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With the flip flop of Senators Ennis, McDowell, McBride, and Lavelle, the Smarter Balanced Assessments are now unleashed upon our children…. Here is the link so you can take the tests…… If you haven’t yet, I recommend you do so now so you will know what your child will go through…
Keep in mind that these tests are proprietary information… If what the test makers released to sell themselves is this bad… what on earth will be unleashed when there are no prying eyes to see?….
Right click to open full image… Pictograph Courtesy of Viral..
So, can someone tell me again, why we shouldn’t tax the rich, and instead, balance the budget on the backs of everyone else?…….
I seem to be missing that little detail where that all makes sense……
I know this is rather an unpopular thing to say today, but its true…
My exuberance was brought on by going down Interstate 95’s brand new fifth lane during the middle of morning rush hour…
Anticipating the usual 45 to 50 minute commute, bogged down through Churchman’s marsh, I breezed to work 20 minutes early, It was only 5 minutes over theoretical!!!
I know that deep within the administration there were battles to not spend the money on the improvement, but Ruth Ann stuck to her guns and the project went forward…
When the return trip lane is finally complete, I figure that she has saved me 2/3 an hour every working day… My math calculates that it is just under seven 24 hour days that she has saved me…
That’s a lot of time.
I love her….
Thoughts:
Can Bullock beat Castle? Or is he destined to go the way of Miller in 00 an 04? A really nice guy, but…..
What needs to happen for the future good of Delaware is for John Carney to switch races and apply his millions towards regaining the House Seat for the Democrats.
Many of us feel John is too good of a guy to be squandered this season. Minner will do for Carney, what Clinton did for Gore. For his own growth and development, most of us feel he needs some distance from Minner before taking over the Governors mansion.
A powerful switch like this needs to happen. If Carney runs, Jason and I will get him in.
I’m not going to talk about Dave. I am going to talk about myself and what I think.
There are few people out there who make a good candidate. Most candidates are shills whose campaign has been paid for by some interest or other. Once in, their primary responsibility is to represent those supporters.
During the campaigns they may speak of high minded principals; these are used to get your allegiance, so once in they can take care of those interests who showed them the money.
It is a symbiotic arrangement that is good for both the candidate and the investor, and sometimes, depending on the qualities of the candidate, it works well for those who are governed. And then again….. as we have seen recently, sometimes it does not.
The candidate’s support base could be anyone…Labor Unions, top ranked CEO’s, government workers, but whoever it is, once the candidate become elected, he may go his own way but he NEVER crosses those who put him there.
But occasionally rare in ones lifetime, a person steps out to run as his own man. He has ideas, and he sells them. If he is successful and enters the office, he then implements them.
People like that are hard to find. Biden did just that 35 years ago. It is time we find a new young person to do just that.
The field is growing daily. Spence, Lavelle, Burris are three names that come to mind. Spence is 7 years too late. He has held on the the speaker position longer than any other Delawarean, but as a candidate for governor, most non union people on the streets of our small towns will ask, who? It is unlikely that Spence wants to finish his illustrious record in the House, by being blamed for every Republican error that has happened anywhere in this country for the last 7 years. I doubt that Spence who is a great man, wants his legacy to be remembered as one of the lowest vote getting Republicans ever, over something he had no control over: the Iraqi War.
Spence’s counterpart, Lavelle, is even less known. Even before he runs, his stance on wind will kill any chance of him to be taken seriously. Although he has been around a while, he is still little known outside his district.
Ting, was damaged in the last election. His appeal as a vote getter, was tarnished by his insistence upon remaining a one issue candidate. And that issue was a “ho- hum” with the Delaware electorate last season.
Wharton, …..had an accident.
Wayne Smith, could be a highly effective spokesman for corporate Republican values. Quick on his feet, he could effectively duck and cover from the onslaught the progressives of the Democrat machine are sure to throw. But as an old soldier leading the fight within the trenches, he would need look over his shoulder lest word of his past political war crimes ever surface and become public……..
Copeland has the best name recognition and therefore the best shot. He too represents the party arm of the GOP. Although he could gain some notoriety on the street by mentioning his support for open government, he is extremely vulnerable because of his support for Delmarva. Mention that to prospective voters, and his support shrivels into the teens.
