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Yep, the Paul Ryan budget was released today. As expected it is a budget designed to protect the top 1% from any bad thing that could possibly occur to them. As was poetically so well put by Romney during the past campaign…. ” ha, ha, ha, ha, ha…. The rest of us don’t matter….”
Today prominent theologians of all religions universally excommunicated the Republican Party of the United States of America from any pretension of anything corresponding to organized religion.
“They’re a cult, I tell you!!!”
Republicans in congress. God is watching you. And if you Fundamentalists would read your Bibles, you’d already know whose side He is on.
The rest of us… If you thought Republicans would come to their senses and start reinvesting in America, the joke is on you.
Nothing will ever change until America gets mad enough to rid ourselves of this pestilence forever…. You don’t have to vote for a Democrat. Most of you won’t… But you do… have to not vote for a Republican….
Unless you no longer consider yourself a moral individual, change your Registration…. TODAY!!!!!!!
We were round tabling this discussion when one person said… “What if the US just gave up after Pearl Harbor?”
Valid point.
Now I’m all for people speaking their mind. I’m all for supporting the majority. And like the founding fathers, I have implicit faith in the ability of the people to sort out our problems and separate wheat from the chaff… if not the first time, then definitely over time.
Most ordinary people I know have far more wisdom than any leader I’ve had the privilege to share conversation with. Therefore I believe in the sanctity of the people’s choice. If the people voted him in, he’s there for a reason.
But that’s only if the election was fair. If someone padded the ballot box, or switched vote totals, than obviously this premise wouldn’t apply for the very reason that the choice of the people was not the person who was actually representing them.
Mike was bushwhacked, sort of like the US was at Pearl Harbor or on 09/11…Reading his interview yesterday in the News Journal, one gets a sense that perhaps this was not a fair fight…. By election laws it was, and we all have to accept the primary results. However, if Mike doesn’t run as a write-in, he is putting himself in the same position as if the United States did nothing after Pearl Harbor or 9/11….
And with Mike, it is not about winning, although winning would be nice. It would be about whether good or evil triumphed. Polls say it’s Mike’s race to lose. He actually has enough money to send every voter a personal card telling them exactly how much he’s done for them, how that will soon change for the worse, and explain how to write in his name and send the evil perpetrators back to their cardboard boxes.
If Mike doesn’t do this…. exactly then, what is he saying to future generations of Americans? ? That we should just give up when hit from behind with a baseball bat? That it’s the American way to lay down and bend over? That being a man, is knowing when to run away and hide? That brutality and tastelessness are the new American Way? That perhaps Christine was right? Castle has no man pants on? That the wishes of Delawareans don’t matter; we’ll stop immediately and do what Californians tell us? That how we brush off defeat is a better mark of character, than coming back strong and punishing the evil that befell us?
And sentences keep coming one after another… the list keeps going on…
But if I were in Mike Castles shoes, and if it were me looking over the entire scene before me… I would have no choice but to say I’m in… Oh yes, I would wait till the last minute of September 30th to do so… and I would create a smoke cloud beforehand by pretending to roll over and let bygones be bygones… …. …. and from somewhere out of the fog, then overwhelmingly, I’d strike.
I wouldn’t hold back.. It’d be my last race, it would be the one I pulled all my stops for. Every person I’d ever helped would get a personal appeal from me. Unconditional Surrender would be our rallying cry, just like for the troops of WWII… Our goal would be not just to win, but destroy the O’Tea Party forever.
Ok, Hannity O’Tea Partiers: so you were secretly prepared and yes, you overran Poland, and yes, you then went on to incorporate the Low Countries, Denmark and Norway, and even surprised France pushing their ally Britain into the water… But this time, you went too far.. You’ve taken on the United States. You’ve pissed off someone five times your size. We will Normandize you, Elbetize you, Dresdenize you, give you a Kolnectomy, Rhineantipuovertize you, Remagenisque you, and even liposuctionize your Battle of the Bulge. We will Pattontize you, Bradleydice you, and Marshall you into a corner from where you can’t maneuver.. We will take average civilians and turn them into a fighting force the world has never seen…
We will do so for the honor of America.
What kind of an America? An America where truth wins out, where decency prevails, where honesty and hard work eventually win out over trickery, skulduggery, and political assassination. You wanted to play dirty? We’ll show you how it’s done… In doing so we will show the world that modernism prevails, that decent people still run America. that the “Boehner Bullshit” is just that. It’s time to show the world what we’ve known all along.. That in America, it’s the people who run politics..Not the Politics who run the people…..
I’d tell every Delawarean… Do yourself a favor… Turn off your TV’s.. You got a question? Call me or my staff directly! We’ll talk to you… try talking back to their commercials! Where will that get you?
That stuff they’re airing? That’s not Delaware talking, That’s California money talking… That’s rich bitch snitch drug money being laundried to throw a Senate seat into supporting their snatching up of all your money… You want to keep some of your money? Call me. Call my staff… That’s Delaware talking.
Do you want reason to take on ins’hannity?
Well, it’s on. Support me. You can’t let the devil win… ”
Well anyway, if I were Castle, that’s exactly what I’d do. And I would do it selflessly, not to win, but to give Delawarean another alternative between a Democrat and our equivalent of the brown shirts of the Nazi Party.
