Dialogue Delaware

Could be a new reality hit: Train Pals

2009-10-20T21:30:00.007-04:00

Just before the Allegheny County Democratic Party dinner Monday night, Vice President Joe Biden joined Sen. Arlen Specter and Gov. Ed Rendell and about 175 people in the East Lounge of Heinz Field for a private fund-raising reception for the embattled Democratic incumbent.
It ended up pretty much a love-fest for the newly minted Democrat.
"It's a rugged campaign," said Specter, who switched to the Democratic side of the Senate last year. "Changing parties is something that came from my deep concern about what was going to happen to this country if there was stonewalling on the stimulus package."
He referred to Biden as "My Amtrak pal, Joe Biden ... That's about the highest appellation I can give someone."
Biden spoke for just over 15 minutes, praising Specter and offering a general defense of the Obama administration agenda.
"Arlen Specter has been my friend for well over 30 years," Biden said. "The truth is Arlen's been a moderate Democrat his whole career, even when he was a Republican."
Standing under a banner celebrating the Steelers' 2009 NFL championship, Biden professed his love for the Rooney family and alluded to the story of how Rocky Bleier visited Biden's injured sons after an auto wreck that killed his first wife shortly after his election to the Senate at 29.
Then, continuing the football allusions, he asked the crowd rhetorically who they would draft "for grit and gumption."
"Who would you pick, even if you don't like the S.O.B ... who would you pick," Biden asked. "Arlen Specter."
Tickets to the event were $500 and a smaller group of donors who committed to raising $10,000 were designated official sponsors. The Specter campaign expected to raise roughly $250,000.

Castle vidoe still getting traction

2009-08-05T11:26:00.003-04:00

The Democratic National Committee has launched a new video campaign describing Republican opposition as being coordinated to act like a mob. And the women who accused Delaware Rep. Mike Castle of denying President Obama's birth records gets a prominent feature.

Refresh button leaves election observers feeling out of the loop

2009-08-04T15:56:00.006-04:00

"# of times I have refreshed the Dept of Elections results page: 21" read the Twitter message from Sussex Libertarian Party Chairman Brian Shields on Monday night.

"Refreshrefreshrefreshrefreshrefreshrefreshrefreshrefreshrefreshrefreshrefresh," he wrote an hour later.

But no matter how many times Shields or anyone else hit the refresh button, the results weren't coming.
The Department of Elections suffered a major computer problem on the night of the special election for the 19th Senatorial District, state Commissioner of Elections Elaine Manlove said. "We could read the cartridges perfectly," she said. "We could not transmit them perfectly."

The problem arose in Dover in trying to upload the results onto the state's computer mainframe, from which they would be posted to the Internet, Manlove said. "We kept going back to square one, going step by step, trying to figure out what went wrong," she said.

Eventually, officials gave up, instead putting the results online in a PDF document just before midnight. The computer vendor was consulted today and figured out a solution, she said.

Manlove acknowledged observers' complaints about the speed, or lack thereof, in posting results. Some irate bloggers even called for heads to roll.

"We probably should have done the PDF sooner," Manlove said. "We were trying to stick to the normal process ... It's never not worked."

Tensions high in race to replace Adams

2009-07-08T23:01:00.002-04:00

To say that Sussex County Democrats' meeting this week to select a replacement state Senate candidate was fractious might be charitable.
"I left my gun at home," quipped county parliamentarian Mitch Crane, arriving late to Wednesday's meeting in Greenwood, as he opened the doors to enter the caucus room.
After nominee Eddy Parker withdrew suddenly, the nod went to Polly Adams Mervine, the late senator's daughter.
But both votes were narrow – Mervine beat Lynn Rogers 15-13, and Parker had defeated Mervine 14-13 – meaning that bringing the divided party together will be Mervine’s chief goal.
Further complicating the political task ahead is the fact that the campaign is now a four-way race to the finish on Aug. 3.
The ballot will include Mervine; Republican state Rep. Joe Booth of Georgetown; Libertarian Wendy Jones of Milton; and Independent Party of Delaware candidate Matt Opaliski.
It's just over three weeks to go now, including one long stretch where the Delaware State Fair will be competing for attention in the mostly rural district.
Candidates, start your John Deere engines…

