Wednesday Open Thread [1.21.15]

Wednesday Open Thread [1.21.15]

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Andrew Sullivan, in remarks prior to the Speech, congratulated President Obama for showing the Democratic party where their cajones actually were located.
I have to say that, as rumors and reports came in last week that Obama was going to propose a straightforward redistribution from the mega-mega-rich to the struggling middle classes, I could scarcely believe it. I mean: how often does the Democratic party actually exercise solid pro-active political judgment? How often do they seize the policy initiative from Republicans? How often do they propose things thay passionately believe in and unabashedly direct the message to the vast majority of Americans treading water in rougher and rougher seas? How often does a winning Congressional party get effectively marginalized in the public debate just after a stunning mid-term win?
Delaware’s Tax Structure is not something to celebrate.

Delaware’s Tax Structure is not something to celebrate.

81 Comments
State Representative Bryon Short was on Facebook over the weekend highlighting this study that argues that Delaware has the best tax system in America, in that it is the least regressive (i.e. taxes the poor and lower and middle classes of income earners more than the top earners). I thought to myself, how the hell could that be? Someone early $60,000 pays the same tax rate as someone making $6 million under the state income tax scheme. What I was forgetting is the "no sales tax." Sales and other consumption taxes are very regressive because they fall most disproportionately on the poor. And that is the sole reason we are the least regressive tax system in America. What the report ignores is how regressive our income tax structure is. And there is something Democrats in the General Assembly can do about that.
State of the Union Reaction

State of the Union Reaction

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We have the Drop Mic Moment and more of my favorite moments from last night's State of the Union speech inside. We also have some reactions from the punditry... like this: Andrew Sullivan: "This is a speech that revealed to us the president we might have had without the extraordinary crises – foreign and domestic – he inherited. I’ve always believed in his long game and in his bent toward pragmatism over ideology. Events can still upend things, but this is a president very much shaping the agenda past his own legacy. He’s showing Hillary Clinton the way, and has the midterms to point to as the result of the defensive crouch. If his standing improves still further, he will box her in, and she’ll have to decide if she’s going to be a Wall Street tool and proto-neocon or a more populist and confident middle class agenda-setter. One of his best. And for the first time in his six years, he has the economic winds behind him."

The State of the Union

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Press play, as the stream is now live with highlights of the past year and other pre-SOTU events. You can watch the speech here, and you also join us for a discussion of and real time reaction to the speech at our Live Blog. To join our Live Blog, click on the word "Live Blog" in the main navigation bar underneath the banner logo.
I feel like a Kremlinologist.

I feel like a Kremlinologist.

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Vice President Joe Biden was in Delaware yesterday to give a speech at a Martin Luther King, Jr. breakfast in Wilmington on repairing the breach between police and the African American community. And the News Journal, in their story on the Vice President's speech today, showed the following pictures of the former Attorney General and future alleged gubernatorial candidate Beau Biden, who was present for his father's speech but did not speak himself. Photos are courtesy of Jennifer Corbett of the News Journal. The side profiles of Mr. Biden are concerning. I hate that I have to study every picture of Beau Biden after his rare public appearances to judge how his health is. I hate that I have to wonder about his health at all. As someone who had to endure a health scare last year, I understand how important privacy is. But then again, I am not a supposed candidate for Governor. Nor was I in public office when I got sick. Just tell us. We are adults. We can handle it.
Tuesday Open Thread [1.20.15]

Tuesday Open Thread [1.20.15]

14 Comments
The President's State of the Union speech is tonight and we will not only be hosting our live chat, but also the speech itself, both here in the Open Thread (in the video box below) and in the chat thread. The White House has already let it be known that the President is going to call for a tax on the wealthy to fund middle class tax breaks. John Nichols at the Nation lays out the plan, which I think the GOP is going to have a hard time fighting. They will of course, but I don't envy them. This is not a radical plan. It redistributes a very small amount of wealth, and most of that wealth will be steered right back into the economy by working families, who truly drive the economy. Indeed, to get a sense of how far we have fallen in the previous three decades in the desire to fellate our billionaire masters, this Obama proposal will only return the capital gains tax rate to the level it was when Ronald Reagan was President. And, according to Booman , it proves how President Obama is different from the last two term Democratic President saddled with a hostile and Republican Congress in the last years of his Presidency.
Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Week of Jan. 20-23, 2015

Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Week of Jan. 20-23, 2015

8 Comments
While the General Assembly awaits Governor Markell's State of the State address this Thursday, we already know what won't be in the governor's speech: There will be no proposed income tax increase; there will be no proposed gas tax increase.  We know that Jack's millionaire buds have convinced him that they would suffer if they had to pay even a penny more to fund government. So, Jack has already announced that he won't be asking the wealthy to sacrifice.  And, in a gesture that is, um, ungubernatorial, Markell has whined that, since the General Assembly turned its collective noses up at his gas tax proposal last year, he won't propose anything to close the gap in the state's infrastructure budget.  He'll just wait for the General Assembly to come up with...something. If only he'd take that approach with public education.  His legacy grows more undistinguished by the day. Perhaps this is the week that Alex Pires gets his customized banking legislation passed. If not, then next week will be the week It's already passed the House unanimously. As Nancy Willing pointed out, this bill was introduced at the behest of Alex Pires, and it will only benefit Pires' bank. The article further points out that this may not be the first time that Pires has had undue influence on the General Assembly.  Let me point out the obvious: If you or I were disadvantaged by some 'arcane' statute, do you think we could get the Speaker to sponsor it, fast-track it, and get it through the General Assembly within a week or two?  And just because the Bank Commissioner, who largely does the bidding of the banks, says it's 'arcane', is it really arcane?  Or is it just an impediment to a connected businessman who doesn't want to wait in line and rarely does?  Whether the bill deserves passage on its merits is hardly the point.  The point is that representative government does not represent most of us.  But it DOES represent people with lots of clout, regardless of how they accumulated it. Which is why Alex Pires will get his banking bill.
Matt Denn Announces for Governor.

Matt Denn Announces for Governor.

11 Comments
Why did I title this post "Matt Denn Announces for Governor?" Well, obviously he has not announced, and if you asked the Attorney General I am sure he would say he is not running. But doesn't this $36 million dollar proposal strike you as something beyond just his duties as Attorney General. Normally Attorneys General do not care how the settlement monies their office secures for the General Fund is spent, and if they do care, they want more policing and more funding for enforcement. Matt Denn responded to the News Journal scoop on Facebook:
Once again good news from my office has gotten out a couple of days before I wanted it to. When I ran for Attorney General, I said we couldn't address violent crime just through law enforcement -- that we had to invest in dealing with the underlying causes of crime, such as treating substance abuse addiction, helping young people learn in school and stay out of trouble after school, and working with inmates released from prison to ensure that they do not re-offend. This is my first shot at delivering on that, by using these settlement funds to help repair the harm caused to our communities by the recession brought about by the financial institutions' conduct. If you can join us Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. in the Carvel State Office Building auditorium, come hear the details!
Monday Open Thread [1.19.15]

Monday Open Thread [1.19.15]

8 Comments
Today's theme is Mittens Willard Dillard Romney the III. Before that though, let's enjoy some polling goodness, some of which does touch on the once and future frontrunner to the GOP nomination. IOWA--PRESIDENT--REPUBLICAN PRIMARY--Gravis Marketing: Romney 21, Bush 14, Walker 10, Huckabee 9, Paul 8, Cruz 7 NATIONAL--PRESIDENT--REPUBLICAN PRIMARY--Economist/YouGov: Romney 28, Bush 12, Carson 10, Cruz 9, Huckabee 8, Paul 8, Walker 6 NATIONAL--PRESIDENTIAL APPROVAL--Washington Post-ABC News: President Obama’s overall approval rating now stands at 50%, the highest since the spring of 2013.

I Have a Dream

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We have come a long way. And there is a long way to go. Because Martin's dream is not only equality before the law, but also equality in opportunity, and equality in mind. We are still working on equality before the law, as we see with Ferguson. We are still working on equality in opportunity, but we have made great strides there, as an African American is President of the United States. Equality in mind is going to be the last greatest and most difficult hurdle. Equality in mind deals with the thoughts, bias, and bigotry in each of our own minds. And it will only be achieved when every single person, Jew, Gentile, White, Black, Man, Woman, Gay, Straight, is judged on their merits, their actions, their words rather than on what God they pray to, what color their skin is, or who they love. Many saw the election of Barack Obama as the destination. It was only a mile marker.