Letter to the Editor--02/19/2008--McDowell short on facts

Submitted to Wilmington News Journal, 2/19/2008 17:15

State Senator Harris McDowell wrote a Delaware Voice letter on the 19^th. In it he attempted to explain the reasons that his Senate committee has called for yet further hearings on the wind power contract, hearings that the News Journal staff has rightly identified as unnecessary foot-dragging. His letter contained significant mis-information.

He claims that the four state agencies were unable to agree to approve the contract in December. Actually, there were three state agencies, which all support the contract, and the Controller General, who answers to ‘the leadership’, including Senator McDowell himself. Why did these ‘leaders’ compel the Controller General to disagree with the experts, and stall this process?

McDowell claims surprise at objections to public hearings. What he fails to mention is that there have already been a number of public hearings and staff reports. He appears to feel that hearings that he failed to attend did not occur. I am disappointed that Senator McDowell would prefer to grandstand than to take the time to read the transcripts and reports.

McDowell also misleads when he discusses how much the wind power will cost. He mentions cost estimates two to ten times what the PSC analysis concludes (again, I certainly wish he would read their reports). He intentionally confuses the cost of wind power (which is known) with the difference in cost between wind and fossil fuel (which is unknown, due to the variable, and rising, cost of fossil fuel).

Bluewater’s wind power contract is like a fixed-rate mortgage, while natural gas is like an adjustable rate mortgage. Which mortgage is best depends on future interest rates (fossil fuel prices in this case), which can only be projected. This is why HB6 was written in the first place, to begin to insulate Delaware a bit from these rising fossil fuel costs.

I trust that Senator McDowell understands this—it is a shame that he prefers to confuse the issues rather than illuminate them.

Progressive Update--02/21/2008

It’s been a few weeks, so here we go.

Presidential Primaries—There is a debate tonight, and several primaries on March 4^th which could end or prolong this horse race.

I would like to apologize to readers who feel that I came on too strong, perhaps even implying that ‘no good progressive would support Hillary Clinton’. I did not mean to imply that. I only wanted to share I decided to strongly support Barack Obama, and to share some of the reasons, not to criticize those who prefer Hillary Clinton. In this email list/blog I will resume my fevered, unrestrained level of support when a clear party nominee is identified (although I likely would be understandably more restrained if the party nominee has the initials HRC).

I was selected as an Obama delegate by my representative district (RD) to go to the state-wide caucus in Dover on April 5^th. This was due in no small part to the help that several of my friends offered at the RD caucus (especially Joe, Julia, and Carol, but also others). The state caucus will determine who will serve as delegates at the national convention in Denver in late August. If you are, or know, a state-wide delegate from suburban New Castle County, who supports Barack Obama, I would really appreciate your support. If you would like to chat, send me a line. I currently put the odds of making it to Denver at 20:1, but they could improve with your help.

There are a few RDs (districts) that have not yet held their caucus, and which still have openings for people to participate. To see the schedule, go to http://www.deldems.org/ht/redisplay/1/printerfriendly/1. If your RD’s caucus has not yet met, and you’d like to know whether you can still participate, call DelDems HQ at 328-9036 (NC County) or 800-685-5544 (Kent & Sussex).

I use website http://www.electoral-vote.com/ to track the primaries. They are a bit liberal-leaning, but not enough to affect the value of their presentations. If you’d like to know recent polls from upcoming primary states, this site has them. The data on this site convinced me in late January that Obama would win many more Super Tuesday states than expected, and would clean up later this month, as he has repeatedly and reliably closed the gap with Clinton when given the chance to campaign in each state. I expect that the worst that Obama will do is to split 50/50 the March 4^th delegates, which will leave him 100 or so delegates ahead, but more likely, he will widen the gap (that was restrained, wasn’t it?)

