DeLuca to Labor?
There is a rumor that Governor Markell is going to appoint former Senate Pro Tem, Senator Tony DeLuca, as Secretary of Labor. Will that job be in addition to the other jobs DeLuca has in state government.
If this is a trial balloon, then let’s pop it. Governor, this is unacceptable. This is Delaware Way politics at its worst. It is something that Ruth Ann Minner would do. It is something we imagined Ruth Ann Minner’s Lt. Governor, John Carney, would do. Which is why we backed what appeared to be the more progressive option in the 2008 Democratic Primary…. you.
If you do this, boy were we wrong.
Agreed DD.
Not only is it something that Ruth Ann Minner would do. It’s something that Ruth Ann Minner DID. Surely, we haven’t forgotten Secretary of Labor Tom Sharp who, along with Mark Brainard and Ruth Ann Minner, engineered the ‘new’ position at DOL for then-Sen. DeLuca?
Dirty, dirty stuff.
This makes me very, very sad.
I think the verdict is out on being wrong about Markell already. How many more issues do we need? At the end of the day, hate him or love him, Carney supports all of the social reforms that Markell supported and he seems, at least a little, more progressive with regard to the economy and social programs. Should have smelled something fishy when 6,000 republicans switched party registration to vote for Jack in the democratic primary.
I couldn’t get pass that twinkle in his eye though. Deep down I wanted to believe that those Du Pont Country Club republicans were supporters of raising the minimum wage, strengthening unions, and holding companies like PBF accountable. He supported Deluca during the senate primary even given the conflict of interest with the DOL. After 5 years, if we’re still saying “Boy if you do this, we were wrong”, we have to begin to admit to our selves that that chicken has already hatched.
Isn’t this rumor coming from legislative and union friends who would like to see Tony get the job and not from anybody in the administration itself? Bit of a jump to get upset at the Governor if he’s not actually pushing this.
Even if he doesn’t. He stood by him during the election. That’s enough for me.
“strengthening unions, and holding companies like PBF accountable.”
Please remember that the unions at PBF are against holding the company accountable.
If Markell is even considering such a thing, it’s essential that we sound the alarm.
Maybe Nuttingham is right, although that’s not where we got the rumor.
Maybe Markell has no intention of doing this, which I hope would be the case. But I think that, if he IS considering this, he would do well to recognize that it would severely tarnish his legacy. That type of cronyism destroyed Minner’s reputation, and reputations are generally valued by politicians.
I’m guessing that Markell won’t do this, probably isn’t even considering doing this, but there’ll sure as bleep be a firestorm if he does.
As to whether we’re jumping the gun here, I’ll be more than delighted if/when the Governor shoots down this rumor as irresponsible speculation.
I hope this is a rumor. The last thing Delaware needs is an out of touch, crusty old a-hole running the Department of Labor. It would be nice to see the job go to a more average person under the age of 100 who isn’t being cushioned by tax payer funded personal income safety nets, and who understands what a bitch the job market is right now and that regular people are struggling to make ends meet.
Markell endorsed Deluca because Tony stepped up after Thurman died at the very end of session and got the revenue bills through, the budget passed and the vast majority of administration’s agenda through. It could easily have been a disaster.
Over the next three years, at least 9 out of every 10 of Markell’s bills made it through the Deluca-led Senate, even when those votes were hard or risky.
You can dislike Tony (or stronger) and his replacement certainly has a lot more upside for progressives of every stripe.
But I don’t see how Markell could get away with abandoning in the summer of 2012 the guy that helped from 2009-2012 get through every one of the bills Markell was running on for re-election and still expect legislators to be with him when he asked for hard votes in the future.
But that does not mean that the former Senator should be Secretary.
What you call ‘stepped up’, I call ‘had to step up b/c the Governor had him by his short hairs’.
DeLuca was working two incompatible state jobs in apparent violation of the Constitution. One as a maker of laws, and the other as enforcer of laws. Constitution says you can’t do both. He needed Markell every bit as much as Markell needed DeLuca.
It was an unholy alliance, and it would be made more tawdry for Markell if he pushed for DeLuca as Secretary of Labor. Here’s why I don’t think he’ll do it. That would be one hell of a confirmation circus.
El Som, it may depend on whether Jack can count to 11. There are some R’s who would vote to confirm Tiny Tony.
Bonini was the only R who voted for DeLuca for Pro-Tem–in exchange for a favorably-drawn district. Pissed off a lot of R senators.
But I don’t think that’s why Jack won’t nominate him. Does he really want to alienate senators who, despite occasional disagreements, vote with Markell most of the time?
Even if he can count to 11 (assuming the nomination makes it to the floor from the Executive Committee), what would he get out of it?
The more I think about it, the less likely I think this will happen.
I agree that the more we think about it, the less likely it seems … and the more we talk about it, the greater the odds that these sounds will get back to Jack’s ear.
However, his triangulation hasn’t been as sharp in his second term as in his first, so we cannot easily dismiss this seeming foolishness as something highly unlikely to occur.
Amazing and disgusting all in one. It’s another example of how some Delaware politicians are un flushable, Roger Roy and Orlando George come to mind. As noted this is the hated Delaware Way at it’s corrupt worst.
Too soon to blister Markell. Nuttingham could well be right–that this is being floated by DeLuca supporters including the construction trades–not Markell himself.