MJ's on loan

2009-06-26T19:52:00.002-04:00

When it comes to the mind-numbing details of the budgetary process, Michael Jackson -- no, not that Michael Jackson -- is a master of minutiae for the Office of Management and Budget who helps explain the fine print during JFC sessions.
Jackson is leaving his post to take a job within the Department of Education, where the hours are a lot more predictable than the JFC’s schedule can be.
But before the JFC closed out the budget Friday, it passed a tongue-in-cheek memorial resolution decreeing that Jackson "is on loan and can be recalled by the General Assembly at any time."

Be careful what you wish for

2009-06-26T19:48:00.000-04:00

The landmark change in the Freedom of Information Act that finally subjects the General Assembly to the state's open-meetings law has had an impact in the formerly closed Joint Finance Committee: The presence of the press actually has made things work more smoothly.
At least, that's the contention of Georgetown Republican Rep. Joe Booth, a JFC member.
For years, legislators have argued that closed-door budget-drafting discussions were needed in order to keep legislators from grandstanding for the media -- or to keep frank and sometimes heated debate out of public view.
But since June 12, when FOIA opened the JFC's doors, legislators have been on their best behavior. Not only that, but according to Booth, having the public in the room has helped move the process along. A lot of time was wasted in the closed-door days, Booth said, but panel members have been disinclined to do that in public.
"I wish they'd done this years ago," Booth said.
Meanwhile, the change has been something of a mixed blessing for reporters. Sure, they now can watch the budget being written -- and it's a tedious, line-by-line process loaded with mind-numbing detail.
Beechers Lot Republican Rep. Bill Oberle, who has done his time on JFC, said it's an experience he'd rather not repeat.
Or, as he told a reporter soon after FOIA pried open the JFC's doors: "Be careful what you wish for."

Settle down, boys

2009-06-19T18:56:00.001-04:00

During Thursday night's tense vote on the proposed alcohol and tobacco taxes, Rep. Debbie Hudson, R-Fairthorne, offered an amendment to two of the bills that would add a sunset or expiration date to the bills. Without support from the bill's sponsor, it was apparent from the start they would be defeated, so Hudson asked for a voice vote.
Sometimes the state House will take a voice vote on an amendment or resolution to speed up the process when the measure is non-continuous or something that clearly splits between the two parities.
But before the first vote was taken, House Minority Leader Dick Cathcart turned around to wave his hands and try to rally support from his caucus with a boisterous "yes."
To respond to the volume from the Republicans, Majority Leader Pete Schwartzkopf not only tried to rally his side, but made sure to say "no" - loudly - into his microphone.
On the vote on the second amendment from Hudson, Cathcart not only tried to rally the troops, but also opted to yell into his microphone.
Not to be outdone, Schwartzkopf shouted even louder into his mic -- except when he did so it apparently blew out the system, leaving the House with no working microphones.
After the problem was fixed and the House returned to business, Speaker Bob Gilligan chastised Cathcart and Schwartzkopf for yelling into the microphones, to which the two men responded to by pointing at each other across the aisle.
Read more of the blow-by-blow at our depolitics Twitter feed, where it was recorded live.

Charlie takes his shot

2009-06-18T21:00:00.002-04:00

While Gov. Jack Markell and House Minority Leader Richard Cathcart feuded in the press this week about which - the governor or the House Republicans - was stonewalling the budget process, former Senate Minority Leader and erstwhile Republican lieutenant governor candidate Charlie Copeland took a different, but equally critical, take on his Resolute Determination blog:
"The General Assembly has taken over full control of the budget process. Or should I say that the Democrats, who control both chambers of the General Assembly, have taken over the budget process," he wrote. "The Governor is pretty much out-of-the-loop at this point. So now we have dueling Majority Leaders – Sen. DeLuca and Rep. Schwarzkopf. Each one is trying to show how strong he is and so both chambers have come to a complete standstill – generally refusing to run each other's bills."
For more of Copeland's take on the situation and its repercussions, click here.

