Author Archives: cassandra_m

About cassandra_m

"You don't make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas." -Shirley Chisholm

Wednesday Open Thread [6/6/12]

Your Wednesday Open Thread.  Sorry this is late.

President Obama leads Romney in a Daily News/F&M poll of the swing state of PA:

Registered voters favor Obama 48 to 36 percent over Romney, with 12 percent undecided and the rest answering “don’t know.”

Obama led Romney by 8 percent in a February poll, when the Republican presidential primaries were still in contention.

The new poll found opinions hardening, with 82 percent saying they were certain about which candidate they would support.

Voters polled had more confidence in Obama on economic issues, social issues such as abortion and gay marriage, foreign policy and understanding the concerns of Americans.

PA’s Governor is giving away $1.7B (that’s billion, folks) of taxpayer funds to Shell Oil. One of the largest corporations in the world, is getting $1.7B dollars from a state that has been severely cutting back funding to its schools.  And the PA schools are NOT one of the largest corporations in the world.  This is what corporate welfare looks like, folks.  Your kids get a short shrift, while very big companies get to feed at the trough.  You know how conservatives are constantly whining about how their grandkids are going to pay for the deficit?  Well, their kids (and everyone elses kids) are paying for corporate welfare.  And ask these conservatives when they start cheerleading for lower pay, health benefits and pensions for the Shell employees they are clearly funding.

Idaho is helping to write a new chapter in the business of managing anonymous comments. The Chair of a local Republican committee is seeking to have the local paper revel the identity of multiple anonymous commenters who she perceives as having defamed her.  The comments were deleted and the paper apologized, but this GOP leader has found her love of Trial Lawyers enough to insist on suing these commenters.   It is interesting, yes?

What interests you today?

Bad Triangulation Theatre Starring John Carney

Bumped up to get a wider, non-holiday weekend audience.–Delaware Dem.

WDEL did an interview with John Carney yesterday and they put a snippet of it up on their website. It is worth it to go over there to hear the whole thing. Our lone Representative in the House tries to have it both ways on the critique of Bain Capital and ends up looking pretty insensible in the end.

Here’s a rough transcript of Carney’s soundbite from WDEL:

The vast majority of jobs are created by small businesses, so while critiquing the approach of Governor Romney, we don’t want our constituents — sound like we are anti-business because you have to create conditions where businesses can be successful.

The WDEL piece ends with this:

Carney says the question voters should ask is whether rich investors or blue-collar workers reaped benefits from Romney’s tenure at Bain Capital.

I’ve been thinking about this since I saw it this AM and I can’t quite figure out what he is trying to get to here. The choices are:

  1. John Carney thinks  that we really are that stupid.
  2. John Carney actually believes this stuff.

Seriously, the vast majority of small businesses are not private equity firms in the bustout business so that their investors can benefit.  And if the free market is actually working, it doesn’t need John Carney to create conditions where businesses can be successful.  In fact, the market is specifically damaged every time John Carney (and his colleagues to be fair) are providing subsidies and supports to businesses as a way to minimize business risk.  None of them have but the mushiest of reasons why we have to accept socialized business risk.

It doesn’t matter though.  Bain is a specific type of business (and not small worth a damn), and if you are paying attention to the President, he is specifically calling out the destructive tendencies of the Bains of the world, while their investors make tons of money and the workers at these busted out firms end up with the short end.  So if voters are asking themselves about who benefits from the Bain experience, you certainly are not going to have blue collar workers on the winning end.  That is something of the business model for Bain and the like, right?

If you are going to triangulate here, Representative Carney, you need to start with understanding the two points you will be triangulating from.  Defending Bain as a way to support small businesses is something of an insult to most small businesses and definitely an insult to Delaware voters.

Pastor D Disqualified From Mayor’s Race

Reporting by the NJ this afternoon — the NCCo Department of Elections has made its ruling that Pastor D is not a qualified candidate for Mayor of Wilmington.

Delaware’s Constitution prohibits a person convicted of an infamous crime from “holding any office of trust, honor or profit.” The Elections Department acted after receiving advice from the state Department of Justice.

Though Johnson received a gubernatorial pardon after pleading no contest to killing a man in the 1970s, Albence said the decision was based upon the conviction of infamous crimes.

Each time I’ve seen Pastor D speak in public (debates mostly) during this race, he hints at this outcome. So I don’t think it is a surprise, even though the NJ reports that Pastor D is thinking of an appeal. I’ve often said that I think that he is in this race for reasons other than being Mayor and his fierce advocacy of people in Wilmington that don’t normally get that kind of advocacy is the hint. I hope he does appeal and I hope figures out a way to stay in the conversation. While I don’t think that he would be an especially good Mayor, I do think that he is helping to focus the conversation on some vital issues.

Breaking: Victory for Occupy Delaware

They have a trial scheduled for August, according to the NJ. Since the city has said they won’t remove them without a court order, it looks like they can stay in Spencer Plaza til then.

