This is going to be a LONNNG two years with Carper.
Maybe our Senior Senator has this bug up his ass because he knows he will be retiring in 2018, God willing. But Senator Carper has been most annoying over the last two months, screaming about bipartisanship to anyone who can hear him. He realized his career-long dream to create a non-contiguous and non-existent Delaware National Park this past Saturday. So now he is itching to get his actually good Postal Reform bill passed by this Congress. Indeed, there were some reports that he tried to get the Reform bill passed by adding it to the CROmibus bill that passed the Senate last Saturday.
Government Executive Magazine Correspondent Eric Katz reported Carper attempted to connect the USPS legislation to a spending bill in a last ditch effort to get the measure passed this year. “He sort of tried to strong arm the senators and his [D]emocratic colleagues into getting on board,” Katz said he learned from his Washington sources.
Carper, however, told WDEL that’s “hogwash.”
“We did everything we could have thought of, but he idea of trying to put it into a bill of that nature, I don’t think that makes a whole lot of sense,” Carper said. “At any rate, we narrowed our differences further and I am very encouraged that when we come back in the new year, we’ll be able to deal with this right away.”
The reason why the US Postal Service is in trouble is because of the Postal Reform Act of 2006, passed by a Republican Congress and signed into law by a Republican President. The Act was purposely designed to bankrupt the USPS, due to a requirement in the law that forces the USPS to aggressively prefund its future retirees. It was not a long deliberated piece of legislation. It was introduced in one House of Congress on December 7, 2006, and signed into law by President Bush on December 20, 2006. 13 days. It passed by voice vote in the House and unanimous consent in the Senate. That means Tom Carper voted to bankrupt the Post Office, I guess because it was something the Republicans wanted in their last days in the majority after being trounced in the 2006 Midterms, and Carper went along just to be “bipartisan.”
I bet everything I own that that was Carper’s reason to consent to the 2006 Act. Just to be bipartisan. Because to Carper, being bipartisan is a goal in and of itself, no matter the horrible policy that flows from it.
But to Carper’s credit, he is trying to correct that horrible mistake. And I would give him credit for it. Except….
Sen. Tom Carper criticized the timing of President Barack Obama’s executive order on immigration Tuesday, saying Congress could have fully funded the Homeland Security Department had Obama waited.
The Delaware Democrat, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said in an interview he supports Obama’s Nov. 20 order protecting up to 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation.
But he said he tried to persuade the administration that Congress “could get a whole lot more done” during the lame-duck session if the order’s Nov. 20 rollout were postponed until Christmas Eve.
Had Obama agreed to that delay, Carper said, the fiscal 2015 federal spending bill Congress sent him Saturday would not have specified that the Homeland Security Department will be funded only through February rather than through the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year.
Instead, the bill leaves the department “hanging out there, yet again, on a stop-and-go budget that has been demoralizing for employees, that is wasteful in terms of our resources and diminishes the kind of results that we’re seeking,” Carper said.
Actually, Senator, President Obama did wait. For you cowardly Senate and House Democrats. You asked him to wait because you were all worried about electoral fallout. So you made the President piss off his base, which in turn depressed the Democratic vote, which turn lost you the Senate in the election. Seriously, Senator Carper, you have the political instincts of a blade of grass. Perhaps if the President did not delay and announced his immigration order in September as was originally planned, perhaps Mr. Carper would still be in the majority right now.
It is not the President’s fault that that agency is now unfunded. It is the Republican’s. They decided to un-fund it. So fucking blame them. But that is verboten in the Carper brain. Republicans can never be blamed for anything they do. If Republicans do something, it is because Obama made them do it, and so Carper blames Obama. That is like someone blaming the battered wife for her husband hitting her, because only if she got the food on the table faster…
Carper has a screw loose. In his fantasy world, Republicans are reliable partners in good government who don’t act like obstructionist assholes unless they are provoked by UN-bipartisanship. Where has Carper been for the last 15 years? Who knows.
Well said Jason.
