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My Valedictory.
Well, Jason could not be any more clear. So I will leave Delaware Liberal and let you have fun. Thank you for all the time we have spent together. I will be still involved in Delaware blogging by setting up the Delaware Vote Project on my own, or perhaps with one or two others. Goodbye.
The January 4, 2017 Thread
Starting today, I will be mixing in more Delaware news and opinions into the Open Thread. Going local was one of the most repeated suggestions by our readers over the last week after my Moving Forward post. Cassandra and I will be launching a new Vote Accountability project that will be similar to our prior Vote Tracking efforts, but I will explain that in later post. El Somnambulo’s posts regarding the General Assembly will be replaced by that project, in that we will be posting the Daily Agenda and Hearing Schedule as part of that project, but that will be detailed later this week.
I will also be posting more Agenda items for Governor Markell and Carney, Senator Carper and Senator Coons, and Congresswoman Blunt Rochester, just to keep you informed as to their daily activities. We want DL to be the clearing house of all federal, state and local activity. Yes, even Sussex County.
Governor Markell’s Calendar, January 4, 2017
Today, Governor Markell will announce the LEED certification of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) Richardson and Robbins building in a ceremony at 10:15 am at the Richardson & Robbins Building, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901.
Sen. Coons to meet with Secretary of State-Designate Rex Tillerson
Senator Chris Coons will be meeting with Secretary of State Designate Rex Tillerson this afternoon at 3:15 pm. At the top of the meeting, there will be a photo/video availability prior to the meeting in Coons’ Senate office (Russell Senate Office Building #127A), however, no quesitons will be taken. After the meeting, at 3:45 pm, Senator Coons will hold a media availability alone where he will presumably take questions. I am not sure why Senator Coons agreed to the photo/video availability if the nominee is going to refuse to answer any questions. Why would he want his photo taken with this friend of Putin? Sure, have the meeting, and then afterwards hold a press conference, but that should be it if Tillerson won’t take questions.
Interesting Thought of the Day
Sometimes I listen to the Thom Hartmann show on the Sirius XM Progress channel. This afternoon one of the callers had an interesting idea: he wanted Democrats to focus on making life as hard as possible for those in the red states while fighting for the blue states. As an example, he wanted Democrats to not oppose the repeal of the Federal Minimum Wage, or at least vote against repeal but let it pass by not using the filibuster. Should that be repealed, minimum wages would be left to be set by the states, and the blue states would keep it between $12 and $15 while the red states would implement no minimum wages. The point is to make the Republican and Trump voter suffer as much as possible.
Purzycki to be sworn in tonight
Wilmington Mayor-elect Mike Purzycki will be sworn in Tuesday evening at the first organizational meeting of the Wilmington City Council, to be held in the Grand Opera House on Market Street in Wilmington. The doors will open at 7:45 p.m. and the meeting will begin at 8. The event is free and open to the public. Seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Aside from the Mayor-Elect, new City Council members also will be sworn into office at the event.
Our long Gordon Nightmare is over: Meyer sworn in as NCCo. Executive.
Inside we have video from Matt Meyer’s Facebook page of the swearing-in this morning at the Garfield Park PAL Center. In his address, County Executive Meyer promised to emphasize honesty, transparency and efficiency in government. From the News Journal:
“I understand with that trust comes awesome responsibility, a responsibility to lead and act with the best interest of all of our communities in the county,” Meyer said. […]
On Tuesday, he spoke of the county’s shrinking open space, controversial development code, the scourge of heroin and the epidemic of violence among young people in Delaware. He borrowed inspiration from former President Bill Clinton to say there is hope for solving these problems.
“There is nothing wrong with New Castle County that we can’t fix with what is right about New Castle County,” Meyer said.
Women’s March on Delaware set for January 21.
If you cannot make it to Washington, DC for the National Women’s March on Washington on January 21, you can attend an event in Newark on the same day at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Newark, 420 Willa Road, Newark, Delaware. There will be a Candlelight vigil at 9:00 a.m., and then the Marchers will depart the church grounds at 10 a.m. and then reassemble at the UUFN for a rally at 11 am.
Final Markell Poll Results
Outgoing Governor Jack Markell garners mostly positive ratings from DL readers as he heads for the doors. 66% of our readership in this voluntary, non-random, non-scientific Internet poll rated him and his Administration at a C or better. (27% said C, 23% said B, 16% said A). 33% gave the Governor either a D or F.
My evaluation of the Governor was that he succeeded on social issues, helping Delaware move left and towards equality on a host of progressive issues. But, despite some early nods towards more progressive taxation for this state rather than its lubricious flat tax for those making above $60,000, he was a disappointment and a failure economically.
The January 3, 2017 Thread
Jonathan Chait says there will be no replacement for Obamacare: “The Republican Party has used health care to its advantage for the last seven years by following the same strategy: advocating an alternative plan that does not and cannot exist. During this entire time, President Obama has held power. This has afforded them the luxury of posturing against the status quo — and, indeed, doing everything in their power, at both the federal and the state level, to make it worse. Republicans could denounce the messy negotiations in Congress, and then the messy reality of American health care, while promising that giving them power would let them start over and design a new reform that would protect everybody without having any objectionable features.”
“After the election unexpectedly put them in full control of government, I predicted they would follow a ‘repeal and delay’ plan, because it is the only way to keep the lie going. The closer they get to taking action, the more clear it becomes to Republicans that their own propaganda has trapped them and given them no escape. Railing against Obamacare was easy, but the responsibilities of power have taken all the fun out of denying medical care to the poor and sick.”
Lisa Blunt Rochester Sworn in Today; Carney temporarily unemployed.
Congresswoman-elect Lisa Blunt Rochester will be sworn in at noon today in the Library of Congress, followed by a ceremonial swearing in at the Capitol at 3:45 pm. She is the first woman and the first African American in Delaware’s congressional delegation. Delaware until recently had been one of the few remaining states that had not ever been represented by a woman or an African American in Congress. We congratulate her on this milestone, and on the occasion of her swearing-in, which is significant enough already; but we also hope she remembers, as a Representative for Delaware, that she works for the people and not the Banks. At the first sign of bipartisan Carperite fealty, we will know who you really are working for. Fight for the people and against Trump, in everything and every way.
Daily Delawhere for January 3, 2017
Jessop’s Tavern, on Delaware Street in New Castle. The structure was built in 1743 as a house. In the 1940s, it became a tavern, going first by the name “Green Frog”. It is now Jessop’s Tavern, named after the original house owner, and is decorated in colonial garb.
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