Superdelegates—I expect that one way or the other, the race will be decided by the end of April (the PA primary is on 4/22). By that time I expect that one candidate or another will have an irreversible lead in normal delegates (and in the popular vote), at which point it appears that the ‘party leaders’ including Pelosi, Dean, and Gore, and perhaps Edwards, will 1) encourage the #2 candidate to gracefully withdraw, and 2) encourage the superdelegates to jump in force on the wagon to support ‘the people’s choice’. The last thing that they want is for there to be a back-door candidate, selected in a smoke-filled room in Denver. It will be time to focus on McCain rather than swiping at each other. Don’t you agree?

Wind Power—State Senator Harris McDowell has joined with Delmarva Power on a massive mis-information campaign. I have submitted a letter to the News Journal this week identifying several of McDowell’s distortions and lies; I am hopeful that it will be published shortly. For good information, go to http://tommywonk.blogspot.com/ where Tom Noyes collects some great information on the BlueWater Wind contract.

Governor—You likely know that I support Jack Markell for governor. You can find out more about his position on the issues at http://www.markell.org/issues.aspx

I was asked to let people know that John Carney, who is running against Jack Markell, will be at the VFW in Newark (behind City Hall on Elkton Road), on Thursday the 28^th at 6pm for a Q&A session. If you want to know more about John Carney’s positions, plan to attend. I believe that light refreshments will be served.

If you are not registered in Delaware as a Democrat, you will need to do so by March (I’ve heard both the 20^th and 30^th) in order to vote in the September primaries which will determine which Democrat is nominated to run for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Insurance Commissioner, and any other contested primary race position. You can register online by going to https://registertovote.elections.delaware.gov/VoterRegistration/TermsAgreement and follow the instructions.

City of Newark—There is a city council meeting this Monday at which the Newark Country Club project will be discussed. It sounds like we are stuck with what the developer is offering (unless we want another lawsuit against the city), which is disappointing, however we don’t have to take it quietly!

Ezra Temko is running for city council. Today’s Newark Post announced that he will have a competitor. To find out more about Ezra, go to his website at http://ezratemko.com/ He also has a letter to the editor in the same edition of the Post.

Sierra Club/UUFN—The Sierra Club has joined with the Social Justice committee of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Newark (UUFN) to show ‘the Dioxin movie’ on Wednesday the 27^th at 7pm at the UUFN (www.uufn.org for directions). DuPont executives may wish to skip this movie and discussion.

Paul S Baumbach

Send me an email if you would like to be removed from this email list.

You can find this and all past emails at my blog site: http://paulprogressive.blogspot.com

Obama Update--02/06/2008--Super Wednesday

Thanks are due to everyone who voted, and who helped get out the vote yesterday. Roughly twice as many people voted Democrat yesterday than Republican, not that it surprises anyone reading this.

I was following the recent poll numbers, at www.electoral-vote.com, and was very pleased that not only did Obama take the majority of states, but he also took five states where he had been polling in second place: Alabama, Connecticut, Minnesota, Missouri, and (no surprise here) Delaware. Hillary did likely get some more delegates than Barack, however the gap is far smaller than it would have been if Super Tuesday was only 7 days earlier. The momentum is clearly with Obama. Why is this?

One reason that Obama’s chances of taking the nomination is that Super Tuesday worked against him, and from here on out, the odds are with him. Obama began the campaign an unknown, while Hillary was a household name. As anyone who has seen him can attest, Obama makes quite a positive impression when you see and hear him. A half-the-country Super Tuesday reduces his ability to get in front of as many voters as he’d like. From now on, he will be able to be seen and heard, and as we know in Delaware, that makes all the difference.

Remember rule number one for Obama—he can not win this alone—he needs each of us. Alone, he will lose, together, we will win.

If you are in a state that has had its primary, this does not mean that your job is over. I live one mile from the Maryland state line, and its primary is next week. Go to http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/search_simple and enter your zip code and how many miles you are willing to drive to help Obama win, and you will find volunteer opportunities and events where you can help Obama win the nomination.

Unlike the Republicans, with their undemocratic winner-take-all approach, no Democratic state primary has a winner-take-all approach to delegates. This means that even in states where Obama takes less than 50% of the vote, he still is earning precious delegates. Every state is worth fighting for.

Let’s make this dream happen.

