Thursday Open Thread [1.8.15]

Thursday Open Thread [1.8.15]

Last night, I helped rescue Nancy Willing from an elevator at the Democratic Party HQ. Well, "rescue" seems to be hyperbole on my part, since all I did was hear the alarm from the elevator after about 2 minutes, and then call 911. And then the Wilmington Manor Fire Department promptly sent two ladder engines, two Fire Chief SUVs, and 10+ firefighters to rescue Ms. Willing and another person from the two story elevator. Still, given the quickness and level of the response, I wonder who the Fire Department thought was in that elevator. VP Biden?
Christina’s Plan For “Priority Schools” And Last Night’s Meeting

Christina’s Plan For “Priority Schools” And Last Night’s Meeting

Here's what happened at last night's Christina's School Board meeting:
With two days remaining before a threatened state takeover of its three inner-city schools, the Christina board delayed action on the state's priority schools plan – but it gave Superintendent Freeman Williams permission to work with education officials on a compromise. Department spokeswoman Alison May said officials there were willing to extend the deadline for negotiations – at least for the moment. Gov. Jack Markell has said he will close those schools down or hand them over to charters or other outside operators if the district and state can't agree. The board's move comes after the Department of Education rejected draft plans the district had crafted after months of meetings with parents, teachers and others in the schools' communities. "At the highest level, the plans propose continuing the work that is already underway at the schools, which we know has not been effective," May wrote. "The plans propose supplementing the current work in minor ways, which we do not believe will be transformative for students."
Before continuing, let's break this down. First, Gov. Markell will not close these schools down, so he should probably drop that bit of nonsense. Charter and privatization have always been the end game for these Priority Schools (It's actually more than the end game, it's the entire point of this), so let's stop pretending that closure is on the table.  It isn't... unless someone wants to tell me where the children attending the closed schools would go? And while the MOU doesn't have much to say about the children attending these schools, they do, in fact, actually exist.
The Archives of the Honorable Chip Flowers, Jr.

The Archives of the Honorable Chip Flowers, Jr.

Who needs satire when Chip does the work for us?  If you're a loyal DL reader, you OWE IT TO YOURSELF to parse every syllable of this Ode to A Delusional Narcissist. For fun, count the number of times he uses the word 'historic' or variation thereof. Lest you doubt that this is Chip's work, you can access it here. However, if you are loathe (to steal one of Monsignor Lavelle's favorite words) to give Chip the web traffic (although the big-ass watch alone is worth a peek), here is Chip in his own words (I know, b/c they're in the Third Person)....
Carper’s keystone veto override vote should be a watershed moment for Delaware’s Democrats

Carper’s keystone veto override vote should be a watershed moment for Delaware’s Democrats

When it comes to pass that Senator for Life, Tom Carper, sides with Republicans and votes to override the President's veto of the Keystone XL pipeline it could change things here in Delaware. At long last, all pretense will be set aside and even the most out of touch Democrat will know that Carper is not a member of the Democratic Party in any meaningful sense. It will be an undeniable break with public sentiment on the issue of the environment and the brazen opposition to the President will be impossible for him to hide from. It doesn't mean that he will lose the next election - he is the Senator for Life after all. But I think it does open up some room for actual Democrats to begin to assert what it means to be a Democrat, and perhaps begin rebuilding the Party's brand equity. It could take a generation for the party to recover from the damage that Tom Carper has inflicted on it, but I think a recovery is possible. Recovering our sense of what the Democratic Party stands for is therefor, something we should be preparing for. When this execrable vote happens, we need to be ready to use the public disgust with Carper to launch a larger movement to articulate Democratic values. Just this morning I was thinking that I might register as a Green Party, but just the prospect of this vote - this horrific inevitable vote has sparked something in me that I haven't felt for a while. It has reminded me of the fact that votes do matter. That Carper is in DC to represent me and my interests. That's his job. It has fired me up to demand that he do his job for a change.
Dog Bites Man: Carney Votes to Gut Dodd-Frank.

Dog Bites Man: Carney Votes to Gut Dodd-Frank.

If this guy wants to be our next Democratic governor, the least he could do is at least pretend to be a Democrat. The bill almost passed, thanks in part to Carney's supposed bipartisanship. Maybe he'll hold a REAL town meeting where someone can ask him how a Democrat votes to screw citizens while giving carte blanche to huge financial institutions that demonstrate time and time again that they will use the lack of regulation to make obscene piles of money by winning a rigged game. A game that the Carneys of this world help rig. Maybe a real newspaper would ask him the same question.  Too bad we no longer have one.
Elizabeth Warren Calls out Senator for Life, Tom Carper by name (pretty much)

Elizabeth Warren Calls out Senator for Life, Tom Carper by name (pretty much)

During her appearance at the AFL-CIO's Raise the Wages summit on Wednesday, Senator Warren said:
"Pretty much the whole Republican Party – and, if we’re going to be honest, too many Democrats – talked about the evils of 'big government' and called for deregulation," Warren continued. "It sounded good, but it was really about tying the hands of regulators and turning loose big banks and giant international corporations to do whatever they wanted to do—turning them loose to rig the markets and reduce competition, to outsource more jobs, to load up on more risks and hide behind taxpayer guarantees, to sell more mortgages and credit cards that cheated people. In short, to do whatever juiced short term profits even if it came at the expense of working families." But in the end, this whole approach failed, Warren said. "The trickle-down experiment that began in the Reagan years failed America's middle class," Warren said. "Sure, the rich are doing great. Giant corporations are doing great. Lobbyists are doing great. But we need an economy where everyone else who works hard gets a shot at doing great!"
Carper is a supply side/deficit hawk/austerity motherfucker after Grover Norquists own heart. I think we can all agree that when Warren says that too many Democrats have fallen for the GOP's 1%er oriented economic solutions, she is talking about Tom Carper.
Wednesday Open Thread [1.7.2015]

Wednesday Open Thread [1.7.2015]

An insane Maryland Republican officeholder, Kirby Delauter, threatened to sue his local newspaper for printing his name without his express permission. No, he did not threaten to sue the paper for a false or defamatory report. He threatened them because they printed his name, presumably because he took some action in his official capacity as a County Councilman and such an action constituted news fit to print in a local newspaper. But according to this Republican tyrant, that news cannot be reported unless he gives his permission, or it can be, but his name cannot be used. Needless to say, the local newspaper out in Frederick County gave the very appropriate response to such an evil fascist threat, in the form of an editorial. And make sure you take note of the first letter of each paragraph.