What Kind Of Attorney General Would Block Legislation To Have All School Boards Recorded For Freedom Of Information?

 

This kind…

Doesn’t he have an election coming up soon?  If so, how can anyone expect to make a credible run for Attorney General IN THIS STATE, AFTER BEAU BIDEN’S TERM,  and be guilty of keeping a tiny little bill, which has no harm but opens all board meetings to being recorded and accessible on line?

Only Simon Barsinister could be against something so inane… Or…. Hmmmmm…. Somebody … With… Something…. To …. Hide….

Three lines of simple code: All boards of education of public school districts, vocational-technical high school districts, and all boards of directors of charter schools shall digitally record all of their public meetings and shall make the recordings available to the public on the districts’ or charter schools’ websites within seven (7) business days of each meeting.  These recordings are not official board minutes, but are a means to enhance communication to the public and to State legislators.…….

Hmmm.  Now… Why would the surprise future attorney general, be sooooo adamant, even to the point of losing an election over blocking legislation so inane, that all it does is open school boards of all things, open to the public as a service… Anyone can walk into a school board and hear exactly the same thing they’d hear on tape… But sometimes… a diaper needs changed.  But sometimes, a family meal needs prepared.   Sometimes extra work for the office must be done for deadline the next day…. Darn we say now….I guess we won’t get to know what happened…

So why?  Why is HB 23 being put on ice as my compatriot Kilroy is found of saying.  Who is soooooo scared someone will find out what is really going on in school board meetings?  Is it Charlie Copeland?   Is it Mark Murphy?  Is it… Darryl Scott?   Is it Pete Schwartzkoph?

Hmmm.  I wonder if it has any sponsors in the General Assembly right now?

HOLY MOLY!!!!!!  LOOK AT THIS!!!   Sponsors:  Hudson, Sen. Peterson, Reps. Dukes, D. Short, Miro, Peterman, Wilson, Baumbach, Bennett, Mitchell, K. Williams; Sens. Hocker, Lavelle, Simpson, Townsend….

Is Pete Schwartzkoph there?….. No…… Is Bryon Short there?  ….. No……  Is Melanie George Smith there?….. No……  Is Valarie Longhurst there?……. No…… Is Darryl Scott there?  … No….Is Earl Jacques there?…… No  Is Patty Blevins there? …… No……  Is Quentin Johnson there? …. No….   is John Viola there?…… No….  Is Ernie Lopez there?….. No?

Hmmmmmm…   What do those all have in common…… 🙂   Hmmmmmmmmmmmm….  Do they all drink their coconut milk imbibed with lime?  …. No…..   Do they all call each other up and wear the same color of underwear each daily session?…… No……  Ummm.   Do they all have the same Delaware extension tatoo’d to their buttocks?….. Ummmm…..M a y… b e…….

It is someone with a lot to hide; that is for sure…  And it is nobody from here:

Red Clay, Christina, Capital, Delmar, Brandywine and Colonial currently already voluntarily record their board meetings! As well as the Delaware State Board of Education records their meetings!

So why is this something that has to be kept secret, and never brought to pass?….. Because we are not talking about individuals  VOTING on a bill…They could vote YEA or NEA and it wouldn’t matter!  What concerns us and you, is the pure morality of  KEEPING A BILL FROM BEING VOTED FOR YOU BECAUSE IT WILL PASS….

So according to its sponsor, Deborah Hudson,  Matt Denn is sitting on this bill….  He is doing it to protect someone else, to whom perhaps he is loyal….  How seriously then, were a procedural crime to be committed requiring a judicial investigation, can he be trusted to dig and search for the truth instead of whitewashing the whole affair to protect this same someone, when he can’t even be trusted to get a vote for heaven’s sakes….on  a voice recording of  school board meetings,  out on to the floor for a vote?   Let that sink in for a second….  Really?

Put all else aside…..  Really?

IS that really the kind of attorney general we want after Beau Biden….  a crony?

Really?  He’s going to throw his whole career away …. on that?

Really?  Why would he do that?   But it is definite a campaign issue, like blocking the GW bridge, one that resonates and will stick, because EVERY parent has a child in school….Whether they would ever listen themselves or not, this concerns them now… They too will question:  why is Matt Denn, who is running for Attorney General, trying so hard to keep information regarding my kid and his friends, from ever being made public??? Hmmmmm….

Seriously, this blemishes his entire pro-family  image he developed while serving as our insurance commissioner.  This makes him one of the snakes…..  with those evil eyes…..

Nominations for Delaware’s Person/Place/or Thing Of The Year

The Golden Flush Award /Click Image for Past Winners

Usually this is an after thought…” Oh, wow, year’s over, let’s get a person of the year”…  And then once we elect one,  we go… “holy crap… we totally forgot so and so….”

So to try to stir up some old simmering coals of memory, both mine and others, and perhaps even to (heaven forbid) get some debate going in the blog sphere, I thought I’d make an initial run on Thanksgiving Week, and then add people into the nominating category as others mention various ones I should kick myself for forgetting.