Yes, if there is still good left in America, then Castle needs to run.
If the doesn’t, then the America that came back after Pearl Harbor……. is gone.
One might as well come right out and say it.. The Tea Party movement is based on race… There is no other explanation.
Lets assume, just for fun, that black is white… and white is black….
Imagine that thousands of black protesters, bussed in from Wilmington, Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, and DC, were to descend upon Dover’s Green, next to our General Assembly, armed with AK-47s, M-1’s, and handguns stocked with live ammunition. And imagine that the television cameras happen to conveniently catch some of these protesters — all wearing hoodies — ranting over the need for violent political revolution and armed conflict, should laws they despised, ever be enforced by the government? Would you see them as brave defenders of the Second Amendment, or would shit in your pants and want them all “lined up and shot”? Don’t answer! You know how you’d see them.
We all know this happened… but black was white… and Republicans cheered and licked the butts of those shouting slogans.
Imagine John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, and Michelle Bachman, while walking to work, got surrounded by thousands of angry black people, one of whom proceeded to spit so much in Michelle Bachman’s hair, it caused her to look like she had just exited a Penn State frat party. It was done for no reason, except that she had not voted the way that black demonstrator with a Muslim beard and saggy pants, had desired.
Would you see this as merely patriotic Americans voicing their opinions, or would it be apparent to you, that it was an angry, potentially violent, and even a subversive mob of really dumb ass people?
Again, we all know that this happened… but black was white… and Republicans cheered and licked the butts of those shouting the slogans.
Imagine the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, a rap artist, were to say, in reference to a white president: “He’s a piece of shit and I told him to suck on my machine gun.”
This happened… but black was white… and Republicans cheered and licked the butts of those shouting the slogans…
Now.
Imagine that a pill popping black radio host with the face of an ass, were to suggest that the only way to get promoted in the administration of any white president was to “hate black people,” or that a prominent white General had only endorsed a white presidential candidate cause they were both the same color, or blamed a white president because a fight occurred one of our nation’s school buses in which a black kid was jumped by two white kids, or if this ass faced radio host had said that he wouldn’t want to kill all conservatives, but rather, would like to leave just enough—“living fossils” as he called them—“so we will never forget what these people stood for.” After all, we all know these are things Rush Limbaugh has said….. and when he did, Republicans cheered and licked the butts of those shouting the slogans…
Imagine that a black pastor, formerly a member of the U.S. military, were to declare, as part of his opposition to a white president’s policies, that he was ready to “suit up, get my gun, go to Washington, and do what they trained me to do.”
Meanwhile the Republicans cheer and line up to lick the butts of those shouting the slogans…
Imagine a black radio talk show host gleefully predicting a revolution by people of color if the government continues to be dominated by the rich white men who have been “destroying” the country, or if said radio personality were to call Christians or Jews non-humans, or say that when it came to conservatives, the best solution would be to “hang ‘em high.”
And Republicans stand up to cheer and line up to lick the butts of those shouting the slogans…
Imagine a black political commentator, with very odd hands, suggesting that the only thing the guy who flew his plane into the Austin, Texas IRS building did wrong was not blowing up Fox News instead.
… and the Republicans cheered and licked the butts of those shouting the slogans…
Enough.
Even if one-third of the anger currently being hurled at President Obama, were being aimed by people of color at a white Republican president, how many whites would wax eloquent about every black person’s right to free speech, to own a gun, and praise all the glories of democracy?
On the other hand, how many of them would be instead calling for crackdowns on unlawful behavior, and investigations into the radical agendas of all those armed people of color?
Bottom line… Free speech, intimidation, and the right to insurrection, being championed everywhere across the Republican spectrum, … is only “right” if it’s “white”…
To each and every one of us who are color blind….. Intimidation is not right at all…
There are common laws of human decency, that boil down to the realization that ALL men do not share the same agenda. We are blessed that it was OUR founding fathers who realized that this could be a good thing… The open expression of ideas and the public rebuttal of the criticism of them, allows for cream of this country, to rise to the top…
Any group, white or black, that doesn’t abide by such common lows of human decency, … “deserves to be lined up and shot”.
If as a nation we go that far, just make sure we dump their carcasses in a salt dome… We wouldn’t want those tea bags, either white or dark, leaching into our aquifers…
Funny, … I don’t hear Republicans lining up to cheer….
Why? Because the Tea Party is all about being anti black; Anyone who has ever heard Martin Luther King Jr. speak to a crowd, … knows in his heart, there is no other explanation.
That includes Michael Steele, and David Anderson. At some point, like Senator Robert Byrd, they will come clean about their past…..
… and so ends Conservatism. exactly 30 years after it began.
El Somnambulo on Delaware Liberal announces that Bob Venables and others are preparing to propose a Marriage Protection Act: SB 27… This will limit marriage to a relationship between a man and a women..
Once again, Bob and his group are more worried about protecting their own assholes, than they are about the needs of their constituents…
Their priorities are ass backwards… When you can show me protection all children abused in heterosexual marriages, when you can show me protection for all women beaten on a regular bases in heterosexual messages, when you can show me a plummeting divorce rate especially in heterosexual marriages, then heterosexual marriage might sound like an institution worthy of protection…
But it until then, in their twisted moralism, they are serving to protect child abuse, wife beating, and painful divorce ….