Sen. Bonini's bad habit?

2009-04-23T13:56:00.003-04:00

State Sen. Colin Bonini has a bad habit: He goes on a diet and loses weight, only to gain it back again.

But Delaware's government, Bonini says, has a worse habit. It keeps getting fatter and won't go on a diet.

Bonini, a Dover South Republican who is likely the most hawkish of any spending hawk in the General Assembly, has set up a Web site to expose state government's bad habit: www.delawaresbadhabit.com.

Bonini, who presciently predicted back in 2000 that "Delaware's spending habits are a train wreck waiting to happen," reminds visitors to his site just how prescient he was. The opening page of his 31-page presentation is a 1917 photograph of two steam engines about to collide head-on, and the second page prominently displays his prescient quote.

That aside, Bonini drives home the point that Delaware spends more than $8 billion per year, or $31,500 per taxpaying household. And that, he points out with a bit of relish, is enough to buy every taxpaying household 9,574 Big Macs.

Bonini proposes a state hiring freeze with an incentive for workers to take early retirement; suspending the prevailing-wage law to bring down the cost of public construction projects; consolidating the state's school districts into three county districts, a Wilmington district and the vo-tech district; bringing more transparency to state spending; and passing a constitutional amendment to limit increases in state spending to inflation plus population growth.

The senator's Web site has a petition for readers to fill out, and he's even willing to take his show on the road -- at no cost to the state, of course.

Talking heads

2009-04-23T10:37:00.006-04:00

It hasn't taken long for conservative bloggers at former state Sen. Charlie Copeland's blog to start poking fun at Republican turned Democrat lawmaker Rep. John Atkins.

Earlier this week Copeland posted an entry ridiculing Atkins for taking the week before the General Assembly broke for Easter off to attend a family vacation.

Copeland writes:

State Representative John "Scandals" Atkins finds it hard to stay in the Legislature. First, in 2006 then-Republican Representative Atkins allegedly had an altercation with Maryland Police. This altercation was followed later in the evening with an alleged domestic complaint dispute....

"Scandals" switched his Party designation to Democrat, ran for election in 2008, and with a lot of help from Democrat Majority Leader Schwarzkopf, "Scandals" won his old seat and now proudly serves as a new Democrat. Ironically, Majority Leader Schwarzkopf placed "Scandals" on the Public Safety and Corrections Committees.

Working that hard to get back into the Legislature, you'd think that "Scandals" would be singularly focused on fixing the State's historic problems. However, it is rumored that he just took an extra week off while the legislature was in session to go to a beach resort.

It didn't take another blogger on the site long to up the ante and post a video that uses an image of Atkins set against a fake beach scene. The video uses spliced together segments of Atkins talking during the campaign.

Watch the video from the Resolute Determination blog:

Unhappy about Markell's budget proposal?

2009-03-30T16:27:00.004-04:00

If you're not agreeing with the proposal by Gov. Jack Markell to close the $751 million budget gap using tax increases, spending cuts and a reduction in state worker pay, you're not the only one.

A Facebook.com group has been created where opponents can come together to voice their anger.

The group, called The Anti-Jack Markell Budget Group, boasts 911 members as of 4:30 on Monday.

The talking points in the group's information come straight from DSEA, the teacher union, talking points.

Danny Rufo, a social studies teacher at Delcastle Technical High School, created the group.

Whistle stop tours are all the rage

2009-03-30T14:51:00.003-04:00

It seems hopping on a train and touring the state has become quite fashionable for Delaware politicians, and hopefuls.

Scott Spencer, a Wilmington Democrat, announced today that he will host a "whistle stop tour" in May to announce his bid for U.S. Congress.

The fundraising tour, which includes an all you can eat spaghetti dinner aboard the train, will travel from the Greenbank station to Hockessin and then back to where it began.