There is a Republican running who supports wind and open government besides Spence. He is still the pariah of Republican party leadership. Often dismissed by his party’s hacks, he has distinct name recognition among the average voter, and a solid platform of moderate values. Protack could do alright against anyone scrambling to maneuver out from under the Minner administration.
There is one other possibility. I mention him because if the line up on the D’s side goes south, even I could possibly vote for this guy, even though he swears allegiance to that political party which yet to fully understand tax policy.
But there is the better side of that candidate. There is this historical fact, that out of all of these candidates running, there was only one who could stay silent no longer, and despite admonishment from his own party leadership, he led the fight to remove one of his parties’ drunks from legislative hall.
Flat out, that is the type of leader Delaware needs: not someone who thinks it is his turn and all he has to do is show up on election day; not someone vain enough to consider his gubernatorial run to be the culmination of his life story; not some sacrificial lamb willing to bow down and take a personal hit for the party. Not someone whose negatives will make the word “Republican” synonymous with “joke.”
There is one Republican I know who thinks…. He thinks why we can’t have better schools. He thinks why we can’t have open and transparent government. He thinks why we can’t have less waste and spending. He thinks why we can’t have cheap and reliable source of energy. He thinks and that is what makes him different.
I will end with this observation. Were any of the other candidates from either side of the aisle to win, we would still have a continuation of the Minner administration’s way of doing things. After all, she came from the General Assembly herself. If one is familiar with only one way of doing things, one is automatically suspicious of everything new. Especially those candidates are beholden to someone who financially supports them and has no choice but do their bidding.
If Delaware is going to move forward quicker than our neighbors, then both parties need to field candidates of change. For if we have one candidate of change, and one promoting going backwards, we will change the medium between the two extremes, or as little as possible once the election is over. But if one party has to constantly scramble to outmaneuver the other which is bearing close on it heels, all citizens of this state benefit. Right now, Dave has support among all the opinion makers of this state. He earned that clout by being right on the issues, by addressing those of other persuasions to defend his views, and by doing what was right, no matter what the personal consequence may be.
Is he guaranteed to win? Who knows. But the GOP today stands for “Game Over Party”. Only something newly different from the losers who have lined up in the past, will reverse the Republicans shrinking base. Dave is a solid Republican with such a vision.
Only Dave seems to have the breadth of vision required to make the internal changes within the Republican party that could again resurrect Republican fortunes in this middle-of-the-road state. Daniello’s wrong. We are not a blue state because of our persuasion. We are blue because Republicans have fielded less viable candidates than their opposition. Mostly because party leadership is so out of touch with the electorate.
It’s time for voters to decide their candidates. They seem to have more common sense than the royalty that pervades the leadership of both parties.
Courtesy of Department of Defense
Seems to be a quiet week in blogger land, at least in Delaware. Perhaps everyone is resting for the high intensity moments arriving exactly a week away, in the special election to fill the seat of Jim Vaughn. The wind controversy gears up tomorrow as well when the letters released today become public. (I had better hurry, it’s out now.)
Delaware Liberal: Although headaches are usually bad, it looks like one spared Jason from an even bigger headache caused by one snooze of a Jefferson-Jackson dinner. Bottom line: it does not look good for John Carney. His association with Minner is too hard to disconnect. Like a Siamese twin, he is attached at the hip. DWA and a comment provide more insight. But to stop a blogger from live blogging, now that IS bad……..
Sorry John.
However Joanne Christian, (Dave’s girl) politically speaking, actually spoke to Jason 330, a brave act for a Republican. I think it speaks highly of her character and courage that she did. I don’t think I would have the guts to do so; (especially if I had to wear a dress). Has Ennis sat down with Frank Knotts, in a dress? No?
Perhaps I was looking for more local opinions facing those living in that area, but Jason’s interview was a good start. Perhaps light can be shed on whether the interview was carefully screened by Dave while live, or screened by Jason during editing. For me it did not answer enough questions such as: How do you feel about Bluewater Wind’s proposal? How do you feel about funding SCHIPS to 300% poverty level. How do you feel about requiring the Bond Bill and Budget to be available for public scrutiny at least three days before it is voted upon? How do you feel about funding charter schools, or at least allowing them to borrow money to continue their existence? Do you think and would you support, keeping committees and caucuses open under FOIA and would you support Karen Peterson’s Bill as is, next year? Where do you draw the line between the rights of developers and the rights of current residents of a locality. Which of their sides will you favor?