It will also force me to review the year which is something I rarely do… because face it, as a human being, I am slave of the moment….  If I did this last year, come December 14th the entire world would have been turned upside down and all the old priorities of 2012,  would in one day become trivial….

And so starting early gives me the chance to make the argument for each of those I decide to enroll with your kind recommendations included….

Julius Cephus:  Particularly this one man organized and stopped an end run around the Port of Wilmington.  The Kinder Morgan deal did not go through, and the Wilmington Port is bustling like never before…   Kinder Morgan was to strip the union of power, and drop the rates of pay, further dampening the economy of Wilmington proper.  It was also the first defeat of a Lavine-Markell development project, .. Fisker and Bloom had gone forward without a hitch.  Julius and other’s push back resulted in a General Assembly motion that stated they, not the governor, had final approval. It was the first time we were exposed to the current Governor’s manipulations.  They were to play a significant part across this year’s tapestry.

Steve Newton:  A blogger who has written infrequently, but effectively. His piece on SB 51  is what alerted us to the end run being performed by Dave Sokola on lowering the current standards being used for educating teachers.  It is brilliant.  It took an evening of reading the legislation line by line and cross referencing  it with Steve’s analysis, to understand the huge negative impact this bill would cause.  By the time this was done, the Bill had already passed the Senate unanimously without comment, and with an friendly amendment added that was voted upon without even being read.  Some public outcry was mustered within the House, both in committee and on the floor, but under the Governor’s direction, the Speaker of the House, pushed the bill to the floor before significant outcry could be mustered.  Only 4 House members were not on record for it’s passing.  Our educational schools now have to water down their teaching standards to meet the new law.  Steve also has brought the Highmark story to Delaware.  His research in the increase of medical costs in Western PA as a result of knocking out competition by unfair practices, leads one with a cold chill of what to expect in Delaware’s future.  We are already there.  As an insurer, Highmark is only paying medical claims in its own affiliated clinics.  As the new Blue Cross/Blue Shield owner, that is a huge percentage of Delaware’s residents.  None can go to any other hospital.  He has properly fingered Karen Weldham Stuart for not catching this prior to implementation.  Without Steve, this would have passed unnoticed.  The News Journal still has not once mentioned the takeover of Delaware’s health field under one owner.

Ernest Lopez.  If Kennedy were still writing Profiles of Courage, he should include this man.  Ernest Lopez is a conservative, and voted with Libertarian values to pass the gun legislation recommended by Markell and Biden.  Reflecting the views of his district, instead of taking the threatening message sent to him down from the NRA, he voted for his district.  A very vocal minority, who is always vocal, and always in the minority, swore they would unseat him.  He disregarded their idle threat, and voted both his and his constituents conscious.  A major billboard was put up to call him out.   His vote caused the passage of us now requiring background checks at public gun sales.  Now a certifiably insane person cannot slap cash and get a gun.  It is a no-brainer, and Ernie was the only Republican with brain enough to even know what a no-brainer is….

Cathy Cloutier:  her vote allowed gays to marry.  Again, she is a Republican who said enough is enough… Tired of voting against her conscious just so Sussex County would not flip over to the Democrats, she finally did not toe the line and voted along the lines of her own constituents, all overwhelmingly in favor of gay marriage.  In doing so, she went against the entire grain of her party, who firmly feel that gays are second class citizens, even though most Republicans in office are closeted gays.

Bethany Hall Long:  on the same vote, made a viable personal decision, and also voted for the legalization of gay marriage. Unlike Cathy’s vote, this was accomplished at great personal sacrifice, for all of those in her personal life, were solidly against this policy from taking effect.  In voting for what was morally right, she had to contend against those whose influence she could not escape.  She went with the correct vote, over the easy one.   As a result, Gay marriage is now legal in Delaware.

Paul Baumbach:  gave great ammunition against the fight for SB51, and later against HB 165. Both bills which will damage Delaware’s education for years to come.  He was one of the four who put up a fight on the House floor.  Paul also arranged for the meetings in Newark to discuss the new Power plant that figured in this past week’s election.

John Kowalko:  also was against SB51, HB 165, as well, being against the power plant.  In fact, John was the first person to sound the alarm over how big the power plant would be.  Without his big voice, it may have slid through unnoticed.  The power plant has defined northern Delaware politics since September.

Kim Williams;  responsible for HB 40 which investigates Charter School’s meddling into our educational systems.  She was as an acting state representative, allegedly refused entrance into a committee hearing on education, for fear she might say something damaging to the bill being rushed through….  She brought to the public’s knowledge, that the Charter School bill was drafted illegally without public input, and the charter group constructing it, was also under FOIA, to which the private group denied.  The Attorney General backed up her assertion, that the bill was formulated illegally but their decision was moot, because the bill was passed both houses anyways.  Kim Williams also in the HB 40 task force, led the group to realize that charter schools unlike public schools, do indeed filter those entering charters to weed out those who might lower their test scores….

