Health Care Reform--12/29/2009

There is a lot of discussion on liberal blogs on how disappointing it has been to see the crap that has made it into the Senate health care reform (HCR) bill, essentially bribing Senators for their votes. I, too, am sickened by it all.

However, this is the Senate that we are stuck with for now. And we in Delaware have little to complain about--we are responsible for inflicting Tom (I never met a lobbyist I didn't like) Carper upon the Senate.

How bad is the Senate, and how has this led to the current state of HCR legislation? I want to share a good article on what's needed to prevent this crap going forward:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2009/12/24/DI2009122402454.html

The following article suggests one view on how and why President Obama operates the way he does. I think that it is darn likely, and quite insightful: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/26/opinion/26douthat.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

Letter to Editor 12/16/2009

Economists Only Harry Truman Could Love

In their December 16th column, UD economists Stacie Beck and Eleanor Craig demonstrate a trait sought by President Harry Truman, when he said “Give me a one-handed economist! All my economists say, On the one hand on the other.” Of course it is easy for an economist to give a seemingly clear review such as Beck/Craig, when they stick to one-sided ideological views, and refuse to present the larger picture.

The failure of Beck/Craig to present an impartial view begins in their first two paragraphs. They state that the stimulus package has been a failure. Sure, that is a common Republican talking-point, but where is the support? They point out that the unemployment rate has risen this year to 10 percent, but they fail to note that weekly claims for the newly unemployed have fallen 44%, from 956,791 in early January to 531,743 last month. You don’t start bailing out your boat until you fix the leak. The leak has been fixed by the stimulus packages (promoted by both Bush and Obama), and most of us are working on getting the water out of the boat.

The reason that many ‘other industrialized countries’ have ‘rejected US-style stimulus spending’ is that they have stronger social systems (yes, read socialist), including much stronger unemployment benefits. In a sense, they passed US-style stimulus spending decades ago. I'm not promoting that approach, but I'm questioning why the associate professors failed to share that.

Was their purpose to illuminate or mislead? President Truman died in 1972. Who are Beck/Craig trying to impress?

Paul Baumbach, CFA, CFP(R), ChFC

Progressive Update--11/30/2009--Out4Immigration

There is much inequality for the GLBT community. One area of inequality is immigration to the US. A non-gay couple, since they can marry and have their marriage recognized in the US, with one US citizen, can petition to have the other member of the couple immigrate to the US. However a gay couple (whether married outside the US (or inside) or not), has no such right.

Out4Immigration is an all grassroots organization and our letter writing campaign is now in its 40th week.

This week, we are focusing on Senator Thomas Carper (D) of Delaware.

Senator Carper recently stated in a Delaware News Journal article that he was unfamiliar with the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA). The article was about bi-national couples in Delaware forced apart because of our nation's discriminatory immigration laws.

Please take action to help familiarize Senator Carper with the UAFA!

Click the link below to send an e-mail to Senator Carper, and please also forward this on to family and friends, and share on Facebook, Twitter, etc... We need as many people to sign this each week as possible, and the change.org link makes doing this quick and easy!

http://www.change.org/ideas/2008/view_action/urge_sen_carper_to_support_the_uniting_american_families_act

Interested in doing more? Click the link below for more ways you can support UAFA:

http://www.change.org/ideas/2008/view_blog/actions_to_take_to_get_more_support_for_uafa

Senator Thomas Carper
513 Hart Senate Office Building
District of Columbia 20510-0801
Phone: (202) 224-2441
Fax: (202) 228-2190

Progressive Update--11/04/2009

Matt Kerbel Speaks—Tomorrow at 7pm at DelDems HQ (directions at http://www.deldems.org/ht/d/sp/i/725590/pid/725590), Villanova political science professor and author/authority on politics and the media will speak at the monthly Progressive Dems of DE meeting (http://www.progressivedemsdel.com/). Matt’s most recent book, NetRoots (http://books.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?WRD=netroots+kerbel&box=netroots%20kerbel&pos=-1) is great. I have quoted Matt several times in the past, most often leading up to a national election, and his insight has been spot-on. You don’t want to miss this!
Come and Be Heard—Organizing for America (the successor to Obama for America), a national, grass-roots organization, is hosting a listening session this Saturday in Newark from 11am to noon. For more information, go to www.my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/listeningtour/gpch7g. You can also go to (http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/search_simple?source=sidenav) to find an event near you.
Where Have I Been?—I have been a bit ‘off the grid’ for several weeks. Part of the reason is that I needed a breather after the fall election, and the Delaware legislative session that ended on June 30th. The Health Insurance Reform effort has been grueling, frustrating, and exciting (I especially liked the smack-down that the Delaware Democratic Party unleashed on Senator Tom Carper, reminding him that Delaware Democrats expected him to represent them, and not insurance companies, by supporting strong public health insurance option).
I have been a regular reader of www.delawareliberal.net, and a frequent contributor. This website is dynamite for keeping readers informed on primarily state, but also national, issues, from a liberal perspective. The primary contributors are GREAT (the conservative trolls are mostly annoying but sometimes amusing/pathetic). I have begun infrequent reading of www.dailykos.com, which is a national liberal site. My (thus far only) posting can be found at http://www.dailykos.com/user/GrapeSodaMan .
I have also begun using Twitter to post thoughts, primarily political in nature. You can find me at http://twitter.com/PBaumbachDE, and if you’d like, you can ‘follow’ me, and get my postings emailed or text’d to you.
I continue to post to my blog, http://paulprogressive.blogspot.com/, and post there at times without sending emails. Why? Blast emails are very time consuming (or at least I am very time-inefficient in composing/sending them).
I therefore expect to stay in this current mode for now, posting regularly to DelawareLiberal (PBaumbach is my name there), Tweeting occasionally (twice a month?), adding to the blog (monthly?), and sending a blast email (every other month)? Given that, consider how you would like to be kept in the loop, if at all.
Equality for All, Relationship Equality—We have achieved some very good progress in this area in the past year. In June we were able to get sexual orientation added to the Delaware laws that forbid discrimination. Last month the Obama administration added sexual orientation, gender identity and expressions added to the federal hate crimes laws. Several states have begun to recognize domestic partnerships/civil unions for same-gender couples. There are two areas that I would invite you to work on. Two groups that I really like, due to their work on this area is www.hrc.org, and www.aclu-de.org.
Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT)—It appears that this is close to moving forward (repeal of DADT). There is a petition at http://votevets.org/pages/?id=0026. A bill is in the works in Congress. This awful policy is WAY overdue to be eliminated.
Uniting American Families Act (UAFA)—This bill will permit same-gender partners to sponsor their partner to become a US citizen, in the same way that an opposite gender partner can currently sponsor their partner (spouse) to become a US citizen. A local Newark couple is being deported this month due to this inequality. Visit http://www.immigrationequality.org/template.php?pageid=2 Contact your congress members and urge them to support the Uniting American Families Act in immigration reform. Make a donation to Out4Immigration or Immigration Equality so others can be informed of the issue and encouraged to work for fairness.