Not to dis the interview. But with only a week away, these questions have not been answered, by EITHER CANDIDATE!!!!!!
Dana hints of this by calling Bruce Ennis on his “Tricky Dick” defense. Is it just me, or is Dana attempting subliminal electioneering. Tricky Dick…..B. Ennis……Tricky Dick ……B. Ennis….
What does that say about us as Delawareans? What does that say about us a bloggers? How dare we have the right to complain later once the election is over, when we can’t even get information out to voters to make even an educated guess as to how the candidate will vote next general assembly.
Perhaps there is no discussion because it is already common knowledge and I was out that day and missed it. If so, sorry. But from my searches, we have much more available to us today about the Millsboro election last spring. The really big question is: do voters have adequate access to facts to make informed choices?
No offense intended to fellow bloggers. Just addressing the fact that there is a 800 pound gorilla in the room.
Almost to prove the point, we had our own version of a early morning CBS/Bob Barker game show, titled ……”Who Stole The Sign ?…..” Again sign vandalism is important, only for the fact that it pushes real discussion off the front page…..
Bounce back: Delaware Liberal, at least it founder Jason 330, throws his support for Bruce Ennis here. This is the first informative piece of information on either candidate so far. Hat’s off for doing so. Bruce has a lot going in his favor. I just don’t know how he will vote on the issues I and my neighbors think are important. Has he, as of yet, distanced himself from Joe Hurley??? Inquiring minds want to know…….
Liberalgeek (Welcome Back: this time I know our side will win.) writes about Health Insurance invoking one of the greatest movies made during the Bush Administration’s tenure: The Incredibles. It is a must read as we consider how our Health Care should evolve after 08.
FSP surprised everyone by changing his banner. He says it was for fall, but speculation abounds that since Mitt Romney did not show up in a knit sweater at the top of his website, something else is afoot. Dave has allowed the speculation to continue by not reiterating his avid support for this year’s Bob Dylan candidate. Also at FSP, one of their crowd tries to mimic Dean, but instead creepily reminds one of the movie Deliverance.
A must read at FSP is this post by the other David, David Anderson which shows that cheap sources of energy and its environmental effects are far too serious of a solution, to be played with by wannabe career politicians…..As someone once said, based on the term paper given by Bluewater Wind, “For twenty five years, we will pay less for electric, than twenty states now…” When it comes to Delaware’s competitive economic future, a fixed cost for energy from wind, cheaper for twenty five years than twenty states offer now, would certainly not hurt…..I wish that in 1982, during Reagan’s first term off-election year, someone had the foresight to lock US into a price of gasoline that was cheaper than twenty states paid then……I believe it was somewhere around $1.30? Hat’s off to David. (Proves what I have always said: being wrong on tax policy does not make you wrong on everything.)
DWA has this important Public Service announcement. I wish I could provide the irritating Comcast siren sound as it does for weather watches, but I was unable to keep the link formated from going 401. Consider yourself spared.( It was pretty cool while it lasted, if your geek age was 6 or under). His distinctive glasses……that should give him away. We’ve never seen him in contacts…..
Cathcart is in a tizzy over missing another Public Service Announcement. Actually the comments here are insightful, should you be somewhat historical and interested in the Atkins Affair.
DWA also provides significant background on what will become a big story now that the PSC has changed tack on the Wind Farm, and that is the influence of one shadowy Joe Hurley. His play-book was leaked on line here.…..
Dana provides his take on Bidens comments. But as Loudell comments, the timing was all wrong………Dana however goes mainstream this week, landing a televised appearance on WHYY. It is about time they put some “learned” people on some of their panels. If WHYY keeps continuing to use bloggers, I may watch more often. Prior to this, their panels supported the Incumbent Party of Delaware.
Kilroy takes an educational piece of legislation in New Jersey, and turns it into a damning indictment of educating by rules. When will they realize student learn by teaching? He also shows us a seagull just before it gets killed by an offshore wind farm….
