Open Thread For June 18, 2017
Russia Does Trump A Solid. Renews expiring Trump trademarks. On Election Day. Meaning Trump has at least something to do with Russia.
Civil Rights Commission Launches Probe Into Trump/Sessions Evisceration of Protections. Who knew that naming an Alabama racist as Attorney General would lead to this? (Hey, if somebody wants to challenge me on this, bring it on. I’ve got the quotes from the good ol’ boy himself).
Another Cop Acquitted of Killing Black Motorist. This time in Minnesota. There truly is no ‘justice for all’.
Senate Rethugs Try To Change the Subject. Want probe of Loretta Lynch.
Carney Continues One of Delaware’s Best New Traditions. Hosting a Ramadan Iftar Dinner. Someone looking vaguely like Greg Lavelle was seen circling the block around the Governor’s Mansion and taking down license plate numbers.
What do you want to talk about?
ALERT! ALERT!
The Coastal Zone Act bill is on the House Agenda for Tuesday. They’re really gonna try to push it through with virtually no public input. Fuck 45 years of history, it’s almost June 30.
Also on the House Agenda is the bill abolishing DEDO and replacing it with the ‘Public/Private Partnership’. Hey, it’s still crony capitalism, just skipping the middle man.
But it underlines Gigi’s question: If DEDO is abolished, what will be the agency responsible for reporting on the economic impact of the Act? Of course, since DEDO doesn’t routinely share hardly any data now on its corporate giveaways, it would be no different than it already is. But still, if you’re gonna require it, of whom will you require it?
Switching to nationala politics briefly, this thought just occurred to me as I was reading Trump’s self-centered statements this morning — with Trump repeatedly referring to the independent counsel’s investigation as a “Witch Hunt,” how soon until he pulls a Christine O’Donnell and declares that “I am not a witch”?
It just goes to show that there is no vision for the future of the state. None. It’s as if they’ve never thought of new imaginitive ways to raise revenue or support new industries. They thumb their noses at legalization, ignoring the fact that once vacant properties are being utilized, and contributing to the tax base in other states, while trying to bring back the dinosaurs of heavy industry. I just don’t get the logic that we need new heavy industry to clean up contamination caused by previous heavy industry.
Anyways, I found this story out of Dewey Beach to be quite fascinating…
http://www.delaware1059.com/news/exclusive-dewey-beach-police-accuse-town-manager-of-sexual-harassment/article_7637bbf8-52cb-11e7-a6b0-dbcff3bc83c5.html
What is going to happen to all the protections and required disclosure Bryan Townsend got passed for DEDO a year or two ago? Is there a clear FOIA requirement on this newly created entity?
“Trying to bring back the dinosaurs of heavy industry”. Gigi, you make a good point and looking around, I’m not sure I can imagine any kind of large industry coming back to the lower 48. Between robotics and lower labor and environmental costs overseas, I’m just not seeing anything to motivate large companies to relocate back to the states. As a corollary to that, I don’t think union membership will bounce back either. Labor laws have successfully been weakened to a great degree, new unions face too much opposition and stonewalling in the private sector, and workers seem to have lost their way, vis-a-vis the new deal. I lived through an effort on the part of the school board where I taught to completely strip all working conditions language from what arguably had been one of the best local contracts in Delaware. The board failed, but only after using local funds to hire an expensive Wilmington attorney and pay for his travel time to and from Wilmington. Unions in the public sector are under concerted attack. So what shall we create in the 20 teens? Where will people work in Sussex and Kent counties? What kinds of work will be available? How much will those jobs pay? Will they be public support jobs, with low wages and the taxpayers make up the difference? How will we educate young workers to be ready to enter our local market with skills they can use immediately? The long and the short of it is that conditions have fundamentally changed. The market seems to be easier to penetrate as a small startup, micro-provider of specialized goods or services. I have no idea whether or not this trend is sustainable or if it will last, but Delaware might do better by going small, rather than going big. Not all startups make it, but small is more nimble than big, and small doesn’t need most of the incentives that big boys demand to locate.
Most of the new construction in NCC is either retail or residential, the vacancy rates are highest in those uses as well. We have research space, office complexes, and industrial/ warehousing parks available that are not being leased out at rates comparable to years past. I don’t have the answers. But it’s not because we are not “open for business” as the Chamber lackeys say.
But I did see this bill that would fund small student start ups. Naturally, the Chamber is against it, so it is probably a good idea.
http://www.delawareonline.com/story/money/2017/06/16/job-creation-bill-may-have-steep-price/400939001/