So Tom Carper voted against the Deal?

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Of the the 8 Senators voting against the Biden-McConnell deal, one of them was our own, very special Tom Carper. What was his chief complaint? It raised taxes on the rich? The deal did not cut spending? The deal did not eliminate or cut Medicare or Social Security. He hates the unemployed and wants to cut all unemployment insurance. I am very curious to hear his reasoning. In the grand scheme and in context, and considering that I want the sequester cuts to go into affect (because it cuts 500 billion from the Defense budget and unless we let those cuts go into affect automatically, we will never get that much cut from the Pentagon budget ever), it is not a bad deal. It is not a good deal either, as the Democrats caved on indexing the Estate Tax to inflation. Going from 250k to 400k? Meh, I can live with that. Payroll tax holiday not preserved? That's the bad part of this deal, in my opinion, along with the estate tax indexing.

So what does falling off the fiscal slope mean?

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So we have news this morning that, allegedly, Vice President Biden and the Turtle leader, Senate Minority Leader Mitch "I'm going to lose to Ashley Judd" McConnell have made some alleged and mysterious progress overnight in their last second talks to reach some kind of deal to avert falling off the fiscal cliff.
Sources close to the talks said a deal is now more likely will come together but cautioned that obstacles remain, including how Speaker John Boehner and House Republican leaders react to any tentative agreement. “The Leader and the VP continued their discussion late into the evening and will continue to work toward a solution. More info as it becomes available,” a McConnell spokesman said.
I am cynical, and I am pretty convinced a deal is impossible, and thus this is nothing but further political kabuki theatre so that McConnell can later blame the breakdown on Biden and Obama, or Senate Dems. The reason why I say that is that because a raise in tax rates on the wealthy is the line in the sand and a dealbreaker for both sides. For the Dems, a deal must include it. And for the Rethugs, a deal cannot include it. There is no getting around that central fact. The Republicans have proved time and again that they will continue to fellate the rich and billionaires at the expense of the rest of us until the end of time. So what is going to happen tomorrow?

Blevins Does Superb Job on Senate Committee Assignments.

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Really. This is not snark. President Pro-Tempore Patti Blevins has served up an almost ideal set of committee chairs/committees. Thank you, Senator. I have only two caveats before I heap praise on her: The Bond Bill Committee is too downstate-centric, IMHO. With the perceived conflict-of-interest on the SEU, Harris McDowell should not chair the Energy/Transit Committee. That's it. Here's what I like/love (in committee alphabetical order):

The Big Delaware Story of 2012?

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The News Journal has a poll listing the following as the most important events in 2012, and you are to choose between them. Hurricane Sandy is an obvious choice, though its affects on Delaware were most decidedly not as severe as on New Jersey and New York. But some of the choices reveal that 1) either it was a slow slow news year, or 2) the News Journal has actually cut so many reporting jobs that they do not know what is going on in their state anymore. Ashley Biden's wedding? Are they serious? I was unaware it happened until just now. A Dewey Beach murder? The rest are short lived controversies or stories that don't really give rise to STORY OF THE YEAR status. Out of them, I suppose the whole disgusting and evil Eric Bodenweiser saga has to be the winner, but I would say the story of the year is the Demise of Tony Deluca and the Rise of Bryan Townsend. But alas, it is not a choice. Make sure to vote in our poll.

Death Penalty Repeal Petition

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The Death Penalty Information Center recently released its year-end report. It revealed that Delaware was one of only 9 states that carried out an execution in 2012. In fact, in the last 35 years, Delaware is garnering a reputation of being the Texas of the East Coast. We rank third nationwide over those 35 years in executions per capita. It's time Delaware had this discussion, and I highly endorse the efforts of the Delaware Repeal Project, an organization seeking to end the death penalty in Delaware. Below please find their press release regarding the Death Penalty Information Center's report, and if you think it is time for Delaware to end the death penalty, sign the their petition.

Iowa Supreme Court Rules: Okay To Fire Women For Being “Irresistible”

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Wow.
Women in Iowa beware: If your boss thinks you’re really really ridiculously good looking, he can fire you. And it’s perfectly legal. The all-male Iowa Supreme Court refused to reinstate a lawsuit Friday, noting that a dentist didn’t break the law when he fired an employee who had worked for him for 10 years because he and his wife saw her as a threat to their marriage, reports the Associated Press. Melissa Nelson, the 32-year-old dental assistant was by all accounts a stellar employee. But her boss, James Knight, complained of her tight clothing, “once telling her that if his pants were bulging that was a sign her clothes were too revealing.”
I'm not even sure where to begin.  How about...

Sunday Open Thread [12.23.12]

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Anyone in the mood for an Open Thread? Most of us are deep into Christmas preparations and celebrations, but if you are touching base with us here, let us know what interests you this weekend. Since it is the Holiday Season here, you can expect posting to be light by the Editors here who are scattered to the four corners of the earth this week. Here are a couple of things that caught my eye while I'm waiting for the cocktail hour: