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Courtesy of Party Pals
So why would the most popular Republican, the man everyone wanted to run back in 2012… the man hailed as the Great White Hope of the Republican Party, turn on them and bash his own party?
Easy.
Because his own party is wrong…
He can do more good for all of society by calling the Republicans out for what they truly are, finally, than he could by kissing fat cat’s ass and “toeing” the party line.
Chris Christie is just too big to fit in the Republican’s suit….
I hope he overwhelmingly wins in NJ because courage to call the Republicans the true dicks* they are, is rare. Voters need to reward him for a) being honest with them, and b) for putting his state’s interests over some stupid, made-up, constructed philosophy, that can’t seem to function in the real world….
Christie is right; his party is wrong. Get rid of the bad, keep the good.
*dicks as in Dick Cheney.
January 1-3
January 11-13
I getting a bad feeling about this. Who can tell us? What’s this mean?
Btw. There is a monster hurricane approaching Alaska with a low of 943mb. Category 4 if it were an actual hurricane. It is so huge it would stretch from the East Coast of the US to Denver.
Republicans think you’re stupid. They have to. They couldn’t say the dumb things they say, without thinking you will believe whatever it is they say, that comes out of their mouth….
Duh… Look at the Chart…. At least the Obama Administration is GROWING jobs… Duh… Why would anyone WANT to return to the Republican Policies that caused the red?
Or phrase it this way…. if growing 82,000 new jobs is sooooooo bad, how do you explain Republicans losing, not gaining, but losing 800,000 in just one month?
Just by the numbers, doesn’t that make Republicans negative 1000% times worse than the Obama Presidency? (100% x 10)
Of course it does… Why do you think 90% of the people hate Republicans?
And here is why those 90% of Americans love Obama.
A) President Obama signs the Recovery Act, reversing job losses, helping to put millions of Americans back to work, and cutting taxes for 95% of working families. February 17, 2009
B) President Obama announces federal assistance to GM and Chrysler, preventing the collapse of the American auto industry. March 30,2009.
C) President Obama signs the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act, contributing to the advancement of $109 billion in business tax cuts. November 6,2009.
D) President Obama signs the HIRE Act, providing tax breaks for companies that hire unemployed workers.. March 18, 2010
E) President Obama signs the HIRE Act, providing tax breaks for companies that hire unemployed workers.. March 18, 2010
F) President Obama signs an extension of unemployment compensation, ensuring that millions of Americans can make ends meet as they look for work, while boosting consumer spending and economic activity.. July 22, 2010
G) President Obama signs the Education Jobs Fund into law, enabling states to hire, rehire, or retain more than 130,000 educators… August 10, 2010
H) President Obama signs the Manufacturing Enhancement Act, reducing tariffs on imports U.S. manufacturers need to make their products… August 11, 2010
I) President Obama signs the Education Jobs Fund into law, enabling states to hire, rehire, or retain more than 130,000 educators… August 10, 2010
J) President Obama signs the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, providing more than $12 billion in loan support to small businesses… September 27, 2010
K) President Obama signs into law a $1,000 tax cut for the average working family… December 17, 2010
L) The Recovery Act raised employment by as many as 4.2 million jobs as of the second quarter of 2011… June 30, 2011
M) President Obama signs free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama… October 21, 2011
N) President Obama signs the VOW to Hire Heroes Act, providing tax breaks for businesses that hire unemployed veterans… November 21, 2011
O) The last two years have been the first to see manufacturing job growth since 1997… January 6, 2012
P) President Obama extends the payroll tax cut through 2012 for all working families… February 22, 2012
Q) The U.S. reaches two consecutive years of private-sector job growth, for a total of more than 3.9 million jobs added…
February 29, 2012
So when you take the number of jobs lost by Republicans, and add the growth of jobs being made by Democrats, the fact that is even a positive number, is a miraculous accomplishment….
So, if you take the whole report and not the headlines….
Obama grew 82,000 private sector jobs.
Republicans fired 13,000 government employees.
Total growth. 69,000 jobs, (growth, mind you, not losses )
Areas that grew were Medical (Obama-care), transportation (Recovery Act), and Wholesale Trading ( Small Business Act). Manufacturing even increased.
Areas that should have grown but didn’t? Construction suffered its biggest loss in two years…(Tea Party Republicans have cut back on every single new contract being offered to contractors by the Federal Government in an effort to cut spending….) This one, Republicans completely own, lock, stock and barrel…
So for Cantor and Boehner to come out and say what they said…. means only one thing… THEY .. REALLY.. THINK.. YOU’RE.. FUCKIN’ .. STUPID…
Well, are you?