Jerry shows us that all the news about the Bush Administration is NOT bad. Painstakingly he has done the opposite of what critics accuse the MSM of doing: showing only the dark side…….
Nancy continues to focus on Delaware’s local politics. Working stories in both MOT and Sussex County, she has two controversies that have one thing in common: DELDOT. FSP tries to pin the latter on Minner. Why do they blame men and not nature when Democrats are involved, and then turn around and blame Nature when republicans are involved?
As if to prove a point I made earlier today, the the Main Stream Media is alienating itself from both the right and left at the same time, The Colossus of Rhody does his take on how the media is favoring Democrats. But try finding anything negative about Cheney, even read glowing reports excusing his shooting someone full of bird shot…..It’s republican control, I tell you……
For fans of his global warming posts he has this take. He also noticed as did I back in September while looking for one Israeli airbase, that using Google Earth to target missiles into Israel would be a bad idea. It appears it may also be a bad idea to go door to door this Halloween should you happen to live in an area where they kill people.
Most importantly to fellow bloggers as well as any new entrant into our small world, is
Your [un]abashedly thorough guide to the Delaware blogosphere!
Where do you stand? I have to agree with his perceptions and good taste, (example: Dave Burris is the right’s answer to Dana Garrett and Mike Matthews) except to note he definitely overrates this humble blog
That is probably the best news on our local scene. There are some things that should not be missed. Laugh now, for next week between wind and an election, we will all be very serious indeed….Matt Marshall at the Soapbox found something that at least describes me, and may apply to some of you as well. Duffy has some profound items here at Pencader Days. Bingo anyone?. The Fantastic Forefathers almost fill in for Hube’s lack of Marvel cartoon commentary…….
Update: And I almost missed it in my hurry to revisit the formula I footage I previewed last week. But my vote for the best post this week goes here, and if there was anyone who drives blogger’s ire more then Minner, then it may be this local hero. There are a lot of funnies on Delaware’s blog scene, but Duffy had me rolling on the floor. (Warning: appreciation of fine writing, with special expertise in sarcasm, required for first time viewing.)
Mikes Musings left his usual laid back comfortable mood on all who dropped in this week. As Delaware’s photographer laureate, at least in volume, we understand how special this state is, or was before the wind blew…..
Shirley, our cantankerous Curmudgeon, leads with Ron Paul’s assessment of our future relations with Cuba. As usual, he makes more sense than the usual prattle echoing off the walls of congressional committee walls. Again like Dorothy in Jerry McGuire, he has me here: “It’s time to stop talking solely in terms of what’s best for the Cuban people. How about the wishes of the American people, who are consistently in favor of diplomacy with Cuba ?” She follows with three more Ron Paul articles, then does a dust up of FSP, which may not get the coverage it deserves….especially this line which if I were not genetically programed to cause salacious trouble, I would leave unpublished……(I can’t help it….The Rockies lost…and it’s Mischief Night!!! ) The line was this: “Now, I don’t know FSP, but this reply sort of sounded like this to me: “Now, now there honey, don’t worry your purty little head about setch and setch. Leave it to the menfolk, darlin’, and grab me a beer. “
Poor Dave. He’s done it now…… But nothing defeats a hearty laugh like bad economic news. And sometimes enjoying the fruits of life requires a momentary lapse of facing reality. Alan Coffey uses the Digital Federalist to profile an article that should give every American pause, if they can pull themselves away from “Dancing With the Stars” long enough. Tough times, are coming. Many will not pay their mortgages. Such sullen news brings the phrase: “There, but for God, go I.”
What is interesting to the local scene, is that the company profiled in the article, Goldman Sachs, tends to be the consulting firm whenever one considers privatizing Delaware’s or any other state’s toll roads…….scary……….
And since tomorrow is Halloween I must, in deference to Jason330, end with something scary…After all, it is Halloween. As I struggled to figure out what was the scariest scenario with which I could close this post, I had to choose between Freddy Kruger, The Scream, Ghosts, Skeletons, Jabba the Hut, it was a complicated choice, involving the search of many images. And after much thought, and frightful consideration, I finally settled on this, which at least for Delawareans, would be the scariest thing possible……Happy Halloween…..
photo by SUCHAT PEDERSON, News Journal
“Daddy, what do you know about the Electronic Revolution? Teacher says it took place early this century and that it changed a lot of how we do things today. I would like to know more, but teacher says I should ask you.”