Yes we can, yes we can.

Paul S Baumbach

Progressive Update--03/01/2007--Super Tuesday Eve

If you live in DE (or NJ, or NY, or …) VOTE TOMORROW (especially if you vote for Barack Obama)

I heard the following from my friend Matt Kerbel, political science professor from Villanova University (and commentator on a local Philadelphia TV channel)

Hi, Paul. I don't know how much time I'll have tomorrow, but i can share a few quick "pre-game" thoughts with you today. On the Democratic side, the momentum is clearly with Obama, as I'm sure you know. We see this in the way he has closed the gap in national polls (which are relevant for the first time as the campaign moves into wholesale mode) and in a number of specific states. We see it in the size and enthusiasm of the crowds he is gathering and in the key endorsements he's been getting. I don't see any evidence that the debate last week slowed this momentum, which has been building since his lopsided win in South Carolina.

Remember that the calendar tomorrow favors Hillary. Both her home states (Arkansas and New York) go to the polls, along with states in her home region (New Jersey and Connecticut). She has an institutional advantage in California. Her plan was always to finish things off on Super Tuesday in the event that she wasn't able to finish them off in New Hampshire. But that won't happen, and if the Obama surge translates into huge turnout and the undecided voters break his way (which is indicated by the trends but not guaranteed), he could find himself in the driver's seat on Wednesday. Watch California. If Obama picks off a win there it will be stunning, and he will emerge as the new frontrunner (with a favorable calendar later in the month). If undecided voters break for Obama nationwide, this will become his race to lose. Like I said, it hasn't happened yet. But it wouldn't surprise me if it does.

On the Republican side, Huckabee's presence in the race is killing Romney (with voters and his kids, who feel he's wasting their inheritance on a fool's errand!), allowing McCain to edge ahead in primary states where he still has significant conservative opposition. But because the Republicans have so many winner-take-all states, McCain looks to win more delegates than his relative strength among supporters would suggest. If the Republicans played by the same proportional rules as the Democrats, McCain wouldn't be able to build a commanding delegate lead tomorrow. But they don't and he will. The one wrinkle in all this is California, where the Republican base is very conservative and where Romney has moved ahead in late polling. If he pulls it off and wins enough delegates elsewhere to maintain some semblance of viability, and if Huckabee pulls out after playing spoiler in state after state, Romney may calculate that he can go head-to-head with McCain and win. And he may be right, but the delegate numbers have to be there.

So that's what I'd look for tomorrow.

Progressive Update--02/01/2008 Obama & Delegates

Michelle Obama came to Wilmington and Dover Delaware yesterday, on January 31^st, and she was spectacular. I met her at a reception before her speech at the Grand Opera House, and then sat in the 3^rd row to hear her full talk. She captivated the entire standing-room-only audience.

I am sometimes asked why I back Barack Obama. Earlier this week I pointed to Caroline Kennedy’s Op-Ed on how Obama can be a President like her father, JFK. Caroline’s essay really captured my gut feel, that both Obama and Clinton have wonderful sets of policies, enough to make it a tie in my mind on that level. This forces me to examine the character, to examine what kind of president each would make. I would like to tell my grandchildren that I helped Barack Obama become President. I am not certain that I would be proud to say the same for Hillary Clinton.

Then I heard Michelle Obama. Her speech helped further crystallize this. Let me quote David Brooks (a seemingly Republican columnist for the NY Times): Obama is the one insistently calling on audiences to serve a cause greater than self-interest. He’s the one transcending partisanship and telling young people that politics can be the means to a meaningful, purpose-driven life. The Obamas won’t let us off the hook—they force you to ask what you can do for the country, and I like that, and the country does too.

I am tired of politicians telling us what we can not do, why we can not hope for better things. Obama inspires me to dream. Michelle Obama hit home another point—the road the Barack Obama lays before us is not easy, and he will not go it alone—it is much too difficult. The only way for us to make the changes he is laying out is for us all to work together towards these goals. This is hard, and a politician such as Hillary Clinton or John McCain have no ability to mobilize the country for something this hard. No one since JFK has had the ability to get so many people to say ‘where do I sign up?’

