Author Archives: El Somnambulo

BREAKING: Rethug Mike Ramone To Run For Governor

Man, I go out for an hour, and this happens.

As Jason mentioned, it is weird in that Julianne Murray claims that she is running because nobody else would step forward.  Was that true?  If so, will she drop out, or will this be a battle for the ‘heart and soul’ of the Delaware Rethuglican Party, which doesn’t exist?

If indeed it’s a battle of two factions, Mike might as well hang it up.  Here’s the story:

GOP’s Mike Ramone to file Monday to run for governor

This at the minimum means that Ramone is not running for reelection in RD 21.  Either Frank Burns or The Other Mike Smith will succeed him.   Feel free to click on the link for my preferred candidate and donate to him.

Ramone said that one reason he’s vacating the House seat is because  ‘he’s building another home in Sussex County. “I just wasn’t comfortable representing my district and not being in the district all the time,” he said. “I didn’t want people to question my ability to represent my district appropriately.” ‘

“I don’t want to have to prioritize a business need over being a governor for the people in the state,” he said, “and if I’m not fortunate enough to get elected I go to plan B, and that’s retirement.”

At least he supports ‘Plan B’.  Although only as it applies to running for office and losing.

DL Open Thread: Friday, May 3, 2024

The Drowning South: Sea level rise could submerge coastal communities:

One of the most rapid sea level surges on Earth is besieging the American South, forcing a reckoning for coastal communities across eight U.S. states, a Washington Post analysis has found.

At more than a dozen tide gauges spanning from Texas to North Carolina, sea levels are at least 6 inches higher than they were in 2010 — a change similar to what occurred over the previous five decades.

“Since 2010, it’s very abnormal and unprecedented,” said Jianjun Yin, a climate scientist at the University of Arizona who has studied the changes. While it is possible the swift rate of sea level rise could eventually taper, the higher water that has already arrived in recent years is here to stay.

“It’s irreversible,” he said.

As waters rise, Louisiana’s wetlands — the state’s natural barrier against major storms — are in a state of “drowning.” Choked septic systems are failing and threatening to contaminate waterways. Insurance companies are raising rates, limiting policies or even bailing in some places, casting uncertainty over future home values in flood-prone areas.

Roads increasingly are falling below the highest tides, leaving drivers stuck in repeated delays, or forcing them to slog through salt water to reach homes, schools, work and places of worship. In some communities, researchers and public officials fear, rising waters could periodically cut off some people from essential services such as medical aid.

G-d’s plan?

President Poopy-Pants:  Trump shits on attorney. Attorney…:

Jake Tapper: Okay, I apologize for this update ahead of time. But, Blanche, Todd Blanche, the Trump attorney, is specifically reading a post that Michael Cohen made on Twitter on April 22nd, and one in which he refers to Donald Trump as VonShitzinPants. That is just a factual record that I’m bringing before you. This is in the court transcript. VonShitzinPants. Blanche also said there are repeated attacks on Trump and his candidacy on Cohen’s podcast and TikTok account. Dana Bash, I know you want to weigh in on VonShitzinPants.

Dana Bash: I think you did it on behalf of all of us.

Jake Tapper: Just for the record, I have been calling it “VonPoopsinPants” for weeks now, but now it’s a part of the official transcript.

Poop. There It Is!

“Discredit, Disrupt, And Destroy”.  This is how the FBI set about attacking civil rights groups back in the late ’60’s.  It extended to infiltrating anti-war groups, with the infiltrators urging the groups to commit acts of violence:

It was the late 1960s, and J. Edgar Hoover smelled trouble. The status quo — hallowed by hate, sanctioned by Jim Crow — was beginning to crack.

Behind the scenes, Hoover’s Federal Bureau of Investigation was keeping watch. In 1967, the FBI quietly unleashed a covert surveillance operation targeting “subversive” civil rights groups and Black leaders, including the Black Panther Party, Martin Luther King Jr., Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X, and many others.

The objective, according to an FBI memo: to “expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize” the radical fight for Black rights — and Black power.

“These documents … reveal and confirm the kind of root investment in anti-Blackness and quelling dissent that has long been part of our government structure,” says Leigh Raiford, a professor of African American studies at UC Berkeley. “We can only imagine the extent to which the current administration, and the current FBI, is working to discredit, disrupt, and destroy Black Lives Matter and other movements.

“I’m hoping that a new generation of researchers will learn new lessons for how to outmaneuver these attempts.”

The FBI’s surveillance of African Americans and Black rights organizations — whom the FBI called “Black Extremists” or “Black Nationalist Hate Groups” — grew out of the bureau’s larger espionage operation known as COINTELPRO, the now infamous program launched in 1956 to snuff out communism in the United States. (Other radical groups, including socialists and anti-war activists, were soon added to the agenda.)

In Hoover’s view, it went something like this: There were communists in the civil rights movement. Never mind that there were Black people fighting for their lives.

This is just one reason why I remain more than skeptical about reports of violence by protestors on campus.  I was there in the spring of 1970.  The press can’t merely regurgitate police reports on this stuff.  Which reminds me–the press needs to diligently keep an eye on tactics being used on protestors.  The cops loved beating antiwar students back in that era.  Let’s see how much, if at all, things have changed in the intervening 50-plus years.

Take The Kentucky Derby.  Please.

As Churchill Downs prepares to host the 150th Kentucky Derby on Saturday a darker anniversary looms. One year ago, 12 horses died at Churchill Downs in the days and weeks surrounding America’s biggest race.