Living in their cultist enclaves may make them unaware of how the rest of the world lives.. We think it is time they stop worrying about other people’s vaginas and assholes and instead focus ….. on helping people.
lol.
A while back I received this comment pertaining to an alleged affair which took place a long time ago.
Now most of you tend not to worry about your sewer until something goes wrong.
But on Delaware Liberal, some comments regarding the all important character issue surrounding both Coons and Gordon has come full circle. Here are some of the comments lifted up….
Or, perhaps more simply, ask him why he was spying on her with night vision goggles. Ask him why Freebery rammed his car with hers in his driveway one night. Ask him why the threat of exposure of said affair sent him scrambling for extra settlement money for Sharon Hughes.
please remind him that he can clear up any misconceptions about his affair(s) by simply releasing the transcripts of the FBI tapes
The can of worms is opened…. Is or is not the Freeberry- Gordon connection still alive and thriving? Is or is not, the Freeberry- Gordon connection part of the increase in spending ($300,000) being blamed by Gordon on Coons? Where are the tapes and why have we not heard them if Gordon is as innocent as some of his supports portend?
This is one area where I do not have the answers. Those who do, need to put up or shut up…… But our County Government is too important to give to someone just for the reasons of personnel revenge, if that is Gordon’s motive after all?
If there is any defense of Gordon’s actions when he was with his former protege Freeberry, it needs to be posted here, right now. Otherwise, the election is Coon’s to loose…… for the simple reason we just can’t afford the uncertainty. Goons of both sides: put up…or shut up.
“Hey Buzz! Look! Its an alien………Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha” Some of you may remember that line from the first Pixar movie called “Toy Story” Basically that line was used by Woody to embarrass the new toy Buzz Lightyear who took aliens quite seriously. The reason I bring this up is to exemplify the point that often when you want to sneak something past someone’s watchful eye, you direct their attention elsewhere.
So as I too got carried away with this “Minner veto thing”, and then watched an all but unanimous first vote in the Senate, instantly dissolve with the entire McCloskey faction voting to sustain the veto…., I got an uneasy feeling that something was being sneaked past me, while my attention was directed towards this standing room only theatrical performance….
If one goes back two years…before there was such a thing as “bloggers”, the Senate did not have to be so sneaky in its arrangements. It could do whatever it damned well please and only 22 (21 plus the Lt. Gov.) human beings would ever know……. With bloggers invading the night air of June 30th en masse and injecting themselves into and thwarting last minute deals (remember last year)…….. the most effective tool available to diminish their influence, would be to wait until they arrived, then throw a meaty bone as far from one as possible….. (as far as I know, all Delaware bloggers like meat. Some the size of Burris and Matthews, like it a lot…. 🙂 🙂 🙂 (Really, I tried…. I struck it 6 times, but on the 7th proof, could not resist……sorry guys….)
So with this uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach, I went back looking to see if my hunch was correct….
There was a lot to look over. I am not through yet. But something I saw did catch my eye and I would like to share it with those of you who sat upstairs in the “peanut gallery” or listened to in some office as it was piped in…..
I’m sure with all of the excitement no one remembers Senate Bill 331 as midnight approached.
When dealing with Code, it can be overwhelming to keep the passages straight. As a Senator on the floor, there is considerable trust involved in voting yea or nay. There is no time for research. You are told by the author what the bill does, and you make a snap decision yea or nay…..based on what he tells you…. So if someone tells you something, and it is different from what he says, ….there is no way of rectifying it……
We have a lot of good things in our Delaware Senate, but this is primarily why those things which are messed up with our fair state, become that way…. FOIA access to all caucus meetings, would slow down the process at first, since there would be no secrets to rush through the last minute, but….after a bill had been vetted, and solid compromises performed, the “fixed” version of the bill would sail through both houses and be granted the Governor’s ink. Such is the fate of all good legislation.
There is only one reason for not putting both House’s caucus meetings under FOIA… It limits their ability to sneak things past you….. (Of course they will say it impinges on their freedom to discuss openly and freely, but…..we know the real reason…….)
So back to SB 331.
From here the post gets B….O….R….I….N…..G (if you have the attention span of a Donvitti…) But if you are truly interested in how things are sneaked through in the dead of the night….. you may, like I did, find it fascinating……
I laugh when incumbent legislators sit on auditorium stages in debates with their challenges and impound upon “their experience”. If anyone reads the actual bills laid on the desk of the Senate, they understand that all the Senate does outside the Joint Finance Committee ( no they don’t finance the purchase of joints)…is move words around… That is all they do…. “To amend “XYZ” by striking “X” and replacing it with “Y” is their sole function…. They then vote those changes up or down.. Some legislators, as noted by a commenter on both Down With Absolutes and Rick Jensen’s WDEL show, even have to be told by someone…….how to vote……
Occasionally I kid myself and say I have a great mind. But following within my head, all the switches made to this one bill during the wee hours of July 1st, 2008, was too much for what little grey matter I have left. I was completely stymied until my friends “Cut” and “Paste” volunteered to help me…. With their assistance, some shape, form, or image began to emerge….