09/02/2009 - Meeting with Carper - Cleaner Wrap Up

My take on the ‘listening session’ with Senator Tom Carper on 9/2/2009—Paul Baumbach

We met in a large meeting room at Arsht Hall on UD’s Wilmington campus. There were about 7 Carper staffers, including Racquel (spelling?), his health care ‘expert’. There were about 30 other folks, including representatives from many health-related organizations. Many doctors were there and represented (EMCO, emergency medical group—ER docs, medical society of Delaware, DE society of clinical Oncology, Nemours hospital for children, DE dietetic association, DE academy of family physicians, DE orthopedics, etc). There was an insurance broker (arguing for going much slower, ‘breaking down the walls between the states’, going the regional pool direction). There were some non-profits—American Cancer Society, ARC of DE (serving those with intellectual disabilities statewide), Easter Seals. There were two companies represented, Shoprite and WL Gore. And there were two PDDers, Kris Muto and myself.
Carper started with ten minutes or so of opening comments. He noted how he has been hearing from a very large number of people—10,000 in two conference calls, 22,000 or so emails and letters, thousands of phone calls, on the phone with Senate colleagues, etc.
His main pitch was reform must happen and will happen, however it will not meet any single person’s vision of what needs to be done. In his closing comments he noted that 80% of the bill is uncontroversial, and is terrific—making it illegal to refuse to cover pre-existing conditions, dropping someone after they get sick, etc. He did (in response to my statement) address ‘the public option’. He notes that there are a slew of models for a public option—the VA, Medicare, the Federal Employees Health System (operated by OMB, 3% annual overhead, but providing a menu of choices from private insurance companies—perhaps both for-profit and non-profit), also the Mayo/Cleveland Clinics, Peugot Sound health system, etc. ‘The Exchange’, a regional or national purchasing pool offering plans from private companies, would have lots of small businesses eligible, individuals also, the uninsured, and the poor would have help from tax credits using a sliding scale (disappearing at $60K in annual income).
The questions were typically local (one of the five versions of the bills doesn’t cover ER enough, or cancer enough, or nutrition enough, or prevention enough, etc, etc, etc). At least one doc whined about malpractice costs and the need for tort reform (using what has been working in California for years, is what he claimed).
A subset of my comments: “This year the President and Congressional Democrats have put forward key points of their vision for health insurance reform. One key point is a robust public option, the ability for Americans to choose a public health insurance option. Our soldiers, seniors, and Senators have a public health insurance option, one that doesn’t double premiums in under 10 years.

Now we find that this reform, this robust public option, is being held back by many senators who campaign as Democrats.

Our state elected you as a Democratic Party candidate. Our state elected President Barack Obama. When will you stand with your fellow Democratic Senators and champion a robust public option?”
It felt quite good to call Carper out as being a sorry excuse for a Democrat. I was pleased that in his closing comments shortly afterwards he did some backpedaling, noting that he is certainly open to a ‘public plan’, but noting that there are many ways of accomplishing this (such as watered down regional pools of private insurance offerings). He also noted, with no disparaging comments, the work of the Progressive Democrats.
Kris offered her very compelling story of the need for health reform now, and called attention to the moral and economic imperatives that require this. The woman from ARC also effectively tugged at the hearts of those in the room. I liked that these two emotional presentations came near the wrap-up, so that is what you remembered, more than the doctor whining about malpractice rates.
Carper stayed 2 hours despite only promising 90 minutes, and heard from everyone. His staff seemed attentive and helpful throughout. It is nice to be around friends, and thus I would have liked to see more advocates at this meeting, but it is also nice to be able to ‘howl at the moon’.

09/02/2009 - Meeting with Senator Carper--Part Deux

Here are my raw notes. TC is Tom Carper, Q is someone else (a Questioner)

TC: focus on stuff we agree upon.

EMCO, small business council of America
doctors for emergency services (Ers)
med society of DE
american cancer society
cancer
de society of clinicial oncology
cigna benefits, but here as person
nemours hospital children
de dietetic association
de academy of family physicians
wl gore benefits
de orthopedics
broker
arc of de (intellectual disabilities)
easter seals
shoprite

many aides to carper

one of 3 listening sessions, met with newspapers throughout state, chambers of commerce, electronic town hall, he plans to listen and ask a few questions, but try to answer some questions, 22,000 or so emails and letters, and thousands of phone calls, spent time on phone with committee colleagues, september 15th is 'drop dead date' for bipartisan bill, else will proceed on own ways, may go through reconciliation (as does budget) to resolve disparities between various versions—reconciliation is designed for budget not issues such as healthcare—he hopes we don't have to go through this. Colleague in TN used conference call with 1400 people. Last tuesday's call had 4000 people, 400 stayed on the line afterwards to raise questions. Aarp hosted another one this past monday night. Over 6000 people.. phone calls had been mean a month ago—the tenor is changing, more positive, more constructive.

To not do something constructive would be a big mistake. We spend much more than peers (16% gdp), and many measures get worse results. 14000 people will lose benefits daily. 45Million have no coverage. Corporate bankruptcy in some cases is caused by healthcare costs. Doing nothing worsens an already bad fiscal trend. Why cant we have your health insurance? Federal employee health benefit plan (all 3 branches, and retirees and dependents, 8 million), one of largest pools, run by OPM, offer choices from private. $5000 average costs. Admin costs 3% of premiums. Why not expand this?? good idea, at least to replicate. National exchange, purchasing pool, or regional purchasing pools (de pa nj) several million folks strong, national would be tens of millions strong. Lots of small businesses would be eligible, individuals, uninsured, poor folks would have help from tax credits sliding scale (disappear at $60K), private plans are underlying feature, though.

Medicare prescription drug plans, compromise has hybrid, some states, with no competition, has public plan (fallback plan), most states have fine competition. 85-90% of users like it and most often makes a profit.

Would like to use federal employee health benefit plan as model for direction he would like to see
q: why are people so scared? Fed govt has failed to sufficiently fund medicare, medicaid, this leads to skepticism. Insufficient funding lead to reduced quality and availability.
tc—states are laboratories for fed govt. he asks colleagues to find models that work. De has panel that has cut malpractice suits by 50%, not by forbidding suits, but having a first step of presenting case before going to court. Obama has ideas on this.
Q: typical er patient 20 year old, complete dental decay. Insurance card is not going to fix that. Infrastructure in primary care is insufficient in massachusetts. Portability and pre-existing condition issue must be addressed. We need to remove fear. We must hold patients, doctors, and insurance firms accountable.
Q: we all agree that the system must be fine tuned if not overhauled. Federal plan has large base, better to expand it than start new pool—better to blend than create. Public option has been polarizing. Bill roth suggested expanding federal health plan. When does a proven experiment become usable? Tort reform in CA has worked for years and years, but malpractice insurance is 3x more in DE, and 6x more in PA, than in CA.
Tc mayo, cleveland clinic, and many others, are not fee for service, but primary wellness, etc, malpractice is paid by employers q to win war against cancer, we need good strong healthcare reform, we need coverage for all. Pre-existing and caps are death knell. Affordability hasn't been nailed down yet. Please keep this in mind.
Q: oncology—great progress has been made. Economically viable universal healthcare for cancer patients in DE now. Crisis is coming in medicare. (colleague begins) access to healthcare is problem, when funding is considered. To control costs, reimbursement coding is changed, to disproportionately affect populations differently. 20-40% cuts coming. Move from local locations to hospitals (which don't have capacity) for chemotherapy.
Q: supports fundamental change to how healthcare is delivere4d in the US.
Q: (Kinney family from shoprite). Playing field—if walmart supports the bill, this will likely give them a further competitive advantage. Shoprite pays 50% towards healthcare (payroll $80K per week in new store, $40K per week for health benefits). Asking shoprite to pay more (8%) for recent part time employees, is escalation and non-competitive move. This is in addition to recent de changes. Support solution for healthcare for un- and under-insured.
Tc senate committee (Kennedy) put forward bill. Safeway (200,000+ employees, union), kept hc costs flat, due largely to prevention
q: health of population will improve when we change financing system and culture of healthcare and health. Culture of prevention, personal responsibility, and having a medical home (partner). System for providing healthcare to uninsured must work in concert with private plans.
Tc Lean Act—prevention--every restaurant chain much have calories on menus or at least posted.
Q: nutrition services is foundation of culture of health.
Q: CBO judges prevention to be not cost-effective. Dieticians disagree (therapy for pre-diabetes rather than amputation later). Coverage desired for diet services.
Q; de medical society head—need for tort reform (experiments have proven effective). Prevention and exercise is key to future health. Take offense on our rating compared to other countries. More fair is 'after cancer is identified, what is the result in the US'. Must reign in the insurance industry. Physicians are forced to kowtow to insurance companies, force to drop long-term patients.
Q: more backbone is needed for more universal care in the US. We must have strong primary care base.
Q: his organization (AEFP) is very supportive of the bill. Policy has always supported universal healthcare, also supportive of primary care. DEFP urged to work locally. nutrition—quality food is too expensive (calories per dollar). Choices being made are often economic.
Q: (WL GORE) 8600 employees worldwide, 5000 in the US, 13500 covered by US health insurance plan, $44m/yr. Working on meaningful health improvement for employees. (colleague)
q: (shoprite) food industry perspective—cost for employees to go from public (medicaid?) to private, concern with employer mandate and 8% surcharge, could be incentive to go from private to public (only pay 8% to cancel current private plan).
Q: personal stories are available as resource to carper
q: people closest to problem are best able to solve the problem. Skeptical that the solution can come from washington. Concern for shift of power from senate to executive branch. Checks and balances should not be surrendered. Incentives are better than mandates. Standalone public option is not going to be workable. Incentive for small businesses to drop coverage.
Q: 25+ yrs insurance advisor. Clients all say we're all americans, not republicans, democrats, etc. we want to move forward. Going to be ongoing process—wheres the rush. Lets walk forward, avoid disasters. National exchange is not well understood. He prefers breakdown state by state walls for insurance companies, prefers regional pools/exchange.
Q psb, and kris—fear that reform will be scuttled and dilluted.
Q Mother of 3, husband, engineer, with preexisting condition, lost job at age 55, must borrow to pay cobra. Moral imperative, economic imperative for real health insurance reform.