As hype builds around this year’s runners, those who died fall deeper into the well of memory, if they’re thought of at all. Wild on Ice, a gelding born in 2020 and a Derby qualifier, was euthanized after sustaining a hind leg fracture during training leading up to last year’s race. His connections expressed regret over their missed opportunity to watch him reach his full potential. A month later, Kimberley Dream, a seven-year-old “war horse” was making her 61st start when she broke down in a claiming race. In the chart the final note on her short life read “went wrong in upper stretch”.

In the time between those deaths there was routine equine suffering at Churchill with the deaths of Code of Kings, Parents Pride, Take Charge Briana, Chasing Artie, Chloe’s Dream, Freezing Point, Rio Moon, Lost in Limbo, Bosque Redondo, and Swanson Lake. Twelve dead at one track in one month. Those horses were no different than the ones on the backside and the racing cards this time around. For racing fans and runners’ connections Derby Day is exciting, prestigious, and maybe even profitable but for the horses it’s about survival. When a day in the sport concludes without death there is a collective sigh of relief. What a grim reality.

Cicadas (E)Merge As Blended Family:

Brood XIII and Brood XIX will emerge together this year, for the first time in more than two centuries. But only in small patches of Illinois are they likely to come out of the ground in the same place.

As the ground was warming in April 1803, France sold the rights to the territory of Louisiana, which it acquired from Spain in 1800, to the United States for $15 million.

That spring, Brood XIII and Brood XIX emerged together into a newly enlarged United States.

Their descendants — 13 and 17 generations later — are now poised to return, and will not sing together again until 2245.

We’ve had the eclipse, how ’bout a Cicada Watch Party?

What do you want to talk about?

Delaware Political Weekly: April 26-May 2, 2024

1.  Don’t Sleep On RD 9.  I haven’t focused on this NCC district that is all south of the canal.  But the Working Families Party’s endorsement of Terrell Williams has opened my eyes.  Why, you ask, should the result this year be any different than it was in 2022, when Rethug Kevin Hensley won by a 55-45 margin, which pretty much matched the 55-45 margin in 2020, when Hensley defeated Debbie Harrington?  Well, let’s first stipulate that there are no guarantees that the result will be different.  But there are at least three compelling reasons why this could well be the year.  Before I address them, let’s first acknowledge that Williams starts with the 45% floor he reached in 2022.  Here are three reasons why he can win in 2024:

a.  The numbers in the RD continue to trend more D all the time.  The current figures are 10,067 D; 5864 R;  and 5890 I.  In 2022, the numbers were 9720 D; 5827 R;  and 5131 I.  Yes, a huge jump in I’s.  But we’ve got over 300 more D’s that have been added and 37 more R’s.  That’s a trend and every little bit helps.

b.  As the R’s in Dover become more radical in their stands, it’s much easier for D challengers, particularly in New Castle County, to use those radical positions against them.  Williams just did it, castigating Hensley for siding with hospital administrators against rising healthcare costs.

c.  The WFP Endorsement.  This is big big.  As in cause/effect big big.  The cause was that Terrell Williams is doing the work needed to earn the endorsement–meeting voters, raising money, building a campaign organization. The effect is that Williams will now have the grassroots efforts of the Delaware WFP behind him, and that’s huge.  His campaign goes from being a mom-and-pop organization to a legit boots-on-the-ground battle.  Contributions welcome.

In other words, we are now facing the very real possibility  that there may be no Rethug legislators from New Castle County in Dover.   I for one look forward to meeting the endorsed candidates at the WFP event this Saturday.

2. John Carney.  OK, he officially announced his candidacy for Mayor of Wilmington and filed for the ballot.  I think it’s time we take a look at Carney’s entire elective career:

Elected Lt. Governor in 2000.  Served from 2001 to 2009.  Carney didn’t really run for Lt. Governor.  He was forced on Ruth Ann Minner by Tom Carper.  Carper was governor and Ruth Ann was Lt. Gov. at the time.  The two couldn’t stand each other.  Carney had been Carper’s green eyeshade guy, serving as Secretary of Finance and Deputy Chief of Staff for Carper.  Everybody in Dover was shocked when Minner ‘selected’ Carney, who had never exhibited any interest in running for public office.  I mean, he was well-liked, but it was an out-of-the-blue pick.

Sought, but lost, D nomination for Governor in 2008.  The State Democratic Party endorsed him and did everything they could to put their fingers on the scale.  But when you stand for nothing, and run a Campaign About Nothing, you can lose even with all the advantages.   Which Carney did, being edged out by Jack Markell.

Elected US Representative in 2010.  After taking a year off to dabble in offshore wind, Carney was elected to the first of his three terms in Congress, defeating Glen Urquhart in 2010. Tom Kovach in 2012, and Rose Izzo in 2014.

Waiting For Beau.  The insiders knew that Beau Biden was seriously ill and would not be able to run for Governor in 2016.  Carney used that to his advantage, first saying that he would defer to his dear friend Beau, then, once the inevitable happened, said he would defer campaigning out of respect to his dear friend Beau.  Which begat the 2016 Campaign About Nothing.  Followed by a Carney Administration About Nothing.  For eight years.

Which brings me to my point:  John Carney has been a political presence in Delaware for 24 years.  Yes, for that long.  Can anybody, ANYbody, cite a single accomplishment of note that he has achieved.  When you think of John Carney, what comes to mind?  For me it’s the Concord Coalition (Paul Tsongas in swim trunks, anybody?) and budget-smoothing.   Budget-smoothing being an idea he appropriated from one-term Rethug State Treasurer Ken Simpler.

He now wants to bring that singular lack of accomplishment and, let’s be honest, lack of curiosity, to Wilmington. Backwards reels the mind.

