB 327 and HB 328 flew through the House yesterday, it’s what we do. Every year. In June. A package of bills emerges from the Corporate Section of the Delaware Bar every year. Proponents cite them as necessary to continue Delaware’s pre-eminent position in corporate law. But now you know just what kind of stuff is in these bills. Thanks to the ADA, League of Women Voters, and the Delaware Alliance for Community Advancement, for shining a light on Delaware’s dirty secret. Maybe, just maybe, this will start a debate that should have been taking place all along.
Welcome Home, Bowe Bergdahl
Let me be among the first admirers of Veterans For Peace(VFP) to welcome you home. As the third generation in my family to serve as an officer in the U.S. Army, I was privileged to rejuvenate the Houston Chapter and serve in its leadership for a number of years. I am certain that on your return, your comrades in arms in VFP will provide you a warm welcome and the support you’ll need to re-adjust to Tea Party America.
You want to know how the Democrats can win in #VA07?
A new Public Policy Polling survey conducted in Rep. Eric Cantor’s (R-VA) district last night finds that both Cantor and the GOP House leadership are “deeply unpopular” but… interestingly and perhaps somewhat connecting, comprehensive immigration reform “is actually quite popular in his district.”
How Cantor’s Loss Affects the Republican Party
Well, I think I’m about as stunned as anyone right now. House Majority leader Eric Cantor lost his primary by 10 percent tonight after polls had clearly shown him leading by double digits for weeks. Eric Cantor has been widely regarded as John Boehner’s replacement for leader of the Republican party in the house, and […]
![Wednesday Daily Delawhere [6.11.14]](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3880/14355056676_c4a11b5662_c.jpg "Wednesday Daily Delawhere [6.11.14]")
AP: Eric Cantor Loses Primary To Tea Partier
This is stunning. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor loses his primary? (83% reporting: 56% Brat, 44% Cantor) That’s not even close! I feel like I’m being punked!
So much for all that “Moderates are back in charge of the Republican Party” and “The Tea Party has lost its power” talk.
Did anyone see this coming? Not me. Oh wow.
John Carney Adding the Koch Brothers to the Banking Interests He Represents
The House is currently working on a bill that would re-authorize the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, usually not a controversial event, but this year, those who are looking to unravel Dodd-Frank have wrapped into this bill a number of items that specifically work to give banks more freedom to bankrupt us again. John Carney is right in the middle of this effort to continue to destabilize Dodd-Frank, and in the process, give the Koch Brothers an assist. Here’s the earlier Huffington Post front page announcing how Democrats — even our Democrat — are working to help the Koch Brothers:
Breaking: Reports Of Gunfire, Possible Active Shooter At Oregon High School
I’ve got nothing to add.
Tuesday Open Thread [6.10.14]
![Tuesday Open Thread [6.10.14]](http://delawareliberal.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/obamasmug-240x180.jpg "Tuesday Open Thread [6.10.14]")
Jonathan Chait says Obama has accomplished all of his domestic goals that he listed in his Inaugural Address in 2009. I think when people right the book on the Obama Presidency, it is going to be the most eventful in terms of accomplishment since Franklin Roosevelt’s. Consider this from Andrew Sullivan:
Imagine the legacy [at the end of Obama’s presidency]: no troops in Iraq or Afghanistan; Gitmo closed; universal healthcare entrenched; Iran’s nuclear threat defused; marriage equality in all fifty states; the end of marijuana Prohibition; and carbon energy cut down to size. Repeat after me: meep meep, motherf*ckers.
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., June 10, 2014
I’m hearing alarm bells over a package of corporate bills on today’s agenda. Bills like these generally sail through the General Assembly in June, and reflect lawyerly obeisance to their corporate masters. Nobody usually knows what’s in these bills, except for the legal sharks and the corporate forces writing the bills for/with them. Which brings me to HB’s 327 and 328. Both sponsored by Rep. Walker, who is running them, as well as HB’s 326 and 329 on behalf of the Corporate Law section of the Delaware Bar. The League of Women Voters, Americans for Democratic Action, and the Delaware Alliance for Community Advancement have all expressed concerns regarding HB 327 and HB 328. From the ADA:
Delaware is a leader in incorporation. As such, we have responsibilities to ensure we are supporting legitimately-purposed corporations as well as not allowing our state to be used as an easy way for people to set up corporations anonymously and then use them to facilitate drug smuggling, arms trafficking, money laundering, anonymous campaign contributions, or other nefarious activities. Our state’s reputation suffers when we allow bad actors to take advantage of our laws that enable the easy establishment of untraceable shell companies.
…However, these bills are ineffective as written. They do not require information be collected about the real people, often called beneficial owners, who ultimately own or control Delaware companies, and they do not make it any easier for law enforcement to access this information—in fact, for law enforcement to access the information that is collected, someone at the company needs to be tipped off that they are under investigation.
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