Mark Murphy, Rodel, Sweeney, Hefferman, and the Fake Educational Reform Establishment:  I almost purposefully did not post this.  Although the first person’s name is usually followed by explicatives whenever mentioned, it is unlike Voldermort’s, still getting mentioned.  Mark Murphy was not put in his position based on his ability. He was placed there for his loyalty to the cause of  corporatizing public education.  Markell pulls the strings, Murphy figures how to get it done…  It is hard to make a puppet the most influential person of the year… So I was going to skip him… But at the last minute, remembered that every time  he or anyone of these make an op-ed, it resonates as gigantic news. The entire community rises up to counteract each op-ed, usually with the word “lies” thrown liberally about…. So, they do exert an influence.  I looped all of them together, as the group of liars in a Greek play, who stand on the stair steps and taunt the protagonists.  Well,… they are part of the play…….

Dan Short:  Sometimes villains get noticed too.  Primarily a single issue candidate, who personally supports the NRA, he actively campaigned and organized to create enough backlash so Markell’s gun laws could not get enough votes…  Without him, there is a possibility that all four of Markell’s gun control pieces of legislation would have passed both houses of Delaware’s legislature. Dan Short should be given the credit for stopping them.

John Sigler: Single handedly by his very brief tenure as the re-elected head of the Republican Party, he pointed out through his pigeon shooting, just how inept the Republican Party was at everything else.  With his leaving, all fissures cracking the Republican bedrock, were impossible to ignore.  Blogs split. The IPOD’s split. Former candidates of the same party just months earlier, now not talking to each other. The Delaware Republican Party is dead; no it is past dead.  More dead than a pigeon shot inside a box by John Sigler, former head of the Delaware Republican Party.

Nancy Willing: Her blog, the Delaware Way, is the go-to site for local information. Whether about Dover, about New Castle County, about any of New Castle County’s associations, Nancy combs all sources and puts them down in aggregate form. Heavily involved in the Power Plant controversy, The Delaware City Rail Yard controversy, Barley Mill controversy, the Woodlawan controversy, the Kinder Morgan controversy, the Charter School Controversy, the Common Core Controversy, Nancy has who is saying “what”, and links to “why”. One can expend less energy by using her blog to follow all the stuff the News Journal neglects, in a few quick empty steps.

Amy Roe:  a head of the Sierra Club, who emerged from nowhere to lead the fight against the power plant, and give quite a run against the establishment candidate.  Becoming the face the anti- power movement could coalase behind, she gave the anti power plant movement both dignity and grace.  Coming up short only 115 votes, she has awakened Newark now politically as never before…  The power plant if it goes forward, now has a strong group of Newarkeans against it.  Hopefully they will be monitoring it regularly and helping authorities keep in in compliance with all local law.

Tom Gorden; although much quieter than his first term in office, Tom Gorden is rapidly rolling back the privileges the previous Clark administration handed over to our state’s top developers. The Barley Mill plaza which had a green light, is now parked at a red. In a big sea change, though handled quietly, community groups are now no longer persona non grata in county government. It is no longer accepted as a matter of course that the Woodlawn Trust will be gobbled up by developers. If enough fight can be mustered, it can be stopped. Furthermore, with Tom there is closer coordination with the City of Wilmington, than we have experienced anytime in our lifetimes. In the county, local policing has been stepped up, particularly in neighborhoods prone to crime…

Dennis Williams: Came in with grand expectations, which looked deliverable for a while. The tide is turning and his relevance on this list, is because every day, the headline reality in Wilmington’s streets, brings his electioneering boasts back to haunt him, like a sizzling hot branding iron.  Time, Dennis, to say “Damn the torpedoes… Their punk asses are going in jail no matter which blowhard on City Council spouts off,before mine gets tossed in jail for impersonating a mayor..”

Alan Levin:  Jack Markell’s second in command, he was instrumental in defending Markell’s position on Kinder Morgan and the port, as well as the new power plant for the data center. He also had a hand in keeping Dole in Delaware, and worked to slip the power plant past a slew of unsuspecting Newark City officials.

Jack Markell: had his hand in everything.  He was behind Kinder Morgan’s takeover.  He was behind SB 51 and HB 165.  He was behind the illegal charter group, requiring HB 40. He also was the driving force for the four rational steps to gun legislation, 2 of which were passed. He was also the driving force behind the passage of gay marriage, signing the bill in the chambers just moments after its passage. He also supported the transgender bill in its travels through the labyrinth of Legislative Hall. He as behind keeping Dole in Delaware. He was behind changing an icon in Millsboro away from pickles, over to poultry. He pushed the bill to curtail Flowers. Despite your opinion over whether these were good or bad, they still showed a ubiquitous and wide reach across the state of Delaware. Seems like nothing got done that didn’t have his fingerprints all over it.

John Young: As head of Christina board, John Young led the board in standing up to Mark Murphy and Jack Markell, by refusing the RTTT funds slated for his district. Although some hired fools, (Jea Street) tried to paint Young into a corner, it served the opposite purpose and gave Young a platform. For the fist time, Common Core was getting publicly bashed. For the first time, many were finding that aligning themselves blindly to this sham of improving standards, was probably going to hurt them politically in the next couple of years. It was the fist salvo back, so the damage estimates were not high, but it did open eyes of many who had been on the sidelines of all educational issues, making them also become vocal in fighting Common Core. His blog Transparent Christina has channelled a lot of detailed information into the Delaware market, and had made Common Core an apprehension, instead of the savior it was supposed to be….