This doesn’t mean that this is over by any stretch and don’t be surprised if the city tries some other means to get Occupy to move before then. But for now, they’re OK to stay. So check out their Facebook page or go to a Wednesday GA and help them out if you can.

Truthsquadding the Lies

Team Obama has a Truth Squad and they are responding the the Romney Campaign lies. This one pushes back against the Koch Brothers Big Oil ad buy — all $6.1M dollars of that buy. So they can keep their tax breaks. Watch, it’s good:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IkC4gM6QX4[/youtube]

One wonders where they’ve been the last 3 years.

Taking Time Out From Damaging Their Environment to Dis Delaware And Our Governor

This is from Pennsylvania, whose governing agenda now includes environmental destruction, undermining their schools, disenfranchising voters, transvaginal ultrasounds for women and whatever else they can do undermine their citizens. This week, though, one of them spent part of a meeting running his mouth, showing parts of their real agenda. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary, Michael Krancer, made some remarks the other day that took a jab at Governor Markell and a really big jab at Delaware:

Another person asked Krancer about the Delaware River Basin Commission, wondering when the administration will “make it go away.”

Krancer said the governor is at “his wit’s end” with the DRBC.

He also said the issues are “being driven by the governor of Delaware,” adding he is “not confident the voters of Delaware are going to make the right decision” when choosing the next governor. Krancer also was critical of the fact the bulk of Delaware does not get its water from the Delaware River yet they are the driving force behind the commission.

“Sometimes they smell like the tail of a dog,” said Krancer of Delaware. “And it (the state) is shaped like a dog with a tail. This is the tail wagging the dog.”

The insult is certainly uncalled for (and I’m really hoping this guy gets a surcharge at the I-95 tollbooth), but look at what he wants you to know. That Delaware is not going along with the program of letting a ton of resource extraction happen, making owners rich at the expense of the environment and taxpayers. That Delaware is actually paying attention to its environment and water resources rather than to the business interests who are looking to pollute on your dime. But his comment on Delaware voters making the right decision tells the tale, right? That they need someone in Delaware sympathetic to their scheme to stick the environmental bill and impact to taxpayers. I have no doubt that if there was a viable fracking operation in DE that Governor Markell’s decision would likely be different. But this was a solid decision — one that Russell Peterson would be proud of, I think. Governor Markell’s decision is forcing the PA DEP into rethinking their discharge criteria. It isn’t as though these natural gas companies couldn’t afford better wastewater treatment.

Deregulating Pit Bulls

The City of Wilmington instituted a set of laws aimed at regulating the burgeoning and sometimes dangerous pit bull breed. I don’t remember the exact circumstances, but these regulations were instituted after a couple of serious attacks on people and kids by these dogs in the city.

The regulations required pit bull owners to: 1) register their dogs; 2) get them spayed or neutered; 3) have them muzzled and leashed outside; and 4) pass a temperament test. Since then, the City no longer has a contractor for animal control services in the city. When they put out the usual RFP, no one bid on it — not even the most recent contract holder, the SPCA.

According to local animal control agencies, the pit bull regulations put agencies’ operations at risk — by filling up these shelters with pit bulls. Since most of the local shelters are now No Kill shelters, that means that these agencies are housing dogs that they’ll have a tough time placing for adoption. If they can at all.

Now the City is looking at ways to lift those regulations, so that they can get animal control services back.

There are great arguments for regulating these dogs (although I suspect they aren’t especially effective) and great arguments for abandoning those regulations. As always, it is the owners of these dogs that are the problem and I just don’t see much enforcement of the regulations intended to compel owners to manage their dogs better.

Which side are you on?

National Day of Reason

Today’s news will be filled with events commemorating the National Day of Prayer, but I wonder how many of us know about the National Day of Reason?

There won’t be a Presidential proclamation for the National Day of Reason (although the National Day of Prayer gets one), although Congressman Pete Stark (D-CA) issued one recognizing the day from the House floor:

“The National Day of Reason celebrates the application of reason and the positive impact it has had on humanity,” Stark said last Friday. “It is also an opportunity to reaffirm the Constitutional separation of religion and government.”

“Our nation faces many problems—bringing our troops home from Afghanistan, creating jobs, educating our children, and protecting our safety net from irresponsible cuts,” he continued. “We will solve these issues through the application of reason. We must also protect women’s reproductive choices, the integrity of scientific research, and our public education system from those who would hide behind religious dogma to undermine them.”

