Governor’s State of the State Address Open Thread

Filed in National by on January 20, 2011

Governor Jack Markell will be delivering the yearly State of the State address from Leg Hall starting at 2pm today. Most of us are working at that time, but there are ways to hear and see the address from your computer if you want:

  • The State’s website provides an option for live streaming (you will need Quicktime installed) or for audio (scroll to the bottom for that link)
  • WDEL will be broadcasting this live — they also have live streaming via their website and smartphone apps

Use this thread to talk about your priorities for Delaware State Government this year and to comment on the Governor’s address.

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"You don't make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas." -Shirley Chisholm

Comments (20)

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  1. Jason330 says:

    Jack sounds good. “Delaware is stronger than the challenges we face.”

  2. Jason330 says:

    De strategic fund increased funding. Infrastructure investment fund. Job creating captal investment. Tax credits (yawn).

    Manufacturing jobs.

  3. Jason330 says:

    De most important employers based outdo U.S. Delaware needs Languge credit to graduate from HS.

  4. Jason330 says:

    I hope all of means that pretending government services are free is over.

  5. cassandra_m says:

    I hope so too. Don’t have much hope for the GA though.

    Love that he called out science, engineering and math as key to long term growth here.

  6. cassandra_m says:

    He called for changes (cuts) to state employee health and pension plans. The other major driver of state costs is corrections — time to rethink some of the mandatory sentencing and other policies that just warehouse prisoners.

  7. Jason330 says:

    The prison industrial complex has a strong lobby. (maybe slightly less so now with Lawson’s defeat of Cook)

  8. Jason330 says:

    Who is the libertarian nit wit being interviewed my Jensen? He is proud of having not listened to speech, but is happy to offer his opinion on it.

    A least he knows that libertarians have no chance of winning an election.

  9. Will McVay says:

    That would have been me.

  10. Dirty Girl says:

    @ WIll – on another Thread – you said “we (Libertarians) are on our own here”.

    ummm that might be why you won’t ever get anywhere and your premise of government is wrong

    coz you are all on your own….Kinda was a telling statement unconsciously on your part – but fit well….

  11. Will McVay says:

    That’s kind of a circular problem, in my opinion. We don’t get anywhere because we’re on our own and we’re on our own because we don’t get anywhere. It’s a pretty tough cycle for a political party to break. What premise of government do you think we have wrong?

  12. Dirty Girl says:

    the “everyone for themselves” part….all of it..

    isn’t that the whole premise of your party?

  13. Will McVay says:

    No. It’s that people own themselves and that they have rights government can’t infringe on “for the greater good”. We’re all about working together and cooperating and stuff, we just don’t think government is the best mechanism for that seeing as it can put you in jail if you displease it and tends to lie a lot.

    If there were to be a “whole premise” for the party, it would probably be more along the lines of “don’t use force or fraud” than “everyone for themselves”. Someone actually tried to make that the entirety of our platform last national convention (yes, we have both a platform and a convention, it’s cute)…it didn’t work, but not for lack of trying.

  14. Naomi K. Syken says:

    It boggles my mind how Gov. Markells’ State of the State address is not discussed more in depth, not only here but also on Delaware Way.
    Considering the “financial problems” that Delaware is in and will be facing I just thought that it would be more important to discuss that than some other things that are not as important and posted in threads.
    Now it makes me start to wonder, why is that?

  15. anon says:

    I think it is a recognition that Markell is generally trusted to be playing a bad hand as well as he can, which is far better than most could do.

    Delaware’s financial problems are dependent on the national economy, which seems to be in less trustworthy hands. My personal economic outlook is far more at risk from Obama/Reid/Boehner than anything Markell does or doesn’t do.

    It is also a recognition that if you don’t support Markell, the alternative is the party of Christine O’Donnell, David A., and the Sussex GOP RWNJs.

  16. There is a thread on the State of the State address. I’m not sure what to say, it’s all about budget and we can’t say more until we see the proposals. The other big topic will be redistricting which we’ve discussed in depth many times. El Somnambulo posts about the legislature sessions as well.

  17. jason330 says:

    anon makes a good point as does Unstable I.

    I was going to do a post about what “tax credits” tax cuts or tax breaks the state could give to business that could DIRECTLY influence hiring. I couldn’t think of one, so I didn’t post it. All this tax cut stuff as it relates to “jobs” is pure hooey, so I was glad to hear that it was not the focus of the address.

  18. Naomi K. Syken says:

    There are 46 States in this position now, is Delaware one of them?
    This is from MSNBC-Business-NY Times:
    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41188877/ns/business-the_new_york_times/
    Policy makers are working behind the scenes to come up with a way to let states declare bankruptcy and get out from under crushing debts, including the pensions they have promised to retired public workers.

  19. jason330 says:

    With our triple A bond rating? Oh yeah, hold on. Bond ratings are complete bullshit, so who knows. I will tell you this though, Delaware should declare itself a bank. Then, CHA CHING!!! free money from the nation’s taxpayers for as far as the eye can see!!

  20. cassandra m says:

    I’ve read a few of these *state bankruptcy* articles over the past couple of weeks and it is interesting that this is getting so much play in so many venues. And much like this NYT article the “policymakers” being referred to never seem to have a name or even an agency. Lots of these states have current operating deficits that need some painful work to eliminate on a year by year basis, and are working at doing that. Bond indebtedness and pension obligations are longer term issues with a similarly longer horizon to deal with. But go back and carefully re-read that article that Naomi has linked. The *problem* being targeted by this effort to allow states to declare a BK are public pensions — not really their obligations to bondholders.