So with the help of my friends, I will show you what really happened…. not on the floor of the Senate…. but where the “real action” was….deep within the words of the code….
Begin with existing Code. Title 29….Section 69 (Was that number chosen on purpose?) Procurement Section 6904……Exceptions
……(a) through (l)……
(m) This chapter shall not apply to the Department of Education in the procurement of goods and/or services from the University of Delaware, Delaware State University and Delaware Technical and Community College.
(n) This chapter shall not apply to contracts entered into by the Board of Pension Trustees, authorized pursuant to § 8308(c)(5) of this title, with respect to the procurement of financial services, including advisory, management and investment services relating to any fund administered by the Delaware Public Employees’ Retirement System. (70 Del. Laws, c. 601, § 4; 71 Del. Laws, c. 4, § 5; 71 Del. Laws, c. 132, § 368; 71 Del. Laws, c. 378, § 112; 73 Del. Laws, c. 310, § 23; 76 Del. Laws, c. 80, § 67.)
………………………………..
That is our base. That is what existed in the Delaware Code up to midnight June 30th, 2008….
Ok…. so amid all of the hoopla…. SA 331 is laid on the Senate table…….Necessary rules are suspended as they are for everything laid on the table during the last day of the session… SA 331 says this:
SENATE BILL NO. 331
AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 7 & 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PROCUREMENT.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:
Section 1. Amend §6904(n), Title 29, Delaware Code by deleting Subsection (n) in its entirety and replacing it with a new Subsection (n) to read as follows:
“(n)(i) This Chapter shall not apply to any State Agency for those public works projects where seventy five percent (75%) or more of the funds raised for the purchase of materials or services, or for seventy five percent (75%) or more for services to be performed, are donated by private entities such as, but not limited to, individuals, civic groups, corporations, foundations or non profit groups and only twenty five percent (25%) or less of the funding is procured from public funds“, subject to the following provisions: 1) for any such cooperative public works project, the first one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) of public funds shall be exempted; and 2) for any cooperative public works project where the twenty five percent (25%) public share of the funding exceeds one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00), only the public portion of the project funds shall be subject to this Chapter.”
(ii) Any private entity which donates any supplies, materials, or services, such as but not limited to, professional services, engineering services, design or labor services, without the expectation of monetary or other compensation as provided in Subsection (i) above, shall not be liable in any civil court for any property damage or personal injury, or death alleged to be associated with rendering such services, unless it is established that said damage was caused willfully, wantonly, recklessly or by gross negligence on the part of such private entity.”
(iii) The Contracting and Purchasing Advisory Council may develop guidelines to establish how the determination of value of donated goods or services is to be performed for purposes of determining compliance with this section pursuant to § 6913 of this chapter.
Section 2. Amend Title 7, Delaware code by adding a new Section 4707 to read as follows:
“§4707. Permitting. Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, there shall be no county or local permits required upon lands which are within State Parks or within the jurisdictional control of the Division of Parks and Recreation. For all outdoor lighting projects and projects exceeding one million dollars ($1,000,000.00), the Division of Parks and Recreation shall grant the county or local planning agencies a thirty (30) day period to review and comment on the plans for said project.”
So we cut out section (n) and paste it over the code section (n) which it replaces…. WTF? Suddenly the clause in the original code exempting contracts entered into by the Board of Pension Trustees, relating to any fund administered by the Delaware Public Employees’ Retirement System just got erased by something totally unrelated and inconsequential… State Employee’s Retirement Funds, just got deregulated, eliminated, or both!….. in the blink of McDowell’s eye…. Has anyone heard about it yet?
Someone seems to have caught it. Immediately afterward, Amendment 1 is voted and passed……20 Yes to 1 No……
Amendment 1 states…
AMEND Senate Bill No. 331 by striking lines 1 through 10 and substituting in lieu thereof the following:
“Section 1. Amend §6904, Title 29 of the Delaware Code by adding a new subsection (o) to read as follows:”.
FURTHER AMEND Senate Bill No. 331, on lines 11 and 16, by redesignating the subparagraph references “(ii)” and “(iii)” to “(o)(i)” and “(ii)”.
So going back to SB 331 and using my friends “Cut” and “Paste”, we get this little nugget…….
AMEND Senate Bill No. 331 by striking lines 1 through 10 and substituting in lieu thereof the following:
“Section 1. Amend §6904, Title 29 of the Delaware Code by adding a new subsection (o) to read as follows:”.
FURTHER AMEND Senate Bill No. 331, on lines 11 and 16, by redesignating the subparagraph references “(ii)” and “(iii)” to “(o)(i)” and “(ii)”.
Ok, so section (n) covering State Employee Pension Plans is now back in…. was it truly just an accident? Or an attempt to rob it? Hmmm……
So what got cut?.. The new revised version of Senate 331 just lost all of this……
“(n)(i) This Chapter shall not apply to any State Agency for those public works projects where seventy five percent (75%) or more of the funds raised for the purchase of materials or services, or for seventy five percent (75%) or more for services to be performed, are donated by private entities such as, but not limited to, individuals, civic groups, corporations, foundations or non profit groups and only twenty five percent (25%) or less of the funding is procured from public funds“, subject to the following provisions: 1) for any such cooperative public works project, the first one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) of public funds shall be exempted; and 2) for any cooperative public works project where the twenty five percent (25%) public share of the funding exceeds one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00), only the public portion of the project funds shall be subject to this Chapter.”
