Posts by jason330

The media needs a mainstream Republican to talk about. They need to pretend that the two parties are roughly equivalent in common sense and rationality. Therefor it is a fairly safe bet that a lunatic like Rand Paul or Scot Walker isn't going to get the dubious award of "front runner by media acclimation." Who will it be then?

This was reported yesterday but not widely recognized as an actual fact within the beltway:

Two out of three Americans are dissatisfied with the way income and wealth are currently distributed in the U.S. This includes three-fourths of Democrats and 54% of Republicans.

Where do non-congressional members of the American family get these crazy ideas?

The combined wealth of the world's richest 85 people is now equivalent to that owned by half of the world's population – or 3.5 billion of the poorest people – according to a new report from Oxfam.

A Bronco is a wild horse or one that habitually bucks. A "Seahawk" is a colloquially term for an Osprey. The Osprey is a raptor, so it passes the first test of birds in fights (or Superbowls) - it has talons. Not only does it have talons, but it has four talons. When in flight, 3 of these toes face forward, and one backwards. When clutching prey, one talon swivels to face the rear. The upshot is that once it grabs something, the seahawk isn't letting go. Meanwhile, the bronco's key (and let's face it) only real strength is getting things off its back. That's not much a strength, but it is one that seems uniquely suited to cancelling the sea hawks grabby/clutchy strength. So we have to go to second level strengths...

The big fat liar had a busy week: - Both the state Senate and Assembly created their own special committees to investigate the Christie law breaking and within hours, 20 subpoenas were issued to 17 key people and three organizations in the unfolding story. - Those in the governor’s inner circle who have been subpoenaed include Kevin O’Dowd, the governor’s pick to serve as the state’s new attorney general; Michael Drewniak, Christie’s chief spokesman; Bill Stepien, his former campaign manager; Charles McKenna, the governor’s chief counsel; Bridget Anne Kelly, former deputy chief of staff; and Matt Mowers, another former aide. - Christie lawyered up for good reason. - Christie told a group in Weehawken that he was committed to being in New Jersey for all 4 years of his second term - for the first time signaling that he might not run for President. More inside...

For the nation's idiots, this is going to be a hill worth dying on, but it doesn't really matter. The Washington area NFL team will be called something other than the "redskins" in our lifetime (probably within the next ten years.)

Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder has turned DeAngelo Hall into the voice of reason. The oft-fined cornerback conceded this week that the team "probably should" change its name. "I think eventually they will change it," Hall responded when asked about the team's name during an appearance on FOX Sports' "Keeping It Real With Mike Hill."

Just imagine a team called the Heebs, or the Chinks, or the Whites and it is easy to see that the name is not going to make it. My suggestion is ...

We here at the Delaware Shakespeare Festival are incredibly excited to produce Hamlet this summer (July 11-27 at Rockwood Park!), but there's so much to talk about in this play, so much that's relevant to the world and to Delaware, that we can't wait for July. And that's why we're launching the "I Am Hamlet" Project. Through the "I Am Hamlet" Project, we plan to take Hamlet to the people of Delaware, from classroom workshops to retirement home discussions, from on-the-street interviews to the Twitterverse. We want to explore the themes of Hamlet that resonate strongly with Delawareans, sparking a conversation that will hopefully lead to self-reflection in ourselves and in our community. At the end, we plan to bring it all together in a big public forum, an "I Am Hamlet" Project town hall at Wilmington University. To do all that, we need your help.

The House has passed a $1.1 trillion spending plan that would fund the government through September. The Senate is expected to take up the measure by the end of the week. The spending bill would roll back some forced spending cuts, raise federal worker pay and protect disabled workers and some military spouses from a pension cut that is to go into effect next year. The deal is a break from several years of budget brinksmanship, stopgap funding measures and down-to-the-deadline negotiating, such as the one that forced the 16-day government shutdown in October.

I know, I know. The winners and losers will be revealed, and the teabags probably got everything they've ever demanded and more, but I've been spoiling for a little triumphalism.

I shouldn't be so surprised, but I am. Carney got the main points right. Social Security isn't a budget problem, and the long term fix is pretty easy - raise or eliminate the wage cap.

Currently, only the first $113,700 in an individual’s annual wages are taxed to help fund Social Security. By raising or eliminating the payroll cap we can raise hundreds of billions for the Trust Fund and extend the life of the program for nearly 75 more years. To make sure this proposal is fair to people at all income levels, individuals whose wages exceed the current cap could also receive a corresponding increase in benefits.

When I saw that Sean Barney was ready to run, I knew a long bank of switches were being flipped, and guys in short sleeved white dress shirts wearing ties and bulky headsets were saying, "Mission?" "Mission Control is GO!," "Houston?" "Houston is GO, flight" ...as well as other rocketry stuff to each other back at Carper HQ. I heard Carper talking up Barney eight years or so ago at a Jeff/Jax and figured, "Okay, this is happening." And so it is. But can a product of Carper, Inc keep his human heart? The experience of John Carney says that it is a long-shot. Beholden to banks? Check. Utterly ignoring issues of social and economic justice? Check. Is Sean Barney going to be more of the same? His background, and what he says about himself anyway, actual provides a slim ray of hope that he might not be another Carper clone.

Recently released emails and text messages make it clear that Chris Christie used threats and coercion to gain endorsements from New Jersey mayors and that the administration played a direct…