Tag: Featured
Don’t Forget! Come Hang Out With Delaware Liberal
Can we get a head count? Let us know in the comments. Hoping for a good turnout!
Saturday, June 28th
7:00pm
Firestone’s (Wilmington Riverfront)
We’ll meet on the outside patio. In case of rain, we’ll meet in the bar area. There will be a DL sign!
Delaware Political Weekly: June 14-20, 2014
Ted Kittila, a Seaford native and a Wilmington corporate attorney, announced that he would run as an R for Attorney General. He has not yet filed. Here is a background piece on Kittila from the News Journal. It also looks like Kittila will need to bring something a little stronger than his trying to contrast himself with Denn by essentially claiming that he is a lawyer while Denn is a politician. Denn’s response:
“I have practiced law in every court in the State of Delaware, representing both businesses and people with few resources or who couldn’t afford an attorney,” Denn said. “I have worked to improve the public safety system as chair of the Criminal Justice Council. I have experience protecting consumers as Insurance Commissioner, protecting children as Chair of the Child Protection Accountability Commission and getting laws passed as Insurance Commissioner and Lieutenant Governor to help families, businesses, schools and kids. I look forward to talking about my experience and ideas.”
Kneejerk War Is Weakness, Not Strength
The drumbeat for a renewed Iraq intervention from the neo-cons and neo-liberals within and outside the administration is pissing me off. The media learned nothing from Vietnam, Iraq II and Afghanistan; they are fielding all the totally discredited talking heads to tell us President Obama needs to show strength.
Delaware Liberal Liberally Drinking
Come out and join us for an evening!
Saturday, June 28th
7:00pm
Firestone’s (Riverfront)
It’s been a while since we’ve done one of these. Hope to see everyone!
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., June 17, 2014
Roads Held Hostage: Day…um, I Lost Count. Seven legislative days remain, still no word of any sort of fix to the $70 (or $90) million hole in the State’s transportation/infrastructure budget. Looks like we’re getting in ‘patch, then kick the can down the road’ territory. The very idea that D’s can’t or won’t tout a needed $70 (or $90) mill road repair/jobs program pretty much defines what’s wrong with Delaware’s brand of ‘Democrat’. BTW, since it looks like the 495 repair will cost somewhere around $20 mill, I’m hedging my bets as to whether the hole in our transportation funding is $70 mill or $90 mill.
OK, there are only a few ways that I can write the same story day after day. Whether I’ll run out of ways to write it before a fix is arrived at remains to be seen. Check back tomorrow.
Oopsies. Did I say tomorrow? Breaking news, and it ain’t good. A real bleak fiscal picture, must-reading for anyone interested in what’s gonna get funded and what will not. Here’s the takeaway quote:
“The problem is that no one wants to raise taxes for anything. You don’t want to raise the gas tax. You don’t want to raise income taxes. You don’t want a sales tax. You don’t want any of these taxes, but you still want the infrastructure,” Bhatt told lawmakers.
Speaking of infrastructure, DELDOT’s capital proposal is $128 mill, $70 mill less than last year’s. Revenue-shifting and the General Assembly’s refusal to even consider a gas tax will mean deteriorating roads, bridges and infrastructure. Hey, hopefully they’ll be out of office when stuff actually falls down. Then they can blame it on someone else. Cowardice. Proof that these election-obsessives don’t live in a reality-based world.
Bomb Iraq? Why?
Can anyone give me one rational reason why we would even consider launching a bombing/missile/drone attack on so called Iraq militants? No, I mean a really rational reason?
Welcome Home, Bowe Bergdahl
Let me be among the first admirers of Veterans For Peace(VFP) to welcome you home. As the third generation in my family to serve as an officer in the U.S. Army, I was privileged to rejuvenate the Houston Chapter and serve in its leadership for a number of years. I am certain that on your return, your comrades in arms in VFP will provide you a warm welcome and the support you’ll need to re-adjust to Tea Party America.
The College Debt Crisis in America
America has a problem that’s growing on an unimaginable scale. In the last decade student loan debt has become an issue that should be at the forefront of any agenda looking to push serious long term change. The fact is, college is a wonderful thing for the growth of a nation, and while I certainly agree that we shouldn’t be so focused on pushing everyone to go, those who want to go, and can go, should be able to attend without the nagging fear of walking out with their arms filled with an eternal debt. Innovation and change is fueled through the education of the next generation, and college is a wonderful place to further the potential of young people.
Can You Hear Me Now?