(ii) Any private entity which donates any supplies, materials, or services, such as but not limited to, professional services, engineering services, design or labor services, without the expectation of monetary or other compensation as provided in Subsection (i) above, shall not be liable in any civil court for any property damage or personal injury, or death alleged to be associated with rendering such services, unless it is established that said damage was caused willfully, wantonly, recklessly or by gross negligence on the part of such private entity.”
(iii) The Contracting and Purchasing Advisory Council may develop guidelines to establish how the determination of value of donated goods or services is to be performed for purposes of determining compliance with this section pursuant to § 6913 of this chapter.
and had it replaced with “this”……
“Section 1. Amend §6904, Title 29 of the Delaware Code by adding a new subsection (o) to read as follows:”.
FURTHER AMEND Senate Bill No. 331, on lines 11 and 16, by redesignating the subparagraph references “(ii)” and “(iii)” to “(o)(i)” and “(ii)”.
And so currently if this bill comes to fruition…..the Delaware Code in this section will read as follows…….
(m) This chapter shall not apply to the Department of Education in the procurement of goods and/or services from the University of Delaware, Delaware State University and Delaware Technical and Community College.
(n) This chapter shall not apply to contracts entered into by the Board of Pension Trustees, authorized pursuant to § 8308(c)(5) of this title, with respect to the procurement of financial services, including advisory, management and investment services relating to any fund administered by the Delaware Public Employees’ Retirement System. (70 Del. Laws, c. 601, § 4; 71 Del. Laws, c. 4, § 5; 71 Del. Laws, c. 132, § 368; 71 Del. Laws, c. 378, § 112; 73 Del. Laws, c. 310, § 23; 76 Del. Laws, c. 80, § 67.)
(o) FURTHER AMEND Senate Bill No. 331, on lines 11 and 16, by redesignating the subparagraph references “(ii)” and “(iii)” to “(o)(i)” and “(ii)
What? That is what it says… That is what 20 out of 21 Senators voted for……. Look again at Amendment 1. It creates a section (o) (allowing (n) to stay: pensioners can now relax)…and section (o) has none of the first ten lines in the original bill, because they were stricken. Very specifically it states that Section (o) will start with the words “FURTHER AMEND……”
Even I was fooled at first.. “Oh, I thought, since they replaced the (n) with an (o) they have to redesignate the subsections as well… That’s harmless…” But a search on the words “FURTHER AMEND” within the Delaware government’s own website, shows that this clause means any law can be injected into that spot in the future.. The vote was to “FURTHER AMEND” and it passed 20 to 1; therefore further amending the bill is quite legal.
So whereas the synopsis of bill 331 sounds benign…..
This Bill provides an additional exception to the State procurement process by recognizing those situations where private entities voluntary raise and donate materials or services for public works projects and 25% or less of the project is paid for from public funds. A private entity which donates supplies, materials and services cannot be held liable in any action for these donations unless it is determined that the donor acted with gross negligence.
Aw… how nice….. I’d vote for that…. It would be terrible if churches got sued because they were helping out our government….. But again, you have to remember who was the original sponsor of this bill…..
Here is what the amendment erased. Psychologically, the twenty Senators have in their mind that this is the bill upon which they voted…
This Chapter shall not apply to any State Agency for those public works projects where seventy five percent (75%) or more of the funds raised for the purchase of materials or services, or for seventy five percent (75%) or more for services to be performed……………………….
In other words …. this bill says that any quasi government organization, with only twenty five percent of its funds coming from the government, is exempt from all procurement laws…. which include nepotism clauses, contracts to relatives, regulations against conflicts of interest…etc, etc…. will not apply to quasi governmental organizations. Let’s see, does the exemption include corporations?……..
…..by private entities such as, but not limited to, individuals, civic groups, corporations,…….
Interesting……
At some point over the summer this bill SB 331 WILL be rewritten….Oops…I meant “FURTHER AMENDED”…:)
Hmmm…. Isn’t the SEU only slightly funded by public money….. Hmmm…. Isn’t that public funding less than 25%…… Hmmm….. Isn’t the same McDowell who is the sponsor of this Bill, and its amendment, thought to be positioning himself as head of the SEU in order to control the estimated 100 million dollars that the SEU will control?
Oh…. I now see that SA 2 has been added….. even though it was not voted on however but was PWB ie placed with (the) Bill on the Senate table…..
SA 2 reads…..
‘(o)(i) For those public works projects where seventy five percent (75%) or more of the funds raised for the purchase of supplies, materials or services, or seventy five percent (75%) or more of the services to be performed, are donated by private entities such as, but not limited to, individuals, civic groups, corporations, foundations or non profit groups and only twenty five percent (25%) or less of the funding is procured from public funds, any private entity which donates any supplies, materials, or services, such as but not limited to, professional services, engineering services, design or labor services, without the expectation of monetary or other compensation, shall not be liable in any civil court for any property damage or personal injury, or death alleged to be caused by such supplies, materials, or services, unless it is established that said damage was caused willfully, wantonly, recklessly or by gross negligence on the part of such private entity.