You heard it from the Republicans from both sides of the rotunda. THIS BILL WILL CREATE JOBS.
Because it was said legitimately I took it hook, line, and sinker, and said… “good, we need more jobs….”
Four hours later, it came back up. Wait, a minute, how does trimming $100 billion a year out of our economy, create more jobs?
If the Fed cuts jobs, that’s fewer jobs. Who’s going to hire them? And if you create MORE jobs with this bill, you have to hire not only all the people you’ve cut, but many more besides…. Who’s hiring?
The same people who haven’t hired anyone back since 2008? After all, what incentive does corporate America have to hire people? They’re doing fine just as they are.. In a quarter where strong second-quarter earnings from companies like McDonald’s, General Electric and Caterpillar were just the latest proof that booming profits have allowed Corporate America to leave the Great Recession far behind, UNEMPLOYMENT WENT UP!
When the US Corporations banked $1.7 trillion in profits… UNEMPLOYMENT WENT UP!!!
Not to mention, when unemployment increases as the Fed itself begins to layoff workers, there will be less spending-money in those communities that experience layoffs.
Who hires when the revenue stream is predicted to collapse?
More than likely, those making a living off these same Federal employees, will be out of work too…..
Now we got, even more unemployment….
So how can Republicans stand in front of a microphone, and say this bill is a “job creator”… “It will grow more jobs”?
Someone explain it….. please!
First it was Donald Trump’s amateur fillies… now it’s the professionals… Delaware has lost twice to California…
In the Ms USA pagent, Delaware’s own Katie Hanson, lost to Ms California who naturally, took the crown… When it came to Thoroughbreds, Delaware did a little better……
Delaware’s Havre De Grace, took the lead and California’s blind luck, just came up in time for the wire.
Even when he drew even with Havre de Grace, Gomez said he was unsure Blind Luck was going to get past her.
It may seem unfair that “great big ole California” beats out the state with the fewest number of counties (only 3) … but, if you compare populations, the simple fact that quite often Delaware and California are pitted neck to neck just before the final wire, it is fair to say that with California’s population of 37,253,956 versus Delaware’s of 897,934 it takes roughly 41.49 Californians, to match up to and equal one Delawarean….. 🙂
We may be small, but we ARE tough!
Courtesy of Department of Defense
There is a saying where I work, and I believe it was first muttered by someone who was a Ranger in the Vietnam Era, that shit flows downhill. Meaning of course that the chewing out General Westmoreland must have had to face from the Oval Office spread itself out downstream in direct orders to the grunts cleaning their M-1’s.
So it goes in the political world. The fine talk among Presidential candidates may sound awe inspiring and effective, but the debates on the national stage, have true meaning only as they reflect the true passage of laws in each of the 50 states assemblies.
In Delaware this weekend, if one takes out the hub bub of Obama’s overwhelming win against the Nebuchadnezzar of domestic politics, it was the SB’s and HB’s that predominated the Delawarean political discourse.
But first a digression: with Obama’s win in South Carolina, he seems to have moved mainstream into Delaware politics. His supporters for the most part, have been silent when compared to those on the Republican side of the equation, which have difficulty being silent about anything.
FSP’s candidate has committed hari kari over the weekend by going on the offensive against John McCain. Dave at FSP carries the blurb. Talk about an example of an ad backfiring! Watch it and tell me if it makes McCain look like a decent guy, and makes one pissed off at whichever demon candidate put that trash out…..Especially if the viewer has no solid opinion on those candidates, he should watch the clip if only because knowledge of “just how campaign ads work”, or don’t, could someday be crucial if one is considering making a run for Governor…….“E” covers the story as well.
In case you didn’t know, there will be an election next Tuesday. As of today, only one presidential candidate feels Delaware is important enough to acknowledge, and that campaign is sending its candidate’s boss. Delaware Liberal has the story and the times. Historically whichever candidate acknowledges Delaware, gets our nod. Unfortunately this means Delaware has the dubious distinction of being George Bush 43’s first win.
Don’t worry. They do better with Democratic candidates. Delaware also is the state that gave Republican Steve Forbes credibility during his quest, which should not be surprising. We vote for who we know……….”Visit us so that we may Know ye.”
