Trump and Sanders win in Dem’s blind spot

Clinton may agree with Sanders on 95% of the issues, but it is the 5% of the time that she is on the side of the financial industry and not the people that voters still want to talk about. Sanders is a one issue candidate, and it has always been within Clinton's power to eliminate Sanders from the race by co-opting his message on the rigged economy. That she hasn't done it suggests to me that she can't bring herself to do it.

Wednesday Open Thread [5.4.16]

Alright. Jason and I have to admit that we were wrong. Ted Cruz will not be the nominee. And Unstable Isotope was right: Donald Trump will be the nominee. Bernie Sanders rebounded after a string of five defeats over the last two weeks to defeat Hillary Clinton in the Indiana Democratic presidential 52% to 48%. He wins 43 delegates to Hillary's 37 from the contest, meaning he has gained 6 delegates on Hillary from the performance. At that rate, he will catch up to Hillary sometime in April 2017 after she has passed her first budget as President. Hillary leads Sanders still by 296 pledged delegates, thus Sander's win last night, or wins by similar margins in all of the remaining nine contests, does little to impede Clinton's likely path to the nomination. Ted Cruz had a much easier path to the nomination of his party than does Bernie Sanders in the Democratic Party. Ted Cruz dropped out last night because that path was foreclosed. Bernie's path to the nomination was foreclosed on April 19 after his 20 point loss in the New York primary. But he remains in the race.
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., May 3, 2016.

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., May 3, 2016.

By far the most important bill on the House Agenda is SS2/SB 130(McDowell).  The bill:
defines criteria for a local government to enter into an agreement with the Department of Transportation (“Department”) to create transit-oriented development districts, called Complete Community Enterprise Districts (“District”), for the purposes of promoting economic development. A District may be designated in downtown or urban core areas, traditional towns or villages, or regional activity centers. A District is characterized by its mix of land uses, efficient use of public infrastructure, efficient use of public services, and multiple modes of public transportation combined with environmentally friendly private transportation.
I  look for this bill to pass some time this week.

Bernie Math

I saw this last week, but held off on posting it. But now Bernie Sanders himself is insisting we are going to a contested convention that he will win.

“Establishment” Republicans easy path into the arms of Trump

Did you notice how easy it was for Copeland to pivot from hating Trump to loving him? A while back Josh Marshall dissected the #nevertrump mindset and sketched a path by which Establishment Republicans like Charlie Copeland could come to love for Trump quickly and completely. He began by asking about the basic policy differences someone like Copeland might have with Trump. There aren't many because Trump is essentially a doctrinaire Republican, only more so.

Monday Open Thread [5.2.16]

From the fingers of George F. Will: "In losing disastrously, Trump probably would create down-ballot carnage sufficient to end even Republican control of the House. Ticket splitting is becoming rare in polarized America: In 2012, only 5.7 percent of voters supported a presidential candidate and a congressional candidate of opposite parties...Were he to be nominated, conservatives would have two tasks. One would be to help him lose 50 states -- condign punishment for his comprehensive disdain for conservative essentials, including the manners and grace that should lubricate the nation's civic life. Second, conservatives can try to save from the anti-Trump undertow as many senators, representatives, governors and state legislators as possible."
Why Lisa Dean Moseley Matters–Even If Her Death Doesn’t.

Why Lisa Dean Moseley Matters–Even If Her Death Doesn’t.

Sherry Freebury. Elmer Setting. Lisa Dean Moseley. We all know that Freebury and Setting, at the time they accepted favors from Moseley, were/are among the most powerful people in New Castle County and deeply connected to the county police. Freebury received, and publicly admitted that she would never have had to repay, a $2.3 million sweetheart loan from Linda Dean Moseley allegedly in exchange for county approvals for a country club that Moseley wanted.  At the time she received that loan, she was Tom Gordon's CEO, as she was from 1997 to 2004. She previously was the head of NCC police, as was Gordon.  There's so much more on Freebury and Gordon.  This article serves as a good starting point. More recently, the longstanding 'rent-free' deal that current NCC Police Commissioner has enjoyed from Moseley was documented in the this WDEL story.  He claims he provides 'security and maintenance' for the property.  (BTW, didja know that one of Lisa Dean Moseley's marriages was to her gardener? Another was to her gynecologist. But more on that later.) Lisa Dean Moseley died recently.  Here is the obit from the paper. I searched for anything recent in the News-Journal to place her life and death in context.  After all, context is everything.  So far, nothing.  If she had merely had the two clearly inappropriate relationships with Freebury and Setting, that alone would have warranted such an article.  Two law enforcement officers at the highest level being paid off for their 'services'. But here's another reason why anyone from law enforcement should have had nothing to do with Moseley, and perhaps a reason why they did. 
Obama Drops the Mic at the Correspondents Dinner

Obama Drops the Mic at the Correspondents Dinner

One thing Obama could do when he is out of office is go on tour -- he's hilarious: "There's one area where Donald's experience could be invaluable, and that's closing Guantanamo. Because Trump knows a thing or two about running waterfront properties into the ground." The Shade is fierce with this one.