Kilroy: Kilroy has always been haranguing over education. In fact he was doing such a good job I left that issue alone for years, because other issues for me, like the economy and elimination of guns from the hands of the mentally ill, were more important. But as the issue has shifted back into the limelight, Kilroy’s hard hitting is making its mark… Kilroy is blunt, and right now, that is the language that needs to happen. Blunt descriptions of what takes place in the stratosphere of he academic field…. Kilroy often breaks stories before the News Journal, especially ones embarrassing to the Murphy/Markell cartel of education. If you have read Kilroy over the past couple of years, you would already know that Common Core is not the panacea we have been promised. It is a power grab for taxpayer dollars, financed by Wall Street itself…. If you think otherwise, you haven’t been reading a balanced reading list….
====
That is what I have so far. In retrospect I am surprised that education has played so much, as even I have only come to that topic lately… But if one looks over the News Journal op eds, education really did dominate the discussion in the 2nd smallest state this year….

I may have forgotten some big ones. To reiterate, that is why I am posting this early, to catch those big mistakes as they get brought to my attention….

Ummmm, About This Wide…..

Right Click for Full Image.

At What Price, Loyality?

This is going to my hard core Republican friends. Why are you still supporting Romney?

1) You know he is not going to win.
2) You know as the election heats up, his Bain Capital experience will make Republicans untouchable for decades.
3) You can’t pin down where Romney stands on anything.
4) He tied his dog to a car.
5) He stands with black people and says “Who let the dogs out, woof, woof.”

Most of you are telling me, “I certainly can’t vote for Obama. I guess I’m not voting for President this time.”

Let’s say, just for argument sakes there was a presidential candidate out there who says to have good government you need: …………………

1. Become reality driven. Don’t kid yourself or others.
Find out what’s what and base your decisions and actions
on that.

2. Always be honest and tell the truth. It’s extremely
difficult to do any damage to anybody when you are
willing to tell the truth–regardless of the
consequences.

3. Always do what’s right and fair. Remember, the more
you actually accomplish, the louder your critics become.
You’ve got to learn to ignore your critics. You’ve got to
continue to do what you think is right. You’ve got to
maintain your integrity.

4. Determine your goal, develop a plan to reach that
goal, and then act. Don’t procrastinate.

5. Make sure everybody who ought to know what you’re
doing knows what you’re doing. Communicate.

6. Don’t hesitate to deliver bad news. There is always
time to salvage things. There is always time to fix
things. Henry Kissinger said that anything that can be
revealed eventually should be revealed immediately.

7. Last, be willing to do whatever it takes to get your
job done. If you’ve got a job that you don’t love enough
to do what it takes to get your job done, then quit and
get one that you do love, and then make a difference.

Honesty. Integrity. Principal.

Sounds good so far. Let us say just for argument, he had chief executive experience. Let us say just or argument that he once ran a state, one of the fifty in this union. Let us say while governor, this is what he did…..

During his tenure, New Mexico experienced the longest period without a tax-increase in the state’s entire history.

1) He cut the rate of government growth in half,

2) Left the New Mexico state government with a budget surplus and 1000 fewer employees (without firing anyone),

3) Privatized half of the prisons in the state,

4) Brought a state-wide school voucher system to New Mexico.

5) Vetoed 750 bills (more than all the vetoes of the other 49 Governors in the country at that time, combined) with only 2 overrides, earning him the nickname Gary “Veto” Johnson.

6) In 1999, Johnson became the highest-ranking elected official in the United States to advocate the legalization of drugs.

7) Shifted Medicaid to managed care.

ISN’T THAT WHAT YOU WANT? ISN’T THAT WHAT WE NEED?

Can you not think of a better way to show your lack of enthusiasm over a wealthy capitalist buying his way to the top of your ticket, by voting for someone who has character, who does what you’ve always wanted, a doer, not a talker?

And to think…. you were simply just going to throw your vote away.

His name is Gary Johnson. He is the new party’s candidate for President.

Remember Republicans. It is your values that are important. If your party has given up and moved on from your values, don’t think you have to be loyal to the word…. “Republican”… What you have to be loyal too, is yourself. Always. Never lie to yourself.

You don’t need to waste your vote on Romney. You probably need to find more about this guy, Gary Johnson, and then throw your support behind him.

Don’t worry it is not one of the two parties on whose ticket he is running. Remember, at one point in time, the Republican Party was a once a third party too. One that went mainstream because of its core values, its principles resonated with everyday American People.

Ronald Reagan Supported Collective Bargaining

Courtesy of AmericanRhetoric

“They remind us that where free unions and collective bargain are forbidden, freedom is lost… they remind us that freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction… You and I, must protect and preserve that freedom here, otherwise it will not be passed on to our children, and will disappear everywhere in the world. ….. How high is that price of freedom?…..”

