March 10 Open Thread: Greedy Landowners Sue NCCo

Filed in National by on March 10, 2018

Supporting “farmland preservation” has become a routine position for Delaware politicians, and with good reason: Farmers love it because they get lots of money and don’t have to give up their land, only delay developing it while they live off the “preservation” cash. Add to that Tom Gordon’s Trump-like treatment of every issue as one he could “win” and you get the mess New Castle County has in Port Penn, where greedy, hands-out farmland owners have sued in Chancery Court to force the county to extend sewer service to their land. There’s only one way to properly “preserve” land: Buy it.

That stupid, poorly considered Trump meeting with Kim Jong Un is already being walked back because there are still adults at work somewhere in the White House. But maybe not for long. Vanity Fair’s Gabriel Sherman reports Trump is “red hot” and preparing to clean house, with Kelly, McMaster and Javanka all on the chopping block.

Whoever runs the place would do well to knock out the TV cable, because Trump apparently gets all his bad ideas from Fox News. In fact, that widely known fact helped a sailor accused of breaching security secure a presidential pardon, because his lawyer figured if he made his case on Fox, Trump would see it.

Philly.com’s Will Bunch looks at the West Virginia teachers’ strike and finds a connection between #metoo and revitalized unions.

Walter Shapiro makes an interesting point about the politics of gun control: Politicians have little reason to take electoral risks for small incremental measures. His conclusion: Go big:

The biggest problem that gun control advocates face — and have faced for more than two decades — is that any specific reform they pump for is likely to work only at the margins.nstead of going small to the point of near-invisibility, a strong case can be made that it is time to go large. … The idea would be to put every practical gun-control measure that could save lives (and could pass Supreme Court muster) in a single piece of legislation. For example, limits on the types of guns that can be sold, the types of ammunition available, age restrictions, enhanced background checks and rigorous federally funded research on further ways to reduce gun violence. Then, and only then, could you make a credible case that thousands of lives each year are hanging in the balance. That would present Congress with the stark choice between dramatically reducing gun violence or continuing to cater to the extremist whims of the NRA.

Will the Stormy Daniels scandal do what every other Trump scandal has failed to do? I tend to doubt it, but I must admit that Trump’s fixer, Michael Cohen, is almost as incompetent as his boss, as demonstrated by the fact that he negotiated her payout on Trump Organization letterhead.

Trump’s imitators are everywhere, but they never seem to skate away as easily as he does. Consider, for example, “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli. He put on an impressive display of contrition, complete with tears, but was nevertheless sentenced to seven years in prison for securities fraud.

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  1. SussexWatcher says:

    State farmland preservation is “in perpetuity.” There is a permanent easement placed on the property. Development is not delayed, it is banned.

  2. Alby says:

    My bad. You are correct, the easement program does preserve it in perpetuity. It’s the first mandatory step that is temporary, in which the farmer only pledges 10 years, then decides on a permanent easement.

    IIRC, and obviously it’s been a long while since I checked on this, this started out as a program to protect land in the path of development, but most of the farmers who opted in are in no danger of that happening in their lifetimes, which is of course the only reason you would sell development rights to the state for what it can afford to pay.

    Unless you own a golf course and the crooked governor at the time thinks buying you out will help her re-election.

  3. bamboozer says:

    Pharma Bro will do two years and the rest probation, but he’s still got at least 45 million waiting for him when he gets out. Should be noted that if there’s been a less deserving of mercy defendant than Shkreli I have yet to hear of it. Young Stormy Daniels, seems there’s a few others who know what went on and her case to lift the NDA seems to be continuing as well, not that the Evangelicals will care. Strongly suspect the great Meeting Of The Mindless with Trump and Kim Jung Un will not take place, and if it does the primary purpose will be a photo op.

  4. Alby says:

    I think the whole contrition thing was an act, and I expect him to end up back in prison for violating parole within a year. Classic sociopath. What Trump would be if he were shorter, smaller and smarter.

  5. Paul says:

    Bill Clinton stuck his finger right into Labor’s eye when he championed and passed NAFTA with the support of the then Republican Congress. The lesson wasn’t lost on Labor, and when Mrs. Clinton asked for Labor’s vote in the rust belt, Labor told her where she could go. TC and CC have used this strategy to win their seats, but the entire country pays the price in votes for bad public policy from the two Delaware Boys. Let’s hope the primary is a success for Mr. Carper’s opponent, then get her elected in the general.

  6. Dana Garrett says:

    Can someone help me understand the Stormy Daniels payoff issue. I frankly don’t care about politicians infidelities, but I’ve heard that by paying Daniels to keep quiet about her fling with Trump, he violated some election law. What election law? What makes the payoff illegal? Thanks.

  7. RE Vanella says:

    The lawyer paid Daniels off out of his own pocket. Hit his home equity line I think.

    It was within a month of the general election. Hush money to protect the campaign. Individual secret contribution above the limit directly for campaign.

    I think this is illegal. Who knows? The got Capone on tax evasion…

  8. RE Vanella says:

    It’s an in-kind campaign donation, basically.

  9. Dana Garrett says:

    Ah, now I get it. Thanks.

  10. mouse says:

    The 3 model beige plastic treeless house for 400K cancer has come to Camp Arrowhead rd. You can already see the obvious water quality degradation in the streams feeding the inland bays, e.g., Cherry Creek. It’s truly malicious destruction of our of common natural resources to further enrich the already rich. All this new traffic will feed onto Rt 24 which is the same road it was 50 years ago without left turn lanes. No impact fees for developers of course. We can’t build schools fast enough and the retirees filling these soulless homes vote against school referendums. This sickens me!

  11. Alby says:

    @mouse: That’s a damn shame. My kids went to Camp Arrowhead back in the day.