09/02/2009 - Meeting with Senator Carper--Part I

Kris Muto and I attended a 'closed door' listening session with Senator Carper this morning. There were a slew of doctors and healthcare folks (nutritianists, oncology folks, those who advocate for the disabled, medical society of DE, etc), a few corporates (Shoprite, WL Gore), and two PDDers. We were limited to a minute or two (except the first three ER docs who took about 5 minutes each).

My statement:

Due to the direction of the country following the 2004 elections, the Progressive Democrats of Delaware formed. One issue that upset us greatly was the ongoing occupation of Iraq. So we worked to get a majority of Democrats in the Senate in the 2006 elections. We learned that this was not sufficient as a majority of Democrats in the Senate with a Republican President could continue that occupation.

So we worked harder, and cut the number of Republicans to 40 in the Senate, and worked very hard to get Barack Obama elected as President. We assumed that this meant that core parts of his, and the party’s platform, would become enacted. A core plank is universal healthcare, or at least quality healthcare available and affordable to all Americans.

This year the President and Congressional Democrats have put forward key points of their vision for health insurance reform. One key point is a robust public option, the ability for Americans to choose a public health insurance option. Our soldiers, seniors, and Senators have a public health insurance option, one that doesn’t double premiums in under 10 years.

Now we find that this reform, this robust public option, is being held back by many senators who campaign as Democrats.

Our state elected you as a Democratic Party candidate. Our state elected President Barack Obama. When will you stand with your fellow Democratic Senators and champion a robust public option?

I will next post my (ugly) notes.

08/26/2009--Letter to Editor--Supporting Robust Public Healthcare Option

I submitted this letter this afternoon to the Wilmington News Journal.

Robust Health Requires Robust Public Option

Public health insurance serves our soldiers, our seniors, and our Senators. Why not the rest of us: self-employed persons, small businesses, people between jobs, and young persons with multiple part-time jobs?

Private health insurance works quite well for those employed by large companies. But it fails the rest of the country, the almost 50 million Americans without health insurance, who are often one illness away from bankruptcy. It fails those who lose their job, and with it their health insurance. It fails those who stay at their job purely for the health insurance, unable to leave or retire, due to healthcare concerns. It fails those whose economic life is overwhelmed by the cost of their chronic disease.

Our current system works for many, but also fails a great many. Our country is too great to permit this injustice to continue, and to grow. If you feel that private health insurance companies alone provide the best health care our country offers, then insist that your senator vote to terminate the public health coverage they themselves enjoy, and that enjoyed by our soldiers, and your parents and grandparents.

If, instead, you recognize that millions will benefit from the choice of a robust public option, then let your senator know.

Progressive Update--08/05/2009

Health Care Reform—With the Delaware state legislature on its 6 month hiatus, job #1 for many liberals is helping to get good reform to health care. In Newark, Richard Field (rtfield@verizon.net) and Jennifer Hill (jennannhill@gmail.com) and several others are helping to push this along. With legislators such as Tom Carper, a lot of pushing is necessary, to counter-balance the insurance lobbying they are receiving. Let Richard know by email if you would like to be added to his email list of those interested in learning more about planned health care reform.
Richard and Jen and others have organized a forum this Monday, the 10th, at 6:30pm. Are you confused and uncertain about what will happen when health care reform passes? There is so much information and misinformation it is hard for us all to discern the truth. So we are bringing to you a real expert (nationally recognized Families USA Deputy Director Kathleen Stoll) who can explain the bill and how it will help us here in Delaware. There is a flyer at http://udel.edu/~rtfield/Training.pdf. Please print and distribute it. Please attend, and bring a friend!
Legislative Wrap-Up—With Democrats in charge of the state House, and with one fewer Blue Dog Democrat in the state Senate, finally some good legislation made it through Dover this year. Hopefully we can continue this momentum in January when the legislature re-convenes.
Equal Rights for All—Newark—I understand that the city council meeting next Monday will address some of the equal rights proposals, however 1) I have not confirmed this, and 2) I am certain that you will first attend the health care reform meeting that begins at 6:30pm, as described earlier.

06/23/2009--Letter to Senator Carper

I have friends going to Washington DC on Thursday, who will take my hand-written letter to hand-deliver to our pal Tom Carper. There are buses leaving from New Castle County.

TO ALL THOSE INTERESTED IN GOING ON THURS. JUNE 25TH PLEASE CONTACT DARLENE BATTLE 302-588-1782 OR JENNIFER HILL 302-293-8682. THERE WILL BE A BUS LEAVING FROM WILMINGTON AND ONE LEAVING FROM NEWARK. THIS IS TOO IMPORTANT SO PASS THE WORD TO ALL YOUR FAMILY, FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS!

You can go to www.StandwithDrDean.com/LastChance and sign an online petition urging the inclusion of a nationwide, government-administered health insurance program (Medicare for all).

My letter reads:

Dear Senator Carper,

I am writing to urge you to support the healthcare proposal backed by President Obama. I am most concerned with your lack of support, recently, for the public option, a Medicare-like government-run healthcare option available to Americans under 65 years of age, such as myself.

I am a self-employed business owner, with seven other employees. I cannot currently afford to provide healthcare coverage for my employees, due to the high cost of our current system that lacks a public option.

I have heard that you only support a state-wide or regional-based quasi-public option. I consider this ill-advised. One of the reasons that Medicare can keep their costs so much lower than private insurance companies is scale. Scale would be lost if the ‘collectives’ were each only 5% or so the size of a single collective, as embodied by the public option that I urge you to support.

I encourage you to closely review the very recent New York Times/CBS News poll, which showed that 72% of respondents (including 87% of Democrats, 73% of Independents, and even 50% of Republicans) support a ‘government administered health insurance plan like Medicare.’