I pause now for a brief editorial comment, due to its potential upcoming impact. Up until now the Obama campaign has been a curiosity. But the speech given by Obama Saturday night, was an eye opener. As the Bill Paxton character says on the movie set of the Titantic, when the living survivor of Titanic calls up to ask if he has found the blue diamond necklace yet, “ok,… you have my attention,” so it was with me when I first heard this from Obama:
The choice in this election is not between regions or religions or genders. It’s not about rich versus poor; young versus old; and it is not about black versus white.
It’s about the past versus the future.
Ok,…. you have my attention. Ironically or by some strange twist of fate, earlier that day I had been primed for this moment by a Delawarean’s letter (#4) in the News Journal. “Hmmmm. That’s interesting”, I thought.
Locally we have much discussion of State politics. On the Democratic side DWA tells us that “snark” between the two candidates has officially begun.On the Republican, namely who will ante up and run for Republican Governor? Currently the only one with any credibility other than Protack, is making up his mind and will tell us after Tuesday whether or not there will be a primary worthy of his name……
If there is…. then we can expect solid debate between the old dinosaurs gasping their last breaths of toxic air, and the new mammalian order beginning their reign of domination while scurrying deep within their burrows.
As the new reign of Republican ponders its plan of attack, who would know that the heat between two old pirates in agreement against outlawing fusion candidates, would one day appear so vocal opposite each other. It was almost as if one persons’s ship pulled alongside, the jolly roger got pulled to ‘er topmast, and the order to fire a broadside was called out, and the firing began (Not another excuse for Pirate Talk)
As crunch time heats up, so does the rhetoric. Where else but in Delaware can one find a “Luxury Specialist” arguing and agreeing sometimes with a “Union shill”, or at least talk to each other? Oops. I see a truce between the two pirates has again been called. That last one was courtesy of Alan Coffey at the Digital Federalist.
Tommywonk carries the infighting going on within the Legislative Committee over who will come out on top in Delmarva’s attempt to drown Bluewater Wind….oops..too late. (Again courtesy of Digital Federalist)
Delaware Liberal has this, (again courtesy of Digital Federalist.) As I said in the beginning, it runs downhill.
But there is something different about this January. Yes WDEL was down in Dover on opening day as usual, but they have done that for years. So what is happening this year that is a sea change from January’s past?
One difference is Kilroy. Kilroy has Red Clay school district rolling. A quick look at his site, shows Gilligan assuring Kilroy that he will support all the open government bills that come before him. Both SB186 and SB185 have caught the imaginations of bloggers. The idea of open accountability appears to be a good way out of the soup our school districts have found themselves. However until we get SB185-186 out of the locked drawer, we will have to rely on Kilroy, who informs us that none of the school districts use object codes on any of their finances. As one who uses accounting codes quite often, I can tell you why. They want no one to know where all the money is going.
Speaking of schools, Nancy has a post lauding Tony DeLuca for keeping Prestige Academy’s hopes alive. But, isn’t Tony on the other side of this issue. It all comes out in the comments.. FSP responds that the waiver came from Tom Carper, not Tony Deluca, and that doesn’t it seem strange that the person wanting to kill the bill, would announce the waiver giving it life, so it could return to his committee to be killed a slow death. Who hires these guys? We do.
Do we dare bring up prevailing wage? Dave has a take on what would happen if realitors were allowed to operate under prevailing wage legislation. Dana thinks that Dave should repudiate Mike Castle who appears to support prevailing wage. Even Steve weighs in.
Earlier in the week the State of the State took place. Some of the residual is still floating around at FSP.
FSP covers the Democrats shooting down Bonini’s open government bill HB 04 in order to keep a desk drawer as the most feared person, place, or thing, in the Senate. Democrats succeeded 13-8. Nancy tells us that Amick has responded by adding Senate Resolution 13 to the docket, which states the same as HB 04, but has no teeth to make changes. Nancy has it in full here.
And Tommy keeps us up to date on the wind intrigue happening inside Dover. The Big four on the Legislative committee had stalled any further progress. Now McDowell is requesting more hearings to kill wind power with a slow death. Meanwhile the ice caps melt, and people who know nothing about energy, continue to stall wind from moving forward.
Some will say what’s the big deal. This shit goes on in Dover all the time. What are we trying to do,……. reform it?
The point is it did go on in Dover all the time, What is different this January is that we know it’s going on and we are talking about it. Think back to last year and beyond, of scouring the News Journal for some hint of legislation, but finding absolutely nothing. Back then, Dover was a black hole. Everything went in to legislative hall, and only after June 30, did anything come out…….
