Highlands Bunker – E37 – One for the Wonks

Filed in Delaware by on October 21, 2019

Highlands Bunker presents Episode 37. It’s a treat for fans of data-driven journalism, as Karl the Producer joins RE Vanella in the bunker for an in-depth discussion of his research into poverty in the suburbs using local examples from New Castle County census tract data. He also explains how suburban poverty has been affecting Delaware.

This Patreon link includes all the citations/show notes.

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  1. RE Vanella says:

    Hope you all enjoy this dive into the rise of suburban poverty as demonstrated in three distinct NCCo census tracts.

    The upcoming episode dropping Friday is a very special one. There are two guests. First, I speak with DE House candidate Larry Lambert. We discuss his insurgent primary in the RD 7.

    Then I’m joined by one of the most effective & important progressive organizers in the country. (For real!) Co-founder and current Executive Director of Justice Democrats (and a former organizer in residence at the Bunker), Alexandra Rojas. We discuss her background and the importance of primary challenges as a democratic tool of accountability.

    (Note to Senator Coons’ staff: Notice a theme?)

    Lastly, Karl, Margaret & I want to apologize profusely to all our haters for making this show so good. I can only imagine how upsetting it must be.

  2. RE Vanella says:

    I’m in the studio right now with freelance journo & adjunct professor Jordan Howell and News Journal reporter Karl Baker.
    We’re talking about LLCs and global tax havens.

    I feel bad.

    Consider a patronage.

    Hehe….

  3. mouse says:

    I though we were supposed be proud of DE being the home for corporate crooks..

    • RE Vanella says:

      If we’re so proud why is it such a secret?

      https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-delaware-bullock-specialreport/special-report-how-delaware-kept-america-safe-for-corporate-secrecy-idUSKCN10Z1OH

      Geoff Bollocks is what a caporegime would call a good earner. The envelope is never light.

      • Alby says:

        The article is from 2016, but it serves to illustrate the crooked little enterprise run by the State of Delaware.

        When law enforcement officials, or anyone else, search Delaware’s corporate registry online to see who owns a company, all they get is the name and address of the agent. The true owner, also known as the beneficial owner, doesn’t have to be disclosed. …

        In 2013, two retired FBI special agents took up the cause against secrecy, serving as unofficial spokespeople for active agents. Dennis Lormel and Theodore Greenberg, with decades of experience working anti-money laundering cases between them, visited Bullock in his offices in mid-2013.

        Too often, they told Bullock, the FBI’s trail went cold at the addresses of Delaware incorporation agents. Sometimes that happened when foreign law enforcement agencies sought FBI assistance chasing the money trail of a suspected criminal. Such cases, they said, frayed relations with foreign agencies, which were expected to cough up the goods whenever the FBI was hunting terrorist cash flow.

        The two agents walked Bullock through a form and protocols used by banks in Switzerland, long one of the world’s most secretive financial hubs. If Delaware could simply meet the same minimal transparency standards as the Swiss, everyone would be happy.

        Bullock told them Delaware would not tighten requirements because companies would flee to other states with lax laws, according to the agents. Bullock told them the resulting blow to the state treasury could harm his chances of winning higher office, the agents said.

        Bullock said he didn’t recall all the details of his meeting with the former FBI agents. He said he does not have future political aspirations.