“She did, huh?”
“Well……. your grandpa and a couple of people at the same time just got mad at how things were being run in their small state and decided to use a new medium at the time to yell about it. As more and more people began checking into what exactly they were saying, more and more people came into agreement, and said, yeah, we feel that way two. Suddenly the entire population felt the same way as they did.”
“This made a several powerful people angry, because they had secret plans that they wanted to accomplish. And before, when no one was paying any attention, they could do a lot of bad things with other people’s money, like spend it on themselves, and no one would ever know. But after the Electronic Revolution, when everything they did became known by everyone else, they had no choice but to change their habits and not do those bad things anymore. Everybody was watching.”
“What bad things were they doing?”
“One of the worst, was they were not changing with the times. As people became more and more modern they wanted more things done. Like you want to do more now that you are 9, than you did when you were 3. You used to be happy walking around in a big circle…….remember that? Walking, running, walking? You did it all the time. But it is not so fun anymore, now is it?”
“So when someone wanted to change the law to make things better for everybody else, these people would stick it in a drawer and never open it again. That law would stay in that dark drawer with all the other bills people wanted passed, because by law, that was the end of the bill. And when they wanted to talk about how to spend our money, no one was allowed to listen in. It was done in secret, and we would find out too late, that our money was already spent by some friends of that man who put the bill in his drawer……”
“Teacher said something about newspaper’s? What were they?”
“Ahhh……newspapers…….that goes way back. Well, in those days believe it or not, many people did not have computers, and if they did, most of them did not know how to properly use them. So they got their information printed on big sheets of paper, which newspaper boys sold to make some money. But at that time the newspaper companies had became so preoccupied with getting more and more money that they stopped printing what people wanted to hear, and since the news was always uncovered first on a blog anyway, most people stopped buying the papers.”
“Why did they stop printing what people wanted to hear?”
“Well the newspapers became more concerned with presenting a certain point of view. Telling others only what they wanted them to believe. They were trying to print only good news about the bad people, and were not telling the public just how bad those people were……..”
“So how did people find out?”
“Well these few brave people, one of which was your grandfather, would talk to people who had something to say and then write it on their blog for everyone to see. Those people your grandfather would talk to had first gone to the newspapers, who would pretend to be interested, but in end, wouldn’t print the bad news for people to read, because they were paid lots of advertising dollars by those very candidates who put bills in drawers. So those people told the bloggers what they knew and the bloggers printed the truth for everyone to see.”
“When did it happen?”
It happened between 06 and 07, many years ago. Many people learned to blog for the 06 election. After it was over, they continued looking at the government officials and wrote about them nonstop.”
“Because of them, many changes took place in the state. Some of those bills that were buried in the drawer, were pulled out and became law. People were happy.”
“Why is it called the Electronic Revolution?”
“Because it changed things. Before, with just television, people learned how to control it and would only tell people what they wanted them to hear. If you had a question and wanted to find something out about a candidate, you couldn’t. You just had to listen to whatever he said and decide whether you liked him or not…….”
“During the electronic revolution, instead of only a few hundred reporters looking over your shoulder, and most of them only wrote follow up stories based on what one or two reporters who broke the story, you had anyone and everyone who knew how to search the internet, looking at everything you ever did. Because politicians knew that someone would one day find out the truth, they were more careful to look like they actually cared for their citizens.”
“Also, especially in our small state, the bloggers on opposite ends would actually post messages to each other, and eventually they realized that both sides wanted changes to take place that would allow the public to see what was going on.”
“So Dad. how can I sum it up for my report tomorrow? The electronic revolution did………?”
“How about this. The electronic revolution returned the power of government away from elected officials, and back to the people, for the people, giving them once again, a government of the people?
Many of you who read this blog have already left your comments on FSP ‘s coverage of this topic several days ago.
Tempted as I was to add my two cents worth, doing so would not really accomplish anything except to say “I told you so.”