3. D Rep. Stell Parker Selby Gets A D Challenger In RD 20.  She deserves one.  Let’s just see what this Brian P. Jenkins is all about…OK, I found nothing.  That’s where you, my Suxco Spies, can help me out.  So–help me out!

4.  Filings.  D Insurance Commissioner Trinidad Navarro;  Dennis E. Williams (D-for RD 10); Incumbent D City Council At-Large Tish Bracy (filled out the term of Loretta Walsh); Gregg Lindner (D for RD 4); D Wilmington City Councilperson Bregatta Fields; D Kent County Levy Court Commissioner Alan Angel (District 3).

That’s all I’ve got this week.  What’d I miss, and whaddayathink?

DL Open Thread: Thursday, May 2, 2024

Will Biden’s Tone-Deaf Response To Protests Cost Him In November?  To me, this is like spring of 1970 all over again.  I can only hope that there isn’t another Kent State:

The national group representing college Democrats released a statement Tuesday standing with pro-Palestinian campus protesters and criticizing President Joe Biden for his “bear hug” of what the group called “the genocidal acts of the far-right radical extremist Israeli government.”

The statement, released by the College Democrats of America, illustrated a break with the Democratic Party — of which it is an official arm. It was approved by an 8-2 vote of the group’s executive board, which is made up of national leadership that has been elected by representatives of campus and state college Democrats chapters across the country.

Hasan Pyarali, a senior at Wake Forest University and chairman of the CDA Muslim Caucus, helped write the statement, and told HuffPost the group was “trying to do a service to the party and the White House” by alerting them to what CDA leadership believes is a growing rift between Biden administration policy and the views of young voters.

“If you keep ignoring us, keep giving us the cold shoulder, you risk losing your own base, and then in turn, the election,” he said. “Because let’s just be frank about this: They can’t win without young voters. 2020 was won in large part because of young voters. So if you neglect them and assume that they’ll come along no matter how you treat them, you’re risking the entire country. And we didn’t think that was fair or right, which is why we decided to call them out on it.”

They have said what I’ve been thinking.

MTG: Yep, Jews Killed Jesus.  She’s bent on self-destruction. She won’t be treated like a martyr like, you know, Jesus:

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) cited one of the most prominent historical antisemitic narratives as her reason for not approving legislation aimed at combating antisemitism on Wednesday. Greene posted on the site formerly known as Twitter to explain her thinking.

“Antisemitism is wrong, but I will not be voting for the Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023 (H.R. 6090) today that could convict Christians of antisemitism for believing the Gospel that says Jesus was handed over to Herod to be crucified by the Jews,” Greene wrote.

Greene’s comment was accompanied by a photo of the bill text, which said it would use the “definition of antisemitism” adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance in 2016. The text noted this includes “claims of Jews killing Jesus,” which it described as “classic antisemitism.”

Hey, you just know that a shitload of the Rethug supporters of Israel quietly believe the same thing.  Anti-semites publicly opposing antisemitism.

A New Form Of Sports-Washing.  Wealthy owners using purchase of teams to avoid taxes:

The IRS has launched a campaign to examine whether wealthy taxpayers are violating the law when using their ownership of sports teams to save large amounts in taxes.

The effort will focus on sports industry entities that are reporting “significant tax losses” to “determine if the income and deductions driving the losses” are lawful, according to the IRS announcement earlier this year. That announcement, which consisted of one sentence on a webpage devoted to compliance campaigns by the IRS division that focuses on large businesses, did not specify what kinds of abuses the agency will be looking for.

The initiative comes after ProPublica, drawing on leaked IRS data, revealed how billionaire team owners frequently report incomes for their teams that are vastly lower than their real-world earnings.

When someone buys a business, they’re often able to deduct almost the entire sale price against their income during the ensuing years. That allows them to pay less in taxes. The underlying logic is that the purchase price was composed of assets — buildings, equipment, patents and more — that degrade over time and should be counted as expenses. Owners of sports franchises routinely avail themselves of such deductions, which can be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

But in few industries is that tax treatment more detached from economic reality than in professional sports. Teams’ most valuable assets, such as TV deals and player contracts, are virtually guaranteed to regenerate because sports franchises are essentially monopolies. There’s little risk that players will stop playing for their teams or that TV stations will stop airing their games. But the team owners still get to deduct the value of those assets over time, sometimes billions of dollars’ worth, from their taxable income.

It helps billionaire sports team owners pay far lower income tax rates than the athletes they employ or even the low-wage workers who sell food or clean their stadiums.

Yes, Delaware House Rethugs Engaged In A Filibuster.  What’s that saying: 50 witnesses can’t be wrong?  House D’s were right in voting to cut off the filibuster.  This is true whether you think the bill should have been worked or not:

After nearly four hours of heated debate, House lawmakers passed legislation Thursday that would establish a hospital cost review board in the First State.

As the controversial bill heads to the Senate, Thursday’s session in the House of Representatives was marked by lawmakers clashing, leading to several points of order, a motion to table the legislation, legal questioning and an anticlimactic end to the night as House Democrats invoked a special procedure to put an end to the lengthy discussion.

Throughout the debate, House Republicans called Delaware Healthcare Association president and CEO Brian Frazee as a witness. His organization represents the state’s five hospitals and has been a staunch opponent of the cost review board.

“We want to be transparent with our communities … we’re willing to put (documents) on the table in the spirit of transparency. The act of having to turn over our entire budgets to the board up front is where we believe that’s a bridge too far,” Mr. Frazee said. “This impacts everything and really will have significant impacts quickly on our health care system.”

BTW, Democratic candidate Terrell Williams, who is running against Kevin Hensley in RD 9, wasted no time in blistering Hensley for valuing hospital bureaucracy/secrecy over affordable healthcare.  Good for him.  More about RD 9 and Williams in tomorrow’s Political Weekly.

