Tag: Featured
Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Tues., March 18, 2014
Assuming that neither snow nor St. Paddy’s Day waylaid them, the legislators return en masse to Dover today.
I expect the Governor and his staff to be meeting with legislators both to push for the infrastructure package (10 cents a gallon increase) and the clean water package ($45 on average per homeowner). This, to put it mildly, is a tough sell in an election year. I have to wonder why the governor didn’t do this at the beginning of his second term rather than throwing out a not-well-thought-through proposal late last session. It makes passage less likely. Although…a compromise on the infrastructure package could well be reached. One respected legislator suggested a phase-in, a nickel and more state borrowing the first year, and an additional nickel and less borrowing the second year. This is, after all, among other things, a jobs bill. If proponents can message this properly and emphasize this fact, reluctant D legislators could well be brought along.
I also expect caucuses to get briefings from their Joint Finance Committee members as to where things stand following the agency hearings (Oops. DEFAC says we’re down another $40 mill). Keep in mind that the budget bill likely won’t get marked up until around Memorial Day, so there will be a lot of dickering between now and then. And more DEFAC numbers.
Venezuela In Chaos: Why Should We Care?
I’ve been trying to follow recent events in Venezuela. Here’s my take, informed by the work of activist Tom Hayden of Peace Exchange, Chris Gilbert, professor at Universidad de Venezuela and Rory Carroll, a reporter for the Guardian and Observer Latin America, based in Caracas for six years until recently.
Greater Potential For Democratic/Liberal Domination in Delaware
A cursory look at the voting numbers in Delaware suggest plenty of room for growth for the DelDem party and the liberal movement. But, if they got their act together again, Republicans are not out of the picture. It is a function of who mobilizes to capitalize on this opportunity.
Chris Coons is a coward.
In one week, he has expressed an opinion about the Ukrainian crisis that should have come straight out of the mouth of Dick Cheney. And now he votes against a well qualified nominee because he is scared of something, though it is not precisely clear what. This is despite the fact that he faces no opposition for reelection. And even if he did, and his opponent championed this vote to approve this nominee as a reason to defeat Senator Coons, all he had to do is say that Adegbile is well qualified for the position and that his representation of Mumia was on constitutional issues after he was already convicted. And even still, is he not principled enough to stand up for the AMERICAN and CONSTITUTIONAL notion that every citizen, no matter what they are charged with, no matter their alleged crime, deserves a day in court and deserves representation by legal counsel? Is he that chickenshit to deny this basic right?
Apparently so. We Delawareans desperately need to replace him in the Senate, for he does not possess the skill, principle or fortitude for the job.
Flowers Announces Reelection Bid
So any notion that Flowers would be scared off running for reelecton was foolish, as he officially declares today that he is running for reelection, despite two expenses scandals and an idiotic confrontation with the Governor. Some Democratic Party operatives say that Flowers is an underdog in the primary. Those Democratic Party operatives are idiots. No, it is going to be VERY difficult to defeat Chip Flowers.
Code Pink Co-Founder Brutalized in Egypt
Medea Benjamin, the indomitable co-founder of the women’s activist group Code Pink has reported that en-route to a women’s conference in Gaza, she was physically attacked at an airport in Egypt.
Ukraine: Geopolitical Chess
Some sentimentalists have been characterizing the Ukraine crisis as a popular revolution. Not so fast. This situation requires some careful analysis, not platitudes. Hear that CNN and mainstream media? Probably not.
Are Democrats Hurting Wilmington?
