By margins significantly larger than Americans as a whole.
If AIPAC gives you permission to use anything other than their propaganda and their money to make an informed decision (Chris, ask them if they’ll let you out of your intellectual padded cell, they might say yes) read this, or at least have a staffer read this to you:
According to this poll, and it appears to be a methodologically-rigorous poll, American Jews support the deal by a margin of 49-31%. All Americans support the deal by a 28-24% margin. These numbers don’t only show support, but they also show that American Jews have focused on this deal far more than the public at large.
On the question as to whether Congress should approve the deal, American Jews say ‘yes’ by a margin of 53-35%. Americans as a whole say ‘yes’ by a margin of 41-38%.
So, to our congressional delegation: Please know that if you vote with AIPAC, you are voting against the preponderance of American Jewry.
I’d like to think that Jews in Delaware will hold you accountable. We pay attention, and we vote.
Press play and have this music play throughout, to enhance your reading pleasure, and to give the appropriate musical backdrop….
The rumblings have started. The game of musical chairs begins as potential candidates start eyeing a particular chair and then nervously eye each other while the music plays.
The chairs available in 2016 are: U.S. Representative
Governor
Lt. Governor
Insurance Commissioner
The additional statewide chairs available in 2018 are: U.S. Senator
Attorney General
Treasurer
Auditor
So in working through this, let’s make some assumptions:
1. Governor Markell will not be a candidate for any of these upcoming races. This is because I assume, no matter who wins the Presidential election, Markell will be in the Cabinet. He is the perfect Democrat a Republican President would chose for Secretary of Education or Secretary of Commerce, and I can see President Hillary Clinton likewise tapping him for Commerce, Education or Treasury.
2. Treasurer Ken Simpler is not running for Governor, but for reelection in 2018.
3. In the same vein, and much to my personal chagrin, Attorney General Matt Denn will not be running for Governor either, but will run for reelection in 2018. For you see, Mr. Denn is the most progressive statewide official and has been since his arrival as Insurance Commissioner back in 2004. But, and this goes for Simpler too, two years on the job is not enough of a platform to run for a new one. Beau Biden recognized this back in 2010, back when he had been on the job of AG for 4 years, but spent 18 months of that in Iraq. And it is a shame too, since that was likely his last chance at higher office. But I digress. For Denn, and I am sure he is aware of this, a run for Governor so soon after a switch of office to AG from LG, coupled with his history of jumping from IC to LG after one term, an uncomfortable reputation might emerge.
4. Insurance Commissioner Stewart and Auditor Wagner will not leave their respective jobs voluntarily until they die. They will not retire. And they cannot be defeated in a primary. For Wagner, having an elected statewide Republican is still a rare enough thing that I am not sure another Republican can be found to challenge him. For Stewart, the only way she can be defeated is if you limit her primary challengers to 1. If she has more than 1 primary challenger, her 32% inexplicable base support in the party will allow her to win. But that will never happen because Tom Gordon and Dennis Williams will step again with their City-County-Stewart unholy tripartite alliance and save her with one or more primary challengers.
5. Beau Biden will not run for any office in 2016. His announcement that he was foregoing a 2014 reelection race and would instead run for Governor in 2016 was a smokescreen, a place-holding statement to preserve his political capital and position in the Party and politics should his health and/or prognosis improve. It was a wise, smart move on that front. But it is not our reality. Beau Biden is not running for Governor, or any office. And I am not going to pretend that he is. If he starts making public appearances, if he starts speaking at these public appearances, and if he releases information as to his health scare, treatment and prognosis, then I will take him seriously as a potential candidate.
6. Tom Carper has a one more election cycle in him before he turns into Bill Roth and someone Carpers him. And I say that wanting Carper to retire to the Florida beach with Castle with every fiber of my being.
So, having said all that, let’s look at who are the candidates for Governor first, because the candidates for this highest office will determine, in a trickle down that actually works, the candidates for the other offices.