Delaware has elected you to represent our state in Washington DC. Please do so, and start working to solve our health care crisis. Please begin by strongly supporting a nationwide, public health insurance option.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Respectfully,

Progressive Update--06/16/2009--Act TODAY

Equal Rights for All—State wide—House Bill 5 (HB5), which would make it illegal in Delaware to discriminate based on sexual orientation, for housing, employment, insurance, etc, has been effectively replaced with Senate Bill 121 (SB121, http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/LIS145.nsf/vwLegislation/SB+121?Opendocument). This should pass the Senate quickly, and the House even faster. This is the reason that opponents are scrambling. Go to http://www.delawarefamilies.org/index.cfm to see what they are doing. They have outright lies there. There is no provision of SB121 affecting what is taught in schools. SB121 is simple—it makes it illegal to discriminate based on sexual orientation in housing, employment, and insurance.

We have our own website, at http://dehb5.heroku.com/ , which helps you find your senator and reach out to them to ask them to support SB121, AND OPPOSE ANY AMENDMENTS. PLEASE, reach out to your senator TODAY and help get SB121 passed!

Senators considered ‘on the fence’ (by the opposition) include Catherin Cloutier, Bruce Ennis, Bethany Hall-Long, Bobby Marshall, and David McBride. They need to hear that they have constituents that oppose such discrimination and that support SB121.

Senators considered supportive of SB121 include Patty Blevins, George Bunting, Brian Bushweller, Dori Connor, Margaret Rose Henry, Michael Katz, Harris McDowell, Karen Peterson, David Sokola, and Liane Sorenson. They need to hear that they have constituent that appreciate their brave support of this bill.

If you are a member of a faith community in Delaware, go to www.towardequality.org, and see if your leader (pastor, rabbi, etc) has already signed the clergy statement of support. If not, ask them to do so.

There is a hearing of the Senate Insurance Committee tomorrow at 2pm in the Senate. Let Kim Siegel (aclu@aclu-de.org) know if you can make it and would like to speak.

Open Government—House Bill 1 (HB1) passed both houses, and Governor Markell signed it on Friday the 12th. Go to http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=BL&Dato=20090612&Kategori=PHOTOS01&Lopenr=906120802&Ref=PH for some pictures. Ensuring Open Government in Dover was rightly a VERY high priority, for without public scrutiny, we cannot see what Dover is doing for/to us.

Prison Reform—House Bill 168 (HB168, http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/LIS145.nsf/vwLegislation/HB+168?Opendocument) was introduced in the house on May 14th, and is sitting in the House Judiciary Committee. HB168 will repeal mandatory sentences for certain drug offenses, and restore flexibility to the courts. It will permit the judge to determine the best sentence, given the full circumstances. Please ask your state Senator and Representative to support HB168, repealing mandatory minimum sentences.

De Facto Parenting—Senate Bill 84 (SB84, http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis145.nsf/vwLegislation/SB+84?Opendocument) passed the Senate in May, and awaits a vote in the House. This bill reinforces ‘de facto parenting’, for those who care for children as would a biological parent. This could be a step-parent, grand-parent, adoptive parent, etc. Most importantly, it permits the Family Court to make the decision of who best can assume parental responsibilities for a child. Please ask your state Representative to support SB84, reinforcing de facto parents.

Equal Rights for All—Newark—This is taking a rather long path. My favorite statement by a city council person at a meeting last week (in early June) was that they wanted a meeting in August ‘to keep the momentum going.’ “We shall overcome because the arc of a moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” The arc of a moral universe in Newark is also quite long. Stay tuned.

OOPS--5/28/2009

Sorry about this. The Listening session on June 1st is being held by Republican US Rep. Mike Castle, not Democratic US Senator Tom Carper.

I was mis-informed, and yesterday I passed this misinformation onto you.

Sorry!

Progressive Update--05/26/2009

Howard Dean in Wilmington 5/29/09—Howard Dean will be hosting a townhall meeting on health care reform this Friday, the 29th, from 3-5pm, at the DE Building Trades Hall, on 911 New Road, Wilmington, DE 19805. This is a great opportunity to meet past governor, presidential candidate, and DNC Chair Howard Dean, to learn about the party’s current thoughts on health care reform, and to share yours.
State Party Convention—It has been a few weeks since the convention in Dover. I was both pleased and disappointed. I wrote up many of my thoughts leading up to it, and afterwards, at the blog http://paulprogressive.blogspot.com/.
Carper is Listening—You don’t have to be a credit card company lobbyist to speak with our disappointing Senator Tom Carper on Monday June 1st. Come to a Health Care Listening Session on the 1st from 10am to 11:30am, at the Eugene du Pont Preventative Medicine and Rehabilitation Institute, 3506 Kennett Pike, Wilmington, DE 19807.
Open Government—House Bill 1 (HB1) will come up for a vote in the Senate next month, due to 11 senators with a backbone who voted to suspend the rules and end the bill’s confinement to the Senate Executive Committee. Please urge your senator to vote in favor of HB1, which will open much (but not all) of our General Assembly to FOIA, the Freedom of Information Act.
Equal Rights for All—State wide—House Bill 5 (HB5) would make it illegal in Delaware to discriminate based on sexual orientation, for housing, employment, insurance, etc. We are hoping to get 11 senators with a backbone to sign a petition to bring it out of the Senate Executive Committee on June 2nd (or to vote to suspend the rules to bring it out—either way is fine). I hear that nine have already signed. So how can you help?
Right now, go to http://dehb5.heroku.com/, enter your address or nine-digit zip, and you’ll get your senator’s name and phone number, and a sample script to use when you call them, today!
If you are a member of a faith community in Delaware, go to www.towardequality.org, and see if your leader (pastor, rabbi, etc) has already signed the clergy statement of support. If not, ask them to do so.
Equal Rights for All—Newark—There are several equal rights issues before city council. On June 8th, the domestic partner benefit rule change will be discussed (and decided?) at the 7:30pm meeting. At that meeting the most likely rule being decided would provide domestic partners who are city employees the same rights as married couples (funeral/emergency leave, and flexible spending accounts). The council should hear from city residents, employees, and other supportive community members by June 8th.
Prison Reform—House Bill 168 (HB168) was introduced in the house two weeks ago. As with HB1 and HB5, HB168’s purpose has been brought unsuccessfully before the General Assembly several times. We hope that the current makeup of the house and senate will enable us to get this passed. HB168 will repeal mandatory sentences for certain drug offenses, and restore flexibility to the courts. It will permit the judge to determine the best sentence, given the full circumstances.
One of the biggest problems in prison reform is that many past offenders return to prison—there is a high recidivism rate. Governor Markell has issues Executive Order #7, with a broad approach to reduce recidivism. Check out http://governor.delaware.gov/orders/exec_order_7.shtml to learn more.

