Delaware Dem – Page 317 – Delaware Liberal

From the “Be Careful What You Wish For” File: Tom Gordon Files

By Delaware Dem May 21, 2012117 Comments

When the year began, we were all hoping for one credible candidate to take out New Castle County Executive Paul Clark in the Democratic primary. We had two not well known and definitely underfunded candidates file, and then had one drop out, leaving Bill Shahan as Clark's opposition. Bill is a nice guy, and a good Democrat, but he has not been blowing the doors off this race so far. So guess who sensed an opportunity. Convicted criminal Tom Gordon, whose last stint at County Executive ended up in a corruption trial and a conviction. After weeks of rumors and one obvious poll, Tom Gordon has filed candidacy papers with the Department of Elections today.

Alternate Filibuster Universe, Part II

By Delaware Dem May 21, 20125 Comments

Looks like my friend Booman saw the same Josh Green column that I did, and he concludes that the alternate universe would be even rosier than Josh Green predicts.

Question of the Day

By Delaware Dem May 21, 201214 Comments

Should religious organizations that produce “religious” materials preaching about the role of government lose their tax-exempt status?

An Alternative Universe without the Filibuster

By Delaware Dem May 21, 20128 Comments

Two months ago, former Senator Ted Kaufman spoke to the monthly meeting of the Progressives Democrats for Delaware, one of the things he said that took me by surprise was his opposition to filibuster reform. Kaufman viewed the filibuster as an indispensable part of the check and balances of our government, and while he agreed that the Republicans have abused it, he would hate to see what a Republican President, a Republican House and a Republican Senate would do if minority Democrats had no power to stop legislation. But Kaufman was almost acting as if it were a fait accompli that the filibuster was going the way of the dinosaur, because he quaranteed that the Republicans, whenever they regain control of the Senate, would immediately do away with it, especially if they have a Republican President and House to work with. So what would the last four years look like without the filibuster?

Monday Open Thread [5.21.12]

By Delaware Dem May 21, 201213 Comments

Is it me, or was this weekend a particularly boring weekend politically? I have been going through all the RSS feeds of all the blogs and news sites I read in my Google Reader and there really is nothing notable. Pelosi and Boehner traded jabs on the Sunday morning shows, sure. But that is nothing new. I can't even get excited about the Cory Booker boomlet. Suffice to say his days as a Obama campaign surrogate, and as a progressive Democrat, are over. He is just another of those DLC-third wayers who is cozing up to Wall Street to further his political ambitions. Hey Cory, Harold Ford already exists. Stop trying to be him.

Obama to Withdraw all U.S. Troops from Afghanistan by 2013?

By Delaware Dem May 21, 2012

Or so says Mark Thompson at Time Magazine, reporting that the President's goal at the NATO summit in Chicago over the last 2 days was to "wrap up U.S. troops’ combat role over the coming year, and get the allies to pay more money to enable the Afghan military to fill the gap."

Polling Report [5.21.12]

By Delaware Dem May 21, 20124 Comments

Tennessee? Really? Tennessee? A new Vanderbilt University poll shows President Obama has pulled into a virtual tie with Mitt Romney in traditionally conservative Tennessee.

Monday Daily Delawhere [5.21.12]

By Delaware Dem May 21, 20128 Comments

Sunday Open Thread [5.20.12]

By Delaware Dem May 20, 201218 Comments

Politico notes it took just 30 minutes for conservatives "to jump all over Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and his leadership team after the GOP's game plan for dealing with President Barack Obama's health care law leaked to the media." You see, Boehner wanted to somehow pass a bill that preserved the popular parts of the bill, like the bans on lifetime limits and yearly limits and the provisions bannings exclusions based on preexisting conditions, and the part of the bill allowing college students to stay on their parent's plan until the age of 25. Boehner and his likeminded Republicans are too stupid to realize that will send premiums skyrocketing 1,000% a year, because without the mandate of universal coverage, and without the provision that requires insurance companies to devote 80% of their profits to patient care, the insurance companies will pass on their costs to us. But the teabagger caucus wants to scrap everything.