Saturday Open Thread [2/15/14]

Even though Volkswagon had no issues with the formation of a union at their plant in Tennessee, the GOP lied and howled and threatened enough to help narrowly defeat a vote for a union yesterday. The take away, of course, is that every time you hear someone in the GOP talk about the middle class or a better deal for workers, you know that is a lie. Because the only people the GOP were defending here were themselves and their anti-union special interests. Of course, you won't hear one word from the usual "Government should stay out of the way of business" crowd denouncing the GOP's clear interference with Volkswagon here.
Trans-Pacific Partnership: Corporations Reign Supreme

Trans-Pacific Partnership: Corporations Reign Supreme

You might have read that the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, developed under the auspices of the Obama Administration is currently stymied, bottled up in both the House and the Senate, with lots of opposition. Let's count our blessings while we can on this one. Here's why, in a nutshell.
A Tale of Two Democrats

A Tale of Two Democrats

Or at least two types of Democrats. Yesterday, Senator Bernie Sanders and 15 other Democratic Senators sent a letter to President Obama urging him to not cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid in his FY15 budget. It won't be much of a surprise to most of the readers here to find that neither Senator Carper or Coons signed on to this letter. Interestingly, Senator Coons voted to restore the cuts to military pensions and Carper voted against them. So take a look at what a group of Democrats genuinely interested in the well-being of middle class and working class people urged the President:
Today, retirement insecurity is as high as it has ever been. Only one in five workers in the private sector has a defined benefit pension plan; half of Americans have less than $10,000 in savings; and two-thirds of seniors rely on Social Security for a majority of their income. Given this reality, we respectfully urge you not to propose cutting Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits in your Fiscal Year 2015 budget. In good times and bad, Social Security has succeeded in keeping millions of senior citizens, widows, orphans, and persons with disabilities out of extreme poverty. Before Social Security was developed, about half of our seniors lived in poverty; today senior poverty is down to 9.1 percent. Without Social Security, one-third of senior citizens would have virtually no earnings at all. Social Security has not contributed one penny to the deficit. Social Security has a surplus of more than $2.7 trillion and can pay every single benefit owed to every eligible American for the next 19 years.
Missouri Lawmaker Wants To Make Biology Class An Elective

Missouri Lawmaker Wants To Make Biology Class An Elective

Fact:  You cannot teach biology without evolution. Several years ago, my 10th grade son was taking AP Bio.  My Bio major (and quite successful immunologist today) brother asked to see his textbook.  When I (art major sister) asked why, my brother said, "Just wanted to make sure the textbook started off with evolution.  It does, so all is fine." Which brings us to this nonsense:
A Missouri lawmaker has proposed what ranks among the most anti-evolution legislation in recent years, which would require schools to notify parents if "the theory of evolution by natural selection" was being taught at their child's school and give them the opportunity to opt out of the class. The bill had its first public hearing Thursday after being introduced in late January. State Rep. Rick Brattin (R), who sponsored the bill, told a local TV station last week that teaching only evolution in school was "indoctrination."
christine-odonnell-tea-party

On this day the Tea Party stopped being an actual thing

The item below is a good news/bad news type deal for Democrats. The good news is that the Tea Party is completely defunct as a movement with the ability to wield any power. Except for some reality impaired dead-enders and their wealthy enablers, nobody is going to utter the words "Tea Party" as anything other than a punchline from now on. The bad news for Democrats is that the Tea Party is defunct. The "grassroots" movement that allowed Christine O'Donnell to challenge Michael Castle will not be around to run its reign of terror party purges in future elections.
Blizzard of ’14 Open Thread [2.13.14]

Blizzard of ’14 Open Thread [2.13.14]

15 inches as of this moment in North Wilmington. How about where you live? One of our conservative commenters warned us that the GOP would win heavily this fall because they were going to focus on Obamacare. And our liberal commenters welcomed the challenge. Why? Because if the election is about Obamacare, like it was in 2012, we win. Evidence? Polling in the upcoming special election in the Florida 13: FLORDIA--13 CD--SPECIAL ELECTION--Tampa Bay Times: Alex Sink (D) 42, David Jolly (R) 35.
Interesting: "The poll also reveals how the Affordable Care Act has become a virtual litmus test for voters. Of those who support Sink, 81 percent also support Obamacare. Of those who support Jolly, 84 percent also oppose Obamacare."
Beau Biden is planning something, but he is skipping over a step…..

Beau Biden is planning something, but he is skipping over a step…..

It is time to come clean with your fellow Delawareans. We are adults. We can accept and understand any kind of news, good, bad or even horrible, every day. But first, Celia Cohen:
Beau Biden collected more than $1 million in political contributions in 2013. This does not look like the conduct of a sick man. This looks like the conduct of a man who wants to be regarded as a future candidate for governor. Not that anybody is saying. Not that anybody ever does. It is all still supposed to be about Biden running for a third term as attorney general in 2014. "He has not made any bones about his love of public service. At this point he has not made any decisions. He's always taken it one year at a time," said Molly Magarik, who manages Biden's political operation. Money talks, and maybe this money is as close as Delaware is going to get to a statement about Biden's wellbeing.
Well, Biden will need more than fundraising as proof of his wellbeing before he proceeds with whatever plans he has, especially if he intends to run against Matt Denn for Governor.

If Progressives Show Up to Protest, Will Anyone Hear About It?

This past Sunday, 80K - 100K people from all over the US took to the streets in Raleigh, NC to protest the draconian policies that the GOP are implementing there. The protest, called the Moral March on Raleigh, was kick off of this year's long Moral Mondays marches in Raleigh -- marches that resulted in arrests of non-violent protesters last year.
The “Moral March on Raleigh,” organized by Historic Thousands on Jones Street (HKonJ) and the North Carolina NAACP, marched from Shaw University to the state capitol to push back against the “immoral and unconstitutional policies” of Republican Gov. Pat McCrory during the 2013 NC General Assembly session. Since North Carolina Republicans took over both legislative chambers in 2010, legislators have eliminated a host of programs and raised taxes on the bottom 80 percent, repealed a tax credit for 900,000 working families, enforced voter suppression efforts, blocked Medicaid coverage, cut pre-Kindergarten funding, cut federal unemployment benefits, and gave itself the authority to intervene in abortion lawsuits.