Wednesday Open Thread [5.15.2013]

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Sorry for my absence in the open thread department the last two days. I had some family business to deal with and thanks to Cassandra for stepping in. So it looks like the whole Benghazi Conspiracy Theory being embraced by Republicans is based on a phantom email created by a GOP source. Whomever that GOP source on Capitol Hill is, he or she should be imprisoned. You have to wonder why the GOP does this to itself. Sooner or later some kind of actual government wrongdoing was bound to come down the pike for the GOP to make hay out of. It always does. In some administrations more frequently than others. But the current Repubican opposition is so bereft of ideas and new policies, and so desparate to come up with anything to tarnish the President so that he in reality matches their fantasy version of him, that they have tried to turn either minor stories or tragedies into massive scandals, like Fast & Furious, like Solundrya, and now, like Benghazi. And the reason why they were so desparate is that the Obama Administration, up until now, has been relatively scandal free. If only the GOP had waited..... because now they do have two stories that could turn into actual wrongdoing, at least on the parts of the agencies themselves, but the poor GOP already cried Wolf.
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., May 15, 2013

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., May 15, 2013

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Just two more days before the Memorial Day 2-week recess. Actually, during the two weeks, the Joint Finance Committee will meet to mark up the budget. Meaning, you'll hear a lot of bitching by Gov. Walker's Markell's budgeteers. The more bitching, the better the budget, IMHO. I especially look forward to their outrage should state employees (and don't forget us pensioners!) get raises. Governor, I've got three words for you: Tax your friends. Three more: Or shut up. Damn, that feels good. I gotta say it: The Delaware General Assembly has done a great job of pushing back at the NRA. And its pigeon-maiming front man. The House passed SB 16(Henry), which will help put an end to 'straw purchases' of firearms. The bill just squeaked through the Senate by an 11-10 vote, and the House passed it by a similarly-close 22-19 count. D's voting no: Atkins, Bennett, Carson, Mulrooney(?), Paradee, and Walker(?). R'(s) voting yes: Ramone(!). The bill heads to the Governor for his signature. Great work all around here! If I were a wounded pigeon in Pa., I'd be veryvery afraid right about now. John Sigler has even more blood in his eye than usual.

The “War on Terror” Surveillance State Hits Journalists

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Yesterday, the AP disclosed that the DOJ obtained lists of "incoming and outgoing calls, and the duration of each call, for the work and personal phone numbers of individual reporters, general AP office numbers in New York, Washington and Hartford, Conn., and the main number for AP reporters in the House of Representatives press gallery." Apparently this is in the service of an investigation of a leak -- one that revealed an Al-Queda affiliate plot to blow up an airliner on the anniversary of the killing of Bin Laden. Except that it wasn't a real plot --it was one cooked up by a CIA plant to try to discover the elements of this affiliate. The Obama Administration has been pursuing this leak -- they seem to pursue them all -- but there is a little extra impetus in this one:

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., May 14, 2013

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While we were busy celebrating the passage and signing into law of Delaware's Marriage Equality Act, the House effectively killed off legislation providing a modest hike in Delaware's minimum wage. Make no mistake: the killing of SB 6 was deliberate and planned, and the co-conspirators were all Democrats: Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf, Rep. Bryon Short, and Gov. Jack Markell. Here's how it happened. After bargaining in what he thought was good faith with Gov. Walker Markell, Sen. Robert Marshall agreed to amendments that significantly reduced the impact of SB 6. Specifically, he agreed to push back the effective date, to decouple subsequent rate increases from the rate of inflation, and to lower the amount of the increase. Markell praised the eviscerated finished product, and said he could support the bill. Which was the last 'support' he provided. And Speaker Pete got the memo loud and clear: Kill the bill! And he did. How? By assigning it to the House Business Lapdog Committee, aka the House Economic Development/Banking/Insurance/Commerce Committee, instead of to the House Labor Committee. Chaired by Rep. Bryon Short. You may recall that this is precisely the same tactic that former Speaker Bob Gilligan employed when Markell wanted him to kill the bill last session. And, for the second straight session, Short did not disappoint. SB 6 was passed in the Senate on March 21. It did not receive its hearing in the committee until May 8, and that was deliberate. Short allowed the bill to languish until the last day that, according to House rules, it had to be considered in committee. Many of you are aware of the full-court press opposition led by the respective Chambers of Commerce in the past two weeks. By delaying consideration of the bill, the committee chair enabled that campaign to have optimal effect. To the point where empty tabula rasas like Andria Bennett were reciting Chamber talking points verbatim in opposition to as Democratic a bill as you'll ever find. Gov. Markell demonstrated some slickness here. By saying that he would sign SB 6, he eliminates any political stigma that Democrats would attach to him in a future run for political office for publicly opposing a minimum wage increase. And he gets Pete and his DLC house cronies to kill the bill. Just like he did last year. Just remember, Markell's fingerprints are all over this. Cut'n save.