To sign up, first come to the rally on Sunday and get fired up. You will also have plenty of opportunities to sign up then.

***********************

Thank you to the twenty-plus friends who came to our Obama fundraiser on the 30^th. We raised over $2,500 to help Obama win most of Delaware’s delegates, on the road to his nomination as the Democratic candidate for US President this November.

Please join Barack Obama at a 'Stand for Change' Rally in Wilmington, where he'll talk about his vision for bringing America together and bringing about the kind of change we can believe in.

Stand for Change Rally with Barack Obama in Wilmington

Rodney Square
Corner of 10th and Market Street
Wilmington, DE

Sunday, February 3
Gates Open: 11:30 a.m.
Program Begins: 1:15 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public but an RSVP is strongly encouraged, so sign up now:

http://de.barackobama.com/wilmington

For security reasons, do not bring bags. Please limit personal items. No signs or banners are permitted.

I’ve attached a PDF file with the schedule of Representative District (RD) Caucus Meetings. If you turned in your delegate form by yesterday afternoon, then you are permitted to participate in your RD’s caucus. See the PDF file for date, time, and location for your meeting. Then show up! If you selected Barack Obama on your form, and would like to help me make it to Dover and then Denver, then if you are in the 23^rd RD, vote for me on the 11^th. If you selected Barack Obama on your form, and would like to help me make it to Dover and then Denver, but you are not in the 23^rd RD, then ask your fellow caucus goers to send vote for you so that you can go to Dover on April 5^th, and on April 5^th vote for me to go to Denver.

The following explanation of the caucus procedure was distributed by the DelDems (www.deldems.org) earlier this week.

· * The Next Step on the Road to Denver

If you filled out a delegate selection application and your presidential candidate received at least 15% of the February 5th primary vote in your representative district, you're eligible to participate in the representative district caucus. At the caucus, you'll meet with other delegate hopefuls in your representative district who are supporting the same presidential candidate as you. You'll receive 1-2 minutes to explain to the others why you should represent the district as that presidential candidate's delegate at the state convention. After everyone has had the opportunity to speak, both you and all of the people in the district supporting your candidate will vote on who becomes that candidate's delegates to the state convention at the Sheraton Dover Hotel on April 5th. Each representative district will send four delegates and two alternates to the state convention. Again, you cannot vote for delegates who are pledged to a presidential candidate other than the one you selected. You cannot change your presidential preference at any point after January 31st at 5:00pm. You are not allowed to "write in" anyone's name on the ballots distributed at the caucus. Finally, you cannot vote in the caucus or be selected as a delegate in the caucus if your candidate did not receive at least 15% in the primary. Go to the Delaware Democratic Party's website at deldems.org to find the time, date and location of the caucuses. If you have any questions or need to know in which representative district you live, please call Delaware Democratic Party headquarters at (302) 328-9036.

Paul S Baumbach

http://paulprogressive.blogspot.com/

Email me if you’d like to be removed from this email list. You can always go to the blog to see past entries.

Progressive Update--01/27/2008--Obama, Wind Power, and Obama

A few quick notes. The invitation to the Obama fundraiser I’m organizing is at the end of this. Note that it is this Wednesday, not Thursday as I earlier mistakenly stated.

On the topic of this Thursday, Michelle Obama is coming to Delaware this Thursday, 11:30am at the Grand Opera House, and 2pm at Del State in Dover. Tickets are not required, but an RSVP is. Please email to Delaware@barackobama.com, or call HQ at 302-573-2540 to RSVP or for questions.

Wind Power and Scooter Libby Justice coming to Delaware. Remember way back when our illustrious President (not that he can spell illustrious) said that anyone in his administration who was involved in the disclosure of CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identify would be swiftly dealt with. Scooter Libby was indicted and found guilty of obstruction of justice in this investigation. How did Bush deal with this criminal? He commuted Scooter’s conviction, essentially pardoning him. He stands by the rules unless he doesn’t like the result. That is Scooter Libby justice.