That is the question posed by John Sweeney in the NJ Opinion pages today. There’s a fair amount of fluff in this piece, and does a thing I mostly hate from newspaper opinion pages — ask a bunch of questions that its news division is not in the business of helping to answer for its readers. Some of those questions are misdirected — schools are under the jurisdiction of school boards and the state, the city has little influence over how they operate or serve city kids, for instance. And lumping in all Democratically run cities with Wilmington’s story is equally misguided. We can start with the NJ’s own comparison of Providence, RI starts to show how inappropriate this is. A city that is mostly Democratic and is clearly back on a upswing — a city that still has real issues, but a city that the NJ compared to Wilmington in terms of effectiveness in addressing violence. Democratic-run places like Baltimore and Philadelphia also present very different stories — cities that still have more than their fair share of issues, but cities working at the kind of development and change that starts to address those problems. Interestingly, Baltimore has reasonable support from the MD GA, and Philadelphia does not from the PA GA (GOP controlled). But I don’t think that the city’s problem is just about Democrats — I think it is mainly uninspired (and oft-times lazy) governing.
Delaware Political Weekly: Feb. 22-28, 2014
Jonathan Gallo has filed to face Bobby Outten in the 30th RD. Gallo changed his registration from R to D to run and, if you check out his site right now, you will not find the word Democrat, or the donkey, anywhere on the site. I mean, anywhere. He’s got the classic bio, and he’s a “man of dedication, integrity, and commitment, who early in his life felt a call to serve his community.” Which means, he’s a ‘man of dedication, integrity, and commitment’ who is hiding his party affiliation. He also rides a tractor standing up (picture).
J. Kevin Robbins of Harrington, is challenging Harold Peterman in the conservative 33rd RD. Robbins is a long-time farmer and has the type of profile that could give him a shot in this district. Here is his site. Not only does he have the donkey there, he actually calls the Party the Democratic Party.
Guess which one I prefer.
What? A Private School Bus Stipend?
Ok, I’m ready for it. A transplant from Texas dares to question the Delaware practice of providing private school parents who apply for a stipend to transport their children to a non-public school? Yes. Admittedly I was shocked to learn that this is a pretty longstanding practice here and in a number of other states. Apparently also there is funding of school nurses in private schools.
The 62 Project: #’s 21 and 41
When I started the 62 Project, I had Pete Schwartzkopf ranked 13th on my initial list. That was largely because I thought that he, as House Majority Leader, effectively pushed through key progressive bills, including civil unions. He also was able to get the at-the-time controversial ‘revenue enhancement’ package through a fractured House. This helped balance the budget during the early Markell years. He wasn’t afraid to use legislative power to get things done. While I didn’t always admire his tactics, I respected the results. The role of House Majority Leader requires tough tactics in tough times.
However, as Speaker of the House, Schwartzkopf has governed as if he were still Majority Leader. Aided and abetted by an equally-enthusiastic, though far less skilled, arm-breaker, Valerie Longhurst. Pete not only handpicked Longhurst to be his successor, he insisted that they both be elected as a team or he would not serve as Speaker. Uh, I wonder if he’d be willing, or in any position, to make the same demand today. Put simply, Pete Schwartzkopf is in danger of being a one-term Speaker, and not because the D’s are in any way facing the loss of the House chamber.
The Mania for Austerity Finally Hits the Military
You’ve been hearing this week about SecDef Chuck Hagel’s proposed budget for the DOD for FY15. This budget reduced the number of active duty troops, reduces the number of reserve troops, reduces salary increases, requires uniformed staff to contribute more to their health care, reduces retirement benefits and focuses growth in cybersecurity and in Special Forces. It looks to re-orient the Pentagon’s focus on being prepared for two land wars to dealing with current threats of terrorism. And this budget looks as though it accomodates some continued sequestration as well as real spending reduction. Remember as you hear more about this budget that if the US gets out of Afghanistan at the end of this year (as planned), the US won’t be engaged in regular ground wars anywhere. From the WaPo:
Honey, I Need to Stop By The Post Office And Make A Deposit
Imagine that. Swing by the Post Office and do your banking. Deposits, not by mail, though you could from home or the Postal Box down at the corner. But actually do your banking when you send the kids a care package. A really great idea with no downsides.
Recent Comments