DL Open Thread: Tuesday, June 30, 2020
Trump Can’t Escape Bounty Debacle, Instead Stands By Putin. Did he know in February? Or was it in 2019? Can ‘He doesn’t read’ really be a defense for abdicating perhaps his most sacred responsibility as President? Trump had better hope that none of the parents of the soldiers killed in Afghanistan speak out publicly. Trump’s own security picks: Trump is ‘delusional’. Military families already in revolt:
“I’ve been hearing from military families in Nebraska constantly for the last 36 hours, and they’re livid,” (Sen. Sasse) said. “This is a story about the targeting of American men and women in uniform. This is about putting crosshairs on the backs of people who are fighting for our freedom. This is not about short-term politics.”
Rethug Vs. Rethug: Texas bar owner sues Governor Because ‘Freedom’. There can be no winner–except us. Sit back and enjoy.
The Confederacy Retreats–On Reopening. The latest hot spots: the entire Florida panhandle, including Bay County; SE Iowa; Columbia County, GA. Trump strongholds all.
State Of Delaware Pays Yet More Extortion To Barclays Bank. Let me get this straight–Barclays pulls 500 high-paying jobs out of Delaware, and then gets handed a $2.5 million check from the taxpayers to ‘create’ 300 modest-paying jobs. That works out to 200 fewer jobs at less pay and $2.5 mill more in the corporate coffers. Extortion, plain and simple. You paid for it.
General Assembly Goes Out With A Whimper. The money bills have all been passed. General Assembly will meet in what basically is a pro-forma session tonight right before midnight. Only remaining intrigue? Will there be any more announced retirements? I would like to hear Sen. McDowell’s farewell remarks. Harris is a good man who was progressive before progressive was cool. I wish him a happy retirement.
What do you want to talk about?
Gov. John Carney, Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki and Barclays U.S. Consumer Bank President Danny Nealon in the news release emphasized the bank’s commitment to Delaware.
Commitment doesn’t mean what Carney and Purzy think it means.
“We stand ready to support businesses looking to grow and to provide good-paying jobs for Delawareans,” Carney said.
Provided they are NOT companies founded in Delaware who have no plans on leaving Delaware. Delaware based companies can suck Carney’s micro-dick.
Did you all know there is a candidate forum 6 pm tomorrow on ZOOM for NCC Council President and that Monique Johns is joining that race?
http://moniquejohns.com/
Register here – https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_jc33dHa1So2Ixs3b4iRaYQ?fbclid=IwAR3beFyogz4FQM9huP5lTkyVygEOl3F3QQYKxNOp5-jG5UMlVSSxmrdQVdI
She was a terrible candidate for State Rep. All she’ll succeed in doing is splitting the minority vote with Aja Ajavon.
I like Ciro but am not sure if he has the gumption necessary to counter the development industry pressure.
For those who don’t follow NCC much, Meyer and Janet Kilpatrick have joined up to kill the successful legislation of 2019 that pulled all Heavy Industry-zoned properties from by-right status to properties that must go through a public review process. The current law gives council discretion to approve or not but that goes away if these HI properties are switched to by-right under 20-008.
Janet K. and the Meyer Land Use Department staff are working overtime to satisfy the pushback from developers et al (and likely from Carney as these are all in the coastal zone) in defending Ord. 20-008.
The Sierra Club is leading the way to SAVE residents from this move – especially the fenceline communities POC whose power to persuade council on any further encroachment on their homes will DISAPPEAR if 20-008 is enacted. The usual council suspects are lined up to support the ordinance – the same seven that Meyer crowed he “had” when the civic community tried to stop the 2019 Transportation ordinance.
Who are these seven council votes the development industry owns. Who can name them. I think I can.
Trump seems unconcerned about the bounty on America’s military, begs the question does he really care about being reelected? As for the latest burst of corporate welfare to Barclay’s bank it’s a reminder that politicians have yet to learn it never, ever works. Not here, not anywhere, not ever.
The Barclay’s handout comes to about $7,700 per job. Gonna take a hell of a lot of time for those call center workers to pay that much in state income taxes.
But the building trades got a little project, so… #winning!
They’re scared shitless. They built a whole new “downtown” across the river but did nothing else to improve Wilmington, with the hope that the revenue from the banks would preclude politicians from doing anything else to rescue the city from its shrinking tax base.
Now that the bloom is off that rose, they’ll do whatever they have to do to keep it alive, because otherwise they’d have to do expensive, difficult things that actually help people but bring in no new capital.
ANOTHER BAD DEAL FOR DELAWARE TAXPAYERS
Once more Delaware taxpayer money is being squandered on the altar of corporate greed. The latest gift to another obscenely wealthy banking conglomerate was approved Monday morning by Delaware’s Council on Development Finance as recommended by the secretive Delaware Prosperity Partnership. The bitter irony is that the approval vote was taken on the morning of the very day that the House was to vote on the Bond Bill. The Bond Bill contained an additional $14.3 million allocation to replenish Delaware’s corporate slush fund. Even more outrageous in this recent escapade of corporate welfare is the reality that Barclays had recently moved 500 higher paying jobs primarily related to operations and technology from their Wilmington site. Today’s $2.5 million approved grant of taxpayer money would bring 323 new customer service employees the majority expected to make about $32,000 a year. It should be obvious even to the most dedicated corporate apologists in our government that a net loss of 200 jobs combined with a substantially lower pay rate for those new jobs is an abuse of the taxpayers trust. Since the Bond Bill would add even more taxpayer money to be doled out to future corporate extortionists I had to speak out and vote against the Bond Bill. My apologies to all Delaware taxpayers for the “silence of the lambs” acquiescence exhibited by their government.
https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2020/06/29/after-barclays-jobs-leave-delaware-state-gives-bank-grant-hire-again/3278323001/
Representative John Kowalko (25th District)
14 Kells Ave. Newark DE. 19711
302 547 9351
State grants to businesses work! Remember the grant to the french fry machine guy? Now hes the biggest employer in the state!!!!
And there’s the subsidy that all of us are paying to Bloom Energy until 2032 for those 900 jobs at their site in Newark. It may not be quite 900. It could be closer to 340, but who’s counting?