What do you want to talk about?

‘Bulo’s Fave Tunes: April 2024

I tried to narrow this list down and, in fact, did.  Just too many good songs to ignore:

For newbies, the songs are in alpha order by artist:

Real Black Country Music:

The 4-20 Song Of The Year:

“So many humans, and where’s the humanity?”:

OK, I get why they don’t play this on the radio.  But only 264 views??:

Now THAT’S a great month of music.  If I had to hazard a guess (which I’m contractually obligated to do), I think Nathan Arizona’s fave will be the one with only 264 views…

BREAKING: DEA To Reclassify Marijuana

From the Washington Post:

The Drug Enforcement Administration will move to loosen restrictions on marijuana in what would be a historic shift in federal drug policy, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

The measure, if enacted, would not instantly legalize marijuana at the federal level but could broaden access to the drug for medicinal use and boost cannabis industries in states where it is legal. The move may also prove a political win for President Biden, who is campaigning for reelection and has sought to ameliorate racial and criminal justice inequities wrought by the nation’s long, failed War on Drugs.

The White House Office Management and Budget must review the proposal, according to the individuals who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be able to discuss internal administrative matters. The measure, if accepted, would not go into effect for months until the public has a chance to comment.

As a Schedule I controlled substance, marijuana is classified as having a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use. Under the DEA’s proposed change, marijuana would go to less-risky Schedule III — in the same tier as prescription drugs such as ketamine and anabolic steroids.

BREAKING!!: Delaware Working Families Party Announces Endorsements

Here is the press release in its entirety:

Delaware Working Families Party Announces First Round of Endorsements in 2024 Elections

Endorsements Include Collin O’Mara For Governor, Slate of State House Candidates

Newark, DE—On Saturday, May 4th, the Delaware Working Families Party will hold a kickoff event to celebrate their first round of endorsements for the 2024 election season. These endorsements include:

  • Collin O’Mara for Governor

  • Branden Fletcher for State House District 3

  • Terrell Williams for State House District 9

  • Kamela Smith for State House District 15

  • Frank Burns for State House District 21

  • Monica Beard for State House District 22

  • Eric Morrison for State House District 27

  • Monica Shockley-Porter for State House District 29

“Over the last few years, thanks in large part to Working Families champions in the legislature, we have seen immense progress on issues like a $15 minimum wage, paid family and medical leave, and moving to clean energy,” said Karl Stomberg, Political Director for the Delaware Working Families Party. “However, due to resistance from our current governor and State House leadership, progress on issues like free school meals for all, true police reform, and community workforce agreements has been stalled or non-existent. We believe that these leaders the WFP was proud to endorse will move us forward on all of these critical issues that working class people in Delaware want progress on.”

Of the state house candidates that are running, one is running for an open seat, two are running to replace incumbent Democrats, and three are running to replace incumbent Republicans. Eric Morrison is the only incumbent endorsed in this first round, as he is facing a corporate primary challenger, but other incumbents will be endorsed later this cycle.

Over the last two cycles, the Delaware Working Families Party has endorsed 12 state legislative candidates and has won in 7 of those races. In 2020, they supported Marie Pinkney who defeated the Senate Pro Tempore at the time, David McBride. In 2022, they supported DeShanna Neal who defeated Larry Mitchell, the House Majority Whip at the time. In 2024, they seek to repeat those successes, including against current members of legislative leadership.

“Over the last several weeks I have had the opportunity to speak with neighbors in District 15 listening to what matters to them and what affects them personally. Neighbors in District 15 want to be heard and their voices and experiences represented,” said Kamela Smith, candidate for State House District 15. “I am running for State Representative in this district with them in mind, with their voices in my ear. I am not afraid to directly address their concerns. I am serving today for a change tomorrow.”

Many Working Families Party endorsees are also seeking to replace members of the House Republican caucus, who are two seats away from giving up a super-majority.

“Over the last few years, we have seen Republicans like my opponent hold up important legislation like vote by mail and opposing any efforts to help working families, all while pushing for corporations to get the right to vote,” said Monica Beard, candidate for State House District 22. “As a mom, I am running to represent actual working families in my district and across Delaware.”

The slow but steady withdrawal of good-paying middle-class jobs through companies like Chrysler, GM, and DuPont; the rise in poverty in relation to the rest of the country; the persistence of unaccountable police violence and other forms of institutional racism; the threat of rising sea levels and pollution to our most vulnerable communities; and so many other important issues show that the system isn’t working. There are more working families than ever who are struggling to make ends meet. Beyond the local level, the last few years of electoral success for Working Families champions shows that Delawareans are ready for change.

“As Democrats, it’s on us to enact durable solutions that support Delaware’s working families — from strengthening our public schools, creating well-paying jobs, and eliminating child hunger to ensuring healthcare, housing, and childcare are more affordable, leading on climate change, and protecting fundamental rights,” said Collin O’Mara, candidate for governor. “I am excited to be joining forces with the Working Families Party to fight for new bold policies that will expand opportunity for all Delawareans.”

As to the kickoff event:

WHO: Delaware Working Families Party

WHAT: Endorsement Kickoff Event

WHEN: Saturday, May 4th @ 11:00am

WHERE: Ramada Inn Newark/Wilmington, 260 Chapman Rd, Newark, DE 19702.

Might just have to stop down for THIS one!

DL Open Thread: Sunday, April 28, 2024

Every Dog-Killer Has Its Day.  Noem’s day is done:

The outpouring of animal love from political social media is all in response to South Dakota Gov. Kristi L. Noem (R) — who is believed to be in the running to be Donald Trump’s running mate — admitting in her forthcoming book that she killed a family dog and goat in a gravel pit with a gun on the same day.