Well, Delmarva Power and several other (Delmarva-paid) legislators had no problems with the open-bid and open-meeting process for finding Delaware’s next energy source until the outcome was that offshore wind power was the winner. Now Delmarva and some of our legislators are saying that the process was not sufficient. I’ve had enough of Scooter Libby justice. Clearly the process would have been fine for Delmarva if the winning bid had been some fossil-fuel powered generating plant that brings them greater profits, and us worse health and higher costs and less security at home.

Ask your legislator these simple questions—did you vote for House Bill 6 that defined this process? If so, were all the steps under the law followed? Was there an open bid process? Did it consider all qualifying bids, whether from sea-based or land-based wind power? Were all experts for and against each proposal permitted to speak to the state regulating agencies which considered each bid? Were there open meetings for the public (including legislators who are, contrary to their own opinion, members of the public) to attend?

If your legislators say NO to any of these questions (and they really can’t), that they were uninvolved in House Bill 6, that this process was not followed, that an open bid process was not followed, that expert witnesses and open meetings were not held, then I have no problem if they work to slow down the BlueWater Wind process. However, if all of these steps were done, then stop this Scooter Libby justice system of standing by a process unless it results in an ending you (or your lobbyist friends) don’t like, and then changing the rules. Let’s reject the George W Bush model of governing.

I’m organizing a fundraiser for the Barack Obama campaign this Wednesday. If you are interested in attending (or sending a check), please read on. I am hopeful that the campaign will send Chris Lu, the campaign’s state communication director, who went to law school with Obama, and has been his chief legislative aid during Obama’s years in the US Senate. Note that I list a suggested contribution—it is just that, a suggestion, more is welcome, as is less. The campaign needs your money, to pay for signs, bumper stickers, ads, and transportation (say to bring Michelle Obama to Delaware).

Invitation

Barack Obama “I’m asking you to believe” Fundraising Party

When: Wednesday, January 30^th, 7-9 pm

Where: 3 Tufts Lane, Newark, 19711

RSVP by January 29^th, to paul@mallardadvisors.com so I can estimate for drinks and desserts

Campaign offices and TV ads cost money, and Barack isn’t hitting up corporate America for donations; he needs contributions from you and me. Let’s raise at least $2008 for Obama on the 30^th, just in time for Super Dooper Tuesday on February 5^th.

This is a fun-raiser and a fund-raiser, so bring nothing but yourself and your checkbook (suggested donation of $50 per person, checks to be made out to Obama for America—if you contribute more than $200, please provide your occupation and employer information)

If you can’t make it, don’t let that stop you from mailing an Obama for America check/donation to my home (38 Country Hills Drive, Newark, DE 19711) by the 30^th, and we’ll add it to the total.

For those of you who have already contributed the maximum ($2,300 per individual) towards his primary campaign, please join us without your tired checkbook, but plan to infect us all with your Obama-fever.

Please come even if you don’t RSVP, and don’t feel terrible if you RSVP but can’t make it at the last minute—I understand.

Barack Obama is in a very tight contest with Hillary Clinton to win the nomination of the Democratic Party. If you would like him to win, then please back up your good wishes with a contribution, and come and join us on the 30^th to celebrate working together to help Obama become the next President of the United States.

Paul S Baumbach

http://paulprogressive.blogspot.com/

Progressive Update--01/17/2008--Delegate Stuff & More

I would appreciate your help. I would like to serve as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, which will select the Democratic Party nominee to run for President in November. In this email I will describe how the process works, and, if you are interested, how you can help me go to Denver (at my cost) to participate in this process. (You can also use this to help yourself be selected to go to the national convention.)

There is a Delaware Delegate Selection Plan, which defines how Democrats in Delaware select their delegates to go to the national conference and actually elect their nominee to run for President in November? It is long and it is not as clear as it could be. I have (in my mind) improved the wording in this posting, at times diverging from the more confusing wording used in the Selection Plan. I will try to cover the most important steps.