Delaware State Party Convention Recap--05/19/2009

High points--the platform and resolutions were wonderful, in no small part to the progressives who served on these two key committees. Their requested and approved ongoing role is also refreshing. I'll take Ted Kaufman over Carper any day of the week, and certainly twice on Saturday.
In the election of John Daniello as party chair, it is clear that we progressives hold much less than a majority of the current state Democratic party. As such, I consider it all the more impressive that we had such an effective presence in the platform and the resolutions committee, and in their results. While I am disappointed that we did not have a ‘clean progressive’ to run for state chair, or for the other state-wide party offices this month, I am hopeful that we will in 2013.
Low points--there are several. Chief amongst them was the bumbling straw poll to avoid the embarrassing disclosure that we may have two Democrats who wish to serve as party chair. That is sarcasm—I have yet to understand why our party leaders feel that it is embarrassing to have two Democrats running for a single post.
Every time Daniello opened his mouth he demonstrated how he is an awful choice for the party going forward. He makes me wonder why we spend so much time stating that Thurman Adams is the top Democrat to be embarrassed with.
Most disappointing, however, is the platform (believe it or not). It makes clear the wide moat between core principles of our party, and the principles of many of our state legislators, most notably Adams and DeLuca. We need for the platform and party to have teeth, to have the party refuse to endorse (and fund) any candidate who refuses to endorse ALL of the party platform.
Resolutions are at http://www.deldems.org/ht/a/GetDocumentAction/i/1259465
Platform is at http://www.deldems.org/ht/a/GetDocumentAction/i/1259463
To get a copy of the state party rules, send an email to Katie Ellis at HQ, kellis@deldems.org
Daniello supporters—A part of me was disappointed in the endorsement of Daniello’s candidacy by some prominent DE progressives. In retrospect, as long as each endorsement was a private endorsement (and each was), and not the endorsement by the PDD organization, I have NO PROBLEM with it. While serving on the PDD endorsement committee last year, we sometimes had to choose amongst two non-progressive candidates. One candidate, however, may have been considered by us to be one who was more capable than the other, and one with whom we felt PDD would be better able to work. This, however, was not sufficient, and we typically did not endorse those candidates. For PDD to endorse a political candidate, they should be demonstrably supportive of all critical progressive ideals.
John Daniello and Brian McGlinchy each fail this test. That is not an opinion, that is a fact. Each, for instance, supports gerrymandered redistricting (reapportionment). That violates our approved state party platform, and it violates PDD ideals (perhaps our second current initiative, after FOIA, open government). Rebecca Young cannot claim Daniello to be a 100% progressive candidate, nor can John Kowalko claim Brian McGlinchy to be a 100% progressive candidate. Each was/is flawed. Rebecca and John each considered both candidates and came to an individual decision to support the candidate which they felt would be best, albeit they selected different candidates. That is fine. That is democracy, and I celebrate that. However, the PDD, the Progressive Democrats of Delaware did NOT endorse either candidate, and that is also something to celebrate.

Delaware State Party Convention Tomorrow--05/15/2009

There are some interesting items coming before the convention tomorrow, not least of which is the selection of a state party chair. I have spent the week listening to supporters of each (and speaking directly to Brian). I grudgingly remain undecided, with a leaning towards Brian. Keep in mind that John Daniello has burned a lot of bridges in my book, his lack of support for progressive Democratic candidates and legislators is one bridge, the Carney/Markell and other endorsement fiascos of 2008 being another, and his back-door style being the third.
That said, there are claims of unattractive past political behavior by Brian, and I have yet to meet him face-to-face. I hope to have the chance to chat with him tomorrow morning. If he fails to pass the smell test, then I will not vote for him. However, I can’t currently envision voting FOR John Daniello. My real hope is that a third, progressive, candidate comes forth, and I can vote FOR proudly.
There are two threads in the current Delaware Liberal website, from contributors explaining why they lean to one candidate or another. Go to http://www.delawareliberal.net/2009/05/14/about-saturday/comment-page-1/#comment-119222 for an undecided contributor’s thread, and go to http://www.delawareliberal.net/2009/05/15/i-will-hold-my-nose-and-vote-for-daniello/comment-page-1/#comment-119201 for a contributor who is leaning towards John.
The state party chair isn’t the only piece of business. For that matter, while the other races appear to be currently uncontested, there can be nominations from the floor.
Another issue is a proposal to call for the President to ask the Justice Department to investigate the use of torture in the past 8 years. I believe that there are LBGT (lesbian bisexual gay and transgender) issues that are part of the proposed state party platform, to be voted upon, or that will come up as motions.
If you are a delegate (and actually the convention is open to all state registered Democrats), come on down to Dover tomorrow. It should be a good show.

Delaware State Party Chair--05/12/2009

The saga continues. I really encourage you to read the full thread on this at http://www.delawareliberal.net/2009/05/11/daniello-vs-some-union-guy/comment-page-1/#comment-118276 . The opinions are varied, and quite deeply felt.

I understand that the chair of the 23rd RD, Mike Gritz, backs the chairmanship of John Daniello. In an earlier post Brian McGlinchey told me that Mike could 'vouch' for him. Apparently this doesn't go so far as to include supporting his candidacy.


On a different topic, the state convention on Saturday will include discussion/decision on the state party platform. I understand that there will be a proposal to include opposition to discrimination based not only on sexual orientation, but also on gender identity and expression, and another proposal to include support for 'relationship recognition for all, regardless of sexual orientation.' I support both of these proposals, and encourage other delegates to also support them.

Delaware State Party Chair--05/11/2009--Part Deux

go to http://www.delawareliberal.net/2009/05/11/daniello-vs-some-union-guy/ for a further exploration of the criticism of McGlinchey as being tighter to labor than the Democrats.

To you delegates, do some homework before Saturday morning.

Delaware State Party Chair--05/11/2009

Brian McGlinchey has recently announced that he is running (against incumbent John Daniello) for state party chair. The convention, in which this will be decided, is Saturday in Dover. I am a delegate from the 23rd RD west Newark district.

I spoke with Brian for about 5 or 10 minutes (he emailed me a few minutes after I had emailed him—in his email he encouraged me to call him). During the call, he appeared focused and honest, well-spoken, organized, and prepared.

On the ‘past support of Republican’ charge, he notes that he never contributed to nor walked for Republicans, ever. His union is a member of the AFLCIO, and he is the public policy chairman/legislative chairman (presumably of the DE chapter). The DE AFLCIO endorsed 62 candidates (state senators and reps) for the 2008 election, 3 of which are Republicans, two of which lost. Brian was a delegate to their meeting (convention) in which the slate was approved. Brian has stated his plan to have the third (the Republican who won in November, Bill Oberle) defeated in 2010.

Brian suggests that I speak with Mike Gritz (23rd RD Chair), who knows him well.
If he was playing me, he does it well.

Given my disgust for Daniello’s past practices, at this point I am leaning to supporting Brian McGlinchey on Saturday. I look forward to meeting him in person on Saturday, and hearing him speak. I also plan to talk with Mike Gritz, and to Jerry Grant.

Progressive Update--5/8/2009

Much has happened in the past week.
Open Government—House Bill 1 (HB1) was released from committee to the full Senate on May 6th. Let your senator know that you expect them to vote FOR House Bill 1 when it gets a vote. This bill will open legislative meetings (except caucuses and emails) to the public, by putting it under FOIA, the freedom of information act.
Equality in Delaware— HB5 would make it illegal to discriminate on housing, employment, or insurance, on the basis of sexual orientation. HB5 is sitting in the Senate Executive Committee (Adams chair, Blevins, Cook, DeLuca, Simpson, and Sorenson), and is getting a hearing this Wednesday, the 13th, at 1:30pm, in the full Senate Chamber. Let’s pack the chamber, and let the committee know that the time has come for equality for all. The action needed now is to attend the hearing and/or reach out to those six senators and ask that they release HB5 onto the full Senate. If the committee fails to release the bill to the full senate for a vote, we will still plan to petition this bill out of committee on June 2nd, Petition Day, after the bill has been stuck in committee for the ‘required’ 16 legislative days.
I am initially surprised that there will be a hearing, as I expected Adams to keep the bill in his desk drawer, where this type of bill has been banished for years. I consider this a victory for representative government. Years of testimony to deaf legislators has resulted in a softening of the walls of our conservative state Senate. Let’s finish the job and get it voted out of committee, and if not, petitioned!
Newark Alderman’s Court—I wrote about this last month. The bill is out of committee since April 1st, and awaits a full senate vote. Please ask your senator to vote against this bill. See my prior posting for details on it. Let your senator and representative know that Newark’s Alderman’s court works just fine, and don’t break it—oppose SB42.
Equality in Newark—Newark City Council will not be hearing the proposed LBGT protection proposal at its Monday May 11th meeting. I will share more information as it becomes available.
State Budget—The state of Delaware’s next year budget is a hot topic of discussion. Governor Jack Markell offered a proposed budget with revenue increases and spending cuts. One of the most publicized cuts was an across-the-board 8% salary cut for state workers, along with passing onto state workers more of the cost of health benefits.
State Representative John Kowalko has offered for consideration a set of alternatives, that would reduce, if not eliminate, the need to focus $91 million of cuts on the backs of state workers. His proposals are generally pretty progressive, striving to spread the belt-tightening more fairly across the state. Go to http://www.johnkowalko.com/Issues.aspx?prid=9&m=4 to see his explanation. It includes more details at http://www.johnkowalko.com/docs/Alternate%20Budget%20Proposalsx.pdf. If you agree with it, or with some of its points, let your state Representative and state Senator (and Governor) know.