This might be Tom Gordon’s last chance to run. If he had had his way, he would be already serving as Governor, having succeeded Ruth Ann Minner in 2008. He is 62 years old right now, so assuming the next Democratic Governor serves 8 years, he would be 72 in 2024. That’s probably young enough for one final run at the job, but it’s punishing it. I mean, do we really expect Gordon to stick around New Castle County for the next 10 years until 2024?
Without Beau running, we will see a confrontation between two of the Delaware Democratic Party’s largest power bases: the Biden clan, represented by Gordon, and Carperco, represented by Carney. How Gordon does depends entirely on how the county government is doing in a year. If Gordon is beloved and seen as a miracle worker as he was back in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, then he wins. If not, I think Carney wins.
On the Republican side, Lacey Lafferty, now, everyone knows that she is a complete and total joke right? She doesn’t have any legitimate supporters, right? I hope? Bonini is already running, and I expect Lavelle to get in, because I think the Simpler win gives him hope, and because in a Lavelle v. Carney race, Lavelle might actually have the advantage in charisma and personality.
I will say this, given the Markell Administration’s horrible approach to education, I dare say that the GOP, with Lavelle as its standard-bearer, might actually win this. But then again, this being an overwhelmingly blue state in a Presidential year, it is likely that Carney wins by 20. Objectively speaking though, this is the GOP’s best chance since 1988 to get back into the Governor’s Mansion.
One person I have not talked about, and he is the wildcard, in more ways than one, in this race, is Representative John Kowalko. You all are aware of Mr. Kowalko’s dismissal from the Education Committee by Speaker Schwartzkopf. As a result, Mr. Kowalko got a lot of progressive sympathy and letters to editors on his behalf published in the News Journal. There is even a petition to draft him for Governor. Depending on how this year plays out with education and the General Assembly, and given recent events in the Progressive Democrats for Delaware (his allies have solidified complete control of the organization), I can see him running for Governor. Running would require him giving up his safe seat in Newark, but that might be attractive to him if there is a Carney v. Gordon race where he could garner a significant disaffected progressive vote who are not enthused with their choice, and depending on how frozen out he is in the General Assembly.
Coming tomorrow, Episode Two, where we discuss who are the volunteers for exile in Washington.
We already know that a provision to roll back the Dodd-Frank provision that forbid banks from booking their derivatives in the the parts of their business that is insured by taxpayers. They would have to keep them in the portions of their business where losses were borne entirely by the bank and their shareholders. Elizabeth Warren led what Bloomberg called The Great Swaps Rebellion during the Cromnibus negotiations. And John Carney was peeved:
John Carney couldn’t understand why the vote was so close. The Delaware congressman, a Democratic member of the House Financial Services Committee, had been there when a reform to the Dodd-Frank “swaps push-out” passed—in a 55-6 landslide. He’d joined a veto-proof majority, 292-122, to back the reform in a House bill that was throttled by the Democratic Senate. The bank-friendly Democrat had not expected the reform’s quiet return, as a rider in the must-pass “Cromnibus” spending package, to kick off a revolt.
“This passed with nearly 300 votes,” said Carney on Thursday night, after the House had voted on the Cromnibus, and as legislators of both parties congratulated him or wished him Merry Christmas. “It would have been more than 300, like some of the other bills we’ve done, if there wasn’t this toxic description of what it might do. Unfortunately, the world we live in, the political world, is one of perception. I try to deal with the facts. Sometimes that’s at odds with the way we do work here, where you get these political narratives that take on a larger than life part of the discussion.”
Put it this way: Carney was not Ready for Warren.
(I really wanted to quote that last bit.) This entire article is Carney not being ready for Warren — or specifically not being ready for the kind of representation that looks out for taxpayer dollars, especially when being promised to people who don’t have a recent good track record of managing their own risk.
Liberal Massachusetts Rep. Mike Capuano incensed the moderates when he said if Democrats support rolling back Dodd-Frank regulations, “you might as well be a Republican.”
Capuano’s comments were so pointed he immediately offended the handful of Democrats who had voted with Republicans previously on the issue and still support it, the sources said. Capuano said in an interview that he stood by his remarks and he had not heard that any of his colleagues were upset. The bill was defeated by Democrats Wednesday.
The moderate Democrats pushed back in the caucus meeting in exchanges described as “intense and emotional.”
They were angered because that same legislation had garnered support from more than 70 Democrats in the 113th Congress, but became a political landmine after Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) criticized the legislation as a Wall Street handout.
So really it looks as though Warren is making it tougher for the so-called moderates to hide their corporate ties and interests behind the label of “moderation”. And it is about time:
At the New Democrat meeting, Hoyer was on the receiving end of impassioned concerns by his moderate colleagues. Reps. Gerry Connolly (Va.), John Carney (Del.) and Jim Himes (Conn.) all voiced strong opinions, according to sources in the room.
The 40-member group expressed anger at the liberal faction for name calling and for dismissing their point of view outright. The lawmakers told Hoyer that any future Democratic majority would look more like them than the liberal faction of the caucus.
Maybe. But if Elizabeth Warren’s fight against this rollback is any indication, it is going to be really hard for these moderates to do the business of their corporate funders without making sure that they are seriously representing and making sure that government works for the people they ask to vote for them every 2 years. But these “moderates” also need to come to grips with how angry Americans still are that banks got away with damn near killing us all, then got extraordinary help from the government to survive. Lots of middle-class homeowners never got that kind of help and they were the front line of the crash. Too bad that John Carney doesn’t care about this or the people who are still suffering from the bad behavior of the banks he so furiously works for.
The mainframe at the home office in Omaha has crunched the numbers and all signs point to Simpler. Follow me below the fold for the breakdown.
First the Democrat Party Candidates in order of probable success:
1) Beau Biden – The largely MIA attorney general, not running.
2) Matt Denn – The attorney general-elect, ex-insurance commissioner, and only genuine Democrat in the party. Being the only genuine Democrat in the state, his pockets aren’t deep enough to take on Carney head to head. If Carney stumbles or decides to spend more time with his family, who knows?
3) Tom Gordon – New Castle County executive, would love to be Governor, but would have to beat John Carney in a statewide primary to get the the opportunity. Not gonna happen. That leaves…
4) John Carney – Congressman, ex-lieutenant governor, recent blow-out winner for re-election. Carney will take all the wrong messages from his recent win and believe that he is well loved throughout the state. He isn’t. He is a milquetoast career politician who believes in one thing, being elected. Oh sure, he’ll raise money by the truckload, but so what? In a small state like Delaware, a disciplined and well run ground game (like the one Simpler ran against Barney) can level the playing field. Especially against a wishy-washy candidate who can’t stomach taking a clear stand on anything.
The Republicans….
1) Lacey Lafferty – The only person currently announced. This retired state trooper walked in the Middleton Christmas parade this weekend dressed up as The Child Catcher from the film ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ and children along the parade route were duly frighten. Lafferty is the best possible primary opponent for Simpler. She is so crazy and over the top that Simpler can keep his non-partisan light blue and yellow motif going and simply ignore her and run against Carney from the outset. Team Simpler will have to thread the needle and not appear to be handed the nomination, but given Copeland’s recent success, I think he has bought some goodwill among the lunatics that comprise the GOP base. That leaves….
2) Ken Simpler – Ivy League legacy and treasurer-elect. Simpler is the only Republican to have run and won statewide. While he claims to be interested in being Treasurer, who is really interested in being Treasurer? Nobody, except as a means to possibly run for Governor sometime. If this is Simpler’s time, it is his time. He’ll be praying that the Dems continue to have no coherent message and the National GOP nominates someone at least competitive because a bit of a surge will help. But even without help at the top of the ticket, team Simpler has demonstrated an ability to expose the weaknesses of (allegedly) strong Democratic candidates. In the general election as in the GOP primary, he’ll have to thread the needle and keep the lunatics on board while appearing to glide above the toxic fumes emitted by the Republican party faithful. He will most likely do that by meeting in person with key teabag players in steam-rooms or saunas where he can tell them whatever lunatic bullshit they want to hear. Again, I think even the most lunatic GOPer is hungry enough for the Governorship to put the civil war on hold for a while.
So it’s Simpler in a photo-finish. If it is a big year for Republicans it is Simpler 52, Carney 47.
To be fair, he hadn’t cast any real egregious votes for a few weeks now.
That has changed. Carney sided with pesticide polluters who don’t even want to get a permit to spray in waterways. This despite the fact that there had not been a single complaint from a single state or provider urging a change in policy:
Fortunately for all of us, the vote required a super-majority and fell short of it. So Carney scored points with corporate polluters while not causing any damage. Yet.
Just one question. Why the bleep would he ever cast a vote like this? John? John?
Since the Supremes pretty clearly told law enforcement that they needed to get a warrant to search your cell phone, there has been renewed attention on H.R.1852, the Email Privacy Act. Introduced by Representative Kevin Yoder [R-KS-3] in May 2013, this law would revise the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act, requiring subpoenas to search emails, no matter how long they had been stored (they can now look at email stored for more then 180 days without a warrant) and allowing ISPs to communicate to the targets that their emails were requested by law enforcement. As of this writing (6.29.2014), John Carney has not joined the 220 Representatives (138 R, 82 D — BIPARTISANSHIP!) who are looking to refine the due process around law enforcement looking at your emails.
Now, the 220 means that a majority of the House would vote to pass this bill. A bill that increases your privacy some and helps make sure that law enforcement does not have as many opportunities to simply troll though your email. It is a pretty simple bill, fixing a pretty big hole in due process. Yet, for all of the Bipartisanship Theater we are treated to from Rep. Carney on behalf of business interests, he doesn’t seem to be nearly as interested in bipartisanship in the service of giving you back a piece of your privacy.
Email Privacy Act – Amends the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 to prohibit a provider of remote computing service or electronic communication service to the public from knowingly divulging to any governmental entity the contents of any communication that is in electronic storage or otherwise maintained by the provider.
Revises provisions under which the government may require, pursuant to a warrant, the disclosure by such a provider of the contents of such communications. Eliminates the different requirements applicable under current law depending on whether such communications were stored for fewer than, or more than, 180 days. Requires a law enforcement agency, within 10 days after receiving the contents of a customer’s communication, or a governmental entity, within 3 days, to provide the customer a copy of the warrant and a notice that such information was requested by, and supplied to, the government entity.
Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit the authority of a governmental entity to use an administrative or civil discovery subpoena to: (1) require an originator or recipient of an electronic communication to disclose the contents of such communication to the governmental entity; or (2) require an entity that provides electronic communication services to employees or agents of the entity to disclose the contents of an electronic communication to or from such employee or agent to a governmental entity if the communication is held, stored, or maintained on an electronic communications system owned or operated by the entity.
Authorizes a governmental entity that is: (1) seeking a warrant for the contents of communications to include in the application a request for an order delaying the notification required for up to 180 days, in the case of a law enforcement agency, or up to 90 days, in the case of any other governmental entity; and (2) obtaining the contents of a communication, or information or records, to apply to a court for an order directing a provider of electronic communication service or remote computing service to which a warrant, order, subpoena, or other directive is directed not to notify any other person of the existence of the directive for up to 180 days, in the case of of a law enforcement agency, or up to 90 days, in the case of any other governmental entity. Provides for extensions.
Requires service providers, after such extension, to provide the government three business days’ notice of their intent to inform a customer or subscriber that the provider has disclosed the individual’s electronic communications information to the government.
Directs the Comptroller General to report to Congress by September 30, 2015, regarding the disclosure by electronic communication service providers of customer communications and records, including an analysis and evaluation of such disclosure under provisions: (1) as in effect before the enactment of this Act, and (2) as amended by this Act.
US Rep. John Carney (‘D’-DE), armed with a fat corporate bankroll and a headful of ideas that are driving me insane, has filed for reelection. The headful of ideas, of course, comes from Pete Peterson, billionaire and austerity guru, not from, say, real Democrats. DL founder Jason Scott has been publicly considering a challenge to Carney, and appears poised to mount a ‘limited scope’ run against Carney:
Am I sure this limited scope candidacy is worth the effort and do I realize that I’m opening a can of worms? I’ve discussed that in this thread. Ultimately, who knows how much, if any impact this will have. I realize that this might be a huge mistake, but I feel like I have to try something to break through the deficit mania and “Cut and Grow” economic idiocy that Carney has adopted.
Not only do I support Jason, but I hope that ‘limited scope’ candidacy takes root and becomes less limited as more and more D’s realize that Carney does not represent the principles of the Democratic Party. He has been an abject disappointment to those of us who like him personally. He has become haughty and dismissive of those who push for progress. Time to dismiss him. Besides, he has a perfect job awaiting him: Secretary of State under the next Governor. Those corporate escape artists are who he represents now. Jason For Congress!
2. Chip Flowers Creates Yet Another Issue For Himself
So, let’s see if I’ve got this straight. In order to ‘save the state money’, Delaware’s Most Ethical State Employee has cut deals with seven banks, all of whom manage state $$’s, to pay for his travel expenses and those of his staff. $5K per bank, times 7. $35,000 in travel expenses. Which is a lot of travel expenses. I would call this extortion were Flowers not so ethical. He, of course, is once again changing the subject. This issue isn’t/wasn’t that he traveled, it is/was that he was unable to account for how much he spent and who paid for it. If a treasurer can’t account for his own expenses, how can he account for the state’s finances?
3. I’m Not Loving Sean Barney’s Campaign
I got an e-blast from him yesterday. He’s been endorsed by a buncha lawyers. I like some of those lawyers. I don’t give two bleeps that they’ve endorsed him. He used some of the same boilerplate that I can’t stand when it comes to our Corporate Bar:
Our legal community in Delaware inspires trust and confidence the world over because of its reputation for upholding the highest standards of professional responsibility. Moreover, Delaware’s bar is exceptional in the manner in which it pairs the highest expectations of competence with the highest expectations of collegiality.
Computer-generated boilerplate.
I have people telling me on the QT that Sean Barney is really one of us. As in progressive. But he is running a risk-averse campaign where all we learn about him is about his military service, his high school schools initiative, and the fact that he’s been endorsed by a lot of the usual suspects. Haven’t even heard a dog-whistle from him to create any enthusiasm. I want to see Chip Flowers gone. But I don’t want another Carneyesque figure on the rise. And I’m not trusting anybody any more when it comes to wink-wink nudge-nudge. I’m not looking for a fire-breathing populist here, just someone with a pulse and a conscience. I mean, it’s not as if supporting progressive principles is gonna cost him votes in the primary.
2. Lotsa Filings
Sen. Greg Lavelle (R-4th SD); Rep. Becky Walker (D-9th RD); NCC Councilman Bob Weiner (R-3rd CD); and Kent County Levy Court Commissioner Glen Howell (R-6th District).
3. R Primary in Sussex Council District.
Incumbent George Cole, who had reportedly been undecided on whether to run again, has filed for reelection for his 4th Councilmanic District. He faces R William Carroll in the September primary. The winner squares off against D Shirley Price in November.
That’s all I got. What’d I miss, and whaddayathink?
The House is currently working on a bill that would re-authorize the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, usually not a controversial event, but this year, those who are looking to unravel Dodd-Frank have wrapped into this bill a number of items that specifically work to give banks more freedom to bankrupt us again. John Carney is right in the middle of this effort to continue to destabilize Dodd-Frank, and in the process, give the Koch Brothers an assist. Here’s the earlier Huffington Post front page announcing how Democrats — even our Democrat — are working to help the Koch Brothers:
In a bitter irony for Democrats, two of the people who stand to gain the most from the fracas are none other than Charles and David Koch, the Republican billionaires who have tapped one of the world’s largest fortunes to cut down Democrats in elections and fuel conservative reforms. According to a lobbying disclosure form, lobbyists for the Koch empire have pushed for four of the most controversial deregulation provisions in Cantor’s latest endeavor.
The Koch and Wall Street-backed deregulation items have all been folded into a bill formally reauthorizing the existence of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission — the regulator that oversees the multi-trillion-dollar derivatives market. The agency has been functioning without authorization since October, and financial oversight advocates are confident that it can continue to do so unless the GOP passes legislation to defund it.
By lumping a host of bipartisan bills together, the CFTC bill is Wall Street’s best chance yet to defang Dodd-Frank. The most consequential deregulation bill in the package was introduced in early 2013 as HR 1256. Critics on Capitol Hill blast it as the “London Whale Loophole Act,” because it allows U.S. firms to skip Dodd-Frank’s trading rules on derivatives, provided they conduct trades in other countries with supposedly similar regulatory regimes.
The bill’s two Democratic co-sponsors Reps. David Scott (D-Ga.) and John Carney (D-Del.), denied meeting with Koch lobbyists, as did two Democrats who co-sponsored a previous version of the bill in 2011, Reps. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) and Jim Himes (D-Conn.). Of the 17 Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee who voted for the bill in committee last spring, 10 denied meeting with the Kochs, and seven did not respond to requests to comment. Most insisted they had no idea the Kochs were pushing for the bill.
This election cycle, Moore has collected $243,400 from the financial industry, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics — nearly triple the $89,750 she’s raised from organized labor, her next-highest backer. Scott has pulled in $220,160 from finance, compared with $68,000 from unions. The $353,632 Carney has drawn from the financial industry is more than five times what he’s received from his next-biggest supporter, lawyers and lobbyists. Himes, who has been in charge of national fundraising for House Democrats since early 2013, has secured $733,600 from the banking sector for his own war chest and political action committee (the Center for Responsive Politics categorizes his next-highest sector as simply “other”).
You should read the whole thing to get the entire context. But keep in mind that John Carney is doing more work to make sure that Too Big To Fail is permanent government policy than he is in making sure that your Social Security is secure and available to you. He will tell you that your Social Security benefits need to be reduced for the good of the system, yet making it easier for Banks to make their way to the trough is the (not very fiscally responsible) work he is committed to doing.
Today, Congressman Carney took to Facebook to burnish his cred in the Fiscal Austerity Games, to tell us all that he was named as one of the “Fiscal Heros” of the front group Fix the Debt (Senators Carper and Coons are in this group, too):
I’m humbled to have been named one of Fix the Debt’s Fiscal Heroes, but there is much more work to be done. For far too long, both Democrats and Republicans have spent trillions of dollars the nation didn’t have. I will continue to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to make the tough decisions necessary to put the country on better fiscal footing.
Unfortunately, Congressman Carney just voted YES to authorize the FY 2015 National Defense Authorization bill — a bill that specifically INCREASES the budget for the DoD. Increases DOD programs over the objections of the DoD:
Keeping the A-10 Warthog (a vehicle no DOD agency wants)
the Army cannot shrink its force
Apache helicopters can’t be moved from the National Guard to the Army
Prohibits another round of BRAC
would give the services billions in order to refuel the aircraft carrier George Washington, develop missile defenses with Israel, buy EA-18G aircraft and upgrade Abrams tanks — projects not budgeted in the Obama administration’s 2015 Pentagon spending request.
The bill would shift $796.2 million to refuel the GW and maintain an 11-carrier fleet, $450 million for five EA-18Gs, $348 million for the “Israeli Cooperative Missile Defense” program, $800 million for the Navy’s amphibious ship program and $120 million for the Abrams upgrades.
There were plenty of tough choices (not enough, really, but a start) on an overcommitment to defense spending made in the budget the DOD produced and the House couldn’t live with even this small bit of fiscal conservatism.
And John Carney voted for *this* — MORE SPENDING — rather than stand with the people who got the message that less spending was necessary.
But, as you can also see, he was able to save the cyber security mission of the DE National Guard, so I guess that some spending is better than others. There’s nothing about Fixing the Debt in voting to continue to spend money that even the DOD doesn’t want.
117 House Democrats, count ’em, 117, have signed a letter urging President Obama to exclude chained CPI from his FY ’15 budget. Here’s an excerpt from the letter:
“Switching to a chained CPI would be devastating for seniors, veterans, federal retirees, disabled individuals and others. Under legislation enacted in 1983, Social Security benefits for seniors retiring in the coming years are already scheduled to be reduced. Today, the average worker earning $43,000 annually who retires at age 65 will find that Social Security replaces 41 percent of their previous earnings. Soon, this will decline to just 36 percent of previous earnings, as the full retirement age climbs from 66 to 67 over the 2017-2022 period.
Chained CPI would further reduce those earned benefits over time because it fails to take into account inflation for older Americans. While the Affordable Care Act has had a positive effect in reducing Medicare spending growth, increased medical costs continue to take a larger and larger share of Social Security earned benefits. As you know, many seniors already face tight personal budgets, challenges that the recession has only exacerbated. For many seniors living on a fixed income, any reduction in benefits would have a serious impact on their ability to afford basic necessities.”
Uh, by now, you know where this is going. Once again, absent from this list is the truly-awful John Carney. You know, our Congressman.
Please retire, John. Or switch your allegiance to the R’s which, come to think of it, would be the same thing. You don’t act like a Democrat, you don’t support Democratic principles, and you do more damage than good because of that.
Oh, and take Robocarper with you. You really should be ashamed of yourself.
Today, retirement insecurity is as high as it has ever been. Only one in five workers in the private sector has a defined benefit pension plan; half of Americans have less than $10,000 in savings; and two-thirds of seniors rely on Social Security for a majority of their income.
Given this reality, we respectfully urge you not to propose cutting Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits in your Fiscal Year 2015 budget.
In good times and bad, Social Security has succeeded in keeping millions of senior citizens, widows, orphans, and persons with disabilities out of extreme poverty. Before Social Security was developed, about half of our seniors lived in poverty; today senior poverty is down to 9.1 percent. Without Social Security, one-third of senior citizens would have virtually no earnings at all.
Social Security has not contributed one penny to the deficit. Social Security has a surplus of more than $2.7 trillion and can pay every single benefit owed to every eligible American for the next 19 years.
There’s more (including Democrats acknowledging that the deficit has been cut in half!) in Senator Sanders’ letter and there is little to disagree with. Unless you have issues representing the people that Social Security and Medicare are committed to support.
“Congress must take action to reduce our nation’s dangerous deficits, but it should not do so on the backs of our military families,” Senator Coons said. “The Bipartisan Budget Act was an important step forward, but like any compromise, it was far from perfect. Cuts to military-retiree pensions unfairly target those who have sacrificed the most for our country. The bill we advanced tonight would repeal these cuts, and I’m glad my colleagues have joined me in supporting this fix for our veterans.”
What might Coons’ support of Social Security look like?
“congress must take action to reduce our nation’s dangerous deficits, but it should not do so on the backs of our elderly,” Senator Coons said. “The Bipartsan Budget Act was an important step forward, but like any compromise it was far from perfect. Cuts to Social Security unfairly target those who have worked all their lives and paid into this program that has successfully guaranteed that working Americans have some financial dignity in retirement, The bill we advanced tonight would ensure that one of the greatest achievements of President Roosevelt — the promise that the Social Security funds you’ve paid into would be available as a hedge against a poverty-ridden old age, and I’, glad my colleagues have joined me in supporting this fix for American workers.”
Right? Instead, the kind of thing we hear from our entire Congressional delegation looks alot like Carper’s rationale for voting against the COLA restoration:
“We‘re making some progress on deficit reduction in this country, but our deficit is still a half-trillion dollars this year, and that’s huge,” he said. “If we’re serious about making progress, all of us who are able to do something to help out need to do that. I think Americans are willing to do their part if asked, and I think they look to people like me to try to provide some leadership and set an example.”
Social Security — in particular — isn’t part of deficit reduction. The only way it even adds to the deficit is if Congress has to borrow money to pay back the IOUs representing the surpluses in the account that Congress has spent. Medicare and Medicaid have different problems — but the point I want to make here is that every single one of these guys is in the business of selling deficit reduction on the backs of the people who can least afford to finance it. There is no leadership in not recognizing the astonishing retirement freight train that is coming down the track; there is no leadership in asking the people who can least afford it to sacrifice; and there is no leadership in not asking ALL Americans — including wealthier Americans AND American businesses — to join the sacrifice. As long as GE pays no taxes and the government is a river of money to ExxonMobil, not one of these guys should be doing any public handwringing about deficit reduction via Social Security or Medicare or Medicaid. For the latter two, there are plenty of interesting ideas out there to reduce the long term cost of these programs while preserving the service. Anyone remember letting people buy into Medicare? That has some promise in reducing the cost of Medicare while expanding the money available for services.
There’s no leadership in chipping away at the financial security of everyday Americans — without asking the people who get an astonishing number of benefits from the government that they can easily afford on their own to pitch in as well.
Our congressman, you know, the one who refused to push for Congress to stay in session until benefits to the long-term unemployed were restored, nevertheless found the time to send out this e-mail, presumably from the comforts of his home, which I received at 5:21 pm on New Year’s Eve:
Friends,
Over the past year, I’ve had the privilege of talking with thousands of Delawareans as I’ve traveled up and down the state. I’ve heard their stories of success, hard work, disappointment, frustration, and hope. I watched Delawareans in uniform go off to war, while their families waited steadfastly for them to return.
I don’t let a day go by without realizing how lucky I am to represent these individuals – and the rest of my fellow Delawareans. It’s a great privilege that comes with the responsibility to do what’s right for the country.
This past year was certainly a challenging one in Congress. In this new year, I hope my colleagues and I can come together to address the very serious challenges facing the country and to give the American people the government they deserve.
For my part, I’m entering this new year with feelings of hope and determination. I pray that you and your families are blessed with good health and happiness in 2014.
Happy New Year,
John
P.S. 2014 also brings with it an election year. Please help me continue serving the people of Delaware by donating to my campaign here.
Paid for and authorized by John Carney for Congress
John Carney for Congress
P.O. Box 2162
Wilmington DE 19899 United States
If you believe you received this message in error or wish to no longer receive emails from us, please unsubscribe
That’s right. What would New Year’s Eve be like without Carney the Craven trying to separate you from a few more bucks before the Witching Hour? None of those bucks, by the way, designated to go to those losing their unemployment benefits. As their benefits expire, thanks in part due to the inaction of Carney and his ilk, Carney needs your dollars to continue living in the style to which he has become accustomed.
Now, go back and read what he wrote. There is literally nothing of substance there. The guy has totally given up even the pretense of caring about anything but his own ill-deserved political future.
Memo to everybody: He does not serve ‘the people of Delaware’, and contributing to his substance-free, but cash-rich, campaign will do nothing to change that.
So, let’s start off 2014 with what we really need: the most suitable nickname we can stick onto this empty suit. I’ll throw out the first three possibilities:
1. Carney the Craven
2. Concord Coalition Carney
3. (In honor of the time-dishonored tradition of ripping off the rubes at the local carnival) Carny.
He has truly descended to the depths. Maybe somebody in the Democratic Party will pay attention to his latest outrage. Three days after Christmas, unemployment benefits are scheduled to end for 1.3 million Americans. 166 Democrats have signed a letter to Speaker Boehner demanding that the Honorables not leave for the holidays until long-time UI has been restored. I, uh, think you can guess where this is going. Check out the article, scroll down the list of those Democrats who did not sign. I will share only one name with you:
John Carney (DE).
What’s the matter, John? Too many bleeping Christmas concerts to attend? Who gives a bleep for 1.3 million losers anyway?
Ladies and gentlemen, your Democratic congressman.