Ronald Reagan

More Treats From the State Budget

Hi, we’ve been pulling 5 passages from the budget for each post, and posting them without discussion… That will come later each time you read something that raises your eyebrows…. With out further ado…

1) Title XIV of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 enacted by the federal government creates a State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF). This Act provides funding from the SFSF for a Flexibility Block Grant in the amount of $13,121.1 ($5,554.7 GF, $7,566.4 Federal ARRA Funds). These funds shall be allocated to schools based upon the September 30, 2009 Unit Count. These funds are provided in an effort to allow districts the flexibility to achieve savings in areas that do not negatively impact the classroom or cause a decrease in the number of classroom teachers beyond what would normally be associated with a reduction in force. Each school district and charter school has the ability to use their SFSF allocation as they deem appropriate within the federal guidelines; however, districts are strongly encouraged to utilize these resources to preserve jobs and advance educational reforms such as increasing teacher effectiveness and providing targeted, intensive support and interventions for struggling schools.

2) Section l of this Act provides an appropriation to the Office of the Controller General (0l-08-02) for Contingencies: Legislative Council. Requests from the Chairs of Standing Legislative Committees for professional staff assistance shall be submitted to the Legislative Council for approval or disapproval. Approvals for professional staff assistance shall be allowed within the limits of the appropriation and as provided by guidelines established by the Legislative Council.

3) Notwithstanding provisions of 29 Del. C. § 6102(r)(2) and § 6102(r)(3), for Fiscal Year 2011, the sum authorized to the Education Expense and Property Tax Relief Fund shall be allocated using State Fiscal stabilization Funds and is to be allocated as follows. These funds are subject to the guidelines and reporting requirements of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009:

4) For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2010, any local school district that has had two consecutive failed current expense tax referendums during the time period July 1, 2008 to January 1, 2011, is authorized to exercise the cash option on Academic Excellence units up to the total number of units provided under that program. This provision will apply for Fiscal Year 2011 only. In addition, districts meeting this criteria are authorized to utilize funds derived from this cash option to pay local
salary supplements. Any district that has had a successful current expense tax referendum subsequent to two consecutive failed current expense tax referendums is ineligible for the provisions of this section.

5) Amend 14 Del. C. § 1722(c) by deleting said subsection in its entirety. Section 384. It is the intent of the General Assembly that the Department of Education shall be permitted to exercise its authority pursuant to 14 Del. C. §515(g) to directly manage a school to be operated at the location currently served by the Maurice J. Moyer Academy. The Department’s authority will take effect on July 1, 2010, immediately following the expiration of Moyer Academy’s charter, and will extend until June 30, 2012. The Department shall have the authority to contract with K-12 Classroom DE, LLC to operate the school from July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011, notwithstanding the
23 provisions of 29 Del. C. Chapter 69, and to take all other actions necessary to operate the school. The Department shall issue a request for proposals for a third party to operate the school from July 1, 2011
25 through June 30, 2012. Said school shall be funded pursuant to charter school funding laws, including the provisions of 14 Del. C. §508 and §509.

So…What’s In Your State’s Budget Today?

Here is just a taste of some random samplings of line items in our state’s budget…

It’s what we fought for, and (by flipping the state House from Republican to Democrat) won, so…… here it is…. Your open government in action.

Section 127. The Delaware Heritage Office shall investigate which out of print books and writings on Delaware history should be considered for republication. Further, the Delaware Heritage Office shall investigate which writings in these categories would be valuable for republication.  A report
shall be made to the Controller General and Director of the Office of  Management and Budget by December 1 of each fiscal year.

Section 129. Section 1 of this Act makes an appropriation to Libraries (20-08-01) in the amount  of $2,608.7 GF and $1,760.8 ASF for Library Standards. Of that amount, Libraries may reserve up to  $436.9 for planning and evaluation grants to determine each library’s attainment of state and federal  library standards. The remaining funds shall be paid to libraries in two installments equal to 50 percent of  the total amount allocated to that library, one installment upon signature of the contract and the second
installment in January of the fiscal year. Funds granted to any library under the provisions of 29 Del. C.  c. 66,  if unspent at the end of the fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund, but instead shall be held in an account for the benefit of the library from which the unspent funds came. These funds may be spent in subsequent years for purposes described in 29 Del. C. c. 66. The use of such carryover funds shall not  be used as part of any subsequent years’ formula payment.

Section 215. Section 1 of this Act appropriates $40.0 in Personnel Costs to the Department of   Correction, Community Corrections, New Castle County Community Corrections (38-06-06) for the  purpose of maintenance overtime costs at Riverview Cemetery. Implementation shall not commence until the City of Wilmington agrees to be financially responsible for tipping or hauling expenses  associated with Riverview Cemetery.

Section 283. (a) Section 1 of this Act provides an appropriation of $425.0 in Employment and  Training, Employment and Training Services (60-09-20) for the Delaware State Summer Youth  Employment Program to operate a program commencing July 1, 2010. The budget will take into  consideration the funds required to commence the program at the end of Fiscal Year 2011, on or about  June 15, 2011. This sum is to be allocated in the following manner:
New Castle County (outside the City of Wilmington) $ 69.7
City of Wilmington $256.7
Kent County $49.3
Sussex County $49.3
TOTAL $425.0

Section 284. Section 1 of this Act makes an appropriation of $497.8 ASF to the Department of  Agriculture for the Delaware Agriculture Land Preservation Foundation pursuant to 29 Del. C. §  6102A(d)(3). The Foundation shall not operate any accounts outside of the State accounting system.

