What’s Wrong With This Article?:
Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer’s administration has been touting the growth of corporate incorporations in the state of Delaware, particularly since last year’s tax law overhaul.
The corporate franchise tax accounts for nearly a third of Delaware’s budget and is the state’s second-largest source of revenue, after personal income tax.
State officials have reported the number of business entities formed in Delaware increased by 100,000, from 2.1 million in 2024 to 2.2 million in 2025.
“Our franchise is extremely healthy in many ways,” Meyer said. “When you look at the numbers based on the last reporting, [it’s] more healthy than it’s ever been.”
But his administration recently declined to publicly share key numbers during the latest meeting of the state’s budget forecasting council, including data on how much corporate tax revenue it’s collected.
Current and former DEFAC members Mike Houghton, Robert Byrd and Rep. Mike Smith, R-Hockessin, told WHYY News the absence of data is “unusual,” “confusing” and “lacks transparency.”
I’ll stop right there, because the question has both been asked and answered.
Mike Houghton? You mean the longtime Delaware Way insider who formed his own PAC to do polling for Bethany Hall Long when her campaign was essentially bankrupt?
Bobby Byrd? The very idea that this uber-lobbyist was a long-time member of DEFAC tells you everything you need to know about the parasitic nature of the Delaware Way.
The Original Mike Smith? Nothing ever passes his lips save Rethug talking points.
Trey Paradee, who has good reason to diss Matt Meyer, placed the whole thing in perspective:
JFC Chair Trey Paradee, D-Dover, said he assumed the administration would provide more corporate franchise revenue data over the next two meetings scheduled for mid-May and mid-June. State lawmakers must pass a state budget by June 30.
He said in a statement he was more concerned that more lower-cost business entities, such as LLCs, were forming instead of the high-dollar multi-state or global corporations.
“Corporate formations are also a function of the economy,” Paradee said. “There is no question that the economy is slowing as a result of [President Donald] Trump’s wars and tariff policies. Once those issues are resolved, hopefully we’ll see economic activity pick up and our large corporate filings will increase.”
Much ado about nothing trumpeted by blowhards on the political outs. Houghton, Byrd and Smith taking cheap shots at Meyer is the definition of a ‘dog bites man’ story.
Et tu, David Small? When Jack Markell elevated David Small to DNREC Secretary, a lot of us in Leg Hall rejoiced. Like Controller General Pete Ross being elevated to Secretary of Finance during Ruth Ann Minner’s term, we regarded it as the triumph of a career public servant being rewarded for his invaluable service. What’s David Small doing now, you ask?:
Starwood Digital Ventures presented its appeal of DNREC’s ruling that its proposed data center in New Castle County is prohibited by Delaware’s Coastal Zone Act.
Starwood’s plan in New Castle County spans about 580 acres with around 6 million square feet of data center space.
Its legal representatives, including Jeffrey Moyer, pointed to the necessity of data centers for internet infrastructure and potential property tax benefits for the state.
Starwood also leaned on expert witnesses to make its case.
Moyer and his team called on former DNREC Secretary David Small to support its argument that the data center proposal does not constitute prohibited heavy industrial use in the state’s coastal zone.
Small is a consult for Mirantis now, helping clients with state and federal environmental regulatory requirements. He worked on the Starwood application in New Castle County.
To Small, equipment such as “smokestacks” that the DNREC Secretary sited as violations to Delaware’s environmental rule don’t translate to data centers.
“In my mind a smokestack is a piece of equipment that’s generally part of a processing, heavy industry, or manufacturing use that is part of the manufacturing process itself,” he said.
He went on to say classic definitions for this would be chemical processing, oil, or steel mills.
Well, yes, but to paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld, that was ‘Old Heavy Industrial Use’. This is ‘New Heavy Industrial Use’. They say (well, the Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase says) that ‘everyone has a price’. Didn’t think that applied to David Small.
Zuckerberg Loses Everywhere (Except in the Delaware Courts and the General Assembly):
For over a decade, U.S. lawmakers have promised guardrails for children on social media. They’ve grilled the chiefs of Meta, Snap, YouTube and TikTok about the dangers of their sites. They’ve introduced dozens of child safety bills.
Little has come from the noise.
But this week, two juries held social media companies accountable for harming young users.
In Los Angeles on Wednesday, a jury decided in favor of a plaintiff who had claimed that Meta and YouTube hooked her with addictive features — a verdict validating a novel legal strategy holding the companies accountable for personal injury. And a day earlier in New Mexico, a jury found Meta liable for violating state law by failing to safeguard users of its apps from child predators.
The landmark decisions highlight a growing backlash against social media and its effects on young people, including criticism from parents and policymakers around the globe that it is contributing to a youth mental health crisis. And they show that the push for change may finally be gaining steam.
Which reminds me. Rep. Krista Griffith successfully beat back an amendment to the now-notorious SB 21 that would have eliminated a provision in the bill specifically designed to give Zuckerberg an advantage in an ongoing court case in Delaware. She was rewarded handsomely with a flurry of contributions from the Delaware law firm carrying the water for Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. The voters have a chance to reward her in another way come the September primary. I think the term is ‘just desserts’.
Why I’m Glad I Canceled My Subscription To The Washington Post. Two recent pieces from the ‘Editorial Board’: ‘Bernie Sanders Doubles Down On His Dumbest Idea’, and ‘Elizabeth Warren Tries To Jam The House With A Flawed Housing Bill’. Sorry, no subscription, no links.
Preview The Weekend In The Middle East Right Here. I buy almost all of this. If you don’t care to listen, here’s what Malcolm Nance and others think will happen.
‘The Bed You’ll Never Sleep In’. Spoiler Alert: We’re talking US military housing in the Middle East:
Iran has bombed U.S. bases across the Middle East in retaliation for the U.S.-Israeli war, forcing many American troops to relocate to hotels and office spaces throughout the region, according to military personnel and American officials.
So now much of the land-based military is, in essence, fighting the war while working remotely, with the exception of fighter pilots and crews operating and maintaining warplanes and conducting strikes.
But the relocation of troops to makeshift — one official called them “alternative” — sites raises questions about the Trump administration’s preparations for the war.
There were close to 40,000 U.S. troops in the region when the war started, and Central Command has dispersed thousands of them, some to as far away as Europe, American military officials said. But many have remained in the Middle East, although not on their original bases, military officials said.
The result, according to current and former military officials, is a war that is much harder to prosecute.
“Yes, we have the ability to set up expedient operation centers, but you’re absolutely going to lose capability,” said Master Sgt. Wes J. Bryant, a retired Special Operations targeting specialist in the U.S. Air Force. “You can’t just put all that equipment on the top of a hotel, for example. Some of it is unwieldy.” A U.S. military official said that troops are not working from the roofs of civilian hotels.
Let’s close with a direct steal from XPN from yesterday. Appropriate in so many ways:
What do you want to talk about?