Hmmm… is it just me or is there something missing from that second amended bill……Let’s put the two together: the original, and SA 2……….
Original:
…………..only twenty five percent (25%) or less of the funding is procured from public funds“, subject to the following provisions: 1) for any such cooperative public works project, the first one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) of public funds shall be exempted; and 2) for any cooperative public works project where the twenty five percent (25%) public share of the funding exceeds one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00), only the public portion of the project funds shall be subject to this Chapter.
As Amended by SA2
………only twenty five percent (25%) or less of the funding is procured from public funds, any private entity which donates any supplies, materials, or services, such as but not limited to, professional services, engineering services, design or labor services, without the expectation of monetary or other compensation, shall not be liable in any civil court for any property damage or personal injury, or death alleged to be caused by such supplies, materials, or services, unless it is established that said damage was caused willfully, wantonly, recklessly or by gross negligence on the part of such private entity.
Hmmm….again is it just me…or is the $100,000 limitation cap, (apparently forced upon him in his own committee), all but disappeared…….
Of course when you are talking about $100,000,000 dollars, not being exempted from the code for the tune of $99,900,000 dollars could cost one a pretty penny……..
So you see, the phrase “writing in Code” has taken on a whole new meaning……………………..
So why did I go through all this trouble?
You see, when the code is FURTHER AMENDED, there will be no record of what it once was……or was intended to say.
Now… there is.
Thanks to Minner,… tomorrow may shape up as one of the most memorable last days of the General Assembly. Always a special occasion, this last day may become the last hurrah of the “Olde Delaware Way” (the tradition, not the blog).
Fed up with the small group of cranky old men who think the Senate is their fiefdom, and react as if we are their serfs,and a governor who fits right in with them……… Delawareans who are seeing the cronies of crooked politicians pulling our strings, are simply fed up, angry, and fighting mad.
It sure lit Shirley up…. From this comment, to two posts of her own, here and here, she is jumping like a Libertarian in a Kangaroo Court.
Delaware Watch fires back at the Governor’s mansion with its 18 inch guns…..Important to note is that Ed Osborne has provided buses going south to Dover, and additional information is posted up on Dana’s site, Down With Absolute’s site, DelawareLibertarian’s site, and the Delaware Way. DelawarePolitics.Net drops a 2000 pound bomb on Minner’s head with this conclusion: “For those who needed another reason not to vote for a Democrat controlled State House of Representatives, here it is. We need at least two parties in this state. Don’t turn our state into an echo chamber instead of a place where all sides are heard”.
For once that blog and I agree. Governor Minner’s singular action has set back almost all the gains Democrats have accomplished over the last eight years. They have shown that despite chatter to the contrary, Democrats in the General Assembly, do not support the people. They support developers. The only option now left to Democrats is to save face by electing Markell as governor, a man not closely aligned with this gaggle of backslappers, whose plans now appear more trustworthy of helping citizens than those of the his opponent, which were made by the Senate and supported by the Governor…..
Delaware Liberal explores the question as to “why”? But really, it is not that hard to figure out…
Minner is a lame duck. In that capacity her relationship with the average voter doesn’t matter any more. She will not be running for another office. Within stock trading circles, we call this profit taking. More important to her in her retirement, are the personal favors provided to her by wealthy developers, than anything you or I could ever do or say. Bottom line is simply her self interests:….. they can give her something, and we can’t.
What is at stake is “Eminent Domain”. Who actually owns the land underneath our houses…..Is it us?….Or is it the government…….
Property rights are the fundamental basis of our Constitution. Partly so because we were tired of having our property “suppressed” by the Crown of England. So our founders said: “This will never happen in America.” Governor Minner has chosen to go the other way because she “thinks” her way is better. Like the old Theoden in Lord of the Rings, her thinking is skewed by the “Wormtongues” flicking about her ears….
Actions speak louder than words. Here are what her actions and those of Adams, Deluca, McDowell, Copeland, are saying. Their ghoulish choir voices all echo the same refrain:…..
YOU DON’T MATTER.
NO ONE CARES WHAT YOU THINK
YOU ARE NOBODY.
YOU DON’T HAVE RIGHTS.
WE’LL DO WHAT WE WANT…THANK YOU VERY MUCH…
AND THANK FOR GIVING US ALL OF YOUR MONEY…..
And kick John Carney in the teeth while you are at it. Laughing to themselves as they watch John’s political net worth rise sky high over his role in the Bluewater Wind deal, and then within the same week plummet to the lowest of lows, permanently anchored to the crusty old Democrat machine that will do what ever it wants. Gee….Way to help your friends….
Oh, My bad……I forgot… He’s not your friend. The likes of Capano and Acierno are……..
Tyler Nixon ties it all together. ” Open government can begin on Monday, rather than as a re-election promise for November. It’s real simple. A Senate rules over-ride followed by a veto over-ride. The House would surely follow suit without quibble.
