Music I Like: Part of a Continuing Series

Allow me to (self-)indulge you with my first new roundup of 2012. I missed this last year, would've easily been in my Top 10, especially appropriate after today's 'settlement': Ry Cooder: 'No Banker Left Behind.' Other videos: Michael Kiwanuka: 'I'm Getting Ready,' Chuck Prophet: 'White Night, Big City,' Carolina Chocolate Drops: 'Memphis Shakedown,' Eilen Jewell & the Sacred Shakers: '12 Gates to the City,' and Reverend Gary Davis: 'Death Don't Have No Mercy'

Tom Wagner: First the Coverup. Now the Whitewash.

12 Comments
State Auditor Tom Wagner's successful coverup of possible, OK, likely, criminal behavior, on the part of former House Majority Leader Dick Cathcart is almost complete. But only if you let him and Cathcart get away with it. Just in time for Super Bowl weekend, Wagner 'dumped' the long-awaited report that told us what we already knew. It actually told us less than we already knew, and the name missing from the report is 'Cathcart'. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start from the beginning.

Delaware Political Weekly: Jan. 28-Feb. 3, 2012

78 Comments
Two new positions are open, but the names are old and...shopworn. With City Councilman Charles Potter running for Dennis P. Williams' RD 1 seat, guess who has reemerged to seek Potter's seat? I'll give you a hint. He was once suspended from practicing law in the State of Delaware for 18 months. That's right. Sam Guy. He's ba-a-a-ck.

Delaware Political Weekly: January 21-27, 2012

27 Comments
Anyone expecting Sen. Mike Katz (4th) to go gently into that good night against Greg Lavelle are bound to be disappointed. Katz already has almost $200 K in the bank, much of it from Delaware's medical community, with $73K in the form of a personal loan. Lavelle has $82K, $25K of which is in the form of a personal loan. This is one race where finances will not do the Democrat in. Meanwhile, neither Dave Sokola nor Liane Sorenson are rolling in dough. Time to toss some $$'s Sokola's way.

‘Bulo on Al’s Show Today-Tues. Jan. 24, from 10-12

Yep, 10 a.m. 1150-WDEL Newsradio on your AM dial. Al Mascitti and I will be talking Delaware politics and the goings-on in Dover. And El Somnambulo apparently has discovered a legit link between pro rasslin' and...Rick Santorum! But he's not talking. At least, not until 10 this morning...

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., Jan. 24, 2012

Little of interest in the Senate today. There's a bill from the Joint Sunset Committee eliminating some state agencies, boards, or committees that no longer serve a public purpose. Or perhaps never served a public purpose. Not that they're the only ones... There's more action in the House today. Should be an interesting roll call on HB 222(Jaques), which would require the Department of Labor to ‘publish the names of employers who have violated the Workplace Fraud Act, by misclassifying an employee as an independent contractor or otherwise.’ Let's see who favors screwing the little guy by claiming that an employee really isn't an 'employee'.

Rethug ‘Party Elders’ Search for A Winning Candidate Begins in 3…2…1…

3 Comments
Talk about a nomination that won't be worth shit, that's what the R's are facing. Not to mention unhealable self-inflicted wounds in that party that could well bring down the House and enable the D's to keep control of the Senate. Almost unthinkable considering the current economic straits. So, I have no doubt that search for an 'electable', or at least not 'disastrous', candidate may already surreptitiously be under way by the self-appointed 'adults' in the Party.

Delaware 2012 Political Weekly-Jan. 14-20

35 Comments
1. Wilmington Mayoral Candidates Disagree on Riverfront Hotel Deal. The issue, of course, is whether the city should pay a $1 million ransom to the developers. As usual, I'm of two minds on this. I don't believe that the City should have to do this. After all, if the project is this financial windfall that's being projected, why shouldn't the developers pay for it themselves? OTOH, government at every level in Delaware has already prostituted itself time and time again to pave the way for 'economic development'. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn't. In other words, to paraphrase George Bernard Shaw, the developers have already determined that we are whores, they're only dickering over price. Bill Montgomery and Scott Spencer support the $1 mill guarantee. Dennis Williams, Bob Marshall and Rev. Derrick Johnson say they oppose it. Kevin Kelley is still reviewing it. Anyway, that's not the reason I included this in my wrapup. After reading the Esteban Parra story, I was struck that there was more civility and substance in this discussion than in the entirety of the Kareening Klown Kar that is the Rethuglican presidential nominating process. What are the other top political stories of the week? Check inside.

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., Jan. 19, 2012

6 Comments
I don’t know whether the House will get to these bills today, because the highlight of the day, and often of the legislative session, is the Governor’s Annual State of the State Address to the General Assembly. In addition to proclaiming the ’state of the state’ (“The groundhog has seen his shadow!”), the address serves as the official unveiling of the Governor’s legislative priorities. Sometimes it’s a laundry list of specifics, sometimes it’s more an articulation of the principles that the Governor believes the General Assembly should embrace, usually it’s some combination of both. Governor Markell is by far the best orator we’ve had as governor during my time in state government. He’s at his best when he speaks, or writes, from the heart. As he did on civil unions. And as he did on the Gattis decision. However, he tends to lose that human connection when he embraces the policy wonk side of his personality. We already know, based on this story, that the Governor intends to seek ’savings’ (meaning cuts) from Medicaid. Just so there’s no mistake, Medicaid=Health Care for the Poor. Last year, the Governor proposed a $92/month cut to services to the medically-indigent. I sure hope he has learned from that kamikaze mission that that’s both horrible policy and a political non-starter.