Year: 2015

Another Republican had a bout of honesty today and admitted the truth that the Benghazi Commission is nothing but a made up partisan witch hunt to crucify Hillary Clinton despite any wrongdoing on her part.

Currently, the 2010 Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in Delaware is being sued by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for allegedly using at least $20,000 in campaign contributions to pay personal bills, such as her rent at her Greenville townhouse. Well, it seems that beyond whatever retainer he secured before taking the case, her attorney is not being paid.

It is well overdue, but the leadership of the Democratic Party finally gets it. The GOP is the problem. Hillary Clinton called out the GOP and their malfeasance in no uncertain terms, and it was a huge hit. She sounds determined to tell the truth about the GOP on the campaign trail. In so doing she'll drag the GOP's cynical policies into the light of day and allow a legion of down ticket Democrats to adopt the message. There are far fewer Republicans in this country than there are Democrats. If, rather than pandering to the wishy/washy "center" she shows the country what the GOP has really been up to, she will win in a landslide and may well sweep away the GOP majorities in Washington and numerous state legislatures. Here are her finest moments from the debate:

GOP sources are telling Politico that House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) is looking to move a bill that would lift the debt ceiling before he steps down. According to the Politico report, published Wednesday... GOP leadership is willing to put forth a standalone debt ceiling bill -- a so-called "clean" bill -- before a new speaker takes over Boehner's gavel.

You really have to wonder what is coming next. THE GOP has gerrymandered its way into a nearly unbreakable majority which it can't use because at least 30 House Republicans are certifiably insane.

I mean Copeland is no idiot (unless maybe he is...?). Maybe he does read this stuff and actually thinks it is somehow rooted in reality. DEGOP Chair Responds to Democratic…

My personal opinion: I felt that Hillary was the clear winner of last night's debate. She was strong, quick on her feet, humorous. I feel her performance ended Joe Biden's presidential aspirations outright, unless something shocking and unknown happens at the Partisan Get Hillary Committee hearing next week. Biden is back to being an emergency Plan B candidate. The viscous cycle of bad press and thus bad poll numbers and thus bad press and thus bad poll numbers is ended by the debate. Reports were that Hillary's campaign team were ecstatic after the debate, and as well they should be. Bernie Sanders had some good moments, and two or three awful ones. His gun control position, and his unprepared, unsure and halting response to the criticism, were horrible. He had to have known he would be attacked for that, and that was the answer he came up with. And his Syria answers were not ready for primetime. But the best moment of the night, the moment that probably will stand out to most people and the media, was his very charming and very New York exclamation: "enough about her damn emails!" I grew to openly despise Jim Webb over the course of the evening. First, stop complaining about your time. No one likes whiners. Second, is he sure he is on the right stage? Seems more suited to the Republican party. Lincoln Chafee should drop out. Now. This very second. And Martin O'Malley had one really good and emotional answer, and his overall performance was probably good enough to be regarded officially as "the third candidate."

Daniel Drezner on why Joe Biden isn't running: “The only political reason for a Biden candidacy was an imploding Hillary Clinton, and she’s not imploding." Tonight is DEBATE NIGHT! Finally, after enduring two evil and lengthy GOP debates where we discovered that how exactly the Republicans intend to wreak their terrible will on the nation, we get the adults. The reasonable and rational party. The party committed to social progress, equality, opportunity and the Constitution. The party that solves conflicts with diplomacy rather than immature saber rattling. The party that actually paid attention during science and social studies class. The party that believes that climate change is a problem created by man and can be alleviated by man. The party that is not racist, or sexist, or bigoted. The party that stands for the 99%. The Democratic Party. Meanwhile, Pew Research says Democrats have become more liberal: “The share of Democrats who describe their political views as liberal has increased over the past 15 years. In surveys conducted this year, 41% of Democrats describe themselves as liberal, 35% say they are moderates and 21% say they’re conservative. In 2000, 43% were moderate, 27% liberal and 24% conservative.” You know who gets credit for all this? Progressives and the Netroots. People like Markos Moulitsas and Jason Scott in the Howard Dean days who said "Damn straight I am a liberal."

The NJ names names and turns up the heat on Sneaky Pete.

Amid budget grief, big raises for Dover political aides Delaware lawmakers quietly awarded their top political aides in Legislative Hall thousands of dollars in raises earlier this year, even as they reduced or eliminated general pay increases for rank-and-file state employees, according to a review of payroll data by The News Journal.

House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf, a Rehoboth Democrat who approved the raises, ducked questions from The News Journal, ignoring repeated requests for comment. "Pete is not available to comment about this," said Drew Volturo, a House Democratic spokesman.

Drew Volturo has been on the other side of this, so I'm not sure why he is going with this stonewalling approach. Maybe the Dem "leadership" has some broadside attack on teachers in he works that they plan to use to push this off the front page? It wouldn't surprise me.