Progressive Update--5/1/2009

There are several items which are on the front burner in the coming weeks.

Open Government—House Bill 1 (HB1) is getting a hearing. That’s the good news. The bad news is that it is before the Senate Executive Committee (led by Thurman Adams). Other members are Blevins, Cook, DeLuca, Simpson, and Sorenson. The hearing is set for Wednesday the 6th at 2pm. Make it if you can, and contact your senator if you can’t. This bill will open legislative meetings (except caucuses and emails) to the public, by putting it under FOIA, the freedom of information act.

Equality in Delaware—HB5 is sitting in the same committee, with little chance of a hearing. It would make it illegal to discriminate on housing, employment, or insurance, on the basis of sexual orientation. The plan is to petition this bill to the full senate floor on June 2nd, Petition Day, after the bill has been stuck in committee for the ‘required’ 16 legislative days. Please contact your senator to ask them to sign the petition on June 2nd to bring House Bill 5 to the senate floor, for a vote.

Consider a simple message such as `My name is ____ and I live at _________. You are my senator. House Bill 5 helps provide essential civil rights to more Delawareans. If HB5 does not emerge from committee by June 2nd, will you sign a petition on June 2nd to bring it to the senate floor? I hope that you will join me in supporting equal rights for all. Thank you.'

Newark Alderman’s Court—I wrote about this last month. The bill is out of committee, and awaits a full senate vote. Please ask your senator to vote against this bill.

Senate Bill 42 (SB42), from Tony DeLuca, at first glance appears well-intentioned—let defendants from Newark’s Alderman’s Court have the right to be heard at Wilmington’s Court of Common Pleas. Why do folks (including myself) oppose SB42? Newark and Newark Alderman’s court is unique in the state—and it works. We are the only Delaware city with a college that doubles our population for a majority of the year, and our Alderman’s Court is the only one in the state with a lawyer who serves (with senate approval) as chief alderman. Newark therefore gets a boatload of minor noise, disturbing the peace, and traffic violations (thousands a year), which we deal with right in Newark. Defendants avoid the need (and expense) to go to Wilmington, and so do our police officers. Moving this caseload to Wilmington is wasteful (reducing our police officers’ time on the streets, and further overburdening the Wilmington courts). Defendants already have the right to appeal all judgments of more than $100 to Wilmington courts. Note that the sponsors do not have constituents in downtown Newark—it is the moral equivalent of having Newark’s Senator Liane Sorenson sponsor a bill to double the parking meters in Rehobeth. SB42 appears to be retaliation by DeLuca for the city’s resolution favoring open government in the General Assembly, a direction that DeLuca detests. Let your senator and representative know that Newark’s Alderman’s court works just fine, and don’t break it—oppose SB42.

Equality in Newark—I believe that the Monday May 11th city council meeting will include a review of the proposed LBGT protection provisions which came up in March, with great community support. If you live in the city of Newark, please either attend the meeting, or let your council person and mayor know that you support equal rights for city residents and employees, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Go to http://www.cityofnewarkde.us/index.asp?NID=475 to see the council member listing.

Progressive Update--4/11/2009

Newark Alderman’s Court—Senate Bill 42 (SB42), from Tony DeLuca, at first glance appears well-intentioned—let defendants from Newark’s Alderman’s Court have the right to be heard at Wilmington’s Court of Common Pleas. Why do folks (including myself) oppose SB42? Newark and Newark Alderman’s court is unique in the state—and it works. We are the only Delaware city with a college that doubles our population for a majority of the year, and our Alderman’s Court is the only one in the state with a lawyer who serves (with senate approval) as chief alderman. Newark therefore gets a boatload of minor noise, disturbing the peace, and traffic violations (thousands a year), which we deal with right in Newark. Defendants avoid the need (and expense) to go to Wilmington, and so do our police officers. Moving this caseload to Wilmington is wasteful (reducing our police officers’ time on the streets, and further overburdening the Wilmington courts). Defendants already have the right to appeal all judgments of more than $100 to Wilmington courts. Note that the sponsors do not have constituents in downtown Newark—it is the moral equivalent of having Newark’s Senator Liane Sorenson sponsor a bill to double the parking meters in Rehobeth. SB42 appears to be retaliation by DeLuca for the city’s resolution favoring open government in the General Assembly, a direction that DeLuca detests. Let your senator and representative know that Newark’s Alderman’s court works just fine, and don’t break it—oppose SB42.
Equality in Newark—There are proposed changes to Newark’s policies to prohibit discrimination. At the first hearing, support for these changes amongst the citizens was overwhelming. Some council members appear to be less supportive. Council member David Athey has asked his constituents what they think, and in the process shares his reservations. If you support equality for city employees, please let your Newark city council member and Mayor Vance Funk know. When the people lead, the leaders will follow! Go to http://www.cityofnewarkde.us/index.asp?NID=475 to see the council member listing.
Equality in Delaware—There are several pieces of legislation (SB--senate bills and HB—house bills). SB27, the Marriage Constitutional Amendment sponsored by Senator Venables suffered a quick, well-deserved death in the Senate.
HB5 is the energizer bunny, coming back year after year as the Delaware Senate refuses to exit the Dark Ages. HB5 would make housing, employment, and insurance discrimination based on sexual orientation illegal in Delaware. It is currently stuck in the Senate Executive Committee (chair Thurman Adams, members Patty Blevins, Nancy Cook, Tony DeLuca, Gary Simpson, and Liane Sorenson). If one of these six is your senator, ask them to give this bill a prompt hearing, and to vote to get this bill onto the full Senate. See http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/LIS145.nsf/vwLegislation/HB+10?Opendocument for updated information.
HB10 would provide the same rights to domestic partners of state employees/pensioners as spouses. Again, a simple matter of equality. This bill is currently in the House Appropriations Committee (chair DP Williams, and members Joseph Booth, JJ Johnson, Joseph Miro, John Mitchell, and Melanie George Marshall). If one of these is your rep, ask them to approve the bill through committee, onto the full House. Once it is out of committee, it should get a quick House vote, so let your rep know of your support. See http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/LIS145.nsf/vwLegislation/HB+10?Opendocument for current information.
HB112 would permit patients (hospitals and nursing facilities) to direct who can visit them. Again, seems pretty obvious. Partners of same-sex couples, however, have been refused this right many times in the past. This bill passed the House on Thursday, and awaits assignment to a Senate Committee. Keep an ear open for the next steps in the Senate. http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/LIS145.nsf/vwLegislation/HB+112?Opendocument has current information on this bill.

