An Election for Lt. Governor can be held this year.

An Election for Lt. Governor can be held this year.

7 Comments
My question as to who is running for AG is answered. My next question is: does our Delaware State Constitution provide anyone power to appoint a new Lt. Governor, should Lt. Governor Matt Denn be elected Attorney General later this year and thus resign his current office. Section 9 of Article II tells us the Governor does not have that power. But If Matt Denn resigns the office of Lt. Governor at any time prior to September 4 of this year, then it would seem that the election for the remainder of the term of Lt. Governor would take place during the November general election. Given the lateness of that September 4 date, I imagine this election for Lt. Governor is treated like a special election wherein the parties nominate a candidate for the office rather than engage in a primary.
Delaware To Tackle Human Trafficking

Delaware To Tackle Human Trafficking

10 Comments
Make no mistake. Delaware needs to tackle human trafficking. According to activists, Delaware ranks near the bottom when it comes to addressing the issue of, let's not mince words, slavery. Which, IMHO, is why, as 'Lazy Reader' pointed out (major tip of the 'Bulo sombrero), that Delaware has had this sudden proliferation of Asian massage 'spas'. Within the past year, New Jersey has enacted perhaps the most comprehensive statute in the country. The Pennsylvania legislature is likely to pass a comprehensive bill by the end of the current legislative session, and already has a stronger statute than Delaware. As to Delaware, while it comes relatively late in the session, there should be no reason why SB 197(Blevins) doesn't get enacted into law by the end of June.  I think that one of the elements driving the increased spa proliferation in Delaware is, in fact, likely the stronger statutes enacted elsewhere. Delaware offers a soft underbelly for those with no conscience. Just to give you an idea of the extent of the sprouting of these spas, My Friend At Work (huge sombrero tip to her), who is deeply involved in this issue, suggested a website that pretty much lays it out there. While I will not give the website any undeserving traffic, it promotes, both under 'escorts' and 'body rubs', many of these spas. Generalized locations include Philly Pike in Claymont,  Shoppes of Camelot in Rehoboth, Market Street in Wilmington, Foulk Road in Brandywine Hundred, State Street in Dover, Naamans Road in Brandywine Hundred, N. Broad Street in Middletown,  Silverside Road in Brandywine Hundred, N. DuPont Hwy. in Dover, Chestnut Hill Plaza in Newark, S. Maryland Ave. in Wilmington, Pulaski Highway in Bear, and Jenmar Plaza in Newark. 
Saturday Open Thread [4.19.14]

Saturday Open Thread [4.19.14]

Stan Greenberg had been previously telling these spineless cowards to campaign on moving past Obamacare. Now he is telling them to embrace it. Because his polling tells him it is the better idea.
"Until now, this is an issue where the intensity has been on the other side," he says. But defending Obamacare, he adds, has emerged as "a values argument for our base." Greenberg now believes Democrats "ought to lean much more strongly" to campaign on the virtues of Obamacare as a means of boosting progressive turnout. "Not apologizing for Obamacare and embracing it actually wins the argument nationally," he says. "And it produces much more engagement of Democratic voters. That's a critical thing in off-year elections."
No fucking shit. Seriously, if you wonder why Progressives have absolutely no respect for our corporatist spineless establishment party, what with people like Chris Coons, Tom Carper, John Daniello et al, it is because we are nearly always proven right, and yet we are the ones treated with disdain by them.

Saturday Daily Delawhere [4.19.14]

The William H. Todd Memorial, in Brandywine Park near Baynard Boulevard in Wilmington. The memorial, also known as the Soldiers and Sailors of Delaware Monument, was dedicated in 1925 and features a bronze figure of Victory.

Friday Open Thread [4.18.14]

1 Comment
Good news on the deficit on this Good Friday:
The U.S. government’s deficit will fall to $492 billion this year, according to the Congressional Budget Office, a steeper drop than originally predicted from $680 billion in fiscal year 2013. The 2014 deficit will be 2.8 percent of the economy, according to CBO, almost 32 percent below fiscal year 2013, when it was 4.1 percent. The deficit will shrink again in fiscal 2015 to $469 billion.... “This will be the fifth consecutive year in which the deficit has declined as a share of GDP since peaking at 9.8 percent in 2009,” CBO said in a report released today. The 2.8 figure as a percentage of gross domestic product is lower than the 3.1 percent average of the last 40 years, CBO said.
And we have some polling goodness inside...
Biden to remain silent until January 2015.

Biden to remain silent until January 2015.

