Delaware
Rep. Melissa Minor-Brown Challenges The Secrecy State
Delaware is the Secrecy State. So much vital information is withheld from citizens who truly need to know. Citizens are often told that there is nothing to worry about, assertions generally presented without facts. Rep. Minor-Brown has challenged that notion. The first-term D was publicly skeptical and critical of the know-nothing DNREC officials who were […]
Carney Addresses the Statewide Property Tax
In what has become an annual custom, Mark Brainard, grand poobah of Delaware Technical and Community College, is asking the General Assembly for a new statewide property tax to raise money for upkeep of its facilities. And a lot of lawmakers seem ready to give it to him. Senate Bill 50, sponsored by frequently-used tool […]
An End To Civil Forfeiture? A Decision Kathy Jennings Must Read Right Away
Could this be the beginning of the end for civil forfeitures? The United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled that ‘…the Constitution’s prohibition on excessive fines applies to state and local governments, limiting their abilities to impose fines and seize property.” The case in question concerned an Indiana man who had his $42K Land Rover seized […]
Monsignor Lavelle Resurfaces: Defrocked, But Not Deloused
He reemerges precisely where you’d expect him to reemerge, spewing precisely the Santorumesque creamy froth you’d expect him to spew. If you guessed he’d reemerge with the Caesar Rodney Institute, and if you guessed that he’d be railing against even the possibility that state workers could earn a little more money, then you know Greg […]
AG Kathy Jennings Comes Out Strong–REAL Strong
Maybe, just maybe, we have one statewide elected official worth their salt. It’s too early to say for sure, but Attorney General Jennings provided some real hope yesterday. First, she joined 15 other state Attorneys General in challenging the constitutionality of Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency. From the press release: In a section […]
What Chris Coons Gets for His Bipartisanship — Trump in His Face
Politico posted a story yesterday about Donald Trump’s supposed growing embrace of Christianist ideals, and chose as its opening anecdote this vignette starring none other than our senator, Fightin’ Chris Coons, the Bipartisan Brawler. The night before last week’s National Prayer Breakfast, President Donald Trump was hosting religious leaders and lawmakers for dinner at the […]
Kerri Harris Takes New Job–And It’s Just What We’d Expect
From The Intercept: Kerri Harris, the insurgent candidate who lost her primary challenge to Sen. Tom Carper in Delaware, will be taking a new national advocacy director position at Working Hero Action, a nonprofit organization advocating for the earned-income tax credit and other anti-poverty policies…Working Hero Action is an organization that advocates for ending poverty, mainly […]
Yet Another Cover-Up From DOC And the State Of Delaware
Delaware is the Secrecy State. You don’t have the right to know when cops, corrections officers, and/or entire agencies screw up to the max. Or let out their frustrations on people who get beaten just b/c they are there. Enter the News-Journal, which at least is covering the prison story superbly. If little else. Here’s […]
R. I. P. Steve Amick
Former Newark legislator Steve Amick, who passed away last week, was one of the finest legislators to serve in the Delaware General Assembly during my time there. Yes, he was smart, one of the most intelligent legislators to ever serve in Dover. An attorney by training and practice, he got his JD from Dickinson College. […]
Here’s How To Deal With Extortionists
We start this story with one of the poorest excuses for journalism ever to clear the e-keyboard of Scott Goss, which is saying something. This story. It’s all about Delaware Rethugs crying crocodile tears over how their efforts to bargain in good faith are being destroyed by the perfidious D’s. And we’ll get right back […]
GGW: Guards Gone Wild
Delaware is the Secrecy State. Especially when it comes to actions by so-called enforcement officers of every stripe. Keeping secrets is one way of controlling the narrative, as in blaming everything on the actions of those who are being ‘enforced upon’. Which is precisely what has happened in the aftermath of the uprising at the […]
An Understander’s Guide to Gov. Carney’s Budget
The budget released by Gov. John Carney doesn’t officially mean a thing, because the General Assembly’s Joint Finance Committee puts together the state’s real budget, starting with hearings next Tuesday. But the JFC has to start somewhere, and that somewhere is Carney’s proposal. Matt Bittle of the Delaware State News has an accessible rundown along […]
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., Jan. 24, 2019
Even the Rethugs knew that they were on the wrong side of yesterday’s defeat of HB 3 in the Senate. Serial bloviator Colin Bonini said this: “I will personally write a check to start the GoFundMe page if people want to do this to help these folks,” said state Sen. Colin Bonini, R-Dover South. “But […]
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