There….. that should get things started….

Republicans: Running From The Light

Every Republican lives in fear… They go about their lives, hoping no one finds the truth… They fear one day, all will be revealed.. They fear that Delawareans will one day learn the truth… So they use their wealth to spin their lies, and huddle like scurvy little spiders… sucking the juices out past year’s kills…

Delaware woke up this morning to find Ginger Gibson got there first… Like Frodo in the cave of Shelob, a brilliant light seared their retina’s as the first rising Republican casually glanced over the News Journal page this morning… There for all to see…. Critics say GOP abused its perks: Shocking’ expenses slashed in Del. House!

First one call to Westover, then two calls, then four.. Soon, the phones began ringing all over Republican land… ” Wake up! Get digging! This is bad! We’re Doomed! Damage Control! Who squealed!” although for some reason the calls never made it as far north as Yorklyn… Heard all over Republican land, were these word muttered under every Republican’s breath… “That damned Spence… Why did he have to put his name on all those checks…”

Spiders everywhere retreated to their den… Holed up… Hibernating till 2016……

House Republicans who could knowledgeably dispute the facts would not be interviewed for this article. Spence did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Republican Party Chairman Tom Ross said he couldn’t speak to specific allegations but characterized them as partisan attacks likely fueled by election-year politics.

Absolutely… Which is why it is always important when listening to a Republican, to click on links… Like this one to the side of Ginger’s story…..

It is addressed to Vincent Lofink,

Dear Mr. Lofink:

As recommended in a report from the State Auditor’s Office, I am writing to ask that you reimburse the House of Representatives for tuition reimbursements you received while serving as a state representative… The total amount you were reimbursed is $12,124.50.

Since this is a partisan attack fueled by election year politics one would assume the State Auditor would be of the opposite party…. What, the state auditor is a Republican?

Oh, my…. He’s a Republican.

… and since he took the Republican House leadership to task, he is apparently a damned good Republican too… By rough calculation, I’d be guessing he, Kilroy, and Rsmitty are the only three good one’s left…. JoAnne might still be one of them, I don’t really know anymore… And Hastings, I don’t want to forget.

Obviously Delaware’s State Republican Party is still not familiar with how to act within the light of open government … Am I the only one remembering how they tried to take credit for being the only ones truly supportive of opening the General Assembly to FOIA?

Probably. 🙂

WTF is CRI? A New Disease?

I know a women who once when the doors of her train opened accidentally, got up and pulled her husband off the train… In doing so, she stepped out on the platform in Vienna, and thereby escaped Communist suppression for the rest of her life…

Four years ago, she had polyps in her breast. She immediately underwent radiation and beat it. Until now.

If today’s experimental treatment does not work, she will undergo a mastectomy next month and reconstructive surgery. It will be a shame for she has some of the most beautiful breasts … They’re truly a natural wonder.

But the point I’m making is…. when dealing with cancer… you nip it in the bud… You don’t play around.. You take necessary corrective action…

There is a deadly cancer in Delaware’s blogworld today. You may have read something about the Caesar Rodney Institute. It too is a cancer; it too needs excised before it spreads its spores and contaminates our General Assembly and local idiots like Ron Williams…

WTF is a Caesar Rodney Institute?

The answer is two words: Garrett Wozniak…

WTF is Garrett Wozniak?

Hmmmmmmm… let’s take a look together… shall we?

If we pull up Linkaden’s page, we see his prime qualification is:

Campaign Manager at Citizens for Copeland

Oh.. so that’s what makes him an expert in all things political… But wait… who is that guy Copeland? Isn’t he that guy that just disappeared after last November 4th?.. Vanished into thin air? …

Sounds familiar… Hmmmm… Copeland…..Copeland…. Copeland…. Where have we heard that name before… hmmph..

Wasn’t he that silly politician who insisted we should put oil rigs off of Rehoboth Beach? No couldn’t be, for no one here in this state is that stupid… Oil Rigs off Delaware’s number one tourist site… Oil rigs off Delaware’s premier money making site? Never? There’s a no brainer…

Wasn’t he that silly politician who stalled the wind deal so Delmarva Power could charge us 60% more for our electricity? Wasn’t he that person whose approval was required before our state paid out $35,000 so Richard Speck could lynch Arnette McRae on the public stand; she of course being the one in charge of Delaware’s Public Service Commission, and therefore the one responsible for running the best open aired RPS this state has ever seen? So open, in fact, that Delmarva Power’s lies were exposed for all to see for what they truly were? lies?

Wasn’t he that silly politician who said he founded the Challenge Program, only to have Tommywonk say… uhn uhn… wasn’t so?

Wasn’t he that silly republican who begged Bill Lee to run for governor and then handed out flyers telling Wilmington blacks to vote for Obama, Markell, and himself? Selling his own friend down the river? lol.