For more information visit: www.spencerforthepeople.com

NCCo councilman questions attempt to do the right thing

2009-03-30T14:49:00.001-04:00

They say no good deed goes unpunished. That held true last week for New Castle County Auditor Robert Wasserbach, who was criticized publicly by a council member after he volunteered to give back 7 percent of his salary to help the county deal with its deficit.

Wasserbach made the decision in December after County Executive Chris Coons imposed the same cut -- which amounts to 18 days of unpaid leave -- on his top executive staff. Wasserbach wasn't included in that group but volunteered to take the reduction because he said it was a good example to follow.

Several weeks ago, council eliminated $33,000 set aside to hire a part-time auditor to assist Wasserbach. But council members Penrose Hollins, John Cartier, Robert Weiner, David Tackett and Timothy Sheldon said Tuesday they want to revisit the decision after learning that comparably sized governments have auditing departments of at least three people.

Wasserbach has no staff and said his timetable for completing audits will be delayed without part-time help.

Councilman George Smiley questioned why Wasserbach would take a furlough if he needs assistance.

"If people are having such a hard time getting their work done, why are they volunteering for furloughs," he said during a committee meeting.

Asked later about the remark, Smiley said: "There's no animosity. I'm a little bit concerned that our auditor sat at the end of the table and praised council on our cutbacks and said he wasn't there to ask for the money back."

Wasserbach said he was "shocked" at Smiley's criticism.

"I'm trying to do my part in these difficult financial times the county is facing," he said.

Denn determined to keep some doors open in Leg Hall

2009-03-27T11:51:00.002-04:00

Lt. Gov. Matt Denn wants to be sure he's not violating the state's constitution.

Part of his duties is to preside over the state Senate, and when he took over the gavel he was given a script to follow for running the session.

Former Lt. Gov. John Carney had gain a somewhat low-key reputation when in office. For eight years, every time he went through the process of starting a daily session he instructed the "sergeant of arms" instead of the correct "sergeant at arms" to close the doors.

But Denn said there will be no misstatements on his part because he's decided to omit that from the daily procedures.

Denn thinks telling someone to close the doors, no slight at Carney, might violate the state's constitution.

And he pointed to Article II Section 11 as proof: "The doors of each House, and of Committees of the Whole, shall be open unless when the business is such as ought to be kept secret."

But Denn said it probably doesn't matter, the staff close the doors at of habit regardless of his instruction.

Another capitol reporter jumps

2009-03-22T14:22:00.000-04:00

Working in the press room in Legislative Hall is turning out to be a dangerous gig. Aside from the sweltering temperatures, the working press keeps getting picked off.

It's not unknown for members of the working media to jump ship and start working for the people they cover. But in roughly a year, more than half the reporters assigned to cover the capital have switched sides.

The most recent casualty was former WDEL radio reporter Carl Kanefsky. As of Monday, Kanefsky is the press secretary for Department of Health and Social Services Secretary Rita Landgraf. Kanefsky joins the press secretary ranks of former State News reporter Drew Volturo, who left to work for the House Democrats, and former News Journal reporter Patrick Jackson, who works for the Senate Democrats.

State workers making their thougts known

2009-03-22T14:18:00.001-04:00

While Legislative Hall is full of politicos and lawmakers who never fear making their stand on issues clear, the staff that works for both parties of the General Assembly rarely make their feelings heard.

Bipartisan staffers generally remain through the changing of the guard, often seeing the political affiliation of their bosses change over the years, which makes most shy to chime in with their own thoughts.

But when Gov. Jack Markell announced Thursday he intends to cut pay by 8 percent for all of the state's workers, the outrage was felt quickly.

Legislative librarian Ruth Ann Melson hung a sign in her office window Thursday evening, making her thoughts clear.

"The Delaware Legislative Librarian will be looking for part-time employment per Gov. Markell," the sign read. "Inquire within."

Biden lets the F-bomb slip

2009-03-16T10:50:00.004-04:00

At a press conference last week announcing federal funds Amtrak, VP Biden didn't realize he was standing next to an open microphone.