This year we have the eminent domain bill, Prestige Academy, Wind Power fiasco, and of course open government.
So why is everyone talking about the bills this year?
You all……. are the reason.
Every Democrat running for President agrees: the war in Iraq must end.
But it matters profoundly how we end it. It matters to our soldiers. It matters to Iraqis. And it matters to America’s future security.
Joe Biden sums it up well. I want to pay particular attention to the last line:
“And it matters to America’s future security.“
In my tongue in cheek post below about shrimp, I uncovered some facts I was unaware of. Particularly impressed was I on China’s buildup.
Knowing that it was the economic might of the North, that really outspent the South in the American Civil War, and knowing it was the economic might of the US during WWII, with the ability to build a liberty ship in sixteen days, that kept up with a two wars going on in two theaters, China’s relative economic strength versus our weakness, gives me some concern.
Speaking particularly of submarines, the Heritage Foundation has this to say:
Sea-power trends in the Pacific Ocean are ominous. By 2025, China’s navy could rule the waves of the Pacific. By some estimates, Chinese attack submarines will outnumber U.S. submarines in the Pacific by five to one and Chinese nuclear ballistic missile submarines will prowl America’s Western littoral, each closely tailed by two U.S. attack submarines that have better things to do. The United States, meanwhile, will likely struggle to build enough submarines to meet this challenge.
Right now, China wants to be at 85 submarines by 2010. The September 2004 promotion of Admiral Zhang Dingfa, a career submariner, to Chief of Staff of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and a full seat on the Central Military Commission was a clear signal of the primacy of submarine warfare.
Comparatively, in the US, Electric Boat (EB), the nation’s preeminent submarine contractor, has announced plans to lay off 900 of its 1,700 designers and marine draftsmen engineers over the next three years. It will mark the first time in 50 years that the U.S. has not had a new submarine design on the drawing board. EB laid off nearly 200 submarine engineers and machinists in early February—and EB is the only shipbuilder in the nation that maintains submarine designers. The U.S. has three submarines under construction today.
Whereas China has 25 new boats under contract now; 16 are under construction today, including a new class of nuclear attack submarine designated the Type-093 and a new nuclear ballistic missile sub, the Type-094.
Our Navy’s new 30-year shipbuilding plan calls for 48 nuclear attack submarines in the fleet by 2035. If the Navy does not start launching new subs at the rate of two per year until several years after 2012, the force would dip to a low of 40 in 2028, or 17 percent below the Navy’s stated needs.
The reason for the cutback on what may be the most instrumental weaponry needed by mid century, is because of Iraq.
We simply do not have the resources to build submarines fast enough. Our money is being used elsewhere.
One needs to ask who will be the greater enemy of our future. The impoverished insurgents jumping through rings of fire in their video clips, or…..the worlds largest economic power when it finally decides to shift some of its resources away from butter, and turn them into guns……
This war in Iraq is a threat to America’s future security. We are squandering valuable resources needed elsewhere.
We need to end this war now, and start building to keep ahead of our real enemies. Otherwise, we will find ourselves soon to be out-Reagan’d by our newly capitalist friends in China………
While our focus has been on impeachment, the US is gearing up for what may be the beginning of the final war of Armageddon. Despite sounding like a generous dish of hyperbole, there are some reported points of view that this administration is hell bent on maintaining control over its Evangelical base by orchestrating a WWIII that originates in the Middle East. Not only will it originate in the Middle East, mind you, but in the very location of the Garden of Eden itself. That should provide a convenient full circle…………
We should be concerned because no one talks about it, for just in its concept, it is way too bizarre of a belief to be taken seriously. Historically it can be compared to the outlandish inner sanctum whispers in and around the Third Reich during the late 30’s, “psst…..there are rumors that he plans to exterminate every one of them that is alive today in Europe.”
For if the above ridiculous assertion were to be proven true, then perhaps we could then have at least some motive as to why the middle administration officials are stymied and blocked from making real progress, while the captains of the Titanic, retire to their quarters after ordering a “full steam ahead.”
The Titanic actually provides a very good metaphor for this administration. Everyone on deck can see a collision is eminent. Meanwhile those unconcerned drink and dance in the staterooms below. Those in charge, the senior officials under the sway of the republican mantra, prance around completely unworried about real events even as their administration unravels around them?
