Delaware
Kudos to Senator Carper, for once.
Today a foreign leader will interfere in the political affairs of the United States, and Senator Tom Carper has decided that he will not be part of it, thank you very much.
Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware will join about 40 Democrats in boycotting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial speech to Congress on Tuesday. Carper called the timing of Netanyahu’s speech “wholly inappropriate,” given that the prime minister is up for re-election in two weeks. He and the other Democrats say House Speaker John Boehner broke protocol by inviting Netanyahu without consulting with the White House.
“I cannot imagine an occasion when a U.S. president would invite a foreign leader — even one from some of our closest allies like France, Germany or Canada — to address Congress on the eve of elections in his or her home country,” Carper said in a statement. “Furthermore, this visit came together by completely bypassing President Obama and his administration, which breaks our country’s protocol for visiting heads of state and stands to weaken U.S.-Israel relations.”
I was afraid the good Senator was just going to leave his list of reasons at that, and granted, they are good reasons. But the truest reason to be angry about that bastard Netanyahu’s speech has everything to do with the fact that he wants to scuttle any possible deal with Iran and he wants the United States to send more of our American children to die in defense of Israel in an invasion of Iran. And to his credit, Carper says that such direct interference into the foreign policy of the United States is one of his reasons.
What about Carney and Coons?
Tuesday Daily Delawhere [3.3.15]
The University of Delaware’s Performing Arts Campus in the snow, by the Flying Inn on Flickr.
The Vote Tracker for March 2, 2015
The General Assembly has been out on recess for most of this month to allow for budget hearings and the like. In the next two weeks, action will be ramping back up in Dover. And that includes Rep. Earl Jaques reintroducing his legislation from last session allowing for no-excuse absentee voting.
Reverend Kilroy Delivers A Sunday Sermon
Last week my phone started ringing and emails/texts poured in. Almost everyone began with: “Have you heard?” Why no, no I hadn’t heard. Today Kilroy puts up a post addressing what’s going on. Go read the post.
Those who sit at the right and left hand of the Red Clay God (Merv) better take a hard look in the mirror. Though school superintendents make many request for school board approval it is the school board who makes the final approval with no veto power on the super’s part. In the big picture the super’s failures are the board’s failures. […]
I am dishearten to hear (rumor of course) some board members want to throw Merv overboard midstream (before the end of his contract). Those who think Merv may be the problem are just as much the problem.
Friday Daily Delawhere [2.27.15]
H. Fletcher Brown Park in Wilmington at night, by Steve Ives on Flickr.
Thursday Daily Delawhere [2.26.15]
Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk in black and white, by Bob Mical on Flickr.
Yes Red Clay. No Christina. So What’s Next?
Residents in the Red Clay School District approved a measure that would raise taxes .35 cents per $100 of assessed property value over three years to cover increased operating expenses in their budget and provide for improvements in technology, curriculum and student services (the actual cost to the average homeowner in Red Clay once the measure is fully phased in would be $280 per year).
Residents in the Christina School District had two options to chose from, and they said no to both. The first option was a bare bones measure to just “keep the lights on,” and it would have raised taxes .65 cents per $100 of assessed property value phased in over three years. Only 26% of Christina residents voted yes to that. The second option would have raised taxes an additional .40 cents per $100 of assessed property value phased in over four years (so a total of $1.05 per $100), with the additional funds to pay for improvements in technology, arts, and early childhood learning. Only 22% voted yes.
So what’s next?
Markell’s Supreme Court, and a Missed Opportunity.
Nothing explains the Delaware Way more than the recent nomination to the Supreme Court by Gov. Jack Markell (D) of corporate attorney and the son of a former Supreme Court Justice, Collins J. “C.J.” Seitz, Jr., Esquire. Seitz, when confirmed (because there is no if about it in this state), will replace retiring Justice Henry duPont Ridgely.
The Judicial Nominating Commission, in addition to Seitz, also recommended to Governor Markell Superior Court Judge Calvin Scott, who would have been the first African American Supreme Court Justice on the Delaware Supreme Court; and a former Superior Court judge and now an attorney in private practice, Joseph Sleights III.
I think the Delaware Supreme Court could have used a little color, and something more diverse than another corporate attorney.


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