Archive for January, 2014
![Wednesday Daily Delawhere [1.29.14]](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7338/12170792095_aef728c8d5_z.jpg "Wednesday Daily Delawhere [1.29.14]")
State Of The Union Open Thread
Have at it! I’ll be here all night! (Am I the only one that loves these things? Is that wrong? Or really weird?)
[Update from Delaware Dem]: Some excerpts of the speech are starting to leak, as they always do. The White House, all White Houses, do this to prep the ground and give the pundits something to talk about in the run up to the speech. Here is one such excerpt…
In Case You Were Wondering If Republicans Got Their Act Together And United…
They haven’t. Here’s who the GOP has responding to the President’s State Of The Union address:
1. The official GOP response is to be delivered immediately after the SOTU by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)
2. Americans will also get a rebuttal from Tea Party Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT)
3. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) will give a pre-recorded address (because he’s psychic?)
4. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) announced Monday she will deliver her own State of the Union response in Spanish
That’s four – count ’em, FOUR! – different Republican responses.
President Obama’s Election Reform Commission-Small Ideas
Last week the President’s election reform Commission published its report with their ideas on reforming our election systems. The ideas seemed to be to improved voter participation, particularly in national elections. Because it was intended to provide a bi-partisan answer to our obvious electoral deficiencies, the solutions proposed, while mostly helpful, were incremental and did not offer answers to our long-standing crisis in our so-called participatory republican democracy.
Joe Scarborough Thinks He’s Found A Way To Shut This Whole Hillary Thing Down
Here’s Joe Scarborough pretending to think out loud over whether “invoking Monica Lewinsky against Hillary Clinton could be an appropriate tactic.”
“If Hillary Clinton attacks the Republican Party’s handling of women, and treatment of women and disrespect for women, and suggests they’re misogynists et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, it does seem to be a fair question to ask right now, a few years out, does the media have a responsibility to say, ‘Well, let’s see what happened when you were in the White House, and how women were treated when you were in the governor’s mansion and the White House?’ Is that fair?” the ‘Morning Joe’ host asked Monday morning, as quoted by Mediaite. […] “Does this not compromise Hillary Clinton’s ability to bash Republicans as being terrible toward women, misogynist, et cetera?” he asked.
How exactly would Republicans use Bill Clinton’s infidelity against Hillary Clinton? How does that look? Would they say she was a-okay with infidelity because, if she wasn’t then she would have divorced him? Would they say she’s sexist and misogynist because she’s married to a man who had an affair? Most likely they would do what they love to do and tell Hillary to sit down and shut up… maybe they could even tell her to go make them a sandwich. But whatever route they choose they will end up putting forth this message: Ladies, you are merely an extension of your husbands. Your opinions will only be considered if they align with your husband’s opinion and behavior. If they don’t, well… then you may not speak on certain subjects.
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., Jan. 28, 2014
Well. That was quite an ambitious, and welcome, State of the State Address from Governor Markell last Thursday. There is no surer way to jump-start our state’s economy and, not coincidentally, address long-postponed infrastructure deficiencies, than by proposing a massive capital upgrade. Our roads and bridges need it. So do our workers. I suspect that we will hear this week how Gov. Markell intends to pay for the proposed $500 million program. No doubt an increase in the gas tax will be one of the proposed revenue generators.
I, for one, strongly support such an increase. People have choices as to what kinds of vehicles they drive. If they want to drive massive gas-inhalers, that’s their choice. If they opt to downsize, that’s their choice. The fewer massive gas-inhalers out there, the less pollution gets emitted. Those with mass transit and/or car pool options would be more likely to consider them should gas prices rise. There would be fewer unnecessary trips if people really were concerned about higher gas prices. Less traffic, smaller vehicles, less pollution. Why not raise the gas tax to help pay for this engine of economic recovery? There no doubt will be other revenue sources. I, of course want to see some equity restored to our tax code. But I’m completely on board with this proposal.
Lotsa other good stuff in there as well, including specific job skills training for high school students, and an intense campaign to clean Delaware’s waterways. The question is, will D’s respond favorably to one of the best and only Democratic proposals from our D governor. Here are two early reactions….
Tiny Facebook Page Critical of NCC Government Subpoenaed by AG’s Office
This tiny facebook page with only 312 likes (as of yesterday afternoon) has someone mighty stirred up. Whoever is behind the page had apparently been doing some intriguing and often inflammatory writing about some Wilmington and NCCo fixtures until it seemed to have run out of steam. The recent lack of momentum may be associated with the fact that they went off the deep end, throwing around unsubstantiated rumors of affairs. Or it may be because they felt the heat coming on.
Either way, this subpoena is intriguing. Who could induce Beau Biden to get involved with this small potatoes BS? What are they after? It appears Biden is asking for the names behind the page, but to what end? And why did someone think it was a good idea to employ the Barbara Streisand effect on this?
Well, PRW has a theory…
![Tuesday Daily Delawhere [1.28.14]](http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5527/12171204434_31c4c5ef02_z.jpg "Tuesday Daily Delawhere [1.28.14]")
Inequality for All is Showing Courtesy of Pacem in Terris
Inequality for All is a great documentary that gives Robert Reich an opportunity to explain in great detail how and why the most powerful middle-class on the planet is now shrinking and fighting for survival. I saw this in the fall and it is as entertaining as it is sobering. Pacem in Terris is sponsoring a showing of this film — so-sponsored with Common Cause Delaware — Tuesday, January 28th at 7pm at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Wilmington. The church is located at 1502 W 13th St, Wilmington, DE 19806. I think the showing is free (somebody confirm?), but they usually ask for a free will donation to help defray costs.
Carper, Coons and Carney vote for Trans Pacific Partnership because NAFTA really didn’t eff things up enough
Our congressional delegation just voted to give President Obama “fast track trade authority” on enacting the TPP, thereby denying Congress the right to debate or amend the pending trade agreement.
Just as NAFTA was rushed through Congress 20 years ago resulting in the loss of 700,000 manufacturing jobs to Mexico, the TPP has been fast-tracked by Democrats because… ? They need the big campaign donations, I guess. NAFTA didn’t eff things up enough? I don’t know.
Actually, the vote hasn’t happened yet – but let’s face it, Carper, Carney and Coons are going to vote for it.
Be above average – support the Delaware Shakespeare Festival’s “I am Hamlet”
You’ve heard about this campaign, right?
The DSF is in the planning an exciting community-wide discussion of Shakespeare’s most famous play. We’re calling it the “I Am Hamlet” Project and it will lead up to our summer 2014 production of Hamlet.
From March to May, DSF will reach into the community to find what this play means to you, how it resonates with your life, what personal reflections it causes, etc. We’ll be doing this through a number of initiatives; Classroom Workshops, Retirement Home Visits, Essay Contest, YouTube Videos, Social Media Campaigns, Town Hall
They’ve applied for grants to help fund the project, but we need to raise matching funds to bring the “I Am Hamlet” Project to life. Surely, you can kick in a measly $10 or $20 bucks? (Right now the average donation is $39.17 – so all you have to do to be above average is give a measly $39.50)
Monday Open Thread [1.27.14]
![Monday Open Thread [1.27.14]](http://delawareliberal.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Obama-240x180.png "Monday Open Thread [1.27.14]")
New York Times notes Obama “realizes that he has little chance of major legislative victories this year, with the possible exception of an overhaul of immigration law that Republicans are also making a priority. As a result, aides said, he will present a blueprint for ‘a year of action’ on issues like income inequality and the environment that bypasses Congress and exercises his authority to the maximum extent.”
And he should be doing this. He should say tomorrow…
“Hey, look, I can’t trust this Congress not to send the planet into a self inflicted world wide financial apocalypse. Twice in the last three years, the majority in the House has threatened to do just that if they do not get everything they wanted in budget negotiations. And now they are doing it again. I can’t work with these people. They are clinically insane. And I will not have the business and progress of our nation delayed or impeded simply by the unfortunate reality that they hold one House of Congress.
So I am going to do what I can, under my existing executive authority, under existing laws, to do good for the American people. To create jobs. To save the environment. To provide those who need it with affordable healthcare. And if Congress wants to join me in this effort, they are more than welcome. But America cannot rely on the Majority in the House.”
Should liberals vote?
The knee-jerk response to the question above is, “Of course. What if Republicans win more elections because liberals don’t vote?” In this very interesting and provocative clip Russel Brand takes a different point of view and makes a pretty good case for not voting. He points out that voting in a system as rigged and corrupt as ours is nothing more than meek acquiescence. It is collaboration. If you accept the premise that too much water has flowed over the damn to be fixed by voting for the LEAST corrupted candidate, then not voting becomes the only valid alternative. Voting for Democrats is a “relief valve” that makes some people feel as if they’ve done some good for the world, when really they’ve only endorsed a completely corrupt system.
I know many will comment on this thread without watching the entire video – but watch it.
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