So how does the end of the world pan out? It starts with our support for Turkey’s elimination of the PKK, the Kurdish terrorist organization that has been responsible for 35,000 Turkish deaths since its beginning in 1984.
Common knowledge says that Green Berets, CIA, or both have already been inserted into the Kurdistan region and are now actively pursuing “intel” on the 3500 of the estimated PKK guerrillas living near the Turkish-Iranian border region.
The first question to pop up is this: why would we invest more time and money to suppress the Kurds who were the most supportive of our Iraqi adventure, and who controlled the most stable of those three regions of Iraq? Why?
First, for the Cheney opponents, the regional Kurdish government has NOT been supportive of the Bush/Cheney Oil grab. They have independently made two oil deals themselves(with Norway and Turkey even) that have NOT been sanctioned by the US provisional government’s Iraqi parliament. Kurdistan will stand to make a much larger percentage off of the profits from each well, then would any of other provinces if the Iraqi HydroCarbons Act, the Oil bill, ever gets passed.
By bringing hostilities into an area previously tame by comparison to say, the Sunni province, we are effectively using the military to put a hold on any oil deal previously made, even if we were ineffective in stopping it politically. As long as there are hostilities occurring in that region, no oil company can capitalize on its contract,and rush in and invest, no matter how lucrative the oil revenues might be………
Another difficulty for the US position, is that the Kurds tend to provide the most reliable units in the reformed Iraqi national army. The Kurdish section of the local police bureau has taken part in recent counter-terrorism operations in Baghdad and other parts of the country that are dominated by Sunni or Shiite political factions. To have the US either sponsor or carry out attacks on Kurds within the Kurd’s homeland, could alienate our staunchest domestic ally, right there in Iraq.
Another interesting development is the new alignment occurring as we speak within the Middle East that is occurring as a direct result of US military involvement in Iraq. Turkey as alway been considered as one of our staunchest allies ever since the advent of the cold war……Iran has been considered one of our most vilified enemies ever since the fall of the Shah. But currently Turkey and Iran are working together to eliminate the PKK in the US controlled northern Iraq.
What? Screech. Halt. Bang. Crash………
Turkey and Iran have quietly worked out a reciprocal security arrangement, whereby Iran’s military will engage Kurdish separatists whenever encountered, in exchange for Turkey’s cooperation against the Iranian Mujahideen-e-Khalq movement (MEK), a well-armed and cult-like opposition group that previously found refuge in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.
Both Iranian officials and Turkey’s prime minister have alluded to “mechanisms” (likely to involve intelligence-sharing) already in place to deal with security issues of mutual interest. Neither Turkey nor Iran has any desire to see an independent Kurdish state established in northern Iraq. For the moment, Turkey’s cooperation with Iran is achieving better results than its frustrating inability to persuade the United States to help eliminate a designated terrorist group in northern Iraq.
In a recent interview, Erdogan vowed that Turkey would not allow attacks on its neighbors from its territory, adding, in an obvious allusion to Iran, that all countries had a right to pursue the development of a peaceful nuclear energy program (Milliyet, March 12).
One can remember the reports that Israel and the U.S. Department of Defense were providing clandestine support to Kurdish PJAK “terrorists,” operating in the northwestern Iranian border region, questioning the usefulness of such a policy in countering Iran’s nuclear ambitions or destabilizing the country in advance of a military strike. Since then, there have been further allegations that the CIA is using its classified budget to support terrorist operations by disaffected members of Iran’s ethnic minorities, including Azeris, Baloch, Kurds and Arabs (Sunday Telegraph, February 25).
Iran may be expected to continue aggressive military operations against Kurdish militants to keep its border region secure in a politically volatile period, while continuing to demonstrate to Turkey its usefulness as a security partner in contrast to U.S. reluctance to undertake anti-Kurdish military activities. U.S. intervention in northern Iraq’s Kurdistan region could create a new wave of destabilization in Iraq, as well as diverting U.S. resources from a confrontation with Iran (a result no doubt desired by Tehran).
A Turkish incursion will likely have limited scope and objectives, although it will likely include at least two divisions (20,000 men each) with support units. The last major cross-border operation 10 years ago involved 40,000 Turkish troops. With the greater distance to PKK bases at Mount Qandil from the Turkish border, a first wave of helicopter-borne assault troops might follow strikes by the Turkish Air Force. An assault on Mount Qandil will prove difficult even without opposition from Iraqi Kurdish forces. More ambitious plans are likely to have been drawn up by Turkish staff planners for a major multi-division offensive as far south as Kirkuk if such an operation is deemed necessary.