Carper is hanging around like an unwanted mother-in-law and has outlived his usefulness in politics in the first state. He needs to take his four state pensions and quit public office while he has the little bit of credibility left. The world has changed but Carper hasn’t. He hates the President and always has I believe it’s professional jealousy. If Carper has a brain it must be brand new because he’s never used it yet. Voters that think are very tired of this hack. He has never made sense on any subject. This guy is easy to see through Carper the counterfeit.
There is no “Carper brain,” except in the sense that an earthworm has a “brain.”
And the “hogwash” line is particularly galling. In the actual interview he says “I’m going to be polite and call it hogwash.” I’m going to be impolite and call you a pig’s asshole.
The “Delaware Way” has always been the way that folks like Carper and Carney keep paying off their corporate overlords and masking it as bi-partisanship. The only reason its ever worked is because the party had to cater to Dixiecrats for too long and it wasn’t really until 2010 that there was a full-proof majority that wasn’t held hostage by folks who would still prefer some sort of Plantation model. They still talk about reaching across the aisle like its something we have to do. Just because 30% of your state is backwards doesn’t mean you can use them as an excuse to screw over the majority in favor of your friends.
And if Carper runs again he wins…because: Delaware!
“And if Carper runs again he wins…because: Delaware!”
So true. The Senator for Life’s only real political foe is Father Time.
Hopefully there are letters in the News Journal like this
Someone with some credibility should still primary him.
Carper cosponsored the 2006 postal bill, I believe.
“And if Carper runs again he wins…because: Delaware!”
Well, I think the voters are involved in the process, however marginally. It seems to me that if you convince the voters to share your concerns, the outcome would be different. The question I would ask is, why don’t they share your concerns? Or it is simply apathy, which again would lead to why don’t they share your concerns?
@Dave: Mindless centrism is popular in Delaware.
@Dave..its not apathy. There is a giant population of ‘our’ party who is thoughtless. There is another sliver of the state that is even bigger that thinks/knows Senator Carper is a nice guy. He goes to the parades, he reads to school children, he goes to take your parents to lunch day at the schools, he visits kids in the hospital. Just like Castle he is Mr. Delaware and most people couldn’t give a fuckshit about his stances, most of which he runs from when talking to these previously mentioned parents and voters.
Remember this is the guy that, personally, was for marriage equality and gay adoption for a LONG time, funded a study showing same sex couples were just as good as traditional couples when it comes to raising and/or adopting kids and yet was one of the last Dems found under a rock to come out and somewhat support equality. I know its got nothing to do with banks, corporations and being buddy buddy with the GOP but it does point out his character, or lack thereof.
I feel better every day about my vote for the Green Party
And ya know, If I threw my vote away and some crazy ebola spreading republican wins, maybe the democrats will get it next time. I’m sick of voting for Democrats just because the Republicans are more malicious
@Geezer, you say “mindless centrism.” I say you (the figurative you) haven’t made a compelling argument for them to act.
What I said earlier about taxation is a case in point. Most Americans have a sense of fair play. Maybe it’s our rabid sports culture who knows? But it seems unfair for someone to pay a higher tax rate because they made more. The reason it seems unfair is because they are already paying more in actual dollars. So you argue that you want them to pay more and more? Why? Because they can? That’s your compelling argument?
How about the fairness of an auto mechanic’s income being taxed at a higher rate than a hedge fund trader? Is the trader’s income more special that it deserves a lower tax rate? See, that would be compelling because it appeals to peoples sense of fairness.
I know the figurative you believes with all their being that they have made the most fervent and heart felt arguments for your policies and that if the people don’t listen, well it must be because they are mindless. But consider if you will, that maybe, just maybe, you didn’t reach them. Maybe they don’t get what is so bright and clear to you because they aren’t you and maybe if you didn’t do what you’ve always done you wouldn’t get what you’ve always got.
^Mindless Centrism at work.
The thing is that Americans have told pollsters for years that they think that people who make more money should pay more taxes. And they tell pollsters that corporations pay too little in taxes. And they tell pollsters that the middle class is paying too much (or just barely fair).