A few Democrats can take a stand and, for one brief shining moment, make the desk drawer yield up a dead-of-night end of session morsel for us mortals out here in the public.”
History can be made tomorrow. The Bastille must be stormed. Tomorrow there is “no such thing” as shying away from “protesteth (ing) too much” That dying elite class of lame duck old fogey’s, must be made to understand that we are there protesting for Our Country, and for Our Rights as citizens, and not as just another lobbyist “who has “some’ concerns about a certain bill.”
There are times when one should be polite. We know that. But then again, …there are times when results are needed and sometimes politeness gets in the way of making one’s will clearly known. If Thurman Adams will not release the bill from his desk drawer in time to override Minner’s veto, then every available citizen of this state, and we’re talking about the same first state to say “WE DO SUPPORT THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”, ….every available citizen needs to haul ass down to Dover, partake in the storming of the General Assembly, and interrupt the process long enough to ensure this last session of the 144th remains unconcluded until after such time has passed allowing the eventual override that veto.
The legislature can be reconvened at a time when the People’s business can be attended to, or they …can….just….stay…very…very….late….
Maria seems to have uncovered this first. It is the preliminary release of bids for on-shore wind. Having been caught in forcing a delay, the rage of the House Majority Leader forced Delmarva to try another tactic. At first glance their onshore wind looks a little cheaper than building offshore. That is because onshore IS currently cheaper. There is no argument there. What is important is whether on-shore will be cheaper for us during the next twenty five years. In their haste, Delmarva tips their hat to the answer.
From this chart several things are apparent. For one, they received bids amounting to 1679 MW’s. Two……. 625 MW’s are coming from PA and MD, and 1072 MW’s are coming from Illinois and Indiana. Three,…. there is a substantial price difference between Bluewater and the on-shore generated energy. And four,….. they can get 1697 MW’s in before Bluewater goes on line…
Here is a map from the AWEA: American Wind Energy Association showing the current capacities drawn from each state.
If your are astute, you can by now see some discrepancies. Indiana has zero capacity. PA and MD combined fall way short (331 MW’s) of what Delmarva tells us is bid, by almost as much as what Bluewater would provide if it were operating according to contract. Illinois and Indiana together, fall far short by 373 MW’s. And this is assuming that every tiny bit of wind power possibly produced in those states, would be reserved for us here in Delaware, courtesy of Delmarva Power.
Impossible.
What kind of ARM is Delmarva trying to get us to sign?
And the answer is rather obvious. They are trying to get the wind deal killed in our General Assembly over the objections of 94% of Delawareans. And their charge in the Senate is being led by these four persons, all of which leaked this news to the News Journal yesterday. Tony De Luca, Harris McDowell, Charlie Copeland, and “Desk Drawer” Adams.
This should infuriate Cathcart and Valihura all the more. Being played like fools they are…….
So lets look at what Delmarva shows us, apart from the fact that they propose far more wind power coming from land based than can possibly be generated. Let us assume that Delmarva is not on the up and up and that they are playing with figures in order to make legislators say “whoa” and not vote to order Russ Larson to sign the Bluewater Wind deal…….
If we make that assumption and allow ourselves to consider that maybe that is the total wind deal that Delmarva has, and compare that to the total wind deal that Bluewater Wind would offer us over its twenty five year span….then we can compare 300MW’s X 25 years = 7,500 MW/yr, compared to the total bids received (no one has signed anything) of 1697 MW’s, then we can see from a power utility’s perspective, they will need to produce more power from carbon, by going with onshore, instead of offshore wind………approximately 5803 MW’s worth.
Notice that 823 MW’s were bid for twenty years or longer. Hmmm. Now what was “that problem” Delmarva had with signing long term contracts?
If one adds these totals above , that number 1697 MW reappears. So unlike having an offshore wind farm banging 300MW consistently into the grid, the first year 2009, we will have 115MW’s, the second year 2010, we swell up to ten times the previous year, then for the next three years we split up 439MW’s or an average of 146MW’s per year.
And then what…..If Bluewater is never built, do we return back to burning fossil fuels, especially if those other states start wanting their windpower back again? Yes, if there is no wind energy to be bought, Delaware will have no other choice.
Of course what is missing from this report are the details. Is perhaps part of this bid that Delmarva will buy the energy at “dumped” cost between 3 and 5 in the morning? Meanwhile the rest of those hot summer days we will be paying through the nose for a gas turbine somewhere? My guess….. it is, and that is why the prices show that price discrepancy with Bluewater Wind.
The Bluewater Estimate is high, as one would expect on a Delmarva Web Page. The best estimate for that actual cost would be around $105 MW (not $123) which is cheaper than the $110 MW that Delmarva currently pays for its energy ……Look at what New England pays for residential electricity, which is all bought on the spot market, as would be ours if Bluewater Wind is never built.
What is important for all Delawareans to realize, is that the debate is not between which type of wind is cheaper, It is about which combination of energy sources will be best for Delawareans for the next twenty five years. There are many real advantages to building a wind farm off Rehoboth that are not in this petty conversation. Our economic future as one. Our environmental future, is another. Our reputation as being “”The First State”, should be considered as well.