Delaware will send 10 ‘Subdivision-level Delegates’ and 3 Alternates to the convention. There are also Unpledged Delegates and Pledge Party Leader and Elected Official Delegates, however amongst us mere mortals, the path to the convention is in the Subdivision-level delegates and alternates. These 13 slots are divided amongst Wilmington (2), the rest of New Castle County (5), Kent County (3), and Sussex County (3).

Your Role #1—Be a registered Democrat in Delaware, and vote at the Primary on February 5^th. I encourage you to vote for Barack Obama. The 13 slots are divided amongst the presidential candidates based on the percentage that each receives in the February 5^th vote of the public, so my chances of going will improve as Obama receives more of the vote of Delaware Democrats on the 5^th. Read on if you will consider participating further.

RD Caucus—Delaware has 41 RDs, Representative Districts. Each has one state Representative serving the district’s residents in the House of Delaware’s General Assembly. To find out what RD you are in, go to votesmart.org/index.htm and in the left side look for a box to enter your nine-digit zip code. After pressing enter, the page will fill with your national, state-wide, and local representatives. Look for your State Legislature > Representative. The district number is listed. Remember this number.

Each RD is holding a Caucus from February 8^th to the 29^th. Each RD will select 4 primary and 2 alternate people to attend the state convention/caucus on April 5^th in Dover. You can go to www.deldems.org and look for the entry for the caucus list. A partial list is available at http://www.deldems.org/ht/d/sp/i/1126873/pid/1126873 (I have no idea why the list is not complete, as these meeting dates/times were due weeks ago). If you wish to vote at the Caucus, you MUST complete a Delegate/Alternate Application Form, and turn it in by January 31^st. I have several (email me if you would like one), or you can contact www.deldems.org (302-328-9036, or Delaware@deldems.org) to request your own. Please remember to mark the State Convention box in the top, and not the National Convention.

Warning—If you complete one of these forms, you will be added to the DelDems database, and you will likely receive regular emails and mailings. Of course, most of you are already on their list, so this may not be a significant concern.

Your Role #2—If you wish to participate further, request, complete, and submit your Delegate Form by 1/31/08 at 5pm. With this accomplished, you can vote at your RD Caucus for a person to go to the state convention on April 5^th. If you wish to support me, then if you live in the 23^rd RD, then please submit your form with Barack Obama as your Presidential Preference, attend the 23^rd RD Caucus on 2/11 at 7:30pm at West Park Elementary, caucus with the Obama folks, and vote for me to be selected to go to the state convention.

If you wish to support me but do not live in the 23^rd RD, then consider if you are willing to go to the state convention. If so, submit your form with Barack Obama as your Presidential Preference, attend your own RD Caucus (by checking the schedule), caucus with the Obama folks, and ask them to vote for you to go to the state convention.

If you are selected by your RD, you will need to fill out another Application Form, and turn it in by March 5^th at 5pm (completing it as you did the earlier one, except marking National Convention in the box near the top this time).

State Convention/Caucus—On April 5^th the state convention will be held. Only those selected at the 41 RD Caucuses will be permitted to vote. All 165 or so folks will go to the caucus of their Presidential Preference, and in these subgroups they will vote on who goes to the national convention. Again, the number of delegates to the national convention that support any particular candidate will be determined by how many votes that candidate received at the February 5^th Presidential Primary in Delaware (so please vote).

Your Role #3—If you are selected by your RD Caucus to go to the state convention/caucus, and you selected Barack Obama as your Presidential Preference, then you are able at the state convention to vote for me (or anyone else in the caucus) to go to the national convention.

Delaware Civics class dismissed.

That was long enough, that I’ll keep my remaining comments fairly brief.

For local information on Barack Obama’s campaign, go to http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/dehome and find events and shortly volunteer opportunities. Now that Iowa and New Hampshire are behind them, the Obama campaign is really gearing up in Delaware.

For information on Jack Markell’s campaign for Delaware’s Governor, go to www.markell.org . Earlier this month I declared my support for both Barack Obama for US President, and for Jack Markell of Delaware Governor. Look at the recent posting at my blog for my rationale.

Wind Power—This is on hold at the moment. My frustration level (with how Dover operates) is over the top on this issue—every time BlueWater Wind, the winning bidder is asked to jump through a hoop, they do and then find yet another hoop presented—it never ends!! It sounds like the best approach for citizens to use for sharing their views are to write to Russell Larson, Controller General, Legislative Hall, Dover, DE 19901, or to the ‘leadership’ at General Assembly. Of course the leadership are those who don’t take calls, such as Thurman (I never met a desk drawer veto I didn’t like) Adams. I suggest that you remind Mr. Larson that while he supposedly serves at the pleasure of the ‘leadership’, the leadership supposedly serves at the pleasure of the public. You can also write to the Wilmington News Journal or other area paper, or call into WDEL and share your views. You can also contact your state Senator and Representative, and encourage them to (loudly) encourage their ‘leadership’ to represent your view, and to compel Larson to vote to approve the wind contract.

Presidential Forum in Newark—I am helping to organize a forum for each presidential candidate who will be on the ballot in Delaware to be represented, at the Unitarian church in Newark (www.uufn.org), on Saturday the 26^th (Democrats from 10 to noon, Republicans from 1 to 3pm). Please see the attached flyer, please plan to attend, and please tell your friends (and enemies). We have Rick and Brian from WDEL doing the moderating. We need a full audience to make this a screaming success. How else will your friends determine who to vote for on February 5^th? For the flyer, go to http://www.uufn.org/temp/080126%20Primary%20Candidate%20Forum%20Flyer.pdf

Paul S Baumbach

Progressive Update--01/06/2009--Finally off the Fence

Sorry for the back-to-back postings—events are hopping! A big election year is underway.

How the view up here?

I’m tired of being on the fence; I’ve had enough. Uncle! I have assiduously remained uncommitted regarding the candidates for President, and for Delaware Governor. I had what I thought were good reasons for remaining perched on the fence. I’ll share some of these reasons briefly, but would like to take more time on why I’m off the fence.

Governor—There are several Democrats running for Delaware Governor this year. I know two of them pretty well, John Carney and Jack Markell. Both have worked very hard for Delaware, and I like both candidates very much. I wanted to hold off on selecting a candidate to back for one primary reason—strategically, I dislike it when good Democratic money is used to beat a good Democrat. I have generally preferred Jack Markell, however I don’t like the idea of spending money ‘against’ John Carney.

That concern was trumped last week. Our esteemed General Assembly in Dover had the gall to halt the wind power project, in a typical unannounced, closed-door meeting, the hallmark of all that is wrong in Dover. This move is exactly the reason that we desperately need to OOGA, Open Our General Assembly, by removing the exemption that our General Assembly has from FOIA, the Freedom of Information Act. Their gutless move is exactly the reason that the public must insist that General Assembly needs to pass Senate Bill 4.

Enter Jack Markell. On Friday Markell issued a press release in which he calls the legislators to task. He takes a very un-Dover stance, stating that the public has the right to know what is going on behind closed doors that will impact our wallets. Markell and Carney are generally on the right side (in my opinion) of most important issues. However on Friday, Jack Markell made clear that he is a real leader, who puts what is right ahead of politics (and risking offending the ‘good ole boys’ in Dover). Jack Markell pulled me off the fence on Friday, and I thank him.

I will be sending a check to his campaign this week, and I encourage each of you to go to www.markell.org to learn more. I still like John Carney, and respect the heck out of him. However, Jack Markell is my choice for Delaware’s next governor.

President—I have been developing a 2008 New Years resolution for a few months. I want to be a delegate at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver in August. That has affected my backing of presidential candidates, and caused me to remain on the fence for longer than I’d like. (A second reason is that as my church’s Social Justice chair, I organize presidential primary forums, and it is easier if I am viewed as unbiased.)