A friend referred to him as "Vice President Biden" and the Veep responded with "gimme a f&*$ing break."

The exchange was recorded for all to hear, but you might need to turn up the volume to hear clearly.

The clip is unedited:

An unusual crowd at DEFAC or excuse for a bigger room

2009-03-13T17:04:00.004-04:00

The Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Council is generally about as exciting as its name is long.

The meeting of economists, politicos and number crunchers feature hours of discussions about the expected revenues for the next three years.

For added fun, the committee divides the process into two days -- two Friday subcommittee meetings to get into the nitty-gritty of the numbers and a Monday full-committee meeting to rediscuss and approve the figures.

Today, the subcommittees opted meet in a larger conference room on the third floor of the Carvel Building, departing from their usual small room on the 8th floor. They were expecting a larger-than-usual crowd.

The reason for the excitement about three hours of statistical debate were unclear -- the declining economy, some members of the larger committee trying to find out the numbers before they appeared in the newspaper or just a sheer love of finance.

After a meeting last year, some members expressed concern that accounts of the open meeting had appeared in the newspaper between the public subcommittee meeting and full committee meeting three days later.

Discussions were eventually dismissed to close the subcommittee meetings to the public so members not in attendance on Fridays wouldn't be surprised by Saturday's newspaper.

But members disputed the possibility that the larger room size was an effort to keep reporters farther away from the action than was possible in the smaller, cramped conference room.

Delaware makes national pro sport news

2009-03-13T16:54:00.004-04:00

Despite having no professional sports teams, Delaware has been making national sports headlines lately. As rumors grow that Gov. Jack Markell is going to sign off on a sports betting proposal, betters and players across the nation are taking notice.

The governor's office won't confirm rumors that a plan to institute sports betting in Delaware has been finalized. And a spokesman for the governor maintains that a decision will be forth coming -- and that they didn't leak anything to national outlets.

ESPN reported this week that the chances for sports betting were getting better.

With slipping state revenues and a budget deficit near $606 million next year, sports betting could provide some relief, although estimates vary greatly about the possible tax income.

The issue has come up before, but last year when legislation hit Leg Hall to legalize the betting, former Gov. Ruth Ann Minner declared she would veto any attempts.

Biden's "evil twin" Joey Biden

2009-03-13T16:05:00.003-04:00

Sitting vice presidents are ripe targets for satire. And VP Biden is no exception.

And the new "Joey Biden" Twitter account is no exception.

With less than 800 followers, the fake Twitter account provides humorous and sometimes expletive or politically incorrect accounts "Biden's" day-to-day activities. Twitter, a social networking site, lets users post 140-character updates and interact with other users in short messages.

The accounts biography reads: "Bringing transparency to twitter one tweet at a time. Nobody messes with Joey!" And the location is "DC via Amtrack" -- misspelling and all.

Recent posts from the Biden account include:

Heading to the Smithsonian. Does anybody have any Mighty putty, Just in case. My last time in there was a disaster.
Just got done watching Hope Floats with Michelles mom
Heads up gang. ate a peanut butter sandwich because Jill forgot to buy jelly.Took out my frustration on Kim Jong IL.May have started a war

Fake celebrity Twitter accounts are common on Twitter, including Tina Fey, George W. Bush and Michael Bay.

If you're a Twitter users, you can follow Dialouge Delaware, which is not a fake account.

Revenue estimates keep falling

2009-03-13T11:04:00.002-04:00

State revenue estimates could fall another $67.8 million this year and $148.2 million next year, according to preliminary estimates presented to the DEFAC revenue subcommittee this morning.

These estimates could change as the subcommittee and full DEFAC committee review the estimates today and Monday.

The new estimates would return the state into a current operating budget deficit, after the deficit was temporarily closed with federal stimulus money. The new estimates could also create a larger hurdle for state lawmakers and officials to overcome in drafting next year's budget -- growing the deficit from $431 million to $579.2 million.

The biggest drop in estimates for this year were in expected personal income taxes, bank franchise taxes and insurance taxes. Next year's estimates were also lowered in those areas, plus a dip in corporate income tax and gross receipts.