Ideally having 300MW’s of offshore wind, augmented by these cheaper land based bids that Delmarva seems to have acquired, would serve Delaware’s interests best. Having onshore wind drop the already low, low price of Bluewater wind would greatly help Delawareans with getting their utility bills down to a manageable level…..If Delmarva wants to do land based wind, then let’s do both……
But doing away with Bluewater Wind’s guaranteed price for twenty five years, which is already lower than the lowest bid that Delmarva can get from any fossil fuel burning plant at this time, would be a horrendous mistake.
For when the wind did not blow in Indiana (on those windmills that, as of yet, do not yet exist), and we had to pay the high price of coal, gas, and oil to augment our power needs, (of which all three are predicted to triple their cost), we will certainly hold accountable each of those four loose cannons of Legislative Hall, who screwed us over.
And if the rest of Legislature revolts against the tyranny that these four impose, and does their job and votes to coincide with the wishes of 94% of Delawareans, we, and the world, will forever hold them up to hero status, for having the foresight, courage, and stamina, not to cave in…………………………
Most of you have never seen this movie. If you have, you are telling your age. Starring Paul Newman and George Kennedy, it describes the plight of a prisoner who refuses to submit to the system. There is one scene where the newly arrived Luke takes on the “Top Prison Dog” in an over matched fist fight. The clincher is that the audience, as well as the characters in the movie, after seeing the pounding being given, are themselves hoping the protagonist stays down.
Out of principal he doesn’t. Even though he cannot see straight, he doesn’t give up, and continues the fight again and again. Listening to know one, he is finally taken out with a mercy blow for his own good. Afterwards he is accepted by all for his tenacity of spirit……except of course, by the warden. It is from this movie the line “What we have here, is a failure to communicate” derives.
Watching Arnette McRae Chairperson of the Public Service Commission, being brutally pummeled by a hired hand of Wilmington’s Senator McDowell brought flashbacks of that movie. Except in this case there was no mercy.
Grilled for almost four hours, Arnette McRae, a hero of mine for her public transparent handling of the Bluewater/Delmarva RFP, even after being pounded in a disrespectful fashion, she got back up each time with spirit for the next blow.
Honestly it was hard to watch. I was truly disgusted by the lack of human tendencies that McDowell possessed. To treat anyone with such disrespect is unbecoming to the entire state. The first Senatorial district, does not deserve a thug like McDowell. There should be moral outrage. There should be vengeance. Were this the Old West, McDowell would be hanging from a tree by now.
Thank goodness the rule of law prevails.
But I write here not to condemn McDowell, but to praise Ms. McRae. She is truly a hero to all of Delawareans. We, are solidly behind her for how she brilliantly gave every party a chance at becoming Delaware’s next energy supplier, and how she published all findings, almost immediately, so all the evidence she had, was available to all. And based on that volume of evidence, she wisely made the only decision that had any real chance of saving Delawarean any money.
If one is unprepared, anyone can be at a loss for an answer…..I do it all the time. But give me two days to prepare, and you have a high chance of losing any argument you bring to bear.
For those who were not there, this hearing was scheduled as a friendly give and take on how the Bluewater deal was accomplished. Of course it was a Kangaroo court, since those holding it are publicly opposed to having Delawareans pay less for cheap energy. But is was in the General Assembly, by a long termed Senator, so one came prepared for the usual give and take of friendly Delawarean politics, as did the audience who came to witness it.
Since Tommywonk says it better than I ever could, allow me to quote him on the surprise that followed:
And why did Harris McDowell turn over the job of grilling the chair of the Public Service Commission to this Washington attorney? Senator McDowell held another of his hearings today, and sat PSC chair Arnetta McRae, along with executive director Bruce Burcat and the agency’s top counsel. But McDowell wasted little time in turning the questioning over to Randall Speck.………
We all know how that turned out. Mr. Speck questioned PSC Chair Arnetta McRae for nearly four hours, focusing on the way the Commission conducted the RFP process that led to the Power Purchase Agreement now on the table.
And just so you can comprehend this feeling of outrage was universal, Delaware Watch includes an observation from Senator Karen Petersen.
The witnesses I (Delaware Watch) talked to described “question” as “grilled,” “interrogated,” and the entire proceeding as an “inquisition.” Sen. Peterson reported that Mr. Speck’s questioning focused on how the PSC interpreted various phrases of relevant law. She said it was as if the witnesses for the committee hearing were being questioned in preparation for a lawsuit.
Why? Because those who still support Delmarva Power, Harris McDowell, Charlie Copeland, Thurman Adams, and Tony DeLuca, have no sensitivity to human feelings. Most of us in our own gut check would say “you just do not treat other people that way.” Apparently human traits do not apply to these four.
Especially when they pummeled the shining example of open government, which all four of those oppose, in order to intimidate others from following in her footsteps.
But brutality often backfires. After watching Arnette get pounded again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again……..and still keep her cool,……sends a strong signal that Wind Power will win in the end. Right makes might, and Harris McDowell’s mistreatment of a respected lady, was not right.
His cause is wrong, and now his judgment is also suspect. Although it is not the same as Atkins hitting his wife, it is as close as one can legally get.
kavips 
