DL Open Thread: Friday, June 26, 2020

Productive Day In Dover.  Granted, all things are relative.  But the General Assembly got most of the minimum that needed to be done out of the way on Thursday.  Both the Bond Bill and Grant-In-Aid Bill unanimously passed the Senate, and will fly right through the House. Sen. Poore and Rep. Longhurst can therefore rest easy that their respective ‘jobs’ will be safe for another year. Voting-by-mail will be much easier this year thanks to the final passage of HB 346.  Senators Bonini, Hocker, and Wilson voted no.   The criminalization of police chokeholds are but a Governor’s signature away from becoming law.  Unlike the unanimous House vote, five Rethug senators succumbed to the demands of their racist constituents and voted no:  Hocker, (ex-cop) Lawson, Pettyjohn, ‘Governor’ Richardson, and Wilson.  Their names will forever be legislatively inscribed as among the last of a deservedly dying breed.  The House unanimously passed SB 170 (Townsend), which ‘creates a CBD-Rich card medical marijuana card to treat anxiety in adults’. The House also unanimously passed the first leg of a Constitutional Amendment that ‘prohibits the denial or abridgement of equal rights under the law based on race, color, or national origin’.  The bill must again pass in the next General Assembly, beginning in January, to take its place in the Delaware Constitution.  Tuesday, June 30, is the last regularly-scheduled legislative session of the year. 

How Arizona Royally Screwed Up Its COVID Response.  Trumpian in its deliberate ineptitude, and Trumpian in its origin.  How bad is it?:

“Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, is recording as many as 2,000 cases a day, “eclipsing the New York City boroughs even on their worst days,” warned a Wednesday brief by disease trackers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, which observed, “Arizona has lost control of the epidemic.”

Trump Asks Supreme Court To Strike Down Obamacare. Biden’s response was strong.  Talk about eliminating the safety net:

According to the Thursday report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 487,000 Americans took advantage of the special enrollment period on Healthcare.gov after losing their healthcare plans, likely among the millions of Americans who lost their jobs during the pandemic. The numbers mark a 46 percent increase from enrollments in April and May 2019.

Many States, Including Delaware, Hit Pause On Reopening.  This is merely a precursor to rolling back as cases skyrocket. Some new hot spots:  Hot Spring County AR; Manatee County, FL.; Bossier Parish, LA.; Taylor County, TX. Just look at Florida, a statewide disaster.  As is Louisiana.  Trump is making sure that The Great Unwashed get sick by not wearing masks.

Trump Admits That Wisconsin Gave Navy Contract Because Of Election.  Isn’t that, um, illegal?

WH ‘Volunteer’ Got $2.4 Million Contract For Hospital Gowns.  Corruption proceeds apace.

TX Oil & Gas Industry In Freefall.  Maybe we’ll have to wean ourselves off of oil.

What do you want to talk about?