On the whole, Americans do get where the thumb is in the tax system. And they mainly see it as not fair enough. It is only when you get to the WSJ editorial page or FOX news or the silliness of some of those CNBC shows that are meant to gin up some propaganda so that a few people can avoid paying their taxes.
Just like Castle he is Mr. Delaware and most people couldn’t give a fuckshit about his stances, most of which he runs from when talking to these previously mentioned parents and voters.
Yes. But do people not care or do they not have any information about what Carper is doing in DC? The paper of record doesn’t report on the Congressional delegation unless there is something big happening (and not even routinely for that). Would people change their minds if they knew what business was being conducted in their name? Or would they still stick with the popularity contest?
We’re such a stinkin’ little, two-bit state with an inferiority complex. Hell, we spent a century as a frickin colony of Pennsylvania, and it took us how many centuries to get our own national park … in that context, many Delawareans probably feel goddam lucky that we’ve even got a three-person delegation in Washington. So they’re grateful for what they have and could care less about what they do when they get there.
“The thing is that Americans have told pollsters for years that they think that people who make more money should pay more taxes.”
Yes, and I agree with those who answered no to the question “…do you think they are paying their FAIR share in federal taxes…” But there are other polls (http://taxfoundation.org/article/topline-results-tax-foundations-2009-survey-us-attitudes-taxes-government-spending-and-wealth) that identify the tax code as too complex with too many loop holes. So yes, the wealthy are not paying their fair share, because of tax code complexity and loop holes. The wealthy have the ability to exempt much of their income.
Attempting to sell progressive taxation as the cure all to people who believe the source of the problem is elsewhere, doesn’t gain much traction. But I did not intend this to be about taxation, so bring it back around, I disagree that it is centrism, mindless or otherwise. I think that you (the figurative you) don’t connect very well with the voters. You don’t like Carper, but he goes to parades and kisses babies. He connects with the people and they think he’s a nice guy. What do they think about you (again, the figurative you – Democratic party, progressives, liberals, etc.)?
And the Tax Foundation has an axe to grind here — especially with a poll that is meant to provide respondents with plenty of opportunity to say they hate paying taxes. Well, duh. Not exactly the stuff to create policy from. But I note you’ve gone from appealing to Americans’ sense of fairness re:taxes to how complex the tax code is.
Fundamentally, politicians have abandoned both honesty and leadership on this issue. And the media apparently can’t follow this thread. If you want government services, those need to be paid for. Period. Beach replenishments need to be paid for, the subsidy your employer gets to offer you health insurance needs to be paid for, the military needs to be paid for (as do their adventures), infrastructure needs to be paid for, responses to hurricanes and tornados need to be paid for, support to the poorest Americans needs to be paid for. The argument for progressive taxation is based in the idea that the government we want needs to be paid for and that people should pay in accordance with their means. The first part of that used to be a conservative idea — but now the conservative idea is the fraud of all the government you can eat for free.
This needs to be said again, and again.
Fundamentally, politicians have abandoned both honesty and leadership on this issue. And the media apparently can’t follow this thread. If you want government services, those need to be paid for. Period. Beach replenishments need to be paid for, the subsidy your employer gets to offer you health insurance needs to be paid for, the military needs to be paid for (as do their adventures), infrastructure needs to be paid for, responses to hurricanes and tornados need to be paid for, support to the poorest Americans needs to be paid for. The argument for progressive taxation is based in the idea that the government we want needs to be paid for and that people should pay in accordance with their means. The first part of that used to be a conservative idea — but now the conservative idea is the fraud of all the government you can eat for free.
@Dave: What progressives say here amongst themselves is not the version of policy that’s put before the public. Nobody here needs to explain the fact that the system sustained by everybody’s taxes actually provides most of its benefits to the rich.
Here, put it this way: Virtually all corporate profits since the 2008 crash have benefited the top 10%. Logic dictates that’s who should pay the taxes.
I really want to be mad at this guy for something. But when faced with this guy at the Y or at the Thanksgiving parade I have no go to thing that he did or didn’t do and can spout off with. I mean, I can’t say one freaking thing about the guy that I would be willing to confront him with or bring up as he tries to shake me and my kids hand.