And Laura Loomer, a right-wing activist and Trump ally, wrote on X, “You can’t shoot your dog and then be VP.”

Not even Trump has been accused of killing his dog.  (Although unverified reports suggest that Trump had sex with one, got it to sign an NDA, then sent it to live with Vince McMahon.)

Remember The Majesty Of Trump Tower?  It is no more, if it ever was.  The prevaricating, though, continues apace:

Even Trump’s websites lie. The internet home of Trump Tower is a work of fiction. If you click the “Retail” tab, the link invites you to “EXPLORE OUR IMPRESSIVE PORTFOLIO OF RETAIL TENANTS.” A picture boasts that Gucci, Tiffany, and Starbucks have set up shop there.

The claim is 33% correct. Gucci is still there. Tiffany, which was never in Trump Tower — it was temporarily in a Trump building around the corner on 57th St — returned to its historic store a year ago. Starbucks left in 2022. Besides, why would Starbucks be under “Retail” when the site has a “Dining” option? In addition, what other supposedly luxury retail destination features an overpriced coffee shop as an anchor destination?

The Dining section is headlined by the “Trump Cafe.” However, you cannot eat there. It is closed for renovations. Trump promises a reopening in the spring. But if you believe that, you might be a MAGA.

But what about that magnificent view of Central Park?:

Trump lied about the size of his apartment in Trump Tower — it is 11,000 sq ft, not 30,000. He lied about the height of the building — it is 58 stories, not 68. And on his website, he lies about the view. The picture below was taken from somewhere on Central Park South. Trump Tower is three blocks south of the Park on the other side of 5th Ave.

Read the whole article.  Might provide a pleasurable frisson of schadenfreude. 

Welcome To The National Park That Is Not A National Park.  Yep, we’re talkin’ Delaware:

Despite being the First State, Delaware did not have a National Park until today, with politicians making it official at a ribbon cutting ceremony for First State National Historical Park.

After getting a major makeover, the public is invited to the New Castle Court House Museum, which is included in the First State National Historical Park.

Senator Carper emphasized that the most popular thing international travelers come to see in the United States is the National Parks.(Even if Delaware’s is a NPINO, National Park In Name Only.)

“We want to make sure that when people are thinking of coming to America, they know that there’s a place called ‘Delaware’, we’re the first state, and we’re the first state that helped start this country,” says Carper. “We want them to come here, too.”

Uh, what else is in Delaware’s ‘national park’?  The article, written by a purported ‘journalist’ whose name I will not mention, doesn’t say.  Come to think of it, the national park in question is worthy of the article that was written about it.

Quality over quantity today.  What do you want to talk about?

DL Open Thread: Saturday, April 27, 2024

Election Integrity–Rethuglican-Style.  They no longer even pretend that they’re not gonna try to steal the election:

When conservative lawyer and media personality Christina Bobbbecame one of the latest members of Donald Trump’s inner circle to be chargedin connection withthe effort to reverse the 2020 presidential election results, it became immediately clear she would not have to give up her day job: senior counsel to the Republican National Committee’s election integrity team.

Bobb’s indictment solidifies her identity as a dedicated Trump loyalist who fiercely fought to reverse his loss in the politically competitive state and potentially elevates her role within the RNC to help him (cheat to) win in November.

This is the new normal.

Do the Russian People Hate Higher Taxes?  They’re gonna pay ’em–for the war machine:

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia appears on track to institute a rare tax increase on corporations and high earners, a move that reflects both the burgeoning costs of his war in Ukraine and the firm control he has over the Russian elite as he embarks on a fifth term in office.

Financial technocrats in Mr. Putin’s government are searching for new ways to fund not just the war but also a broader confrontation with the West that is likely to remain costly for years. Russia is allocating nearly a third of its overall 2024 budget to national defense spending this year, a huge increase, adding to a deficit that the Kremlin has taken pains to keep in check.

The proposed tax increase underscores Mr. Putin’s rising confidence about his political control over the Russian elite and his country’s economic resilience at home, showing that he is willing to risk alienating parts of society to fund the war. It would represent the first major tax overhaul in over a decade.

Hey, at least he’s taxing corporations and the wealthy.  Ya think all the Putin sympathizers in the Rethuglican Party will follow suit?

From Dog-Killer To Veep?  I hear that Trump hates dogs:

By taking Cricket on a pheasant hunt with older dogs, (South Dakota Governor Kristi) Noem says, she hoped to calm the young dog down and begin to teach her how to behave. Unfortunately, Cricket ruined the hunt, going “out of her mind with excitement, chasing all those birds and having the time of her life”.

Noem describes calling Cricket, then using an electronic collar to attempt to bring her under control. Nothing worked. Then, on the way home after the hunt, as Noem stopped to talk to a local family, Cricket escaped Noem’s truck and attacked the family’s chickens, “grabb[ing] one chicken at a time, crunching it to death with one bite, then dropping it to attack another”.

Cricket the untrainable dog, Noem writes, behaved like “a trained assassin”.

When Noem finally grabbed Cricket, she says, the dog “whipped around to bite me”. Then, as the chickens’ owner wept, Noem repeatedly apologised, wrote the shocked family a check “for the price they asked, and helped them dispose of the carcasses littering the scene of the crime”.

Through it all, Noem says, Cricket was “the picture of pure joy”.

“I hated that dog,” Noem writes, adding that Cricket had proved herself “untrainable”, “dangerous to anyone she came in contact with” and “less than worthless … as a hunting dog”.

“At that moment,” Noem says, “I realised I had to put her down.”