A Turkish newspaper has reported that General Ralston has already negotiated a deal with the KRG to permit a Turkish attack on Mount Qandil in April (Zaman, March 25).
Conclusion
While tensions peak on the border, the time has in many ways never been better for a resolution to the Turkish-Kurdish conflict. From captivity, Abdullah Ocalan appears ready to concede Turkey’s territorial unity in exchange for stronger local governments. He recently stated, “The problems of Turkey’s Kurds can only be solved under a unitary structure. This is why Turkey’s Kurds should look to Ankara and nowhere else for a solution” (Zaman, March 26). Turkish investment in northern Iraq is far preferable to having Turkish tanks and artillery massed menacingly along the border. If the KRG was intending to keep the PKK as a card to use in coercing Turkish support for Kurdish autonomy, it may be time to play it. PKK morale is low and prolonged inactivity under the aging leadership will ultimately send many fighters back to their villages. The movement is hardly in a position to mount an effective offensive. Without state sponsorship, the PKK is poorly armed and supplied. The KRG’s limited hospitality is hardly a replacement for Syrian patronage. Massoud Barzani has urged face-to-face talks on the PKK problem with Turkish leaders, who have also recently indicated openness to discussion (NTV, February 26). Turkey’s continuing conflict with the Kurds in turn,jeopardizes its candidacy for European Union membership. With the possibility of full-scale Turkish military operations beginning in northern Iraq in the coming weeks, both U.S. and Turkish strategists must realize that any clash between the Turkish military and U.S.-supported Iraqi Kurds who back their PKK brethren, is a political disaster in waiting.
Whereas common sense says to stand down, and wait for possible provocation, the Cheney arm of the Bush administration has pushed for a full steam ahead affront on the Kurdish guerrillas. The Turkish troops are there, at least in Cheney’s eyes, to intimidate the Kurds to support the Hydrocarbon Oil deal.
“Look you Kurds. If you don’t stand behind my oil bill you won’t have an semiautonomous region to call your home. You will be under Turkish control! Got it?”
Why the flames are being fanned, and why the administration stands by with cans of gasoline, they are not saying. However to most rational people, this oil piece of the puzzle offers some sincere motive behind the otherwise insane mechanizations of this administration.
To others; those whose defections most worry this administration, these actions double as proving that the Armageddon’s scenario is taking shape.
Executive Order No. 14 Regarding Gov. Minner’s “Livable Delaware” Agenda
WHEREAS, Delaware has a well deserved reputation as an ideal place to live, work, raise a family, and enjoy recreational activities;
WHEREAS, our natural resources, sound economy, opportunities for personal and business success, and overall quality of life will add almost 190,000 additional Delawareans by the year 2020, a growth rate faster than any northeastern state;
WHEREAS, Delawareans are concerned that the quality of place in our state is threatened by sprawl, traffic congestion, loss of farmland and open space, diminished air and water quality, and a shortage of affordable housing;
WHEREAS, residential, transportation and employment patterns can have direct impacts on the means by which we move about the State and attainment of Delaware’s air quality goals and the protection of public health;
WHEREAS, haphazard sprawl and unplanned growth create an inefficient demand for public infrastructure, services and facilities that all Delaware taxpayers must finance, no matter where they live;
WHEREAS, the Cabinet Committee on State Planning Issues has undertaken an extensive process of analyzing long term growth trends, soliciting public opinion, and considering the implications of expected growth throughout the State over the next 25 years, and has approved a comprehensive set of goals and strategies set forth in “Shaping Delaware’s Future: Managing Growth in 21st Century Delaware, Strategies for State Policies and Spending” to guide Delaware’s overall development and to ensure efficient, rational and cost-effective investments in necessary infrastructure;
WHEREAS, those development goals are restated herein:
Direct investment and future development to existing communities, urban concentrations, and growth areas. Protect important farmlands and critical natural resource areas. Improve housing quality, variety and affordability for all income groups. Ensure objective measurement of long-term community effects of land use policies and infrastructure investments. Streamline regulatory processes and provide flexible incentives and disincentives to encourage development in desired areas. Encourage redevelopment and improve the livability of existing communities and urban areas, and guide new employment into underutilized commercial and industrial sites. Provide high quality employment opportunities for citizens with various skill levels to retain and attract a diverse economic base. Protect the state’s water supplies, open spaces, farmlands and communities by encouraging revitalization of existing water and wastewater systems and the construction of new systems. Promote mobility for people and goods through a balanced system of transportation options. Improve access to educational opportunities, health care and human services for all Delawareans Coordinate public policy planning and decisions among state, counties and municipalities. WHEREAS, these planning goals provide an opportunity to promote sustainability of our economic and ecological growth and will maintain and enhance the qualities that make Delaware a unique place to live;
