Archive for July, 2015
Schwartzkopf’s Budget Deal Deplorable. Was It Also Illegal?
I think the answer may well be yes.
But first, let’s talk about how Pistol Pete threw over his own caucus in order to crawl into bed with the Rethugs. According to several Leg Hall sources, Speaker Schwartzkopf had pledged to reconvene with his caucus to try to recalibrate any budget agreement that could impact core D constituencies. Specifically, those who were at risk of losing 10% in public assistance for health care. He did not hold that promised meeting. Instead, he called the Budget Bill up for a vote, which is why so many D progressives voted no. And, yes, those receiving public assistance saw their monthly stipend cut from $90 monthly to $81. Meanwhile, $1.2 mill worth of additional state police coverage to Sussex County and $3 mill of Ag Lands preservation were the booty claimed by the Rethugs and, not coincidentally, by Sussex County’s most powerful legislator, Schwartzkopf. Oh, and the $5 mill that was transferred from the Transportation Trust Fund in the name of ‘reform’, ended up…nope, not telling you yet.
Soon. Have patience. Let me first start with what might appear to appear to be mundane language, but will prove to be real important, IMHO.
Suck it Dan “the worst owner in sports, and that’s saying something” Snyder
You can now sell your own “Redskins” merch, and Dan Snynder will have to suck it. A Virginia judge ordered Wednesday that the Washington Redskins’ trademark registrations be cancelled – the biggest legal defeat the team has suffered in its two-decade battle over its name. The ruling ends a legal saga that began when the […]
Wednesday Open Thread [7.8.15]
![Wednesday Open Thread [7.8.15]](http://delawareliberal.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/DL.Open_.Thread.Yellow-240x180.png "Wednesday Open Thread [7.8.15]")
Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos with a very interesting analogy and analysis:
[T]his early version of Sanders appears to be an eerie carbon copy of the Howard Dean 2003 campaign—wildly popular with the party’s white, educated, middle-class base … and few others.
The most recent CNN national poll had Sanders getting 19 percent of the white Democratic vote, and just 9 percent of the non-white vote. Clinton’s numbers were the opposite, getting 53 percent of the white vote, but 61 percent of the non-white vote. Given that non-whites will make up around 40 percent of primary voters, Sanders needs to gain with those groups if he is to have any shot at the big upset.
And that’s not even considering the huge gender gap already emerging. In that CNN poll, Clinton gets 50 percent of men, and a whopping 63 percent among women. Meanwhile, Sanders gets 20 percent of men, and just 9 percent of women. We see that same gender gap in Iowa, where Clinton gets 46 percent of men and 56 percent of women. Meanwhile, Sanders gets 37 percent of men, and 29 percent of women.
Being a white male is finally a disadvantage somewhere. Clinton benefits from an age gap—in the CNN national poll she gets 61 percent of voters over the age of 50, and 53 percent of those under 50. Sanders is stronger with younger voters, which is exciting, sure, but a group of voters not generally inclined to vote. And then there’s education. Sanders gets 19 percent of the vote from Democrats who have attended college. But he gets just eight percent from those who haven’t. So younger, whiter, more male, and more educated. Yup, that’s the Dean coalition, and unless Sanders can bust beyond it, his fate will be the same as Dean’s.
I likewise have this feeling that Bernie Sanders is a boomlet that can’t last. But here is hoping that Hillary Clinton is no John Kerry.
The “Bearded Marxist” is long gone – Delaware Senator Attacks Sanders
It is sad, but predictable that the 1%er Wing of the Democratic Party would pick Chris Coons to attack Bernie Sanders. Why can’t our delegation simply allow that perhaps… just maybe… they have a few constituents whose interests do not exactly align with their billionaire shot callers?
Wednesday Daily Delawhere [7.8.15]
The Mon Plaisir House on Park Avenue and First Street in Rehoboth Beach, built in 1927.
The Vote Tracker — Final Update for the First Session of the 148th General Assembly
Every time I update the vote tracker, I change it. This time is no exception. I am done with the Excel spreadsheets. I don’t like the way it presents in the embed windows, and I did not like other technical aspects. So we are back to Word, and I have further divided the Vote Tracker into five different documents based on the statuses of the bills: PASSED, ONE CHAMBERED HAS VOTED, WAITING FOR A VOTE, STILL IN COMMITTEE, and REJECTED.
