Republicans link Ukraine aid to favorable IRS treatment for Koch Bros

Republicans link Ukraine aid to favorable IRS treatment for Koch Bros

John Carney needs to call Jim Renacci on his super-duper bipartisan hotline and look into this, because Republicans are soooooo reasonable once you get to know them and give them every crazy-ass thing they want.
Republicans in Congress want to add language to a U.S. aid plan for Ukraine that would block a proposed IRS rule curbing political activity by tax-exempt groups, Sen. Bob Corker said Tuesday. Corker, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, said the proposed Internal Revenue Service measure was one of the unresolved issues facing lawmakers working to complete a Ukraine aid package in time for the panel to consider it on Wednesday.
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., March 25, 2014

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., March 25, 2014

Just a few of the items on the GA Agenda: 1. Starting with the Senate Committee meetings. More accurately, the Senate/House Joint Veterans Freebies Committee. Today's meeting will consider HB 236(Jaques), which gives free surf fishing licenses to Delaware National Guard members. The concern is not merely, or even primarily, the freebie being handed out. The Fiscal Note for this bill is $44,000 annually. While this may not be a big amount, this money all comes out of the state parks budget. A permanent reduction on an annual basis. Since we have given similar freebies to other exalted groups, the state is taking money from parks in order to provide perks. And these are not one-shot deals, these are annual perks. Unto perpetuity, barring legislative intervention. If you support the state park system, you might just want to let your legislators know that you're tired of these giveaways, as they have real impact. 2. Rep. Johnson's 'Box' bill, which would 'prohibit a public employer from inquiring into or considering the criminal record, criminal history or credit history or score of an applicant before it makes a conditional offer to the applicant', comes before the Senate Labor & Industrial Relations Committee Wednesday. It's in an hospitable committee, so the bill could be on the agenda as early as Thursday.

Delaware’s Bloomdoggle

Bloom energy Delaware surchargeIt seems more and more Markell’s economic policy is to lean on the little guy, instead of counting on the so-called job creators and captains of industry to do anything other than count their well-stacked piles of money.
Monday Open Thread [3.24.14]

Monday Open Thread [3.24.14]

If Rand Paul really really wanted to be President, he could pretty much guarantee his election right now by sticking to a Libertarian foreign policy of non-interference and continue railing against the NSA. If he did that, he would probably defeat Hillary Clinton. But he has already tarnished his Libertarian credentials in this Ukrainian crisis. Being a true libertarian in the modern GOP takes courage when it comes to foreign policy. The bully Neocons will call you unAmerican, a Hitler lover, and a coward. So it takes real courage to stand up to that. His father had that courage. Rand Paul does not.
Blackmail Or Bribery? You Decide.

Blackmail Or Bribery? You Decide.

JPMorgan Chase claims it wants to create 500 new jobs in Delaware. Just one problem. They'll only create those jobs if the State of Delaware forks over $1.5 million. That's right. Poor impoverished megabank wants to do the right thing, but simply can't afford to do it on their own. So, they want Delaware taxpayers to pony up. BTW, as usual, looks like Gov. Markell is cheerleading for them.

Sunday Open Thread [3.23.14]

The always astute Paul Waldman takes to the pages of the WaPo today to diagnose what is wrong with the Sunday Yack Shows. The only reason to watch these shows is to get a handle on the news narrative that is being crafted for the upcoming week. Because the manipulation and laundering of talking points into the reporting narrative *is* what the much vaunted journalistic objectivity looks like from the political reporting machine. This really is a boring exercise -- populated with the same old voices, arrayed in spectacularly silly ways -- when did it get to be a thing to balance a panel of wingnuts with a journalist? And is there any reason at all for George Will or Peggy Noonan to be on TV still? I get that the Sunday Morning shows are basically Company Town TV, but you'd think that a Company Town with as much people churn as DC has would be able to reach out to more voices.

Saturday Open Thread [3.22.2014]

How about that Dianne Feinstein? Looks like she and her husband are making bank on the closing of some Post Offices. Coincidence? Probably not -- her husband's firms made a good deal of money during the BushCo too:
Between 2001 and 2005, Feinstein vetted and approved $1.5 billion in defense contracts for Perini Corp and URS Corporation – both owned by her husband, Richard Blum. In 2009, Feinstein successfully introduced a bill that routed an additional $25 billion to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), some of it for the purpose of marketing foreclosed property owned by banks that had gone under with the housing and markets crash. In a curious twist, CBRE later received a $108 million FDIC contract to market foreclosed property.
Delaware Political Weekly: March 15-21, 2014

Delaware Political Weekly: March 15-21, 2014

Ken Simpler Files as R Candidate for Treasurer. And he's the prototypical Republican candidate--circa 1980. St. Andrews grad. Princeton undergrad. MBA and JD from the University of Chicago. Owner and CFO of Seaboard Hotels. Previously Managing Director at Citadel Investment Group. He and his wife are restoring a 200-acre farm near Newark. Other than being born and raised in Rehoboth rather than Greenville, this is your traditional Republican candidate for office. Should Chip Flowers survive a Democratic primary, I just might vote for him. Simpler, I mean.