Noem, who also represented her state in Congress for eight years, got her gun, then led Cricket to a gravel pit.

Hey, what’s wrong with having two sociopaths on the R ticket?

Birthday Greetings To Melania:

“I want to start by wishing my wife Melania a very happy birthday,” Donald Trump told reporters on Friday. “It would be nice to be with her but I’m at a courthouse for a rigged trial.”

Since spending quality time with Stormy Daniels appears to be out of the question.

Anyone Heard Of Delaware’s The New School?  Rolling Stone has. (Confession: I haven’t subscribed to Rolling Stone since the ’70’s.) Sounds like it has a bit of a, um, ‘cult following’:

Rolling Stone published an investigation Tuesday that delved into the history of a small private school in New Castle County: The New School. One student’s “hyper-focused” fascination with religion, and his protection by his school, meets overall concerns with alleged sexual behavior, aggression, shaming and a culture of silence detailed within the reporting.

Housed for most of its existence in an old Victorian with acres of farm to match, some 4 miles from University of Delaware, the institution kept a small student body — under 50 kids at any given time, from 5 to 19 years old, according to reporting from senior writer Ej Dickson.

The outfit’s name could sound familiar to local coverage just before pandemic shutdown. It was the school of choice for Samuel Gulick before he threw a Molotov cocktail inside Newark’s Planned Parenthood facility in January 2020, spent more than two years in federal lockup, then saw a sentence of probation and mental health treatment.

Well, that’s ‘guilt by association’, supposedly verboten for reporters.  However:

Gulick’s lawyer at the time said his client’s developmental issues were treated up until his time at The New School, as previously reported, when at age 15, he chose to discontinue that treatment and focus his attention on a “conservative form” of Roman Catholicism practiced by leadership at the school. That leadership offered no comment at the time.

The school either is, or isn’t, still operational.  Nobody from the school is talking.  Wonder if the Department of Education is aware that this school exists and/or is doing anything about it.  We have some education experts who read and comment here.  Anybody have more info?

What do you want to talk about?

DL Open Thread: Friday, April 26, 2024

No DC Trump Trial Before Election.  The Supreme Court has guaranteed it in a multitude of ways.  Josh Marshall says it best:

I was watching cable news this afternoon at the gym. And I saw one of those examples of what has now become a Trump/Roberts Court-era set piece, where principled and very smart lawyers and/or legal academics have to say, I guess I was a chump.

My guiding heuristic has been that the Roberts Court, especially in its post-2017 iteration is thoroughly corrupt and will generally do whatever is in the interests of the GOP so long as it doesn’t put too big a dent in the Court’s own perceived legitimacy and elite social standing. Based on this standard I assumed the Court would settle for delaying Trump’s trial until the Fall. It seems now that they’re likely to kick it back to the trial Court for further fact-finding and thus the case itself well into 2025.

We are where we should know we are. The Roberts Court is a corrupt institution which operates in concert with and on behalf of the Republican Party and to an ambiguous degree right-wing anti-regulatory ideology. If we believe in a different set of policies or even democratic self-governance we will have to succeed at that with the Supreme Court acting as a consistent adversary.

Call the Rethug justices what they are: Unindicted co-conspirators.  Here’s another good take.

Arizona FINALLY Repeals Civil War-era Abortion Ban.  Well, almost:

After days of national outcry over an Arizona supreme court ruling that upheld the 1864 ban, passed before Arizona became a state, three Republicans in the state house broke ranks to vote with Democrats to support a repeal. Last week, two Republicans in the state senate also voted with Democrats to advance a similar repeal. As long as those Republican votes hold firm, Democrats will likely send the repeal to Arizona’s Democratic governor in May.

Before the fall of Roe, anti-abortion activists were becoming increasingly hardline, often pressuring the GOP to drop candidates who lacked anti-abortion bona fides. But after Wednesday, rather than directing their ire at the Republicans who are making the repeal possible, they have largely blamed the usual suspects: abortion rights advocates. “The most protective pro-life law in the country is poised to fall to the appetites of pro-abortion activists,” Cathi Herrod, president of the powerful Center for Arizona Policy, said in a statement, adding that she supports efforts to “defend the state’s 15-week law if the pre-Roe law was repealed”.

Hey, at least the hard-liners still have the Supreme Court, which appears poised to…

…overturn ‘federal law (that) require(s) hospitals to provide emergency abortion care in states with strict bans on the procedure’.

Why Democrats Suck–Part Of An Endless Series:

Barring a last-minute breakthrough, more than 7,000 workers are set to walk off their truck and bus assembly lines on Friday night in the swing state of North Carolina, injecting the United Automobile Workers’ new activism in the South directly into the 2024 election.

North Carolina has never been hospitable to organized labor, and the midnight strike at the North American subsidiary of the German industrial giant Daimler Truck has been greeted with trepidation by the state’s Democratic establishment, which has long tried to project a moderate, pro-business bent.

In other words, they’re not Democrats.

Hospital Cost Review Board Bill Passes.  After a marathon session that would have gone on even longer were it not for a legislative gimmick.  BTW, there’s a comment in the trash concerning this that we didn’t put there.  If you (you know who you are) wish us to post it, just ask.

What do you want to talk about?