Who could have problems with that? There are groups all over the US commemorating the National Day of Reason, mostly engaged in community and civic service projects. This kind of commemoration is hopeful — sending the message that you don’t have to indulge in showy (and frequently empty) religionism in order to participate in the civic life of your community:

“In times of great conflict and worry, people want to look to a higher power, and I am sympathetic to that,” said Paul Fidalgo, communications director at the Center for Inquiry. “But our day puts the focus back on people and what we can do for ourselves. We are trying to make a better world on our own by emphasizing good works and good deeds on the day.”
To that end, local groups of nontheists will hold blood drives (Groton, Conn.) training in lobbying politicians (Raleigh, N.C.) and voter registration drives (Flagstaff, Ariz.), as well as marches, rallies and social gatherings. One group in Putnam, Conn., is holding a “science for reason” book exchange — turn in a Bible and receive a free copy of Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species, among other titles.

I don’t know of any local events for the National Day of Reason, but maybe this will inspire someone to start a few next year.

Occupy Delaware May Day Event — General Strike

May 1st is the day that the City of Wilmington has decided that Occupy Delaware must leave Spencer Plaza. Starting at noon today, they are gathering with as many people as possible to stand against this eviction. From their Facebook page:

Stand with Occupy Delaware on May 1st at Peter Spencer Plaza.
The Mayor is attempting to pursue an eviction despite the agreement made with the city in November.
The city is being pressured by the influence of unaccountable corporations such as:

Bank of America (2 Trillion in welfare since 2008)
Chase/JP Morgan (Spent $5.4 Million in lobbying in 2008, much of which was spent using bailout funds)
Wells Fargo (Foreclosed on 9 millions homes from 2009-2011)
Citibank (Paid Millions Bonuses with bailout funds)

*All incorporated right here in Delaware.*

We have brought light to their crimes and become a thorn in their side.
The people cannot allow massive corporate corruption to continue.
You cannot evict an idea.

Go join them if you can.

A Tale of Two Budgets

The National Priorities Project is a government sunshine project — making the complexities of the Federal budget and budget process easily comprehensible. If you haven’t been to their website before, you should click through and bookmark this great resource. One of their efforts is a series of explainers using You Tube on various budget and policy issues. This one compares the Ryan/Romney/GOP Budget with that proposed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZTrhW41-xE[/youtube]

This is 2 minutes, 44 long. So you get a good, basic comparison of these budgets in less than three minutes, so I wonder how it is that this kind of thing isn’t what news programs do. Other than this is more boring than the breathless he say she say which just outsources critiques to someone else. But in less then three minutes you know alot about both of these budgets. Enough to start thinking about which of these might be better for your household. And enough to know who doesn’t really care about budget deficits.

There’s a more detailed comparison here, where you can download a pdf with more extensive analysis.

The Rejection of ‘Both Sides Do It’ — Washington Post Edition

There is a remarkable op-ed in today’s Washington Post, with the even more remarkable title: Let’s just say it: The Republicans are the problem. You might want to stop and just mark the day you read that from one of the bastions of beltway common wisdom.

Even better, go read this great piece written by both sides — Thomas Mann from Brookings and Norm Ornstein from AEI.

The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.

When one party moves this far from the mainstream, it makes it nearly impossible for the political system to deal constructively with the country’s challenges.

“Both sides do it” or “There is plenty of blame to go around” are the traditional refuges for an American news media intent on proving its lack of bias, while political scientists prefer generality and neutrality when discussing partisan polarization. Many self-styled bipartisan groups, in their search for common ground, propose solutions that move both sides to the center, a strategy that is simply untenable when one side is so far out of reach.

It is clear that the center of gravity in the Republican Party has shifted sharply to the right. Its once legendary moderate and center-right legislators in the House and the Senate — think Bob Michel, Mickey Edwards, John Danforth, Chuck Hagel — are virtually extinct.

Those names were legendary deal-makers too — understanding that while you may have your own ideas, the business of governing was more important than some teenager-style dumb stubbornness just for the sake of the dumb stubbornness.

And this:

We understand the values of mainstream journalists, including the effort to report both sides of a story. But a balanced treatment of an unbalanced phenomenon distorts reality. If the political dynamics of Washington are unlikely to change anytime soon, at least we should change the way that reality is portrayed to the public.

Our advice to the press: Don’t seek professional safety through the even-handed, unfiltered presentation of opposing views. Which politician is telling the truth? Who is taking hostages, at what risks and to what ends?

Also, stop lending legitimacy to Senate filibusters by treating a 60-vote hurdle as routine. The framers certainly didn’t intend it to be. Report individual senators’ abusive use of holds and identify every time the minority party uses a filibuster to kill a bill or nomination with majority support.

Look ahead to the likely consequences of voters’ choices in the November elections. How would the candidates govern? What could they accomplish? What differences can people expect from a unified Republican or Democratic government, or one divided between the parties?

And the Press is one of the keys, right? A Fourth Estate interested in accountability and information (which is different than narrative) would certainly make it harder for the Allen Wests of the world to claim that there are 70 or 80 communists in the Congress. The persistent laundering of the most extreme statements and views of the current GOP pretty much makes the press an enabler of this stuff — constantly mainstreaming the worst of the worst.