Posts by Delaware Dem

Somehow, critics of the President have compared him to both Neville Chamberlain, the former British Prime Minister prior to World War II who appeased Adolf Hitler at Munich with territorial concessions, which of course did nothing to appease Hitler... and Adolf Hitler, the genocidal fascist dictator who could not be appeased. So Barack Obama is both the most incompetent president in history, and the most powerful tyrant who must be stopped. He is weak but strong.

Last Thursday night, the 18th District Democratic RD Committee selected David Bentz as its candidate in the upcoming state House of Representatives special election. Bentz will be seeking to succeed current Rep. Mike Barbieri, whose resignation will take affect at the end of July. A special election will held at some point in early to mid September according to law. Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf will announce the date of the special election early next week. Bentz has been Rep. Barbieri's legislative aide for 4 years, since 2011. Prior to that, he earned his Master's Degree at the University of Delaware in Public Administration. He received his Bachelor's Degree from Penn State. Other than that, non-Leg Hall insiders don't know much about the young candidate. Hopefully we will get to sit down later in August to talk with him.

In the wake of yet another mass shooting, this time in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the state Senate Republicans have pulled off a little stunt: they publicly sent a letter to Governor Markell and Delaware National Guard Chief Maj. Gen. Frank Vavala. What is curious is that the letter was sent at all, with the grandstanding of having all Republican Senators sign it. Was a similar letter sent by the entire Republican Senate Caucus after the Sandy Hook shootings in December 2012? How about the Colorado theater shooting in 2012? Or the Louisiana theater shooting last week? Or the Santa Barbara university shootings in 2014? The Charlestown Church shooting in June?

The Social Security Trustees' annual report for Social Security and Medicare was released last week, and it stated that President Obama and Obamacare have saved Medicare.

The Medicare Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund will have sufficient funds to cover its obligations until 2030, the same year that was projected last year, and 13 years later than was projected in the last report issued prior to passage of the Affordable Care Act. [...] The improved long-term outlook for HI is primarily due to a change in the projection methodology that results in a lower estimate for long-range health care cost growth for HI and other parts of Medicare.

Medicare has 13 additional years of life after the passage of Obamacare due to the cost savings that Obamacare has already achieved for the program, referred to in the phrase "lower estimate for long-range health care cost growth." So a vote for any Republican who wants to end Obamacare is a vote to end Medicare too. We also have tons of polling numbers for you, that show that Donald Trump is here to stay until such time that Republicans get the guts to destroy both him and their racist bigoted Tea Party base.

Lexington: “The Trump technique involves confiding in unhappy Americans that they are victims of a plot—and a plot, what is more, that could be easily thwarted. In his telling, scheming foreign governments have outwitted a soft political elite in Washington and preyed on America’s openness and generosity. He is tapping into a political tradition with deep roots. The Know-Nothings are only one example. The ‘America First’ movement of the early 1940s accused decadent Europeans and well-connected Jews of conspiring to drag America into a new world war. In the 1960s the John Birch Society saw communist cunning at every turn.” “To difficult questions Mr Trump offers appealingly simple solutions, starting with this most painful puzzle for conservatives: if America is the mightiest country in the world, how come it feels so weak? His answer goes beyond blaming Barack Obama and the Democrats. The fault, he insists, lies instead with the governing class in both parties, which has betrayed a great nation.”

Brian Beutler on why Donald Trump terrifies Republicans:

For almost three years now, Republican strategic thought has been roughly divided between two schools. One, represented by Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and to a lesser extent Rand Paul, accepts the notion that the party must improve its performance with minority voters, without sacrificing its command of the white vote, in order to remain competitive in presidential elections. The other, represented by Ted Cruz and Scott Walker, rejects this premise. These Republicans hew to the theory, expressed numerically by RealClearPolitics analyst Sean Trende, that making inroads with minorities is not important. The key to winning, they believe, lies with activating a large block of the white electorate that has stood on the sidelines, but would find a natural home in a Republican party if it were led by someone who could channel the political mood of the white working class.

So if you are in the former camp and believe reaching out and changing the party is how you win again, then Trump destroys that path by reminding Latinos and everyone else that Republicans are evil racist bigots. If you are in the latter camp and believe the "missing white voter" is the key to keeping the GOP competitive in elections, then you worry that any attack on Trump alienates them. So in essence, Donald Trump is forcing the courageous choice that Republicans should have made after 2012: Either cast off the racist bigoted tea party or die. If I were a Republican, I would realize that the 2016 election is already lost. I would let Trump and Cruz get the Presidential and Vice Presidential nomination and watch them go down in defeat in an epic landslide. And then I would finally clean house. And it may take a generation, but at least you'd have your party back.

We received this in our tip line, and though I cannot attend, I thought I should pass it on. This is an invitation to a "small and informal gathering" at a private residence in the Devonshire neighborhood off Shipley Road (and near the intersection with Naamans Road) in Brandywine Hundred. If you are interested in attending, email and RSVP to draftbiden_de@draftbiden2016.com, and then you will receive the full and exact address. Here is the full, though redacted, invitation:

You are invited to attend a small and informal gathering at my home (XXXXXXXX, Wilmington, DE 19810) this Saturday, July 25th at 1:00pm as part of the "day of action" taking place in all 50 states, to show support of nation-wide Draft Biden 2016 movement. I would be honored if you would please join us. Feel free to bring your friends and family. Please RSVP to draftbiden_de@draftbiden2016.com.