-- Ginger Gibson

In D.C. fashion, don't forget about Jill Biden

2009-03-12T16:13:00.007-04:00

The Huffington Post pointed out this afternoon they were impressed with Jill Biden's outfit to this weekend's Ted Kennedy birthday celebration.

Their complaint, for all the photos, the major news agencies didn't snap a clear shot of the Second Lady's black dress and big necklace, asking what exactly was she wearing.

"We don't really know, but it is drop-dead gorgeous," Anya Strzemien writes.

They were able to zoom, really zoom, into the corner of one image for a partial view of her outfit.

Castle still polling ahead for House seat

2009-03-12T10:55:00.005-04:00

The final piece of polling numbers released today by Public Policy Polling show that U.S. Rep. Mike Castle holds a lead over two hypothetical Democratic opponents -- former Lt. Gov. John Carney and New Castle County Executive Chris Coons.

Castle led by Carney by a 49-32 margin and Coons by a 56-21 margin.

But the pollsters cautioned the less than majority lead Castle holds over Carney two years before a possible election isn't all good news for the incumbent Congressman and former governor.

"There's not much doubt John Carney would give Mike Castle the most serious challenge he's had in years," Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling said in a news release. "Holding Castle under 50% even when more than a third of voters in the state don't have an opinion about him one way or the other is not a bad place to start against an incumbent as entrenched as Castle."

Coons and Carney both had lower approval ratings, but with large numbers of people who responded they were "not sure" about their preference of the two, signaling large undecided numbers that could change, the pollsters cited.

Carney received a 37 percent favorability score, with 35 percent saying they were unsure. Coons received a 30 percent favorability score, statewide, with 45 percent saying they were unsure.

A political love story

2009-03-11T18:51:00.001-04:00

Delaware voters largely are happy with their elected leaders, according to more poll results released today.

Gov. Jack Markell and President Barack Obama had the strongest approval ratings, polling at 62 percent and 63 percent, respectively, according to a poll of 782 voters conducted this week by North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling.

"There is a lot of enthusiasm in Delaware for the leadership the new President and Governor have shown so far," Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling, said in a statement. "Markell in particular is showing impressive bipartisan support."

Three-quarters of Democrats approved of Markell, along with 52 percent of independents and 42 percent of Republicans. On the flip side, 32 percent of Republicans, 17 percent of Democrats and 15 percent of independents disapproved of the job he has done so far.

Obama's approval ratings more closely followed party lines, with 89 percent of Democrats but only 25 percent of Republicans expressing support for the job he's doing. Independents were evenly divided, with 49 percent approving and 43 disapproving.

Sen. Tom Carper has strong numbers as well, with 57 percent approving and 26 percent disapproving of his job performance.

Voters are still making up their minds about newly appointed Sen. Ted Kaufman, with 41 percent saying they had no opinion, 35 percent approving and 24 percent disapproving of the job he’s done so far.

Today, Public Policy Polling with release results of a poll looking at how Mike Castle would do against a few potential Democratic opponents for his House seat.

The numbers are based on a poll conducted March 5-8 with a margin of error of 3.5 percent.
Details results can be found at www.publicpolicypolling.com.

Castle could trump Biden in a Senate race

2009-03-10T12:11:00.000-04:00

Rep. Mike Castle could receive more support than Attorney General Beau Biden if the two ran against each other for U.S. Senate in 2010, according to a poll released today by Raleigh, N.C.-based Public Policy Polling.

The poll 782 Delawareans found that 44 percent of respondents said they would vote for Castle compared with 36 percent for Biden. In the poll, 20 percent were undecided and there was a 3.5 percent margin of error.

Both officials received high approval ratings in their current jobs – Castle pulling a 54 percent approval score and Biden, who is currently stationed in Iraq with the Delaware National Guard, received a 49 percent approval rating.

The poll acknowledge that the match-up is purely hypothetical, and that neither candidate has indicated he intends to run for Senate.