Progressive Update--03/23/2009--Dover Update

Spaghetti Dinner—First off, remember that the 23rd Representative District (RD) is holding its 14th annual spaghetti dinner and auction on Friday April 3rd from 6-9pm at the UU church in Newark (www.uufn.org). I have tickets, $10 each. Chris Coons has agreed to emcee the auction—he is a riot. There is a rumor that we will have an item donated by a sitting Vice President of the US. Hurry before they run out!
Things are heating up in Dover
Equal Rights Legislation in Dover—HB 5 (Non-discrimination Bill, described later) should have a hearing this Wednesday at 2:30pm in the House chamber, before the House Administration Committee (Schwartzkopf, Cathcart, Gilligan, Longhurst, and Daniel Short). Three of these committee members are co-sponsors of the legislation, so the bill SHOULD get approved on Wednesday. This is an opportunity for you to testify before the committee. The bill could come before the full House on Thursday (with 18 co-sponsors, odds favor its passage in the House). I expect a tougher time in the state Senate. If you haven’t yet called, written, or visited your state Representative, and expressed your support for HB 5, please do so right away.
Note that ‘the opposition’ has been busy spreading lies, on the radio and in the papers, including a doozy that says that this legislation will lead to churches that oppose same-sex marriage losing their tax-exempt status. If the facts don’t support you, I guess that you have to resort to lies… We had eight years of that—didn’t we learn anything from it?
HB 5 – Non-discrimination Bill, sponsored by Rep. Schwartzkopf & Sen. Sokola, will prohibit discrimination against persons on the basis of sexual orientation in housing and employment. HB 10 – Domestic Partner Benefits for State Government Employees, sponsored by Rep. Schooley & Sen. Henry, will make the domestic partner of a state of Delaware regular officer, employee or eligible pensioner entitled to the same benefits that are provided to the spouse of a state employee or pensioner. HB 75 - Hospital & Nursing Facility Visitation Bill, sponsored by Rep. Keeley, Kowalko & Sen. Bunting, allows each competent adult patient to receive visits in a Hospital, nursing home or nursing facility from any individual from whom the patient desires to receive visits. It’s embarrassing that this legislation hasn’t been passed in Delaware years ago. I recommend the DLFMembers Yahoo Group, which does a great job of keeping up on this legislation.
Bob Martz has been doing a great job coordinating the EQUAL Rights for ALL in Delaware coalition of over a dozen organizations which are working together to get this important legislation passed in our state.
Marriage Discrimination Act—Senator Venables has introduced Senate Bill 27 (SB27) which is designed to promote a Constitutional Amendment to require that marriage be only between a man and a woman, to prohibit a church (there are many faith communities that welcome ALL, and would like to be permitted to perform such union ceremonies) or a justice of the peace from marrying, or creating a civil union between other loving couples. There is a hearing set for 1pm this Wednesday, of the Senate Small Business Committee (members Venables, Bunting, Ennis, Katz, and Sorenson). Please write to your senator, and to at least one of the senators on this committee, to request that they work to stop this discrimination from being codified in Delaware.

Progressive Update—3/4/2009

I have a few updates, in a purely random order.
Spaghetti Dinner—The 23rd Representative District (RD) is holding its 14th annual spaghetti dinner and auction on Friday April 3rd from 6-9pm at the UU church in Newark (www.uufn.org). I have tickets, $10 each. Chris Coons has agreed to emcee the auction—he is a riot. There is a rumor that we will have an item donated by a sitting Vice President of the US.
Reentry—There are four public meetings to consider how to address our prison situation, improving the reentry process, and perhaps reducing our incarceration rate (one of the highest in the nation). They are from 6:30-8pm as follows: March 9, PAL, Garfield Park, 26 Karlyn Dr, New Castle; March 10, Chase Center on the Riverfront, Wilmington; March 11, Sussex Co Admin Building 2 The Circle Council Chambers 1st Floor, Georgetown; March 12, Carroll’s Plaza, Dover DE. This is a high priority for Governor Markell. Come and learn and be heard.
Spiteful Son of a Gun—Our favorite Democratic (in name at least) state senator Tony DeLuca is no friend of open government. (By the way, he was one of the legislators who held up the wind power contract for months in the last legislative session.) With public input, recently the Newark city council unanimously proclaimed that they support the general assembly opening up to FOIA (the Freedom of Information Act). Senator DeLuca responded by drafting a Senate Bill to punish Newark, by weakening Newark’s Alderman’s Court, which provides revenues to the city. If you support open government, and oppose DeLuca’s retaliation against Newark, then ask your senator to oppose DeLuca’s Senate Bill related to Newark’s Alderman’s Court.
There is a Child Poverty Summit on Wednesday April 22nd, from 9am to 3:30pm in Dover. Go to www.dekidscount.org for more information, including registration information when it is available. This event is free, has limited space, and Michelle Obama has been invited, really.
Pro-Choice—Planned Parenthood of Delaware is holding a meeting on Thursday March 19th at 1pm at Planned Parenthood (625 N. Shipley St, Wilm). Clergy and members of faith-based congregations are invited to attend, and to explore how to strengthen and advance women’s right to reproductive freedom. For more information, contact Tammy Washington at 302-507-3662.
State Board and Commissions—There are a bunch of cool boards and commissions in Delaware (the full list is on pages 4-8 of http://governor.delaware.gov/board_and_commission_application-form.pdf). Governor Markell’s administration has the opportunity to fill many slots on these boards/councils. The following link can be used to see the full list, along with detailing the application process: governor.delaware.gov/boards-comms.shtml
Equal Rights Legislation in Dover—HB 5 – Non-discrimination Bill, sponsored by Rep. Schwartzkopf & Sen. Sokola, will prohibit discrimination against persons on the basis of sexual orientation in housing and employment. HB 10 – Domestic Partner Benefits for State Government Employees, sponsored by Rep. Schooley & Sen. Henry, will make the domestic partner of a state of Delaware regular officer, employee or eligible pensioner entitled to the same benefits that are provided to the spouse of a state employee or pensioner. HB 75 - Hospital & Nursing Facility Visitation Bill, sponsored by Rep. Keeley, Kowalko & Sen. Bunting, allows each competent adult patient to receive visits in a Hospital, nursing home or nursing facility from any individual from whom the patient desires to receive visits. It’s embarrassing that this legislation hasn’t been passed in Delaware years ago. I recommend the DLFMembers Yahoo Group, which does a great job of keeping up on this legislation.

Progressive Update--02/13/2009--Four Items

County Council Special Election—The 5th county council district (which encompasses most of Newark) has a special election next Thursday (the first Thursday election in Delaware’s history, I believe). The Democratic candidate is Lisa Diller (www.lisadiller.com), who has served on the 23rd RD committee for over ten years (more than twice the time I’ve served on it). Lisa has a great resume, and is a minister in Christiana. What I like best about Lisa is her deep concern for those who are often overlooked by people. Can I say that I also like the fact that Lisa is a woman, and every other county council member is a male?
To meet Lisa, go to a Diller Party on this Sunday from 3-5pm at John Mackenzie’s (711 Fiske Lane). Suggested contributions are $15/single and $25/couple. RSVP at lisadiller@gmail.com
The Republicans in Delaware have shown that they can get out the vote in special elections. This election will be decided by who shows up to vote. If you are in the 5th county council district (call 302-577-3464 to find out), please vote for Lisa Diller on Thursday the 19th, from 7am to 8pm, at the same voting location you voted in November.
Board/Commissions—Our new governor, Jack Markell, has the opportunity to fill many slots on a slew of boards and commissions. The application, which includes the extensive list of these boards/commissions, can be found at http://governor.delaware.gov/board_and_commission_application-form.pdf. The following link provides further information: http://governor.delaware.gov/boards-comms.shtml
‘Moderate Castle’—Can you explain to me how our supposedly moderate Republican congressman Mike Castle can goose-step with his fellow Republicans and vote against the economic stimulus bill? President Obama and congressional moderates incorporated many provisions requested by Republicans into the compromise bill, and yet Castle again voted against this bill. To find out what was removed from the original plan, check out http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/us/politics/13stimulus-web.html?ref=politics . I think that it is time for Delaware to call shenanigans on Castle, who tries to portray himself as a moderate, when actually he answers to House Minority Leader John Boehner, and not to Delawareans.
Ethics Forum—What are you doing for the next four Wednesday nights? Come to the Newark UU church for an ethics forum. Ethics and the Environment will be presented on the 18th, and Alan Fox and other UD professors will present Ethics and Religion on the 25th. For a flyer, go to http://www.uufn.org/temp/Ethics_Forum_2009.pdf

