Deputy Treasurer and the Abuse of a State Credit Card

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By request of commenter Nuttingham, this topic now has its own thread. The NJ reported on Sunday about the Deputy Treasurer's misuse of her state-issued credit card. They document about $2100 in personal charges on the card, that were -- eventually -- reimbursed. The key part of this article (for me, at any rate) was the fact that the Finance Department flagged this pattern of misuse and couldn't get the attention of anyone in the Treasurer's Office. Yesterday, the Deputy Treasurer resigned and his morning, the NJ expands the report on her resignation:

Late Night Video — We’re Building a Domestic Army

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The man in this video clip says he is a retired Marine Corps Colonel and he is speaking at Concord, NH city council meeting where he Council is considering a request from the Concord PD for armored vehicles. He draws some parallels with the time he spent in Iraq (without equipment like this) and starts to show how Homeland Security standardization of gear makes it easier for PDs to look indistinguishable from an occupying army. This is almost 4 minutes long:
Monday Open Thread [8.19.13]

Monday Open Thread [8.19.13]

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"Political allies of Vice President Joe Biden have concluded that he can win the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination--even if Hillary Clinton enters the contest--and are considering steps he could take to prepare for a potential candidacy," the Wall Street Journal reports. Looks like Papa Joe is tapping into some of Jack Markell's medical marijuana. Because if he seriously believes he can defeat Hillary, he's high right now. Mr. Vice President, I love ya, but you are no Barack Obama. Only Obama could defeat Hillary, and even then it was a nailbitter, a down to the wire contest. You have no chance at all. I agree with David Axelrod, who is quoted in the Journal story, that Biden and Hillary will not run against each other. But Biden will run for President if Hillary doesn't. He is the Plan B. And because he is the Plan B, he has to begin putting together an organization, and donating money through a PAC to candidates in 2014 to party build and create goodwill. So Joe Biden and his staff have to talk like he is really running and that they are confident he will beat Hillary to keep up appearances. The truth is, its all a con-game. The minute Hillary annnounces (January-March 2015), the Vice President will cite his long friendship with the former Secretary of State and beg off.

Sunday Open Thread [8.18.13]

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Woodlawn Trustees is ready to move out on its plan to raze and the reconstruct its buildings in Wilmington's Flats area. This promises to be a very good thing for the city, especially the West Side which has put alot of elbow grease into long-term revitalization. Also note that the $100M project to reconstruct these buildings will still serve moderate income families, putting to bed the crazy whispered story about luxury housing going in over there.
TGIF Open Thread [8.16.13]

TGIF Open Thread [8.16.13]

2 Comments
Rep. Steve King (R-IA) is speaking again, this time wondering aloud about why Republicans are even talking about immigration reform.
Said King: "Last year, almost everybody in my conference would've agreed with me on this immigration issue. And this year, it seems as though after the presidential election a spell's been cast over a good number of Republicans and they seem to think the presidential election was about immigration. I'd ask them, find me that debate between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama that addressed immigration. I don't remember it. I can't find it. The election was about jobs and the economy, not immigration. And yet some Republican strategists and leadership have decided let's just go ahead and debate immigration for twelve months and then we'll see if we can solve the problem."
Let's unpack this. First, is Mr. King aware that he and his Republicans lost the election? So if the election were just all about the economy and jobs, then it seems to me that a majority of the American people have, by a large margin, disagreed with his and his Republican views about jobs and the economy. Second, the election wasn't just all about jobs and the economy. It was also about Obamacare. And again, the American people agreed with Obama about Obamacare, not Steven King and the Republicans. So I assume that Steven King and his Republicans will cease their repeal and hostage taking efforts. Third, and most importantly, the election was about immigration reform. Mitt Romney took a hard right stance on self deportation to win the Republican primary. The President instead campaigned on a comprehensive plan that would include border security and a path to citizenship. Once again, Steven King and Mitt Romney lost. The President won. And he won by winning Latinos by 70-30%. The reason why Republicans are talking about immigration reform after the election is because they can no longer lose Latinos by that aforementioned margin and ever again win a national election, based on the group's growing demographics and the declining numbers of angry conservative whites out there. The Republicans, the smart ones anyway, realized that they must repair their relationship with Latinos, and the way to do that was to both modify their stances towards immigration and pass immigration reform. So that is why you and your Republicans are discussing it, Mr. King. But, please proceed Governor... er ah, Congressman King. Please keep talking about Latinos all being drug dealers with cantaloupe calves.