Delaware Political Weekly: April 19-25, 2024

1. The Ultimate Delaware Way Team.  Pairing the Intellectual Bankruptcy and the Ethical Bankruptcy Of The Delaware Way:

2.  When You’re The Rethuglican Chair, And Nobody Wants To Run For Governor…:

…you do this:

Greetings All!  In Delaware,
we are just under 200 days from the most consequential election of our lifetimes, with a tremendous opportunity to take over the Governor seat. We Delawareans, whether registered Democrat, Republican or Unaffiliated, are aware that our dollars are not going as far as they used to, that our children are not being adequately educated, that we are impacted by out-of-control crime and that our government is increasingly dictating the way we live our lives.
We need a BOLD gubernatorial candidate that can make the pitch to Delawareans of all walks of life that a change in philosophy of governing is needed based on sound principles and policies. This candidate needs to be FEARLESS about calling out the failed policies that have hurt Delawareans and have put our future and our children’s future in jeopardy. This candidate must have run statewide before (?) and must have demonstrated the ability to close the gap on achieving 50.1% in order to win in November.
We have diligently looked for a gubernatorial candidate since last Summer. As I have said many times, it is a hard sell. In the course of our search, many people suggested that I was the best choice due to my name recognition, strong following, ability to raise money, and experience in running statewide races. I deferred to the continual search in the hope we could find a candidate who could bring the same attributes that I could bring. While we spoke to many, no one met the criteria we were hoping to find.
In an earlier Murray Minute, I challenged “Are you leaving everything on the field?” I said that I was. But was I really? Have I really left everything on the field? The answer is no. I have not met my own challenge. On April 1, when we did not have an announced candidate that had demonstrated the ability to win a statewide election, I started to reevaluate.  On May 8, I will be officially announcing that I am running for Governor. I believe I am the most qualified and viable candidate that has the experience of closing the gap based on my last two statewide elections. I have worked tirelessly for the last four years trying to make Delaware better and will, once again, put everything on the line for what could be our last chance to save Delaware. We can win this election!  Our DEGOP bylaws do not require that I vacate my seat as the Chair, so I will remain in this position and will continue to focus on state house and senate races while also focusing on winning the Delaware Governor seat. I am committed to collaborating with candidates up and down the ballot in order to make 2024 THE YEAR for a Delaware resurgence to the time when Delaware was led by true leaders that adhered to conservative principles.  There will be much more information in the coming weeks. I am sharing this pre-announcement with you now because I am committed on the decision to run for Governor, and I pledged to be open and transparent with you.  This is me leaving it all on the field… Julianne Murray.
Well, there ya go.
3. Matt Meyer’s Education Agenda.  Not even John Carney’s most ardent defenders can argue that he had a plan for educational improvement.  Mostly eight years of malign neglect.  Here’s Meyer’s plan:

One of the key parts of the New Castle County executive’s plan is to increase teacher compensation in the First State.

The average starting salary for Delaware teachers is $45,448, according to statistics from the Department of Education. The pay is lower than Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland, and the latter state has committed to raising educator salaries to a $60,000 minimum beginning in 2026.

As the state continues to experience effects of the nationwide teacher shortage, the candidate outlined several retention efforts.

This includes implementing programs to reduce classroom disruptions, providing loan forgiveness and financial assistance to incentivize teachers to work in high-need schools and subject areas, funding teacher residencies and raising the pay of excelling teachers in high-need schools, areas and specialties to $100,000 per year.

Mr. Meyer also intends to change the state’s education funding formula by ensuring an increase of investment of $3,400 to $6,400 per Delaware student.

Another focus of the education initiative is to provide universal access to pre-K care for Delawareans by the end of the next gubernatorial term.

Further, Mr. Meyer has plans to address primary and secondary education, specifically by giving principals more authority to lead their schools, ensuring students read at or above grade level by third grade, fully funding school meals, doubling the state’s investment in school-based health centers, implementing an intervention system to address absenteeism, increasing investments of mental-health supports and after-school programs and requiring students to develop a personal education plan for their career goals by 9th grade.

There’s lots more.  Hey, at least he has a plan.  We know that BHL doesn’t as she’s re-running Carney’s two issues-free races for Governor.  We have yet to hear from Collin O’Mara.  Looking forward to hearing his plan.

4. R Carter Hill Files For NCC Executive.  If you didn’t know that he had been a Marine,  you’ll get multiple reminders on his campaign web page.   You’ll also learn that he is ‘ridiculously in love with his wife Michelle’.  They have a son, who also wants to be a Marine.  His chief claim for the office is that he ‘has never worked in government‘.  Hey, at least they found somebody to run.

5.  Monica Shockley Porter Makes It Official.  She’s great, and she’s running against the Delaware Way’s Bill Bush.  Bush already knows he’s in trouble.  Tough to figure out how to run against a grassroots challenger with real community roots when you were effectively installed in your seat by the Delaware Way denizens.  You can make it even tougher for him by clicking this link and donating.

5. Milford Elections Saturday.  We have a rerun between incumbent Mayor Archie Campbell and Milford Councilmember Todd Culotta, who lost to Campbell back in 2018.

6. Filings: D Senator Laura Sturgeon (SD 4);  D Senator Stephanie Hansen (SD 10); D-turned-R Danny Rappa, running in RD 13 against DeShanna Neal; R State Rep. Charles Postles (RD 33).

7.  Shout-out To My Spies.  You keep providing new information, and I really appreciate it!

That’s all I’ve got this week.  What’d I miss, and whaddayathink?

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., April 25, 2024

The Big Story:  Hospital Lobbyists Likely To Swarm Leg Hall Today.

There’s only one bill of note on either Agenda today.  But, since it’s a stick in the eye of hospital practices, it’s likely to swell the temporary population in Dover today.

HS2/HB 350 (Longhurst):

…creates the Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board, which will be responsible for an annual review of hospital budgets and related financial information. The Board will have 7 members: 6 appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate, and the Executive Director of the Delaware Healthcare Association. This Act creates a requirement that hospitals submit yearly budgets, audited financial statements, and related financial information to the Board for review. Where a hospital fails to meet the state’s budget benchmark for increases in hospital costs it is required to engage with the Board on a performance improvement plan. If the Board and the hospital cannot agree on an improvement plan or where the hospital fails to successfully implement a performance plan, the Board may require the hospital to have its future budget approved by the Board.

