Archive for December, 2012
Happy New Year Delaware!
![Happy New Year Delaware! Happy New Year Delaware!](http://delawareliberal.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/New-Year-2013-240x180.jpg)
When it comes to the end of the year, I’ve always preferred to look ahead, and with Governor Markell saying he expects Delaware to take up marriage equality, 2013 is already looking bright and promising.
So what does falling off the fiscal slope mean?
So we have news this morning that, allegedly, Vice President Biden and the Turtle leader, Senate Minority Leader Mitch “I’m going to lose to Ashley Judd” McConnell have made some alleged and mysterious progress overnight in their last second talks to reach some kind of deal to avert falling off the fiscal cliff.
Sources close to the talks said a deal is now more likely will come together but cautioned that obstacles remain, including how Speaker John Boehner and House Republican leaders react to any tentative agreement.
“The Leader and the VP continued their discussion late into the evening and will continue to work toward a solution. More info as it becomes available,” a McConnell spokesman said.
I am cynical, and I am pretty convinced a deal is impossible, and thus this is nothing but further political kabuki theatre so that McConnell can later blame the breakdown on Biden and Obama, or Senate Dems. The reason why I say that is that because a raise in tax rates on the wealthy is the line in the sand and a dealbreaker for both sides. For the Dems, a deal must include it. And for the Rethugs, a deal cannot include it. There is no getting around that central fact. The Republicans have proved time and again that they will continue to fellate the rich and billionaires at the expense of the rest of us until the end of time.
So what is going to happen tomorrow?
New Year’s Eve Daily Delawhere [12.31.12]
![New Year’s Eve Daily Delawhere [12.31.12] New Year’s Eve Daily Delawhere [12.31.12]](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8357/8313548093_42dbfed5a3_z.jpg)
Mount Cuba, a former DuPont estate on Barley Mill Road in Mount Cuba. The house was built in 1937 as the estate of Lammot DuPont Copeland and Pamela Cunningham Copeland. The estate is now a center of research for Piedmont flora as of 2004.
Sunday Open Thread [12.30.12]
Looks like we need one of these! We’re still in light blogging mode as we all still busy celebrating holidays and friends and family. Personally, this is my favorite time of the year. How are your holidays going?
Sunday Daily Delawhere [12.30.12]
![Sunday Daily Delawhere [12.30.12] Sunday Daily Delawhere [12.30.12]](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8356/8314597646_8cec1329d7_z.jpg)
The Wilmington skyline, from the city’s Brandywine Village neighborhood across the Brandywine River.
Blevins Does Superb Job on Senate Committee Assignments.
Really. This is not snark. President Pro-Tempore Patti Blevins has served up an almost ideal set of committee chairs/committees. Thank you, Senator.
I have only two caveats before I heap praise on her:
The Bond Bill Committee is too downstate-centric, IMHO.
With the perceived conflict-of-interest on the SEU, Harris McDowell should not chair the Energy/Transit Committee.
That’s it.
Here’s what I like/love (in committee alphabetical order):
Chris Coons Does His Job. Tom Carper Doesn’t.
I want to thank Senator Coons for voting against the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act extension of warrantless wiretapping, otherwise known as the Repeal of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Senator Carper voted for it like a true red conservative Democrat.
Friday Open Thread [12.28.12]
Fox anchor Gregg Jarrett tries his best to spew RNC talking points, but Democratic Congressman Chris Van Hollen is just too smart for it, and proceeds to destroy Jarrett and the Republican Party. Of course, as whenever the Republican Party Talking Points are successfully revealed to be lies on their own air, the interview was ended quickly.
The Big Delaware Story of 2012?
The News Journal has a poll listing the following as the most important events in 2012, and you are to choose between them. Hurricane Sandy is an obvious choice, though its affects on Delaware were most decidedly not as severe as on New Jersey and New York. But some of the choices reveal that 1) either it was a slow slow news year, or 2) the News Journal has actually cut so many reporting jobs that they do not know what is going on in their state anymore.
Ashley Biden’s wedding? Are they serious? I was unaware it happened until just now. A Dewey Beach murder? The rest are short lived controversies or stories that don’t really give rise to STORY OF THE YEAR status. Out of them, I suppose the whole disgusting and evil Eric Bodenweiser saga has to be the winner, but I would say the story of the year is the Demise of Tony Deluca and the Rise of Bryan Townsend. But alas, it is not a choice. Make sure to vote in our poll.
Death Penalty Repeal Petition
The Death Penalty Information Center recently released its year-end report. It revealed that Delaware was one of only 9 states that carried out an execution in 2012. In fact, in the last 35 years, Delaware is garnering a reputation of being the Texas of the East Coast. We rank third nationwide over those 35 years in executions per capita.
It’s time Delaware had this discussion, and I highly endorse the efforts of the Delaware Repeal Project, an organization seeking to end the death penalty in Delaware. Below please find their press release regarding the Death Penalty Information Center’s report, and if you think it is time for Delaware to end the death penalty, sign the their petition.
Friday Daily Delawhere [12.28.12]
![Friday Daily Delawhere [12.28.12] Friday Daily Delawhere [12.28.12]](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8220/8313439739_7672dd6df3_z.jpg)
The old New Castle County Courthouse and state house in New Castle, in Christmas decorations and a snow storm.
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