Archive for May, 2015
Claire Snyder-Hall should primary Tom Carper
Claire Snyder-Hall would lose a Democratic primary to Tom Carper, but that’s not the point.
The Democratic Party needs the moral leadership of people like Snyder-Hall. I only hope that she isn’t already mobbed-up in the corporatist shit hole so much that she’d regard a primary challenge to Tom Carper as an affront to propriety. Her work with Common Cause gives me hope to think that she is not.
But if not to win, why run? That’s a legitimate questions, Snyder-Hall knows as well as anybody that running is hard. But I think a primary challenge from the left could help bring the discussion of income inequality back home to Delaware. It could make Carper account for his Republican voting record, and put issues from the environment to women’s health in play.
Tom Carper’s utter contempt for the party of Truman, Kennedy and FDR is well known, and on constant display. If he is not primaried, it could very well reveal our contempt for democracy.
Bernie August should become a Democrat and primary Tom Carper
Bernie August would lose a Democratic primary to Tom Carper, but that’s not the point.
The Democratic Party needs the moral leadership of the Green Party people who have left the Party in disgust. Do I blame them for leaving? Hell no! The Democratic Party, particularly the Delaware Democratic Party is a festering shit hole of corporatist functionaires. And yet the Democratic Party is the only viable counterweight to its own wrongheadedness.
If not to win, why run? That’s a legitimate questions, but I think a primary challenge from the left could help bring the discussion of income inequality back home to Delaware. It could make Carper account for his Republican voting record, and put issues from the environment to women’s health in play.
Tom Carper’s utter contempt for the party of Truman, Kennedy and FDR is well known, and on constant display. If he is not primaried, it could very well reveal our contempt for democracy.
Senate Dems (all but one) vote to block “Fast Track”
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]](http://delawareliberal.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/DL.Open_.Thread.Gray_-240x180.png "Tuesday Open Thread [5.12.15]")
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
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
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.
Republicans vote to increase abortions by 35%
I think we can all agree that Republicans are not really anti-abortion. They are anti-sex. If they were honestly interested in reducing the number of abortions performed each year in this country, they would support access birth control. They don’t support access to birth control. In fact, given the black and white choice of increasing […]
Michele Obama on her experience as First Lady
First Lady Michelle Obama gives a candid, powerful, and emotional commencement speech at Tuskegee University.
Monday Open Thread [5.11.15]
![Monday Open Thread [5.11.15]](http://delawareliberal.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/DL.Open_.Thread.White_-240x180.png "Monday Open Thread [5.11.15]")
First Read: “There are at least four reasons why the GOP candidates are focused so heavily on foreign affairs — more so than at this time in the 2012 presidential cycle. One, the economy has improved (223,000 jobs were created last month, and Obama’s economic handling is up to 49% in the latest NBC/WSJ poll), while the deficit has decreased. Two, there’s the rise of ISIS. Three, there’s the Iran deal that the Obama administration is racing to finalize by next month. And four, there’s the GOP recognition that focusing on foreign policy is maybe the best way to go after Hillary Clinton’s record as secretary of state.”
The first is the most important reason. If this election is about the economy, it will be a Clinton landslide.
Markell Punches the Hippies
Governor Jack Markell (D) has written a rather lengthy piece last week in “The Atlantic” entitled “Americans Need Jobs, Not Populism.” The title alone enrages me because, since when were jobs and populism mutually exclusive?
This is a long article, because the Governor’s article was long. But it is necessary. The Governor recognizes that income inequality is a problem, and that an active government is necessary in fighting that problem. But he won’t fund that active government, and still advocates policies that inflame inequality. All the while engaging in the use of strawmen, false categorizations, and triangulation.
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