Wasn’t he that silly republican who spent lavishly at Wilmington’s black churches thinking their votes could be so readily and cheaply bought? lol

Wasn’t he that silly republican who gave his support to Thurman Adams, delivering to him in January 2007, the entire Republican caucus in his favor, and only after that deed was done, did he begin championing the cause of open government once he knew it could never happen? lol

Wasn’t he that silly republican who believes even when proven wrong, that resolute determination can undermine actual facts proving the contrary? lol

If that’s the same Copeland, that Garrett Wozniak supported, then it is hard to take him seriously… is it not? Oil rigs off of Rehoboth… What a card… lol

So what is it that makes Garrett Wozniak an expert? What is it that gives him credibility? Shall we take a look together?

* Campaign Manager at Citizens for Copeland
* Policy Director at Delaware House of ‘Representatives
* Executive Director at Delaware Republican Party

Obviously his view are a little one sided.. Results are thus. These are facts now… not some policy dribble… Hard solid evidence…

As campaign chair, he barely mustered 38% of the vote for his candidate…. as my little kindergardener often says of his elders:FAIL
Even outspokenly gay John Brady received 41% of the vote… Wozniak’s candidate couldn’t even muster that amount…

Policy Director of Delaware’s Majority Party at Delaware’s House of Representatives. That means Republican caucus of the House of Representatives… As policy director of the majority party, nothing of importance was passed in two years that could get by the Senate. As they say at that other state blog: FAIL Consequently, voters rejected Republican candidates in November giving Democrats a plurality, (until Thornberg’s friends threw out Paradee’s win).

Executive Director of Delaware’s Republican Party: As echoed across the tabulations of every voting booth across this state: FAIL
They lost by the largest margin ever in recent memory of anyone living or dead… Sort of like trusting the manager of the Cincinnati Reds to write a book outlining the strategy of winning a baseball game… lol

So we see under the profile of Gary Wozniak, what he is familiar with:

Extensive experience in all aspects of project management including supervising, fundraising, developing marketing strategies, organization/time management and researching federal and state laws.

I’ll let you be the judge of whether he was successful at any of these?

And he sums up his credentials here…

Thorough knowledge of fundraising techniques, managing donor relations, and database management

Was this their most successful year ever? The results are in: you be the judge.

He goes on…

Able to work independently and collaboratively on multiple projects
• Have established positive relationships with most members of Delaware’s General Assembly regardless of political affiliation

Again was this their most successful year ever? The results are in? You be the judge.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT/FUNDRAISING EXPERIENCE
• Responsible for statewide communications, fundraising, strategy, policy research, and general management/operations
• Successfully raised between $700,000 in a six month period
• Managed a budget of $800,000
• Supervised a staff of three employees and coordinated over 100 volunteers
• Created and implemented a district operations plan to allow legislators to more effectively and efficiently communicate with constituents
• Coordinated local campaigns, consulting on policy, budgeting, and strategy for over 30 candidates
• Served as Operations Manager responsible for budgeting, directing all fundraising efforts, developing finance plans and initiatives to grow the organization, and strategic planning
• Drafted press releases, legislation, and speeches; responded to constituent concerns; and planned events in a highly competitive non-partisan internship
• Developed comprehensive plans for municipalities

So how’s he doin’ now?

So why should we even listen to Garrett Wosniak and the Caesar Rodney Institute’s ramblings?

Garrett Wozniak’s Education

*
University of Delaware

MPA , Financial Management & State and Local Management , 2004 — 2006
*
Towson University

B.S. , Economics and Political Science , 2002 — 2004
*
Montgomery College

A.A. , Business Administration , 2000 — 2002

Because since high school graduation, his entire adulthood has only lived through the Republican era… He was only a baby of ten when Clinton cleaned up the former Republican’s mess and barely 18 when he turned it over to the new generation of Republicanism to squander it away to nothingness…

He can’t help it… He simply not old enough to know any better…..

But wait a second… His entire age group overwhelmingly voted for change. Most of his age group does indeed know better…. What’s up with that?

Below are some wise words which should be applied to the Ceasar Rodney Institute the next time they meddle with state policy. For instead of being a thoughtful, introspective, outreaching organization that was dedicated to examining complicated issues to help educate the rest of us, we have a close-minded attempt by a failing philosophy to masquerade a voter rejected policy as intellectual fact….

“A cancer must be removed as soon as possible before it spreads and infects surrounding healthy tissue”.

Open Government: Why It Matters…

Some of us old timers have been celebrating the second Tuesday of January for what seems like quite a few years… Each year we see signs that Open Government will come to our General Assembly. Last year was the greatest.. Complete with a living autographed open body, fluorescent green tee shirts, and Robert Venebles praying for the souls of those wanting to hold public officials accountable, surely with such a circus atmosphere just before election we would finally see results…..

It never left the drawer.

Fun and games won’t get it done.

What will?

You.

A public who demands that open government is passed; a public who dogs those royalists intent on keeping our hands away from our money, a public who exposes the lies and fallicies of their obfuscations…. WILL PREVAIL IN THE END.

