General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., April 1, 2014

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., April 1, 2014

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Today’s Senate Agenda features one bill, but it’s a good one. HB 56(D. Short) “sets certain regulations for motor vehicle data-reporting devices to prohibit the use by insurance companies of such data for anything other than consideration for premium discounts, requires disclosure to the insured of others who may gain access to such data, and otherwise prohibits insurance companies from releasing such data to others.” Quite possibly the best bill sponsored by a Republican this session. Unanimously passed the House, likely to experience a similar fate in the Senate. The House will likely work HB 265(Schwartzkopf), which would raise about $51 million through various corporate tax increases. Consideration of the bill was delayed last week due to (a) the fact that the Secretary of State, who will carry out this law, was out of state; and (b) the absence of a couple of Democratic legislators from session, calling passage of a super-majority vote into question.
“Delaware Judge enshrines unequal outcomes for child rapists based on wealth” continues to be a national story

“Delaware Judge enshrines unequal outcomes for child rapists based on wealth” continues to be a national story

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Of course, this type of unequal justice has been the norm forever. However, the egregiousness of the crime has finally pulled back the curtain. The son of the Vice President of the United States is involved, and a Delaware judge laid it all out in plain language - the rich get special treatment. The botched prosecution by the AG's office and Jurden's resulting sentence wasn't simply bad, it was so bad that it amounts to an attack on the courts. It spits on the idea that poor people can get a fair shake in our legal system. Resignations and firings must ensue. They will not ensue. Nobody will be fired and everyone will go back to pretending that justice is blind in a few months (weeks?...days?). The courts will survive this, but they will be diminished in authority and legitimacy. We will have taken one step closer to the ledge. This is one step away from the ideals expounded on in the Declaration of Independence and one step toward another run of the mill plutocracy. In the end we will be another footnote. A historical curiosity that showed a possible other path to the world for a few brief centuries, then got tired of the rigorous effort required to maintain equality and justice.

Monday Open Thread [3.31.14]

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Obamacare looks to be working and is on target, with 6.7 million previously uninsured people signed up for private insurance plans as of today's deadline.
Americans are signing up for the Affordable Care Act. And they appear to be doing so in really big numbers. As of the latest official update, last week, more than 6 million people had selected a private insurance plan through one of Obamacare’s new state marketplaces. But that was before a weekend of huge traffic to healthcare.gov and state-run websites, record call volume to telephone help centers, and queues outside outreach offices in California and even Texas. Charles Gaba, the Michigan-based analyst who runs the website ACASignups.net, now projects that 6.72 million people will sign up for private insurance by the time open enrollment ends.
In fact, Gaba now projects that we will officially hit the 7 million mark, as the law and the Congressional Budget Office originally projected. Indeed, the law itself has now covered between 13.1 and 16.8 million previously uninsured people in total, through Medicaid Expansion, the Private Insurance Exchanges (both state exchanges and Healthcare.gov), and allowing those under 26 years of age to remain covered under their parent's policies.
Multimillionaire du Pont family heir was spared jail for raping his three-year-old daughter because judge decided he would ‘not fare well’ behind bars

Multimillionaire du Pont family heir was spared jail for raping his three-year-old daughter because judge decided he would ‘not fare well’ behind bars

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The headline above is from the UK's Dail Mail The News Journal's own headline (Judge said du Pont heir 'will not fare well' in prison) also does a good job laying out the brutal facts of the case. The wealthy literally have a different set of rules. They have judges like Jurden and an entire criminal justice system devoted to keeping the screws on the middle and lower classes while ensuring that the well connected 1-per-centers don't need to feel the slightest discomfort regardless of the egregiousness of their crimes.
Charter School Cherry Picking Was Predicted

Charter School Cherry Picking Was Predicted

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Mike O., The Seventh Type blog, found an interesting document in his inbox.  Go over to his place and read the whole thing - the link to the entire document is at Mike O's place.  I'll post some of the highlights from this 1995 Delaware Senate debate on SB 200 (DE Charter School Law).  This document pretty much puts an end to the but, but... whocouldhaveknown debate. Here's part of the question and answer segment with Bill Manning (Red Clay's School Board President at the time)
SENATOR MARSHALL: Understanding that the harshest critics of charter schools around the nation where they’ve been in place and operating, is the issue of the schools skimming off the top and creating an elitist academy with public money. My concern is looking at the focus of the charter schools by attracting the best at times for a specific educational discipline offered by that charter school; and the concern of recruitment. I looked at children throughout New Castle County in moderate low income neighborhoods, I looked at the City, the west side, the east side, hilltop, I need to understand how your board and how you will guarantee fairness and equal access to every student from every unit.
Delaware Political Weekly: March 22-28, 2014

Delaware Political Weekly: March 22-28, 2014

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Granted, he’s a Libertarian. Scott Gesty. Unfortunately, he’s not a Steve Newton Libertarian. More like a ‘they’re taking away our freedoms’ Libertarian. He congratulates himself on predicting that ‘Obamacare is destroying the healthcare system’. Man, can’t at least one of these third party types not make you unclean when considering casting a protest vote for them? Paging the Green Party… Looks like the Republicans are doing better in concentrating on recruiting candidates in General Assembly races...
Are “attracted” voters really worth more than “chased” voters?

Are “attracted” voters really worth more than “chased” voters?

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The thesis at the heart of all my recent posts has been that "attracted" voters are inherently more valuable to a campaign than "chased" voters. I look at recent history and see the lackluster performance of Democrats during midterm elections, and mentally discount a chased voter to some fraction of a voter while I mentally add a premium to attracted voters. So, let's say each voter that the DNC manages to frighten into thinking about voting is worth .95 eventual votes and every teabag that is inspired by the teabag nonsense is worth 1.05 future votes. On election day a vote is a vote, but over the course of a campaign the marginal difference between the chased and the attracted must add up. Right? ...