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DL Open Thread: Saturday, June 12, 2021

Filed in Featured, Open Thread by on June 12, 2021 3 Comments

Trump Handed Private Equity Firms License To Avoid Taxes.  The day before the Capitol riots: There were two weeks left in the Trump administration when the Treasury Department handed down a set of rules governing an obscure corner of the tax code. Overseen by a senior Treasury official whose previous job involved helping the wealthy […]

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DL Open Thread: Friday, June 11, 2021

Filed in National by on June 11, 2021 23 Comments

Danny Short Has A Sad.  From Matt Bittle’s Twitter.  There’s so much dissembling goodness here, but I’ll go with: While the proposed amendment had some support from our Caucus during the 150th General Assembly, in the time since then many of our members reexamined it and began expressing significant reservations. First, ‘some support’ was all […]

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Song of the Day 6/10: Cab Calloway, “The Reefer Man”

Filed in Arts and Entertainment, Delaware by on June 10, 2021 5 Comments

With Delaware lawmakers debating a marijuana legalization bill, it seems worthwhile to remind them that cannabis wasn’t always illegal, and its effects weren’t considered dangerous until a wave of refugees from the Mexican Revolution in the 1920s prompted anti-immigrant forces to agitate against the “marihuana” they brought with them. When Cab Calloway, a guy whose […]

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General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thursday, June 10, 2021

Filed in Delaware, Featured by on June 10, 2021 12 Comments

Today’s the day that marijuana legalization comes to the House floor.  It’s likely to be a lo-o-o-ng day. After all, it’s a lo-o-o-ng bill.  HB 150 (Osienski) already has ten pre-filed amendments to wade through.  There could well be more, including perhaps an omnibus amendment that incorporates whatever is needed to get enough votes for […]

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DL Open Thread Thursday, June 10, 2021

Filed in National by on June 10, 2021 3 Comments

The week’s biggest story has been brought to us via Pro Publica, which got its hands on a trove of secret IRS files that show many famous billionaires pay a lower income tax rate than you, even if you earn $17,000 a year. David Cay Johnston at Raw Story provides a helpful synopsis that boils […]

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Biden’s Sophie’s Choice

Filed in National by on June 10, 2021 2 Comments
Biden’s Sophie’s Choice

Biden Admin: Our only red lines for the infrastructure plan are inaction and raising taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 per year.

McConnell, Manchin & Coons: Pick one.

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Song of the Day 6/9: The Posies, “Solar Sister”

Filed in Arts and Entertainment by on June 9, 2021 3 Comments

In popular memory, grunge is the rock genre that represents the ’90s, but that obscures the reality — the ’90s were rock’s last hurrah in large part because multiple genres still sold enough records (and there still were “records” to sell) to land recording contracts. One genre that thrived was power pop — well, thrived […]

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General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., June 9, 2021

Filed in Delaware, Featured by on June 9, 2021 29 Comments

Pity The Poor Rethuglican.  A couple of years ago, Speaker Pete cut a deal with them rather than work with his own caucus. The result? A special ‘training wage’ and a special ‘youth wage’ that was below the minimum wage.  A lot of D’s bristled at this bill. But not Mike Ramone, whose vote Pete […]

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DL Open Thread Wednesday June 9th 2021

Filed in National by on June 9, 2021 7 Comments
DL Open Thread Wednesday June 9th 2021

I sometimes wonder if Coons is trolling me personally with the breathless hyperbole. Read on to see how Coonsian Bipartisanism just saved America.

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Song of the Day 6/8: Gene Chandler, “Duke of Earl”

Filed in Arts and Entertainment by on June 8, 2021 1 Comment

Americans seem fascinated with British royalty, but they don’t understand much about it. Consider, for example, the “Duke of Earl.” There is, of course, no such thing — in the hierarchy of British peerage, a duke is below only a prince, while an earl is a separate title two ranks lower. That fact did nothing […]

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State Rep/Ex-Cop Steve Smyk Implicated In Sex Discrimination/Harassment Suit

Filed in Delaware, Featured by on June 8, 2021 17 Comments

Far be it from me to sensationalize allegations pertaining to any of the cop-legislators in Dover (he lied), but this case promises to be Sensational. It features Steve Smyk (rhymes with Dick), and, yes, he comes across as quite the dick. Allegedly. Oh, and also Speaker Pete (alleged oral history). If you have a subscription, […]

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Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Tuesday, June 8, 2021

Filed in Delaware, Featured by on June 8, 2021 13 Comments

It’s official.  Matt Bittle is the best legislative beat reporter I’ve seen during my years of working for/following the General Assembly.  Chad Livengood was the best investigative reporter, but you simply can’t beat Matt’s ongoing coverage.  It’s why I subscribe to Bay To Bay (formerly the Delaware State News).  Here is his preview of the […]

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Clear thinking on the ongoing stupidity of “bi-partisanship”

Filed in National by on June 8, 2021 0 Comments

This guy – Duncan Bowen Black (better known by his pseudonym Atrios) constantly provides the clearest, most cogent criticism of our dystopian mania for Coonsian “compromise” politics. Like this for example:

The Opposition Opposes

I keep saying this, but it’s actually appropriate for Mitch McConnell to behave as he does (mostly). Doesn’t mean I like him! He’s a Republican! I don’t like Republicans! But he’s doing what an opposition is supposed to do.We don’t have a parliamentary system, but we should and can be more like one, both in practice and in “our” understanding of how things are supposed to work. A contest between competing visions and governances is superior to endless compromises which please no one, and that was true even when those compromises sometimes actually happened. But they don’t happen anymore, and that’s ok!

A little more about Black from wikipedia:

His weblog is called Eschaton. Black was also a regular guest economics expert on Air America Radio’s The Majority Report and is currently a regular commentator on Sam Seder’s internet radio (Majority.fm) Majority Report and an op-ed contributor to USA Today.

After obtaining his BA from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Black obtained a Ph.D. in economics from Brown University in 1999. He has worked at the London School of Economics, the Université catholique de Louvain, the University of California, Irvine, and, most recently, Bryn Mawr College. He is now a Senior Fellow at the media research group Media Matters for America.

He also makes the case regularly that Elon Musk is a fraud and a hustler.

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