Progressive Update--01/24/2009

Lots has happened this week, with the inauguration of Obama/Biden and Markell/Denn. Last Saturday there was a ‘whistle stop’ in Wilmington with Obama/Biden. I shook Joe’s hand, and a good friend shook Obama’s (and this is recorded on CSPAN). Remember me? It’s been two months, so I guess that it is time to get working again!
Bob Herbert in today’s NY Times writes of Obama: But I’ve seen charismatic politicians and pretty families come and go like sunrises and sunsets over the years. There was something more that was making people go ga-ga over Obama. Something deeper.
We’ve been watching that something this week, and it’s called leadership. Mr. Obama has been feeding the almost desperate hunger in this country for mature leadership, for someone who is not reckless and clownish, shortsighted and self-absorbed.
Yes, we liberal Democrats are on cloud nine these days, and for good reason.
Newark—There is an open government resolution before Newark City Council on Monday night. The meeting begins at 7:30pm at the city building (Elkton and Apple Roads), starting at 7:30pm. Herbert’s column notes: “Transparency and rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency,” he said. It was a commitment to responsible behavior, and a challenge to the public to hold the Obama administration accountable. It reminded me of the wonderful line written into a federal appeals court ruling in 2002 by Judge Damon Keith: “Democracies die behind closed doors.” If you can, especially if you are a city resident, show up and let your city council know that you believe that open government is worth taking a stand.
Newark City Council’s February 9th meeting is expected to include public comments on equal rights proposals (benefits to domestic partners, recognizing gender identity, etc). Please plan to attend and be heard.
New Castle County—Stephanie McClellan left council to join Markell’s administration. The Democratic Party selected Lisa Diller to vie for the spot. You can learn more about Lisa at www.lisadiller.com . I voted in favor of Lisa, which isn’t notable, as the vote was unanimous. If the Republicans put up an opponent, reach out to Lisa to help. If opposed, the election will be on February 19th.
State Democratic Party—This is the season that our local Representative District (RD) committees select their members. The RD committees generally meet monthly, and are wonderful groups to join and serve on. I have served on the 23rd RD committee for several years (Lisa Diller has served on it for a decade).
How do you join? First, find out which RD you live in. Go to http://votesmart.org/index.htm. and enter your nine-digit zip code. Under State Legislative, you’ll find the State House District you live in. Next, go to www.deldems.org and select Calendar on the left. Look for the date of your RD Committee Caucus. This is the meeting where committee members are elected. Bring friends and neighbors—‘stuffing the ballot box’ is permitted!
King Corn—There is a showing of King Corn (www.kingcorn.net) at the Newark Unitarian church (www.uufn.org) this Tuesday night at 7pm, cosponsored by the Sierra Club.
Ethics Forum—The Newark Unitarian church (www.uufn.org) is hosting an ethics forum on Wednesdays in February and March, from 7-9pm. Speakers include several UD professors, including Richard Hanley, Alan Fox, Muqtedar Khan, and Jennifer Lambe. Go to http://www.uufn.org/temp/Ethics_Forum_2009.pdf for the current flyer.
Spaghetti Dinner—The 23rd RD Democratic Committee is hosting its annual Spaghetti Dinner and Auction on Friday April 3rd from 6-9pm. Save the date!
The Progressive Democrats for Delaware (http://www.progressivedemsdel.com/) have their monthly meeting in 11 days, on the 4th, at DelDems HQ in New Castle, at 7pm. Come join us!
There are some good bills coming before Delaware’s General Assembly this season. House Bill 1 calls for open government, removing the legislature’s exemption from the Freedom of Information Act. This has already made it through the House committee. Let your representative know that you want it approved without amendment. Good senators will need to work on preventing this from dying in Thurman Adams’ desk drawer. Let your senator know that you want them to ensure that HB1 gets a vote on the senate floor.
House Bill 27 calls for a one-year waiting period between the retirement of a legislator and the time when they are permitted to lobby. Thanks to Rep. John Kowalko for introducing this.
Senate Bill 7 calls for reasonable limits to ‘eminent domain’, the ability of the government to compel landowners to sell their property to the government, whether for public or private use. SB7 calls for ED to only be used for public reasons, not for private development reasons.
What I’d like to see is a bill to enact non-partisan redistricting. The RDs and SDs are redrawn every ten years. Typically, the ruling party (yes, Democrats for both houses now) play games (aka gerrymandering) which lead to insanely drawn districts. There is a simple, and good, solution, a bipartisan commission with public input (and public meetings). There is deep academic work in this area (state senate candidate John Mackenzie is a proponent), which makes terrific sense. Two years ago Common Cause of DE championed this, but since them CC has gone dormant. Who will lead this cause?
Enough for now. Thanks for reading. Be the change!

Progressive Update--01/06/2009

Remember me? It’s been two months, so I guess that it is time to get working again!
Actually, I had double knee replacement surgery in November, and am only now getting back to the ‘supplemental’ activities such as my progressive emails/blogs.
The Progressive Democrats for Delaware (http://www.progressivedemsdel.com/) have their monthly meeting tomorrow at DelDems HQ in New Castle, at 7pm. Come join us!
There is a Town Hall meeting tomorrow from 6-8pm, with special guest Governor-elect Jack Markell. For more information, go to http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gptkv5 The meeting will focus on minimizing foreclosures in Delaware. Two sponsoring organizations are ACORN (http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=13311) and DCRAC (www.dcrac.org).
Lisa Diller will be running for the soon-to-be-vacated 5th District New Castle County seat (as Stephanie McClellan leaves to join Markell’s team in Dover). There is an organization meeting for her from 2-4pm on this Sunday, at the Williamsburg Village Community Room. This district spans portions of RDs 21 through 25.
Newark City Council will have two very good public meetings coming up. On January 26th at 7:30pm the meeting will include discussion of an open government resolution. On February 9th, the meeting will include public comments on equal rights proposals (benefits to domestic partners, recognizing gender identity, etc). Please plan to attend and be heard.
Delaware ACLU is hosting a meeting on Relationship Recognition, on January 15th from 6:30-8pm, at Unitarian Universalist Society of Mill Creek (http://www.uusmc.org/).
The weekend of January 24th will be a weekend of service, promoted both by President-elect Obama and Governor-elect Markell. Contact Carol Boncelet (carolboncelet@hotmail.com to find out about three Newark-area opportunities she has identified, and labeled Newark Cares).
The state Democratic Party will be organizing this year, and you can have a role. Each RD, Representative District, will be electing its committee members in the coming week. Find out your RD, and go to www.deldems.org to determine when your RD holds its nominating meeting. Join your committee—typically a monthly meeting is involved, and you will be asked to pitch in for community events and in local campaigns. You will also be well positioned to have a voice in the party’s platform and in the selection of county and state-wide party leaders.
There are some good bills coming before Delaware’s General Assembly this season. House Bill 1 will call for open government, removing the legislature’s exemption from the Freedom of Information Act. This should fly through the House. Good senators will need to work on preventing this from dying in Thurman Adams’ desk drawer. Let your senator know that you want them to ensure that HB1 gets a vote on the senate floor, and for that matter, that you are fed up with the senate rules permitting bills to die in desk drawers.
New Officials—Information on Governor-Elect Markell and Lieutenant Governor-Elect Denn’s inauguration is at inaugural.delaware.gov . There is a swearing in ceremony at midnight on Monday night the 19th at the UD’s Mitchell Hall. Members of the state legislature will be sworn in on Tuesday the 16th in Dover. Committee assignments will be announced today. Obama and Biden will come through Delaware on a train on the 17th.