Come inside to download each Tracker.
As we have already discussed here and elsewhere, this has been a disappointing first session of the 148th General Assembly, especially on the budget. And given the drastic budget shortfall that faces the next session, drastic measures are called for among the Democratic leadership. But I will get to that in a second. Let’s first review our list of progressive priorities and how they fared…. and then I lay down the gauntlet on the single progressive priority for next year.
Tuesday Open Thread [7.7.15]
![Tuesday Open Thread [7.7.15]](http://delawareliberal.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/DL.Open_.Thread.White_-240x180.png "Tuesday Open Thread [7.7.15]")
According to Brian Beutler, President Obama’s actions have boxed the Republicans into a backwards and reactionary campaign and corner, and set a favorable playing field for the Democratic nominee.
But across the board, Republican candidates are committed to adjusting the status quo backward. They oppose the Iran negotiations, the normalization of relations with Cuba, and the very notion of an international agreement to curb global warming; they oppose administrative policies, like deferred action and overtime pay rules, that improve the lives of minorities and workers; and they oppose social legislation like the Affordable Care Act. Of the leading GOP presidential candidates, Walker holds the most extreme view that the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage should be reversed and returned to the states. But all of these candidates oppose same-sex marriage, and when conflicts arise between supporters and opponents of marriage equality, they will side with the opponents.
Taken as a whole, these issue positions will make it difficult for Republicans to cast themselves as forward-looking candidates. But the substantive developments themselves share a thematic quality that will do more than complicate the GOP’s branding strategy. They are all designed to force Republican candidates to make unreasonable promises that will be hard to defend in a general election, and harder to execute should a Republican become president. Obama is using his first-mover advantage not just to shore up his own legacy, but to set the terms of the coming presidential campaign favorably for the Democratic nominee.
As Trump QUADRUPLES DOWN on Mexico Hating – Undocumented Immigrants build his hotel
Donald Trump is keeping his Mexican hating stories alive in the press for a simple reason – THEY ARE WORKING for him. It is going to be a mad scramble to be one of the “top ten” chosen by Fox News for their first televised debate, and Trump has found his ticket to the event; hating on Mexicans.
Now, turns out, undocumented immigrants from Mexico are building his new hotel in Washington, because… of course they are.
Tuesday Daily Delawhere [7.7.15]
The US Life Saving Station and Boathouse on Front Street in Lewes, originally built in 1884.
Make Greek debt payable in annual installments over the next 2,000 years. Problem solved.
It is a curse being smarter than everyone. But still I soldier on. Today’s brilliance – a plan to make everyone a winner in the Greek brinksmanship clusterf#ck. As we all know, Euro-technocrats want Greece to suffer for the sin of electing a liberal government. Greeks want to get out from under the “austerity” programs […]
Monday Open Thread [7.6.15]
![Monday Open Thread [7.6.15]](http://delawareliberal.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/DL.Open_.Thread.Gray_-240x180.png "Monday Open Thread [7.6.15]")
The Guardian: “Nearly three weeks after the business tycoon announced his candidacy to be US president with a speech in which he claimed Mexican immigrants were criminals whose presence was undermining American greatness, the row refuses to die.”
“Outrage has been widespread among the Mexican people, from those struggling to make a living on the streets to some of the richest businessmen in the world. In a country fraught with divisions over how to create the jobs and security necessary to make mass migration unnecessary, opposition to Trump’s remarks has provided rare unity.”
Yeah, I think if I and all my countrymen were called murderers and rapists simply to my ethnic or national origin, I and all of my countrymen would be rightly pissed too. And now Donald Trump is saying that he did not expected such universal condemnation and outrage on both sides of the border over his racist comments. That tells me that he, like most Republicans, lives in a hermetically sealed world where the only news he receives is from Fox and the only people he interacts with are sycophants and fellow conservative rich guys who all think alike.
How to tell the difference between an Open Carry Patriot and a Deranged Maniac
In view of the recent 2nd amendment incident at the Omni Hotel in Austin, I thought it would be a good public service to reacquaint everyone with this helpful guide.
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