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 Only 29% want it repealed.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.
Obama’s desire to cut Social Security looms large in midterms

Obama’s desire to cut Social Security looms large in midterms

Old people vote in midterms at a higher rate than young people. But until recently old people were solid Democrats. So, how did the GOP get a lock on the old people vote? Well, he is black and old people are notorious racists. (Yes, I'm looking at you Grampa Heinrich.) And the Democratic Party has recently been seen as the party of the gays, and old folks are nervous about that. But there is a much bigger reason the old folks a going R.
Wednesday Open Thread [3.26.14] – The DL Common Core Edition

Wednesday Open Thread [3.26.14] – The DL Common Core Edition

I have mostly been ignoring the debate over Common Core education standards, pretty much because the opponents and proponents are all speaking in a language that is foreign to me. I don't have kids so I have not been confronted by these issues. So I have left education blogging to DL's expert, Pandora, and to Delaware's best education bloggers, Kavips and Kilroy, as well as Mike Matthews anbd John Young and others focusing on specific school districts like Christina and Red Clay. It is fair to say that I myself have ignored the debate because it did not concern me. That thinking is wrong but it is what has happened. And because of that, DL has gotten a reputation of being pro-Common Core or pro-Markell in this education debate, because we were less outspoken on the issue than Kavips or Kilroy or Nancy Willing. I don't that is a fair characterization. A more fair one is that we have been ignorant. So, I have a few questions....
It’s The Trade, Stupid !

It’s The Trade, Stupid !

One of my favorite investigative reporters, David Cay Johnston observes that our foreign trade deals in the last couple of decades figure in a big way in the systemic weakness of our domestic economy. Particularly hard hit by really bad trade deals are the non-college educated in the workforce.

Tuesday Open Thread [3.25.14]

“At times we are able to humiliate our worst enemy. Inevitably, his weak moments come and we are able to thrust in his side the spear of defeat. But this we must not do. Every word and deed must contribute to an understanding with the enemy and release those vast reservoirs of goodwill which have been blocked by impenetrable walls of hate,” – Martin Luther King, Jr., Dexter Avenue Baptist Church; Montgomery, Alabama, Christmas Sermon, 1957.
This is the single hardest thing to do in life, whether in politics or no. I admit that I often succumb to schadenfreude, known as the joy in the suffering of one's enemies, especially political enemies. And yet, it is the Christian thing to do. That is why being a true Christian is supposed to be difficult. And that is why it is both wonderful and ironic to see a lesson in Christian forgiveness being given to the Westboro Baptist Church, as shown in the above picture. Another example is the Catholic bigot Bill Donahue's failed attempts to set up one of his signature "Outrage" moments where his Catholic beliefs were being discriminated against.
Dems 2014 “Get Out the Vote Project” is bullshit and doomed to fail

Dems 2014 “Get Out the Vote Project” is bullshit and doomed to fail

Without knowing anything about the project beyond this....
WASHINGTON — The Democrats’ plan to hold on to their narrow Senate majority goes by the name “Bannock Street project.” It runs through 10 states, includes a $60 million investment and requires more than 4,000 paid staff members. And the effort will need all of that — and perhaps more — to achieve its goal, which is nothing short of changing the character of the electorate in a midterm cycle.
...I can tell you that this Democratic effort is bullshit and doomed to fail. Why? Read on.