WHEREAS, the State must provide leadership and set an example by bringing its policies, programs, regulations and expenditures in line with the approved goals and strategies, and must play a major role in encouraging growth in areas that we’ve agreed are appropriate to accept it;
WHEREAS, my State of the State Address of January 25, 2001, calls for the development of “Livable Delaware” principles to keep sprawl in check, reduce traffic congestion, strengthen our towns and cities, improve our environment and protect our significant investment in roads, schools and other infrastructure;
NOW, THEREFORE I, RUTH ANN MINNER, by the authority vested in me as Governor of the State of Delaware, hereby declare and order on this 22nd day of March, 2001:
1. As part of Livable Delaware, the Office of State Planning Coordination shall immediately make available to all State departments and agencies a copy of the “Shaping Delaware’s Future” report and the adopted state development goals, along with instructions for preparing the implementation response called for herein;
2. All State departments and agencies shall, no later than August 31, 2001, complete and submit an implementation plan for these development goals and strategies which:
(a) Identifies all Department programs, policies and actions which are impacted by or can be used to support the state development goals and strategies; (b) Identifies administrative, organizational, regulatory, or statutory actions to be taken, including those already taken or underway, to ensure compliance and consistency with the state development goals and strategies;
(c) Identifies existing laws, programs, policies and actions that impede implementation of the development goals and strategies;
(d) Identifies how capital and budget planning will be used to implement the State investment strategies;
(e) Identifies essential legislative actions needed to ensure that state agency authorities and programs are consistent with and support the development goals and strategies;
(f) Sets forth an action plan, schedule for undertaking such actions, and proposes measures to gauge progress toward achieving the State development goals and investment strategies.
3. No later than October 31, 2001, the Cabinet Committee on State Planning Issues shall review and provide comments to the agencies and Office of State Planning Coordination on the implementation responses required in this Executive Order.
State Democrats are behind the push for NRG’s clean coal gasification plant currently under review by the PSC. Their backbone, the deep pockets of labor organizations, is firmly behind the NRG proposal. Currently the Delaware Democratic party is the party of dominance of the moment, having most of the statewide offices firmly in their grasp, and possessing a majority of the state senate as well.
That may change if the NRG proposal goes through. Republicans, quiet now, are salivating over the real possibility they have of seizing the high ground on a issue supported by over 90% of Delaware voters. Their hope is that Democrats will remain too myopic to sense the greater picture, and in attempting to pay back Labor, their long time supporters, they will antagonize an electorate electrified by the idea of going green.
Those of you who think this cannot happen, do not understand Delaware nor its politics.
If one could imagine a dear friend or next door neighbor, always supporting you in times of need, bringing food while you were too depressed to cook, offering to watch your children so you could sneak a few hours rest, or shoveling your snow and then refusing payment, actually coming to you and asking for a favor,…….. you begin to understand Delaware politics. The favor is not a big one, really, it is just a small favor. At least it was a small favor when they initially asked it……..
This scenario describes the emotional bond between organized labor and Delawarean Democrats. These are the folks who carried Biden over Boggs……These are also those guys who drove those pickups plaquered with bumper stickers calling for the “Impeachment of Carper.” (yeah, it was sort of a joke, but it sent the message: don’t mess with labor.) These are the reasons Castle continues his sole Republican reign as the single Congressman of this great state. ( See it does cross both ways.) They are responsible for Coons, and most of New Castle County Council. Those males handing out campaign literature at the polls every election, are often piped in from Jersey and Pennsylvania, and if you ask them about their candidate, they’ll tell you, they don’t know……….Yes, the Dem’s definitely owe Labor…..
Labor sees the coal plant as the means to employ many in the building trades who are slowly being laid off as the housing building boom wanes. They have a valid point. People need jobs.
But a more important issue to those of us still working is our family’s future health. As energy requirements take larger and larger bites out of business’ and family’s incomes, one of the areas from which these dollar amounts can be recouped, is medical expenses. But Delaware leads the nation in cancer. Breathing NRG power plant fumes certainly does not increase our healthiness.