Only two legislative sponsors, Longhurst and Sen. Townsend.  Bill was assigned to, and released from, the House Administration Committee, Our PAL Val’s committee.  I honestly don’t know whether this is a good bill or not, so I’m gonna listen to the floor discussion today.  I don’t know to what extent government should be able to dictate hospital practices and fees. I expect it to be lengthy.  I don’t know whether there will be a roll call, at least not today.

Here is yesterday’s Session Activity Report.  I could find nothing of note.

Today’s Senate Agenda consists of a Consent Agenda.  Consent Agendas generally consist of bills viewed as being non-controversial.  Should any senator object to a bill being on a Consent Agenda, the bill is automatically removed.

One other bill of note on today’s House Agenda.  HS1/HB 302 (Bolden):

HB 302 requires all group, blanket, and individual health insurance policies to cover prostate screening for men at risk of prostate cancer. This Substitute bill broadens the definition of “prostate screening” to include any medically necessary and clinically appropriate method for the detection and diagnosis of prostate cancer, including a digital rectal exam and prostate specific antigen test, and associated laboratory work. This Substitute bill also clarifies the ages at which prostate screenings must be covered, consistent with the American Cancer Society guidelines, as follows: (1) Age 50 for men at average risk of developing prostate cancer; (2) Age 45 for men at high risk of developing prostate cancer, including African American men and men who have a first degree relative diagnosed with prostate cancer; and (3) Age 40 for men at even higher risk for prostate cancer, including men who have more than one first degree relative diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Good bill.

BTW, still no legislation forestalling the retired legislator windfall.

DL Open Thread: Thursday, April 25, 2024

One Journalist Explains The Link Between Rethugs And Manufactured Outrage Over ‘Anti-Semitism’.  I was thinking it, should’ve written it:

In early December, the House Education Committee held a hearing considering antisemitic incidents on college campuses. This was the hearing in which the presidents of Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania offered fumbling responses to a question about antisemitic rhetoric, earning national headlines.

That result was a bonanza for the Republicans running the hearing and for Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) personally. As Politico wrote at the time, the situation helped drive a wedge between factions of the political left — widening a divide still obvious in Democratic politics.

But this was a fortunate (if not lucky) effect of the hearing. It was intended not to catch university presidents making tone-deaf comments about antisemitism but, instead, to present those presidents as out of touch and hopelessly liberal, echoing a line of argument that’s become increasingly common on the right.

Consider how committee Chair Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) described the reason for the hearing as it began.

“After the events of the past two months,” Foxx said, “it’s clear that rabid antisemitism [and] the university are two ideas that cannot be cleaved from one another. A prime example of this ideology at work is at Harvard, where classes are taught such as DP 385, ‘Race and racism in the making of the United States as a global power.’”

The point was to use incidents of antisemitism as a criticism of elite institutions’ approach to education, in keeping with Republican rhetoric on the subject. As the debate over colleges has shifted to student protests in opposition to Israel’s military response to Oct. 7, the idea that colleges are incubators for left-wing ideology remains a subtext to the response on the right.

It’s the Sixties all over again.  I know. I was there.

By The Time They Get To Phoenix, They’re Indicted.  Yep, the usual suspects, with Le Grand Orange  as an unindicted co-conspirator.

An Arizona grand jury has indicted former Donald Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and lawyer Rudy Giuliani along with 16 others in an election interference case.

The indictment released Wednesday names 11 Republicans who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring that Donald Trump beat Joe Biden in Arizona in the 2020 presidential election. It shows seven other defendants whose names were not immediately released because they had not yet been served with the charges.

The Associated Press was able to determine the identities of the unnamed defendants based on their descriptions in the indictment.

One is described as an attorney “who was often identified as the Mayor” and spread false allegations of election fraud, a description that clearly describes Giuliani. Another is described as Trump’s “ chief of staff in 2020,” which describes Meadows.

Delmarva Rate Settlement:  We’ll still pay too much, just not as much ‘too much’ as we have been paying:

Your electric bills are about to go down in Delaware, but not by as much as some state officials think is fair.

A settlement agreement with utility company Delmarva Power — approved last week after an often-contentious, hourslong meeting — will offer a small rebate to Delawareans who’ve been paying higher rates on electricity since July of last year. Ratepayers will also pay slightly lower rates going forward.

The settlement was approved this month after more than a year of legal wrangling among Delmarva Power and a disparate gallery of players who challenged the utility’s rate increase plan.

Here’s why regulatory staff think the agreement was insufficient:

But the staff of the state Public Service Commission, which oversees utilities, vociferously opposed the deal. Their lawyers argued that small businesses were poorly represented and will suffer for it, that the state has disrupted precedent in damaging ways, and that, as a result, we’re all overpaying by about $6 million.

DPC staff argued that the “black-boxed” figure of $42 million was too high and against commission precedent, and that calculating the appropriate rate increase was a matter of previously established procedure and simple math.

“The proposed revenue requirement in the Settlement Agreement represents 79% of what the Company was seeking in rates ($53.7 million),” wrote DPC staff in a firmly worded rebuttal to the settlement agreement. “When compared to other recent settlements before this Commission, as well as litigated decisions involving this utility, the settlement amount presented is abnormally high with no justification or basis in fact.”

The figure should instead be $36 million, according to DPC staff, about $6 million less than the settlement agreement. DPC staff also argued that small business owners were ill-represented by the Delaware Public Advocate, and received rates that are too high under the agreement.

 What do you want to talk about?