21 Comments
Alan Loudell:
Molly Magarik told me Beau Biden would not be available to further discuss his political intentions as long as he remains Attorney General (No surprise!). But we have a circular loop, because - as noted earlier on this blog - the Attorney General has been noticeably unavailable for media interviews ever since his hospitalization in Texas.
Loudell also wonders if Biden can simply not campaign and not make any appearances and just rely on the Biden name to get elected. The answer to that is a resounding no. And Biden and his people need to understand that. Because I am sure it has crossed some mind somewhere in the Biden camp. I will vote Republican if that is his plan, and I will work tirelessly for that Republican, and encourage everyone I know to vote Republican. Even if that Republican is Christine O'Donnell. Even if Sarah Palin herself moves to Delaware to hunt foxes and decides "you betcha this state is small enough for me to be Governor in." I would place "Evil (R) for Governor" bumperstickers all over my car. And the reason is that if Biden follows the Loudell hypothetical, it will be a sign of such disrespect for all Delawareans that the shower of that disrespect will need to be destroyed, in the figurative sense of course. He cannot run for public executive office and keep his medical condition a secret, all the while using that medical condition as a reason to not make public appearances. Running for public office involves sacrifice. Sacrifice of time away from your family. Sacrifice of long hours you rather spend watching baseball instead of another rubber chicken dinner at another RD fundraiser. And you sacrifice some of your privacy. And I am not even talking about full disclosure. I don't need every medical record, every prescription, every boo boo Biden has ever had. No, we are entitled to know what procedure Biden underwent. What the diagnosis was. What the prognosis is. All Biden would have to say to satisfy me is....
Thursday Open Thread [4.17.14]

Thursday Open Thread [4.17.14]

1 Comment
Yeah, that internal Christie investigation was really on the up and up. The Bergen Record reports that "nine days before a team of its top lawyers made public a report clearing Governor Christie in the George Washington Bridge scandal, the law firm donated $10,000 to the Republican Governors Association, a group [Christie] heads." Andrew Sullivan continues to be impressed by the Long Game Theory of the Obama Presidency. And Hillary Clinton crushes everyone in the lastest national poll. We are talking 40 state blowout.

This photo….

12 Comments
...accompanies a story that News Journal ran this morning on New Castle County government clearing out a homeless tent city near Christiana by week's end. The photo is from New Castle County. Given that Gordon wants to develop a humane policy, I am not attacking him for touring the site or having it cleared in lieu of better options for the inhabitants. It is private property, and such tent cities are not safe. But the photo makes it look like Gordon is personally ordering the woman (who is Executive Assistant Angela Walker, rather than a tent city inhabitant) to leave now. Not a good image, even for the law and order Gordon.
Wednesday Open Thread [4.15.14]

Wednesday Open Thread [4.15.14]

8 Comments
A new study finds that rich and powerful interest groups have a much greater impact on government policy than the majority of citizens. Gawker says it means that the United States has officially become an oligarchy:
"The study notes that the position of the median American and the position of the affluent American are often the same; therefore, regular people tend to think that their political interests are being represented when they see the triumph of some political position that they agree with. In fact, the researchers say, this is a mere coincidence. Yes, the average American will see their interests represented--as long as their interests align with the interests of the wealthy."
And this is where it gets interesting. The interests of the average and the wealthy are diverging. And the wealthy are freaking out because they know what happens next. For you see, when the interests diverge, the wealthy can either accept it and make the changes necessary to placate the average American, which will probably cost them some money. Or they can just prepare for revolution and hope that the wealthy and the government they bought can put down the violence. This is why you see billionaires complaining in the Wall Street Journal about the evils of progressives and economic populism.
Interview with Senator Bryan Townsend

Interview with Senator Bryan Townsend

Here is an interview that El Somnambulo and I had with Senator Bryan Townsend (D-11th). The interview took place at Timothy's on the Waterfront a little over a month ago, but don't worry, the topics we talk about are not out of date. So that explains the bar and restaurant ambiance, and some 70's tunes in the background. The reason for the delay in publishing this was problems I experienced with my editing software. I had to cut out the moment that the waitress came over mid interview. We touch on the Charter School bill from last year and Education in general, the Governor's infrastructure plan that he wants to pay for with a 10 cent increase in the gas tax, the once and future minimum wage increase, the Veasey Report and any resultant reform measures (this interview comes before several rather bland bills were introduced), casinos, the "clarifying" bill regarding our State Treasurer and the Sunset Committee. Come inside to listen....