Senate Dems (all but one) vote to block “Fast Track”

Senate Dems (all but one) vote to block “Fast Track”

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Who was the wage killing, American worker hating hold out?
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats have dealt President Barack Obama a stinging setback on trade by blocking efforts to begin full-blown debate on his initiatives. All but one Senate Democrat defied the president Tuesday by voting to prevent consideration of his request for "fast track" trade authority. Such authority would let Obama present trade agreements that Congress could ratify or reject, but not amend.
Tuesday Open Thread [5.12.15]

Tuesday Open Thread [5.12.15]

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Jonathan Cohn on what this means for the GOP if the Court does strike down the subsidies:
“Republicans keep saying they’ll be ready to act if the Supreme Court upholds the big legal challenge to Obamacare, thereby wiping out financial assistance for millions of people in two-thirds of the states. With the clock ticking down to a ruling, it’s gotten awfully hard to take the GOP’s vows seriously."
And that is because the choice on health care is more basic than everyone is willing to admit. President Obama passed the market-based conservative Healthcare plan. Obamacare is actually Republicancare. But because a black socialist muslim was proposing it, it had to be opposed until death. And most in the Republican party are fine with that because most really do believe that having health insurance and thus the resultant health care is a privilege for those who can afford it (i.e. the rich), and not a right. So really the reason there is not Republican alternative is because 1) Obamacare is the Republican alternative and 2) they don't care if millions can't now afford health insurance, because if you cannot afford it it means you were not supposed to have it.
Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: May 12-14, 2015

Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: May 12-14, 2015

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That was quite the interesting little week. HB 50 passes overwhelmingly, Gov. Markell announces he will sign death penalty repeal legislation should it reach his desk, and the General Assembly apparently has come up with a sorta-gimmick to close at least some of the gap in infrastructure spending.  At least the D's have. And my daughter graduated college with honors in Mathematics and Japanese, and now proceeds to a Masters of Arts in Teaching Program.  She wants to teach and inspire high school students to fully realize their potential in mathematics.  I sorta doubt that she sees the 'Smarter Better Test' as a means to that end. While it looks like there's gonna be some new funding for road projects, the Rethugs appear hell-bent on getting some sort of 'right to work for less' concessions in exchange for votes to close the budget shortfall. Because, you know, nothing furthers economic prosperity more than paying workers less. Hey, it's why they're Rethugs. The big showdown of the week takes place in the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday at 11 am in the House Chamber.  SB 40(Peterson), which repeals Delaware's death penalty, and has already passed the Senate by an 11-9 margin, will be considered.
The Vote Tracker for the Week of May 5-7, 2015

The Vote Tracker for the Week of May 5-7, 2015

Last week, we had the Governor sign HB 56 (Wilmington Charter School Moratorium) into law. We saw the House unanimously pass Senator Townsend's SB 47, the Public Defender Reform bill. We saw the Senate pass Rep. Jaques' HB 58 (allowing NCCo Vocational & Technical School District to levy taxes), 17-2. Rep. Heffernan's E-Cig Indoor Ban bill passed the House, as did Kowalko's Opt Out Bill and Bryon Short's Employee Social Media Privacy Bill. Come inside to see how everyone voted.