Like, “hey? Why did you vote for that cromnibus bill when Xyz??”
or, “Why is it you constantly don’t do XYZ for the citizens of this state”
I see the guy, I know I don’t like his politics because he constantly sides with corporate Delaware, but nothing bombastic enough worth remembering 3 months later after he’s voted for it.
Maybe we could (you) could get a list of what he has…or hasn’t voted for…done or hasn’t done…that could help fill an outrage bucket?
Because seriously, The only thing I can think of is that he is about the biggest fence sitter I have ever seen. Which, reminds me of Biden to be honest. And I guess any other person representing our state.
“I can’t say one freaking thing about the guy that I would be willing to confront him with or bring up as he tries to shake me and my kids hand.”
Exactly. He shook your hand. It’s a connection. That’s what sticks in your mind. You know what I remember most about Markell? I was going into The Buttery restaurant in Lewes. He was ahead of me and held the door open for me. We said a few pleasantries to each other. If he had been a snot and let the door close in my face, I would have a different impression of him. Now, he’s a decent fellow.
I understand that the conversation in here is different than what get’s presented to the voters. I was suggesting that when faced with someone who can connect directly with the people, you have to be compelling. And in my opinion, aside from the normal grumbling about death and taxes many (most?) people remain in their comfort zone because they do not have a compelling reason to move away from it. It’s not mindless, it’s human nature (things are not great, but they are good enough). It’s the same reason people fail to evacuate in the face of a hurricane. The compelling reason to evacuate doesn’t show up until they are almost in the eye!
So, why Carper? Because, why not Carper?
“It’s not mindless, it’s human nature.”
Actually, that’s what I meant by mindless — people arrive at their conclusion without thinking.
In addition to mere contact, there must be some psychological cost of NOT voting for someone you once voted for. Humans don’t like to acknowledge their failures and shortcomings, so they indulge in all manner of denial. In effect the challenger’s task is convincing people that their past votes were errors.
That is a hell of a tall order.
The important first step is to explain to voters that Tremblin’ Tom is working against them.
I was fascinated by Carper’s feeble response, that this report was “hogwash.” Consider it seriously for a moment: If Carper is telling the truth, that means anonymous Democrats are lying about him to reporters.
The obvious question: Why? What would be the motivation for members of his own party — most of whom agree with him on massaging the, um, egos of their corporate overlords — to say that Carper was “strong-arming” people? I’m supposed to believe that at least two anonymous Democrats want to spread false rumors about a guy whose power is diminished with Democrats in the Senate minority. What’s their motivation?
On the other hand, Carper has obvious motivation to lie: Maintaining the fiction about what a nice guy he is.
He’s not at all accustomed to scrutiny from the press. Put more pressure on him that way and there’s a decent chance he’ll crack. Sometimes all it takes is a room full of rowdy fifth-graders. Once the mask falls, he’ll become more vulnerable, because the truth is he’s not that nice a guy.
I mean, I can’t say one freaking thing about the guy that I would be willing to confront him with or bring up as he tries to shake me and my kids hand.
Some of this is *very* Delaware — we’re supposed to be graceful towards (and grateful for) our politicians in public, usually. The local manners. Some time back I saw him at some event and when he shook my hand I asked him to help me understand why he thought that his constituents should have to live with Social Security benefit cuts. He had just talked about Eskine Bowles. He paused for just a second and asked me to call his office for an appointment to talk — to be fair, he was on his way out of the door. I did call a couple of times and did not get my appointment (and I didn’t try very hard), but I came away from the whole thing thinking that I’d really, really, really violated the social rules here.
What you are seeing with Carper, when you talk to him, is a Sith Lord level bullshit artist. He makes it seems like he is on your side and really tried to support your issue but in the end he doesn’t represent you. At all.
Like Castle he literally has a lifetime of votes to say he voted for your idea once. Sometime. Somewhere.
Anyone who has ever been to a Democratic Party event where the suits actually show up, know there is an upper tier that politicians answer to. And it isn’t the hippie holding the sign “no war for oil”