I don’t know about you, but I always tend to put “I told you so” type people in boxes shaped like Robertson, Nostradamus, Rasputin, and Falwell. These characters come from the same mold as the girl on every American’s playground who shows up when we are around the age of 2nd grade, and makes many wild predictions to any gullible listener. When one of them at last comes true, she does not let a single soul forget it: “See….I told you so….”
So I didn’t comment. I went to the original source instead.
The headline says that Americans have a low opinion of Congress. Of course we are supposed to believe that it is because it is being led by a women for the first time, or a Democrat, or both………
What it doesn’t tell you is that along with Congress, the Presidency, the Supreme Court, Big Business, the Criminal Justice System, Organized Labor all took hits as well. Percentage wise, Congress’s drop was small, 4% when compared to a drop of confidence in the presidency, 59% from his height. What could cause Americans of all persuasions to become disillusioned simultaneously with all three branches of American government? The answer can be explained in one word……..
Republicans
Singlehandedly this group has cause Americans more problems than any other group in America’s history. Americans are more disillusioned now than any time since the Great Depression. The “malaise” that Reagan tried to pin on Carter, today looks like a flower garden to most Americans who compare it to what we have now. We had the nerve to complain that gas was 86 cents a gallon. Today every American is not only paying more for gas, but is paying far more for insurance, far more for out of pocket expenses (no longer covered by insurance for profitability reasons), far more for pharmaceuticals, a whopping 60% more for electricity. One remembers the good old days: gasoline was 99 cents a gallon throughout most of the Clinton years. In just a few short years under Republicans, this administration has taken a hopeful American society and run it through the gutter.
It should be no surprise to anyone that a pollster calling one of our citizens out of the blue, will get a negative response.
But the “malaise”being generated by the Republican Party throughout their leadership in both houses of Congress , the Executive Branch, and now the Judicial Branch as well, has affected all areas measured by the Gallop Poll data. Dropping in confidence down from last year, are also the military, the police, television stations, newspapers, banks, churches and organized religions.
Churches and religions! For heavens sakes! The Republicans have even destroyed America’s respect and confidence in their own churches. Far more sinful in most citizens eyes , is the malpractice that Republicans have shown towards the American Military. Their failure to put enough troops in Iraq, their failure to fund enough body armor, their failure to armor plate the Humvee being driven all around Iraq, their failure to assist returning veterans, is extremely outrageous. And now, even the military has had to suffer a setback in their reputation among American citizens. Unbelievable.
Do you know who improved their confidence levels over this time. In this years poll, no one group showed any improvement.
FSP tries to blame this malaise on Biden. Perhaps five people will believe that. The “malaise” comes from the war that is going poorly, the deficit that is growing exponentially, the inability of Americans to pay for what they need to light their homes and stay warm through winter, the increased cost of travel, all the while we see Exxon Mobile with record breaking quarters of 36 billion.
Perhaps this “malaise” is aggravated by the Republican’s poor choice of those they hire who then can’t perform the duties required of their position. We all remember the woe that one FEMA appointment brought. Not to mention all those political appointees who destroyed Iraq under Jerry Bremmer, during the early years when with the right leadership, we could have won the battle and have been home now.
So it is with great thanks that I want to commend Dave and FSP for publishing this poll. If it weren’t for his site and the silly comments posted by those who did not take the time to research and read the actual poll, I would have said “Ho hum” and let it pass by.
The Poll proves but one thing. There is a general “Malaise” pervading the entire American nation. It is much worse than the last one we experienced during the late Bush ’41 years. It is even worse than those years that Carter was hostage to the Ayatollah of Iran. It is that bad……….
This malaise is solely one of the Republican’s making. They own this one. They were in charge of the Executive, they were in charge of the Legislative, and they controlled the Judicial Branch during the last six years. Democrats have only the tiniest majority in just one of the branches. They have only had it for six months, just 1/12th the time Republicans have had control. However, …….despite such a short time, more good has come out of this Congress in the first hundred days, than any other Congress of recent memory.
America needs to remember who brought this on.
Republicans, if they are to survive, needs to find a leader who repudiates everything the current crop of Republicans ever did. It is no coincidence that those candidates who are chasing the deep pockets within the Republican party with hand extended out, are falling further and further behind in the national polls.
kavips 
