Sussex Musical Chairs

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As you know, the retirement of Sen. George Bunting as set up a game of musical chairs downstate, which already had two games going on with the new 6th District Senate seat and the new 20th District House seat added to the area. Last night, former Rep. Shirley Price spoke to the 38th RD Democratic Committee and announced that she will be running for her old seat.

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., April 5, 2012

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A glimpse inside the Delaware Way, and what it has wrought. Helene Keeley's legislation seeking to reign in predatory lending in the form of payday loans, made it out of committee. But not before one of Delaware's most malevolent lobbyists got an interest rate cap stripped from proposed legislation. Which, of course, wasn't enough for him. From today's News-Journal story:
Speaking for the Online Lenders Alliance, a payday-lending trade group, lobbyist Dave Swayze said efforts to curtail short-term lending fly in the face of Delaware's landmark Financial Center Development Act, the 1981 law that eliminated the state's usury statutes and allowed banks to charge unlimited interest rates. "We will let the marketplace, we will let the buyer and seller, the contract entered into by them, determine the terms of the loan," he said.

More Fisker Follies

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I'm a bit concerned that any state official could have been "stunned" that Fisker was waffling. I'm troubled that Alan Levin, the director of the Delaware Economic Development Office, was "shocked". The article goes on to interview more politicos who talk about phone calls they are making. But more importantly, TNJ talks to some of the would-be workers who are affected. So as Fisker holds a gun to the head of the State of Delaware demanding that federal loans be released earlier, what is/was Plan B for Boxwood? Did we put all our eggs in one basket and hope for the best? Or does Delaware have alternative plans to get these auto workers back to work?

This is How Republican Sheriffs End Up

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A former elected Republican sheriff in Colorado was sentenced to 30 days in jail for possession of meth. And this one even had arrest powers. Maybe it's better that they end up behind bars for meth instead of advocating sedition.

Kooky Talk in Sussex

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Well, it must be Spring because it seems as though more crazy talk is filling the airwaves than usual. We now get to listen to Matt Walsh on WGMD in the evenings. Walsh was a DJ on 93.5 “The Beach,” until they tired of him and his nonsense. In 2010, he ran for mayor of Georgetown and took a whopping 25 votes out of the 455 cast. Yes, he took 5.5% of the vote. He probably got his butt kicked because instead of talking about issues that would affect the average Georgetown resident, he squawked about the Second Amendment, health care reform, and illegal aliens. Yeah, those would be my top choices if I was running for municipal office. Well, tonight on his show, Walsh decided to talk about President Obama’s birth certificate. Or as he put it, his alleged birth certificate. He started off by saying “I’m not a birther, but……..”

Wednesday Open Thread [4.4.12]

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"Nobody thinks Romney's going to win. Let's just be honest. Can we just say this for everybody at home? Let me just say this for everybody at home. The Republican establishment -- I've yet to meet a single person in the Republican establishment that thinks Mitt Romney is going to win the general election this year. They won't say it on TV because they've got to go on TV and they don't want people writing them nasty emails. I obviously don't care. But I have yet to meet anybody in the Republican establishment that worked for George W. Bush, that works in the Republican congress, that worked for Ronald Reagan that thinks Mitt Romney is going to win the general election." -- Joe Scarborough, on Morning Joe.

Romney’s War On (Obama’s) Religion

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Romney has a religion problem and he knows it. 22% of voters are ignorant bigots who are disinclined to vote for a Mormon. So what does Team Romney plan to do about it? They are going to turn Obama into something even worse than a Mormon, they are going to make Obama the atheist in the race. Lawrence O'Donnell broke it down brilliantly last night and this segment is worth sitting through the mandatory 15 second commercial: