Is it just me, or do those two candidate’s names sound like twitter birds….  Unfortunately there is no twitter site for the Twenty-ninth Representative District, so this post will have  to do….

Again, featuring the best Delaware Voter’s Guide ever… we go to the top of the page, click voter’s guide, drop down to the Twenty-Ninth District, and click on Charles Paradee.

As is often the case with progressive candidates, the first selection is his campaign website.. I see we are to drop the Charles and call him Trey… Ok, with a quick click on Trey’s website we see….wow… Protect, Preserve, Prepare is his motto… He even breaks it down further… Protect Open Space (sounds what Sussex County needs as well)..Approximately 85% of the 29th District lies outside the Growth Zone. Despite this fact, the 29th District has been one of the fastest growing areas in the State over the past decade. As the results of the 2006 Levy Court elections show, the people of the 29th District want elected officials who are committed to protecting the rural nature of Kent County from unbridled growth. Trey will be your advocate.

Preserve the low tax structure (also needed in Sussex County)We need Representatives who are equipped to understand the complex budget issues facing our State and who are willing to make the tough decisions. Trey is a self-described fiscal conservative whose background and experience in finance and small business will serve Delaware well.

Prepare for future development–The future is bright for Delaware… if we make the right decisions! We have to recognize that people will continue to move here as long as our taxes are low and our quality of life is high. Growth will continue. Will we do it wisely or will we fall into to the same traps as our neighbors, leading us to higher property and school taxes.

Fascinating.. (This guy’s platform is right out of my post below this one, which advocates what Sussex County must do to save itself from a terrible fate… ie vote Joan Deaver)…There is a picture of him and his hunting dog setting out on the Leipsic River.. Now that is someone we can trust to keep the best parts of Delaware…the way they are now……. Thanks to the Coastal Zone Act I have been remarkably surprised at how many parts of Delaware resemble the way it looked during the colonial area… The view of many of the ships plying up the Delaware River differs little from what those first explorers must have seen. Try saying that while traveling up any other ships channel in the civilized world….

With all the controversy swirling around the Democratic Insurance Commissioners candidate’s resume, it is refreshing to see Trey posting his online… How open is that?…. We see UD all the way, and an English major to boot, always a good sign… At least we see that from having lived in Newark, that he knows what overdevelopment looks like, (unlike someone who grew up, went to school, and never left her hometown)….. We see he is familiar with stable duty; which means he already has a pair of high topped work boots to use while dealing with the lobbyists inside the halls of Legislative Hall…Being prepared he will be, as is always a former Eagle scout… We see he worked at Merrill Lynch… oops… oh so that’s why he is running for office now… 🙂 He is a NRA member and a member of Duck’s Unlimited…He’s a Chamber of Commerce guy, licensed for insurance, securities, and financial planning….

For those of you outside of Dover who as children used to travel through it on your way to the beach… he hails from the Paradee Gas Company lineage…and…. the dude plays drums…Awesome. (I don’t think the blogger’s band has a drummer yet….)

On his issues page, the first thing catching your eye is the title…Education is more important than cheap beer… He continues with this: I purchased some beer to enjoy with friends at a cookout. As I left the liquor store, I glanced at my receipt to see that I had paid $4.85 per six-pack of beer. I wondered for a moment how much my purchase decision would have been affected had I been required to pay $4.89 per six-pack. I doubt anyone would notice an increase of less than 1 cent per individual beer. In the waning hours of the 144th General Assembly, House Bill 518 was defeated in the State Senate, days after passing in the House of Representatives. HB 518 would have increased the tax on a six-pack of beer by 4 cents, 10 cents on a bottle of wine, and 37 cents on a .75-liter bottle of liquor. The tax increases would have generated an estimated $4.5 million in revenue for our cash-strapped State. Three hours after HB 518 was defeated, our lawmakers voted to slash $10.9 million from “programs for remedial readers and students who need extra schooling in the summer” and “funding that provides extracurricular academic help, professional support for teachers and school discipline.” I am proud that my State Senator, Nancy Cook, had the courage to stand up for the children of our State by co-sponsoring HB 518, and I am terribly disappointed that the current Representative of the 29th District, Pamela Thornburg, did not.” Shame on that Pam Thornburg who puts cheap beer before the education of those needing extra schooling. Shame. Shame. (We know how she likes parties)

Other issues… we see he is for open government… (his opponent was one of the few Republicans voting against House Bill 4, much to the chagrin of one Dave Burris..) He offers us his jobs proposal where he arguably points out the ineffectiveness of his incumbent who, in answer to the question what can be done to bring jobs to Kent County… could only come up with one: sports betting at three local racetracks….

Further along he adds: While on the subject of alternative energy, I must also add that it is absolutely shameful how our current legislature has handled the proposed wind power farm. We have an opportunity to attract good paying “green collar” jobs to our State. The development of alternative energy sources is the next great growth industry for our Nation. Delaware needs to get its share of these jobs by providing a business friendly environment that will attract forward thinking
entrepreneurs and businesses.

Here is an inquiry into his family tree. And here is his answer to the News Journal Questionnaire.

Here we see his father owed the city of Dover $800.68 for a sewer tap that was annexed after he had installed it…(I didn’t even know they had computers back on September 13, 1965… lol. )

Here is a search engine report for the Heritage Gas Company, (also known as the Paradee Gas Company..)

From here, Google starts getting confused and substituting items with “parade” in place of Paradee.

Here is his endorsement from the AFL-CIO. And here is his PDD endorsement…. I don’t know how many of either live in his district…

Ok, Let’s Check Out The Other Contender

Click on Pam Thornburg and now we are ready to go.

Pam has an interesting fault.. She has a large wealth of Google data under two spellings of her name..Pam Thornburg (correct) and Pam Thornberg (incorrect).
One thing worth mentioning is that Pam Thornburg has no mention of it, but Pam Thornberg was one of the opponents of the Smoking Ban back in 2002 who introduced bills to water down or delay its taking effect….(Remember… she’s a party girl)….Here we have her at the 11th annual Delaware Standardbred Owners Association (DSOA) Awards Dinner at the Dover Sheraton Hotel on Friday, Jan. 11, 2008.
Here we have her lauded for her work with the Career Transition Project in Kilroy’s own Red Clay District for those with special needs… Hey didn’t I just mention that she voted to cut funding for them? Something like education versus cheap beer? And it was her special project that got budget sliced? Beer IS important.

From beer we go to her official state website… We see she went to high school and college and never left Dover…We see she has been in Legislature since 2000, riding in with Minner, and lists herself as a full time legislator…We see she has oversight of Corrections and she should be answering some hard questions there… since what happened, occurred on her watch…

Here is what she has proudly sponsored…

HB 85 AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES.

HB 175 AN ACT TO AMEND SUBCHAPTER III OF CHAPTER 31 OF TITLE 20 OF THE DELAWARE CODE PERTAINING TO THE EXERCISE OF EMERGENCY POWERS.

HB 189 AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 7 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO TAX DITCHES.

HB 224 AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 24 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO FALSE ALARMS AND SECURITY SYSTEMS.

HB 452 AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 7 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO TAX DITCHES.

HB 492 AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 19 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO WORKERS’ COMPENSATION.

HR 7 COMMEMORATING JANUARY 22-26, 2007 AS DELAWARE AG WEEK.

HR 37 ESTABLISHING THE GROCERY STORE BEER SALES TASK FORCE TO STUDY THE FEASIBILITY OF BEER SALES IN GROCERY STORES.

HR 39 COMMEMORATING JANUARY 7-12, 2008 AS DELAWARE AGRICULTURE WEEK.

HR 46 PROCLAIMING APRIL 21 THROUGH APRIL 25, 2008 AS SMALL BUSINESS WEEK.

HS 1 FOR HB 224 AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 24 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO FALSE ALARMS AND SECURITY SYSTEMS.

Which one jumped out at you?  Yep… me too…

ESTABLISHING THE GROCERY STORE BEER SALES TASK FORCE TO STUDY THE FEASIBILITY OF BEER SALES IN GROCERY STORES.  (I guess the liquor stores close too early in Dover).  That bill was laid on the table only to be strickened upon the opening of the  next session… The Girl loves to party…

So much that only three of her bill got to the governor’s desk… 1) One NRA piece saying the state could never confiscate ones firearm in a Katrina style emergency; 2) one grandfathering encroachments on Tax Ditches, and 3) one fining those with false security alarms… But thanks to her… January 7 – 12 was Delaware AG (Attorney General…lol) week, and April 21 – 25th was Small Business Week… Shucks… I missed it…

Next we have the Delaware Task force that was created by Pam Thornburg who sponsored House Resolution 69,, From the minutes we see the task force met two times and then…Rep. Thornburg stated that she did not feel the task force need to meet again.

Next we have project Vote Smart synopsis of Pam Thornburg’s voting record… There we see that she did not vote on one of John Atkins bills HB 537 back in 2006, even though she was a sponsor.

We see she voted for the 2008 budget, and voted no on the bill to raise her beer 4 cents….She voted yes to collective bargaining…She voted against increasing the cigarette tax,…She voted against raising the minimum wage from $6.15….She voted yes to prevent state employees from paying dues or fair share fees without written consent….She voted “no” against a sterile needle programs, and against a ban on open alcoholic containers in one’s motor vehicle…. (That’s what the drive to the beach is for…) and she voted yes to repeal the statutes of limitation on child abuse cases and to ban the exemption of state employees from being charged under those statutes…

Next we have a wonderful little piece of satire describing here role on the House Committee of Energy in its approval hearing on Bluewater Wind’s proposal… (Like Charlie Copeland, she fought for Delmarva all the way until the final bill was signed…) The piece is appropriate.

Next we have some beautiful pictures of Pam Thornburg as she performs her daily duties as a member of the General Assembly…..

Next we see that on May 8-9th, 2006, the person representing the 29th district, got to party in some really swank digs… The Greenbrier of White Sulphur Springs.. I hope she got a chance to play a round of golf… It is one of the most beautiful courses east of California…. And if she is ever in jail, her supporters can get “Free Pam Thornburg” signs here…

Here is Pam Thornburg’s answer to the News Journal Questionnaire….

Next we have Nancy from Delaware Way’s description showing Pam Thornburg as a tool of Delmarva Power in its battle against Bluewater Wind… It would be wise to remember that even after it was proven that Bluewater Wind cost much less than Delmarva could offer from other sources… Pam Thornburg emphatically backed Delmarva Power against the wishes of 90% of her constituency….She is a special interest legislator… (No doubt, Delmarva Power threw better parties, thanks of course to her fellow party-er... Joe Farley…)

In an effort to stifle John Kowalko, (totally ineffective) she used Joe Farley, lobbyist for Delmarva Power to filabuster most of the time allotted for discussion.. More from Delaware Liberal…

We see another party this time closer to home.. December 2-4, 2005. Minutes of the Kent County Transportation meeting from March 2, 2005 .... are here…

Here, much more pertinent, are the opening minutes of the early meetings of the SEU, that infamous board which tried to scarf $100,000,000 into McDowell’s hands… and still might… A piece is ready for the new session which as shown last June, is full of some shady dealings…..

We see why she is the way she is… As the state chairman of ALEC, American Legislative Exchange Council, she shares with them a common belief in limited government, free markets, federalism, and individual liberty. Just to name some of the original founders, two of which were Henry Hyde (he liked to party as well) and Jesse Helms… But before we go on… isn’t the whole problem we are facing with our economy the result of the policies that organizations like ALEC sneak through our legislative bodies? Isn’t what we are feeling this economic session the result of deregulating and not supervising adequetely those in charge of the money… Doesn’t it seem reasonable that someone who is so into a failed policy of the past, would do our state much more harm than good?

And then we have this.

And from here we see that the Twenty-Ninth District is split 40% Democrats, 35% Republicans, and 25% other.. The key for both candidates is the other…..

The Inevitable Conclusion

That depends entirely upon you….  however if you want my synopsis, it would be that we need forward thinkers now, and not someone playing around in the past to dally in “little” things… I saw Thornburg in action during the Bluewater Wind controversy and it was scary… Why someone would hurt the citizens under their care, who as you all know were struggling so hard to keep up with their utility payments, support the entity beating them down, and be glib and laugh about their plight sarcastically….  I didn’t know people like that ever got elected….  A “small business week” sounds nice, but really…. what does it do…  what does it accomplish… how does it make anyone’s life even a little better?

The twenty-ninth district is so lucky to have someone like Paradee who reflects their values, but looks to carry those values into the future rather than return them to the past….  There are some trying times ahead… someone tackling new problems with an antiqued set of tools is not what the twenty-ninth needs right now…  Thornberg’s philosophy dates back to 1973… as a nation we have moved on since then…

Every two years the Legislature gets shuffled… (but unfortunately not as much lately as it has needed)… Pam Thornburg has, on every one of the great issues that affected this state’s positioning of itself among its neighbors, been on the wrong side…… She was against cheap clean power from Bluewater Wind almost chasing away 500 high paying jobs…… She is against open government; she voted against House Bill 4.  She way back when, was against the smoking ban, in a state with one of the highest cancer rates in the nation for heavens sakes!…  On the other hand if it involves gambling, liquor, beer, wine, cigarettes, open containers in motor vehicles, or any other vice… whoopi… she is all for it…(or so her record would make it seem….) That’s the small town mentality…that comes from never opening ones horizons….

One thing is certain.  Someone good needs to fill that post…Someone forward looking, smart, conservative, family oriented, knowledgeable in business, conservation, the locality, and interested in preserving what is best of western Kent County.  Protect, Preserve, Prepare. The twenty-ninth district could do no better than put Trey Paradee into the House of Representatives on November 4th….