Last week Cassandra put up a post entitled #YesAllWomen and things got interesting. The entire thread (and its evolution or… reduction?) is worth your time to read, but, for this post, I’m going to deal with my interactions with individual commenters – which means I’ll be taking the comments out of order to highlight the individual conversations.
I’ve debated on how to do this and decided to post comments in their entirety – which means this post will be ridiculously long, but quotes will not be taken out of context. (FYI: I’ve placed the comments in blockquotes, so they can be easily identified. Anything in blockquotes is a direct comment from the #YesAllWomen thread. Everyone with me?) Hey, look at this as your weekend reading!
Basically, I’m going to dissect these conversations. I am also writing this post from my point of view (and only my point of view) – how I interpreted these responses as a women.
I was actually surprised by how frustrated I became writing this post, and I shudder when I think of the forthcoming comments. Mainly because I’m not sure if we can have this discussion without getting defensive. I’ll also point out that while I am calling out certain people’s comments I am doing so in a attempt to see if people can relate to my reactions to certain words, phrases, tone, etc. Again, this post is about how I interpreted comments… and I didn’t always interpret them nicely, so feel free to call me out. But once you do that… do you think you could comment on my point; do you think there’s a conversation to be had? If you do, then after you call me out, could you address that?
Delaware Political Weekly: May 31-June 6, 2014
Any general election ballot with both Matt Denn and Brenda Mayrack on it is a ballot worth filling out. For years, we, and many of you, have lamented the dearth of progressives at the highest levels of elected state Democratic officeholders. I am convinced that both Denn and Mayrack are true progressives, and that the offices for which they’re running this year are unlikely to be the last offices for which they run. In addition to being progressives, both are real competent. With all due respect to Beau Biden (and that’s about as much respect as he’s due), Denn is a huge upgrade in the competence department. As for Tom Wagner, is there anybody in the state, other than perhaps Dick Cathcart, even willing to make an argument about his competence? Unless one views not doing anything as evidence of competence? Now contrast him with Brenda Mayrack. As Spiro Agnew might say, “Nolo contendere”. Speaking of Wagner and Cathcart, for those of you new to this scandal, this is must reading. Pretty much everything you need to know in one place. Perhaps that Delaware City sycophant who kisses Cathcart’s ass (no, not Val Longhurst, the other Delaware City sycophant who kisses Cathcart’s ass) will respond to this. Wagner? I dunno. But the term ‘suspendered disbelief’ was never more appropriate. BTW, in a delicious piece of irony, the pathetic report/whitewash from Wagner that I linked to in the article…is no longer available from the Auditor’s office.
Delaware’s I-495 Closing Brings Attention to State Infrastructure
Monday’s closure of Delaware’s I-495 bridge has brought to attention the ailing state of Delaware’s infrastructure (not to mention America’s infrastructure). It’s no secret that the infrastructure of Delaware and the entire nation is in desperate need of attention and repair, and most state politicians have agreed, yet few have actually taken action on this issue. Governor Markell has repeatedly called for additional focus on Delaware’s infrastructure, and with the recent bridge closing, so have many more members of the state legislature.
The infrastructural issues of Delaware range from our roadways to our waterways, and none of it can be ignored. With a quick google search any person can find several reports and informative pieces on Delaware’s infrastructural shortcomings. 36% of Delaware’s major roadways are in poor or lacking condition, over 20% of our bridges are either structurally deficient or obsolete, and the state has 65 high hazard dams. This is nothing short of extremely concerning.
DL Exclusive: Brenda Mayrack Receives Major Endorsement from Emily’s List
Delaware State Auditor candidate Brenda Mayrack has officially been endorsed by Emily’s List. Come inside for the full release….
“I am both inspired and gratified by this endorsement,” Mayrack told Delaware Liberal. “I am running for Auditor because I intend to work to ensure that each one of our hard-earned tax dollars is used well and not wasted. All Delawareans, along with those who have placed their trust in me, deserve that, and that’s the mission I will bring to the office.”
This is a big deal for Delaware. Brenda Mayrack offers the real promise of progressive leadership for Delaware. She will be a great auditor, bringing both an incisive mind and, here’s a word you don’t ever hear associated with current Auditor Tom Wagner, competence, to effectively do the job.
America’s Psych/Neuro Crisis: Silence From The Medics
You might have noticed, if you’re paying attention, that the U.S. has a major set of medical crises. An epidemic of mass killings from clearly deranged perpetrators who’ve slipped through the net of the psych/neuro professionals unnoticed. And an epidemic of broken vets returning home from the killing fields with PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). . The response from the medical profession (using this term advisedly)? Silence.
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