This is the dilemma facing long term Democrats. Which is the stronger force: the economic well being of their strongest supporters within the building trades, or the health and well being of every voter in the state…………………………………….?
Bluewater Wind which has support from ninety percent of the electorate, still faces strong internal political opposition to their wind proposal.
Katherine Ellison in a piece titled Gone with the Wind, writes:
Last June, six months before power-plant bids were officially due, Gov. Ruth Ann Minner and NRG Energy, based in New Jersey, released a joint statement announcing NRG would “move forward” with a “state of the art” 630-megawatt coal plant for approximately $1.5 billion. The plant would use “clean coal” technology, also known as IGCC, or integrated gasification combined cycle, which converts coal to gas before burning it. ”
In fairness, wind generation was not an available option to be considered at that time. Clean coal still had favorable buzz at the time.
Minner, a Democrat, is on record as being convinced that human-caused carbon emissions are contributing to climate change. Under her leadership, Delaware in 2005 joined a multistate effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. What makes her embrace of “clean coal” rather odd is that her own administration calculates that the IGCC plant would emit 475 tons an hour of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas.
Two other factors make it less odd. First, NRG already owns a coal plant on southern Delaware’s Indian River — a facility, dating back to the 1950s, that is one of the state’s leading sources of pollution, belching acid-rain-causing sulfur dioxide and mercury emissions. NRG has been fighting state regulators’ recent orders to clean it up, but as part of the deal with Minner, it has promised to patch things up and close the oldest part of the plant. Nor, most likely, did it hurt that NRG’s lobbyist, Mike Houghton, has been a major fundraiser for Minner and other state Democrats — so major that he was given a special award at the party’s annual dinner last year.
Perhaps you are more politically savvy than moi but I have no idea where Mike Houghton could have possibly found that money. But the bottom line is this: the more one learns of local politics, the worse it looks for wind.
For not only does NRG seem to have an inside track with the Governor of the second smallest state, but of the four commissions that will be making the energy decision, three of the four heads are appointed by Minner.
Again according to Katherine Ellison, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author:
Her press department and chief of staff declined or ignored repeated requests for an interview. Houghton also declined comment, other than to say he saw no conflict in his dual role.
Minner isn’t alone in paving the way for coal. Also in June, Delaware’s two U.S. Senators Joe Biden and Tom Carper — both Democrats, and Rep. Mike Castle, a Republican, wrote to the U.S. Department of Energy to support federal tax breaks for the proposed new coal plant.
Is Delaware getting sold out from underneath 90% of its citizens. Republicans certainly hope so………….
But again in fairness one needs to respect the time line. Notice all the events happened in June of last year.
Things changed.
Like Minner, all three pols are on record as concerned about climate change. But it took Willett Kempton, (an associate professor of marine policy at the University of Delaware) — who bristles with impatience over what he calls “a lack of policy response wildly out of sync with what scientists are saying” — to do something to make climate change an issue in the state’s choice of power. Last summer, he and his university colleague, Jeremy Firestone, took the unusual step of personally calling offshore wind developers to invite them to compete.
Among a half dozen entrepreneurs they called, Mandelstam of BlueWater Wind took up the challenge, rushing to prepare his bid in time for the December deadline. He’s been “educating” ever since.
Due to the excitement surrounding the proposed wind farm. the electorate has become “pro Wind”. This caught incumbent Democrats by surprise. Only one, the far sighted Jack Markell, has jumped on the bandwagon for clean energy. This has put him, at least among Progressives, far ahead in the polls over Carney for the next potential governor.
It is interesting that bloggers and forums have contributed much of the research that now supports both the economical and environmental benefits of BlueWater Wind’s turbines. This has caused serious concern within the backwaters of Legislative Hall and the Governors office, and although not one of the staffers has yet opposed their boss by recommending the obvious, that the NRG proposal is dead in the water, they are all thinking it.
There are few issues that “electrify an electorate.” like energy. Perhaps we are all jumpy because of the recent political energy decision that cost us dearly last May. But ANYONE, who continues to support a policy that is 1) dangerously more expensive to its citizens, and 2) extremely damaging to the environment, will be wearing the political equivalent of a cross hairs on their chest, with ninety percent of the electorate’s fingers slowly squeezing upon the trigger……………………….
kavips 
