National

Since the retirements of three of our long serving contributors (Nemski, Unstable Isotope, and LiberalGeek), we have been looking to add new contributors to the Delaware Liberal fold. Right now we have 7 active contributors, but we have found that having a group blog of around 10 contributors is what keeps a blog going and what keeps it fresh. So we have been looking recently for new talent. And we found some right here in our comment pages.

Given concern over the recent Moody analysis that Delaware is the only state in the union that could be facing a recession, and over our stagnant if not rising state unemployment rate, it is going to be interesting to see how the revenue figures are holding up after the Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Council (DEFAC) meets today. At their last meeting, "officials predicted a 140 million dollar budget gap for fiscal year 2015[.]" So that is the marker that will tell us if our Delaware economy is getting worse or better. If that gap narrows, better. Widens, worse.

We screwed up this weekend and didn't give you an open thread. Our apologies. So I am posting the Monday Open Thread early in the morning today to balance that out a little. Have at it. Over the weekend, the U.S. and Russia agreed to a deal on Syria and its chemical weapons. I don't know about you, but I really do think that Obama played another one of his long game strategies here, and I think it payed off. In the other big national political news this weekend, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers is out as Fed Chair nominee. Mr. Summers informed the President of his intention to withdraw yesterday. Obviously the White House and Summers himself did a head count of the Democrats in the Senate, and if Jon Tester is publicly against you, then it could not be good. That clears the path for the Fed Vice Chair Janet Yellen. And this also indicates the first clear victory of liberal opposition to President Obama. Liberals have opposed Obama policy choices before (public option, the Bush tax cuts), but have always lost.

Christmasaurus Rex will be a celebration of the great American Secular Christmas. While I love my religious peeps and their observance of religious Christmas, there is another holiday that runs…

President (2016)- Hilary Clinton vs. Some Idiot: The Clintons have had a long time to prep for this. Barring some force majeure they will roll over whatever whackjob makes it through the increasing insane GOP nominating process. Prediction: Clinton Senate (2018) - Tom Carper vs. Father Time Carper isn't up for election again until 2018. At that point he'll be 71 in calendar years, which converts to only 57 in rich person years. Prediction: Carper Senate - Chris Coons vs. Christine O'Donnell: I was skeptical about the idea that O'Donnell would run again, but the rent isn't going to pay itself. The remnants of the DEGOP seem perfectly willing to support her on the grounds that they think it annoys liberals like me. Which...uh.it does. Dammit Christine!! Why do you keep vexing me by being the real American in Delaware politics!? Prediction: Amusement. Come inside for more...

The GOP is as out of gas as any political party in American history (except possibly the Prohibition Party). Clearly in the absence of some strategy change, the party's future isn't bright. Neither, judging by Meghan McCain, are the next wave of conservative pundits. McCain, who's celebrity status rests on the fact that her Dad got trounced in a Presidential election, is taking up the mantle of the party's party girl in a new cable TV series.

The series, which debuts on the new network Pivot TV this Saturday, is a combination talk show and unscripted series — half “The View,” half “Sarah Palin’s Alaska.” It follows the exploits of one Meghan McCain, the daughter of the current U.S. senator from Arizona and one-time presidential nominee John McCain; she alternates between interviewing her guest and showing a slice of what it is like to be the daughter of a U.S. senator who lost the presidency in a landslide. She has been given 30 minutes a week on an aspirant cable network to prove that she has nothing to say. Prior to the release of her current series, Meghan McCain was a columnist for the Daily Beast; her columns for the site, for which her last piece ran shortly after the last presidential election, included such pieces as “Yes, I Wear Fake Hair” and “The GOP’s House Hottie.” She interviewed Snooki, too!

While I was away from political blogging this summer, I started a side project that deals with an obsession of mine - employee engagement. In addition to having written a self published book on the subject of employee engagement, I teach an organizational behavior class each year at Goldey Beacom that deals with the topic. The blog: exit119a is an attempt to put the theories I discuss in class under real world microscope. This is how I describe it in the "About" section....