Open letter to the last remaining sane Delaware Republican

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Hi, I know we've had our differences. I know I've berrated you for allowing Christine ODonnell to ever address an audience. I've scorned you for voting for George Bush (twice!). I've scoffed, and spit on the ground as you've walked by to show my utter contempt. But I'm past all of that now. I'm just full of pity for you and honestly reaching out right now to see what i can do to help you. I've been moving in this direction for a while because I can see you are a decent person. It know you have some whack-adoodle notions about taxation, but I think you want a better, more just, healthy, and sustainable democratic future for our state and country. I know that you have about as much in common with John Sigler and his whack job a-holes who have taken over your party as I do. This, from Daily Kos, really brought that home for me. "The meetings didn’t take. “[Newt] Gingrich and [Mitt] Romney understood, … and I think they even believed the evidence and understood the risk,” [MIT scientist Kerry] Emanuel says. “But they were so terrified by the extremists in their party that in the primaries they felt compelled to deny it. Which is not good leadership, good integrity. I got a low impression of them as leaders.” Throughout the Republican presidential primaries, every candidate but one—former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who was knocked out of the race at the start—questioned, denied, or outright mocked the science of climate change. Soon after his experience in South Carolina, Emanuel changed his lifelong Republican Party registration to independent. “The idea that you could look a huge amount of evidence straight in the face and, for purely ideological reasons, deny it, is anathema to me,” he says." While I used to say "tough titties" that's the party you created out of your cynical belief that you could control the idiots and Christianist maniacs, I now realize that "I told you so" isn't going to cut it moving forward. We can't have a two party system in which one party of openly committed to simply fucking shit up out of spite. So, I'm honestly asking - what can I do? How can i help the GOP return to some semblance of sanity and decent? You know how to reach me. Let's chat. I wouldn't be much of a liberal if I didn't think we could work things out. Sincerly, jason330 PS. What the fuck were you thinking voting for George Bush for a second term? Honestly. okay- just had to say that one more time. Now I'm don't with finger pointing. I promise. onward.

Pro Rassler Provides Sophisticated Analysis of Delaware Marriage Equality

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From the Bible of Pro Wrestling, Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Weekly, comes the following:
--Jay Briscoe got himself into trouble, deleting his entire Twitter account over what he tweeted Wednesday:
"The Delaware Senate passed a bill yesterday that allows same sex couples to get married. If that makes you happy, then congratulations!!!"
"..try and teach my kids that there's nothing wrong with that and I'll fucking shoot you."
About 12 hours later, after realizing that was probably not the right thing to say, he wrote:
"I feel very strongly about who should teach kids about certain things but I showed poor judgment by using that analogy and I'm sorry."
A few hours after that, he deleted his entire account. ROH released this statement: "Ring of Honor Wrestling respects and appreciates every fan regardless of age, gender, race, religion or sexual preference. The recent post by Jay Briscoe does not represent the views or opinions of Ring of Honor Wrestling, its owners, management or employees." ROH has said Briscoe will both make a public apology for his remarks on Saturday's house show in Belle Vernon, PA, and he has agreed to donate his pay for the next two weekend to the Partners Against Hate charitable organization.

North Carolina House GOP Approves Child Murder Bill

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Withholding treatment is murder, in my book. "Parents would have to give their teenagers permission before they could receive birth control or be treated for sexually transmitted diseases, substance abuse or mental illness, under a bill approved in a House committee on Tuesday." Heaven forbid they should get treated for life-threatening conditions without permission! Supporters say the aim of the bill is to restore parental control over teenagers lives. I say the aim is to kill teenagers who have sex or use drugs, and maybe if they're bullied and harassed for being gay, they can commit suicide rather than get counseling for depression. Remember, these same people want to make sure their teenagers have easy access to (and training with) their gun collections (or be able to buy them online if their hippie parents don't have any). The life of the child was never their concern.

PDD-DL Vote Tracker Update [5.9.13]

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The Governor signed HB 35 into law yesterday, surrounded by a group of parents who lost their children in the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in Connecticut last December. The law extends mandatory background checks to most private gun sales this July. There are three other gun control measures that are part of the Governor’s gun control package: a bill establishing gun-free school zones (HB 67), a ban on high-capacity magazines (HB 58), and a requirement to report lost or stolen guns (SB 16). SB 16, the aforementioned bill that would require gun owners to report lost or stolen guns within 7 days after discovering the bill lost or stolen, has cleared the committee and is headed to the House floor for a vote. How anyone can oppose this bill is beyond me. Indeed, if you oppose this bill, you must be a terrorist or a criminal, or at least an enabler of the two. Represenative Kowalko’s HB 13 finally passed the House after six years of trying, 30-11. The bill bans lawmakers from becoming lobbyists after they leave the General Assembly for one year after leaving office. His previous bills called for 2 years. The Republicans have introduced that version of the bill in the Senate, and offered an Amendment was offered to increase the term to 2 years, but it was defeated. I am not sure why, but some Democrats in the House are really making themselves look like defenders of lobbyists by opposing this legislation. Some surprising names in the no column. And given that all the Republicans voted yes, it is obvious that they are using this and the double dipping issue to their advantage. And the Democrats voting no are dumb enough to let them. Come inside for the rest of the Vote Tracker....

Senator Chris Coons Calls Out Republicans for Not Getting to a Budget Deal

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Recall that the Senate passed its budget in March, and the House passed its budget before that -- meaning that if we're finally following the "regular order" of budgeting, there should be a Senate and House Reconciliation Committee so that these two bodies can come to some agreement on a budget. That budget -- a policy document only, it appropriates no money -- is supposed to guide the appropriation process. Except that the GOP doesn't want to work on a budget until we are much closer to the debt ceiling problem. We were supposed to have faced the debt ceiling in march or April, but the Treasury figured out a way to postpone that until Fall. So the GOP is stuck with a pretty bad timeline -- blowing up the economy over the debt ceiling just before they start campaigning is very bad juju. And they have NO negotiating position unless the debt ceiling is imminent they think. So Senator Coons took to the Senate floor today to call to get back to the regular order of the budget process and to stop the effects of the sequester: