Friday Open Thread [10.17.14]

Friday Open Thread [10.17.14]

9 Comments
I can predict that next year's General Assembly will be all about education and pot. Why pot?
A majority of Delawareans support fully legalizing marijuana according to a new poll, but the issue’s political future isn’t quite as certain. 56 percent of state residents are in favor of it, compared to 39 percent opposing the issue according to the University of Delaware poll.

Sheriff Christopher Screws Up and Cost Sussex County $7,426,461

17 Comments
It is all laid out for you in this Delaware Right Guest Post by Georgetown lawyer John Sandy. Sandy took a look at the recent bid documents reprocuring process serving services in the County. The Constitutional Sheriff couldn't bring himself to follow the requirements of the RFP and lost the contract. A contract that should have added about $7M to Sussex County coffers. Seriously -- go read the whole thing. Mr. Sandy provides documentation to back this up and also takes a look at how Christoper paid for his lawsuit via a non-refundable retainer with one of the law firms that represents the County. He claims that since it was a non-refundable retainer, that his lawsuit where multiple courts told him his view of the constitution wasn't even worthy of a fiction award, that the taxpayers paid no money for his defense. Sussex doesn't operate on a retainer basis and Sandy provides a summary of the invoices presented to the County to defend his boondoggle. Seriously folks, go read the whole thing. Not only is Christoper a bad constitutional scholar (?), he's been an incompetent administrator of the office, losing a major revenue stream. And he is a liar. Sussex County citizens should send him to jail.
Debate Night!

Debate Night!

6 Comments
There's a debate for Attorney General Candidates (I don't know if this includes all of the ballot-qualified candidates) at Widener tonight, starting at 6pm, conducted by WDEL. You can listen on WDEL or go over to Widener to see it in person. Delaware Public Media and the University of Delaware Center for Political Communication sponsor debates with the major party candidates for U.S. House and U.S. Senate tonight at Mitchell Hall. This website provides the times (House starts at 7 and the Senate starts at 8), and there are rules for the debates there as well. Not sure if you can still attend in person, but that is likely there at the website. You can also watch a live stream (I think!) of the House and Senate debate.

Wednesday Open Thread [10.15.14]

2 Comments
South Carolina Prosecutors Say Stand Your Ground Doesn’t Apply To Victims Of Domestic Violence. Well, of course not! Stand Your Ground is for white men who want to shoot people with impunity! So silly to think that an expansion of 2nd Amendment rights would apply to you women and colored people:
In the cases of women who claim they feared for their lives when confronted with violent intimate abusers, prosecutors say the Stand Your Ground law shouldn’t apply. “(The Legislature’s) intent … was to provide law-abiding citizens greater protections from external threats in the form of intruders and attackers,” prosecutor Culver Kidd told the Post and Courier. “We believe that applying the statute so that its reach into our homes and personal relationships is inconsistent with (its) wording and intent.”
Brenda Mayrack is Wiping the Floor with Tom Wagner

Brenda Mayrack is Wiping the Floor with Tom Wagner

11 Comments
I've been listening to this debate on WDEL and Brenda Mayrack is really crushing it here. Wagner is crouching behind a story that his is a technical and complex job, which is why he isn't doing accountability and watchdog roles -- even though he thinks he should be re-elected to do accountability and watchdog work. He sounded *very* condescending to her and she bypassed that BS to stay on her message. Wagner spent a great deal of his time explaining how the real work of accountability belongs to agency management and the legislature. Basically, Wagner wants you to know that:
QOD — How Can An Accountability Testing Scheme Produce Such Low SAT Scores?

QOD — How Can An Accountability Testing Scheme Produce Such Low SAT Scores?

27 Comments
We found out this week that approximately 25% of Delaware's High school students are college-ready, in terms of their SAT scores. Leaving aside that SAT scoring is not the most reliable measure of college-readiness, what is the correlation between the SATs and the DCAS testing regime in Delaware's schools? It seems to me that if DCAS measures what a kid is learning (yes, I know that is a BIG IF), and the kids are taking a curriculum that makes them ready for college, how can the SAT scores be so out of line with all of this testing? It is pretty remarkable to me that DCAS is used as an accountability test, but that it apparently all of that learning it measures doesn't translate to better SAT scores.
What Creeping Sharia Law Looks Like

What Creeping Sharia Law Looks Like

32 Comments
And this is right here in Millsboro and the Indian River School District, where one Shaun Fink is trying to impose his religious bigotries (beliefs masquerading as bigotry) on the high school students in the District. You can read the details of Mr. Fink's attempt to impose this atrocious bit of Christian Sharia law in this NJ article. Mr. Fink is hiding behind his so-called Christianity to try to demonize and ostracize LGBT people, objecting to the teaching of differences in sexual orientation as against his beliefs. Unfortunately, Mr. Fink still thinks he is living in the last century where not only could you get away with that kind of bigotry, but there was little price to be paid for it. In this century, this kind of bigotry is simply not a survial skill or a leadership skill -- two things you want your kids to have. An official demonization of LGBT people -- objecting to making them normal (as if they aren't already) not only does not serve these kids, but also tries to use the government to impose your bigotry on others. Even more, what Mr. Fink knows is that kids are more tolerant of differences among them, including LGBT differences. Trying to curb a basic course on sexuality to impart Mr. Fink's message that LGBT people are not "normal" is about him imposing his beliefs on these kids -- because he knows that they don't prioritize these differences. And trying to control other people -- their behavior and their beliefs is what Sharia Law is all about, right?
Sunday Open Thread [10.12.14]

Sunday Open Thread [10.12.14]

6 Comments
The affect of Obamacare in Delaware:
DHHS says that taken together, premiums for Medicare Part B and D will be more than $125 lower in 2015 than initially projected in 2009. That translates into a total of $2.9 million in savings in the First State. Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell attributed the savings to a slower rise in healthcare costs since the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. In a statement, Burwell said the ACA is “working to improve affordability and access to quality care for seniors and people with disabilities.”
Meanwhile, remember that Libertarian Propaganda Institute that gave Governor Markell an "F" for fiscal responsibility?
Moody’s Investor Services, Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s Rating Services all gave Delaware a AAA credit rating this week. The agencies noted the state’s significant financial reserves and the strength of its labor market in their analysis.
I may disagree with Governor Markell's PRIORITIES when it comes to economic policy, and his tax policy, but you can't say he has been irresponsible fiscally. If he was, then the credit ratings agencies would have downgraded Delaware long ago, which is what the Libertarian hit piece was pure bullshit.