We have to. At some future point they will need our vote.

OK, so that brings up this point which often made by the contractors of our current closed governmental system. If it is inevitable, why the hurry… Why put wrinkles in the current system which seems to work OK as it is now? After all, are their any major problems, serious catastrophies, widespread panics being caused by our current secret General Assembly?

Actually…. yes.

There is a $600,000,000 dollar shortfall; one of the reasons being the lack of open government in those areas that determine where we spend our money… The General Assembly.

In plain terms here is how it goes down.

A handful of legislators decide who gets what money. Those handful are sequestered in a chamber, away from the public’s eye, but freely visited every day by lobbyists for various interests. Many offer gifts. They have access, but someone wishing to get a safety device installed on school buses to protect our children, has to go through loops, tunnels, push bells and whistles, just to get enough points to be heard….

Open government is just a way to balance it out more… There are two ways to balance it out… One is to get rid of lobbyists entirely… then there is nobody in that chamber… The easier way is to open of those sessions so anyone can see what is going on… There is a reason shady deals are not done in the open… people will know about them.. So if we open those arrangements, we can hear when a lobbyist says he will provide tickets to the Netherlands to study wind farming.
And when they come back from that trip spouting only the corporate philosophy of that business that gave them the tickets…. we can say now wait a minute… You were “rickrolled“. What about the other argument?

In tight times there is nothing wrong with looking hard at ones budget…. Making hard choices is what we do… ie should we spend this little bit of money on our roads, or on our schools. Each makes the best argument in their favor, and then someone…. has to decide. That’s it. That is how it is done..

What is wrong, and why legislators such as Senator Thurman Adams, Senator Tony DeLuca, Senator Patty Blevins, and Senator Harris McDowell want open government to go away, is that without anyone looking over their shoulder, instead of going to a road or a school, that money now goes to a developer who has property he can’t unload for a profit to anyone except to the state….

And we hear: “the state has invested “so many” dollars to preserve open space containing so many acres so that future Delawareans can……..”

We don’t ever learn that a school was not built, a road was not repaired, 150 jobs were cut, just to make that sweetheart deal happen…

Here is real fact: choke on this.

In the development of the Wilmington Waterfront, those developers were given carte-blanche legal protection…

Accordingly, no legal or equitable action seeking damages for personal injury or death as a result of any operation, condition, service, or program related to the parcels that were the subject of these development agreements shall be permitted, maintained, or recovered against such entities

Delaware National (nee Hercules) Golf Course – Approximately 101 +/- acres adjacent to Hercules Road (SR 282) in New Castle County. The Department shall work with members of the surrounding community, plus state and local officials, to develop a master plan for the permanent protection – 57 – of the site as community recreation and open space, and upon satisfactory completion of such plans, may transfer the parcel to the appropriate owner(s) for a fee to be determined.

Or $4,000,000 to redo Garrison Lake Golf Course.

Bottom line is as we try to trim $600,000,000 from our state’s expenses, how much less would we be trimming if during the past 8 years we had not invested in various governmental officials pet projects?

Quite a lot.

As a result, our children will learn in shoddy schools, potholes will tear off our oil pans, our police forces and teachers numbers will be diminished….. all because someone was “hooked up” in an earlier closed session committee that decided where and how our public money will be spent…

As was emphatically said by our new Speaker of the House….” Damn it; its the public’s money!” then it stands to reason that the public be part of deciding how that money is spent…..

We did it with Bluewater Wind… Our duty as citizens of this state demand we do it again…

We are at a point where almost everyone in Delaware is in favor of Open Government.. It is an issue that crosses party lines…

Those few who do not, are all in the Senate. That is why we need to take our fight there. Within that chamber are the ones who need to band together to vote with at least 11 votes to do away with the desk drawer veto. From this group of twenty one, 11 need to agree that if any of their coalition is threatened or denied his right to bring his bill on the floor, because he dared to stand up to Adams on open government, that irregardless of party loyalty, the other ten will stand behind them and override Senator Adams and bring that bill on the floor of a vote.. It will need to be bipartisan, which is why it will need all of us to apply the political muscle….

As per our drill with Bluewater Wind, here are the numbers…..

Senate Democrats
Dover: 302-744-4165
Wilmington: 302-577-8542

Senate Republicans
Dover: 302-744-4134
Wilmington: 302-577-8517

And for good measure:

House Republicans
Receptionist: (302) 744-4171
FAX: Dover (302) 739-2773
Wilm. (302) 577-6396

House Democrats
Receptionist: (302) 744-4351
FAX: Dover (302) 739-2313

One might recommend printing up on ones computers business cards with just one number, explaining to ones friends and neighbors the importance of their call, and handing out the numbers enabling a greater number of Delaware’s citizens to become involved with controlling their own destiny.

After all that is why our ancestors fought the revolution. That is why they fought for Lincoln, to keep this nation together. That is why they beat back the Japanese and Germany during WWII, to ensure those freedoms remained at home… That is why Delawareans are in Iraq RIGHT NOW.

They are not there so some very important piece of legislation can get buried in someone’s desk drawer……