My Advice To Dems: Ignore Republicans

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Republicans are in tough guy mode.  Lots of chest thumping and trash talk going on as they, once again, thrust the debt ceiling onto center stage.  The howling is quite intense, and, as usual, our awesome media will latch onto the hysterics with a passion that would make a Twilight fan blush.  My advice to Dems... Ignore it.

Tweet of the Day

Some people say we should eat vegetables, some say we should eat broken glass. Democrats believe in a balanced diet of veggies and glass. — @drgrist via TweetDeck via dkos

Chris Christie tells the truth about the GOP House

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I've pulled out some of my favorite quotes:
"There is only one group to blame for the continued suffering of these innocent victims, the House majority and their speaker, John Boehner. This is not a Republican or Democratic issue. National disasters happen in red states and blue states and states with Democratic governors and Republican governors. We respond to innocent victims of natural disasters, not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans. Or at least we did until last night."
Extra points here for saying "Democratic"

Thursday Open Thread

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Ezra Klein: "What's the record of the 112th Congress? Well, it almost shut down the government and almost breached the debt ceiling. It almost went over the fiscal cliff (which it had designed in the first place). It cut a trillion dollars of discretionary spending in the Budget Control Act and scheduled another trillion in spending cuts through an automatic sequester, which everyone agrees is terrible policy. It achieved nothing of note on housing, energy, stimulus, immigration, guns, tax reform, infrastructure, climate change or, really, anything. It's hard to identify a single significant problem that existed prior to the 112th Congress that was in any way improved by its two years of rule."

The Delaware Liberal – Progressive Dem Vote Tracker

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Since El Somnambulo will be easing back on his daily pre game / post game reports during the upcoming 2013 Legislative session, we are introducing a new vote tracker to stay on top of legislation in the coming new year. Specifically, we will be tracking legislation that furthers or hinders liberal and progressive policy positions, and recording how our Democratic State Representatives and Senators vote on the legislation. To that end, Delaware Liberal is partnering with the Progressive Democrats for Delaware to track how their endorsed candidates voted in regards to their legislative priorities. I have made an example of how the vote tracker will work inside...

Bipartisan Reading

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Ross Douthat's column in the NYT last Saturday recommends that we spend some time in 2013 challenging our political selves by regularly reading from at least one source that is not in your partisan political comfort zone. He reasons that since this is not a national election year, we'll be abit safer reading "across the aisle" (apparently the hyper partisanship dies down in off election years) and end up challenging what we think we know or at least understanding better our political opposites.

Carper’s Gone Rogue. Make That Rogue-er.

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Poor despairing Tom Carper. Forced to sit in his Senate Democratic Caucus and see his dreams of 'entitlement reform', aka gut the New Deal and the Great Society, go down the drain. From today's unbelievable (but true) News-Journal piece:
Carper said he “sat there in despair” during meetings with fellow Democrats to discuss the deal brokered by Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Carper had been telling colleagues for months this was their chance to do something meaningful about tax and entitlement reforms. The deal ultimately passed by Congress does neither, he said.
Don't believe that Carper is going after Social Security? Read this illogic in all its Carperesque rationalization, then read what Sen. Bernie Sanders has to say about it:

Sperm Donor Required To Pay Child Support?

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Well now, this is interesting...
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The state of Kansas is trying to force a man who donated sperm to a lesbian couple to pay child support, arguing that the agreement he and the women signed releasing him from all parental duties was invalid because they didn't go through a doctor. Under Kansas law, a doctor's involvement shields a man from being held responsible for a child conceived through artificial insemination.
Okay, so if you go through a doctor (and pay a big fee) then you aren't responsible, but if you skip the doctor (and the big fee), sign an agreement, with all involved parties, that relinquishes your parental rights, you are still responsible.  Wonder which group helped write this law?

Delaware Campaign for Gun Sanity

Pacem in Terris is convening a community meeting to discuss gun violence and what steps we can take on implementing gun control, both nationally and locally. They are having are having the inaugural meeting of the Delaware Campaign for Gun Sanity tonight at 7 pm in the Community Hall at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pennsylvania Avenue & N. Rodney Street in Wilmington. Parking is behind the church. This will not be a venting session on the NRA and guns. We must get beyond our comfort zone and act.

Wednesday Open Thread [1.2.13]

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Breitbart News (with is a contradiction in terms) claims at least 20 House Republicans have banded together in an effort to unseat House Speaker John Boehner from his position when it comes up for a vote tomorrow. Now, there are 233 Republicans taking their oaths of office tomorrow. If there are really 20 Republicans who will not vote for Boehner for Speaker, that means Boehner will be denied a majority, as 233 minus 20 is 213. Since there will be two vacancies at the start of the new Congress, only 217 votes is needed for a majority. So Boehner needs to peel off either 4 of those Republicans or 4 conservative Democrats to remain Speaker. Are there 4 conservative Democrats in the House anymore? Perhaps that is why John Boehner had a short temper with Harry Reid outside the Oval Office last Friday.