Archive for July, 2016
George Bush, Dick Cheney and Tony Blair are still at large
While we bicker over emails, it is easy to forget that real honest to goodness crimes on a massive scale were perpetrated by George Bush, Dick Cheney and Tony Blair. None of whom have seen the inside of a jail cell, and they never will.
The Chilcot Report on the UK invasion of Iraq has finally been released, seven years after it was announced, and many years after its completion (it was delayed for years over the release of government documents and memos that were contained in its pages)….
One of the most damning soundbites from the report was a memo from Blair to GW Bush reading, “I will be with you whatever,” which is a part of a series of communications between the two leaders in which they start from the conclusion that they want to invade Iraq and topple the Saddam Hussein government, and work backwards to figure out how to present the evidence that will make the case that they have no choice but to do this.
Wednesday Open Thread [7.6.2016]
![Wednesday Open Thread [7.6.2016]](http://delawareliberal.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/RuthAnnMinner-240x180.jpg "Wednesday Open Thread [7.6.2016]")
Elizabeth Warren made a speech a week or so back that hasn’t gotten a ton of attention. Apologies if this is a repeat here. This speech extended her usual critique of big banks to the entire economy:
The concentration problem—and particularly the idea of “too big to fail” in the financial sector—gets a lot of attention. But the problem isn’t unique to the financial sector. It’s hiding in plain sight all across the American economy.
In the last decade, the number of major U.S. airlines has dropped from nine to four. The four that are left standing—American, Delta, United, and Southwest—control over 80% of all domestic airline seats in the country. And man, are they are hitting the jackpot now. Last year those four big airlines raked in a record $22 billion in profits. Eighteen billion alone came from fees for baggage and legroom and pay toilets. Ok, the last one was a joke, but what have passengers received in return for their higher costs? Fewer flights and worse service. Airline complaints rose 30 percent just from 2014 to 2015.
The list goes on. A handful of health insurance giants—including Anthem, Blue Cross Blue Shield, United Healthcare, Aetna, and Cigna—control over 83 percent of the country’s health insurance market.
Three drug stores—CVS, Walgreen’s, and Rite Aid—control 99% of the drug stores in the country.
Four companies control nearly 85% of the U.S. beef market, and three produce almost half of all chicken.
Some people argue that concentration can be good because big profits encourage competitors to get into the game. This is the perfect stand-on-your-head-and-the-world-looks-great argument. It says that there’s no competition today, but maybe there will someday be competition. The truth is pretty basic—markets need competition now. So I want to talk about five reasons to be concerned about the decline of competition.
It is worth following the link to read the entire text of her comments.
BREAKING: Clinton (Likely) Skates Over E-mail Issue.
I just watched FBI Director James Comey provide excruciating detail over how the FBI conducted the FBI investigation into SOS Clinton’s e-mails, the findings of the investigation, and what the FBI concluded. The Bottom Line: While the Secretary of State was ‘extremely careless’ in her use of e-mail, and while some of the e-mails that […]
Tuesday Open Thread [7.5.2016]
![Tuesday Open Thread [7.5.2016]](http://delawareliberal.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/TerrySpence-240x180.jpg "Tuesday Open Thread [7.5.2016]")
“But there’s another option that is virtually risk-free and carries more upside: Joe Biden. The current vice president is universally known, vetted, and unquestionably fit to serve. As America’s affable “Uncle Joe,” he is viewed positively by 51 percent of the country and unfavorably by just 36 percent. He’s absolutely beloved by Democrats, helping to shore up the Sanders-Warren wing of the party. And he has already proven to be an able complement to a candidate who, like Clinton, sometimes struggles to connect viscerally and emotionally with voters. He also appears to absolutely love being vice president, and is good at the job.”
The City of Wilmington Just Lost $1.5M in WPD Funding and All Mayor Williams Can Manage is the Usual Okie Doke
At the end of the legislative session last Thursday, the GA took back $1.5 million it was holding at the behest of AG Matt Denn to finance more WPD foot patrols in hot spots in Wilmington. AG Denn helped the City to fund foot patrols last spring and then the JFC met in a special session to allocate more funds this time for both Wilmington and Dover. The additional $1.5M would have paid for 20 weeks of foot patrols and other overtime and would have added in $75K for crime analysis of hot spots by the Delaware State Police. The legislators conditioned Wilmington’s award to the city providing some data on current WPD deployments and it would require that the city meet with the WPPSC consultants again so an assessment could be made of the City’s progress in implementing the recommendations of the commission.
Fourth of July Open Thread [7.4.2016]
![Fourth of July Open Thread [7.4.2016]](http://delawareliberal.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/fireworks-dc-240x180.jpg "Fourth of July Open Thread [7.4.2016]")
Dylan Matthews makes a provocative point in a recent Vox column: that the American Revolution and independence from England was a mistake! But we will hear him out…
Saturday Open Thread [7.2.2016]
![Saturday Open Thread [7.2.2016]](http://delawareliberal.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Tribbitt.Governor.Button-240x180.png "Saturday Open Thread [7.2.2016]")
The draft of the Democratic Party platform is inside. The platform won’t be finalized until the Platform Committee meets in a week, followed by a vote at the party’s convention in Philadelphia. The proposal includes a host of liberal policy ideas, including raising the minimum wage to $15 nationwide; opposing an increase in the retirement age and cuts to Social Security; taxing top earners more to pay into the Social Security trust fund; securing equal pay for women and 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave for all workers; and abolishing the death penalty. Whether the inclusion of a host of progressive policy throughout the document will be enough to appease Sen. Bernie Sanders remains to be seen. If Bernie were a smart tactical politican, he would declare victory. Why? Because look at what he has won in terms of concessions….
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