I really like the field of Democrats running for President. As a matter of fact, I like my least favorite Democratic candidate more than I like my most favorite Republican candidate. It amazes me that the Republican candidates are uniformly in their dream state, ignoring the fact that the Bush tax cuts have produced an incredible budget deficit, that Bush’s immoral war has caused dramatic harm to our country and the people of Iraq, that the Patriot Act and Guantanamo Bay are diametrically opposed to the Constitution and our Founding Fathers’ principles.

Only two men (and two women) will be selected as delegates from suburban New Castle County, in which I live, to go to the national convention. This has put pressure on me to declare my support for a candidate who would earn enough delegates in Delaware to give me a chance of being selcted. The pressure was sharply reduced on Thursday, as Delaware’s own Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race, and as Barack Obama won in Iowa.

With Biden out of the race, my first-choice front-runner is likely to get at least one-third of the vote in Delaware, and therefore I am able to ‘come out of the closet’, and publicly declare my support for Barack Obama (www.barackobama.com).

Most of the Democratic candidates have good positions on health care, the Occupation of Iraq, tax policy, etc. If you are interested in which candidates share most of your views, go to http://www.change.org/presidential_matchmaker I warn you that it does not put any ‘weights’ on the questions. Biden’s opposition to a woman’s right to choose, on which I differ from Biden, is rated as importantly as Hillary’s support for Mandatory Three Strikes sentencing laws, on which I disagree with Clinton, but which I don’t consider as important as being pro-choice.

I find the site in useful in doing what the media is failing at miserably—seeing how the candidates’ positions differ. I examined the positions of the leading three Republican candidates. It shows those who are anti-choice (McCain, Romney), those who prefer coal over alternative energy (Guiliani, Romney), those who support discrimination based on sexual orientation (Romney), those who wish to piratize Social Security (McCain, Romney), those who desire to cut taxes further on the rich (Giuliani, McCain, Romney), and those who support the Patriot Act (Giuliani, McCain, Romney). The media instead focuses on pressing issues like ‘what did you dream about last night?’, and ‘what is your pet peeve?’ With a media like we have, it is hardly surprising that we’re suffering through eight years of Bush.

Again, I feel that every Democratic candidate is far superior to each and every Republican candidate. I think that they all have their strengths and weaknesses. I recognize that several candidates are ‘better’ than Obama on some issues, for instance the war (Kucinich seems better), and experience (Richardson seems better). I’m fine with that. I’m not a singe-issue voter; I’m looking for the total package, and I think that Obama is it.

We’ve all been told that Obama can’t be President. They said that we can’t elect an African American. They said that we can’t elect such a young man. They said that Obama doesn’t attract Republican voters. Well, Iowa showed us 1) that while valid, these concerns are not serious, and 2) that those who spread these concerns are more often than not opponents, masquerading as analysts.

Of the three leading candidates, I feel that Obama is the most truthful when speaking his mind. This is very important to me. I feel that Obama gets ‘the vision thing’, that he can picture how to make the world better, and he can describe it to others. It amazes me that Hillary complains about the ‘false hopes’ that Obama shares. We can not achieve great things if we aim low. Hillary Clinton doesn’t get this. Obama aims high, and that is what we need. I want our country to be led by a President who aims high.

Barack Obama is in many respects a polar opposite to John Kerry. He has vision, and he can inspire. Check out his speech from Thursday night at http://www.barackobama.com/2008/01/03/remarks_of_senator_barack_obam_39.php

Obama inspires me. I hope that I am able to be an Obama delegate at the convention that nominates him in Denver in August. Later this month I will share with you the delegate process, and what lays ahead of me in this quest.

In the meantime, count me in Barack Obama’s camp. I’m signing up on their website, and I’ll be donating.

I’m off the fence, and quite happy about aiming high, and thinking optimistically about our state and our country. Thank you, Jack Markell and Barack Obama.

Paul S Baumbach

Send me an email if you would like to be removed from this email list.

You can find this and all past emails at my blog site: http://paulprogressive.blogspot.com

Progressive Update--01/04/2008

Three quick items

OOGA—Open Our General Assembly—Please join a push to open up Delaware’s legislature to FOIA, the Freedom of Information Act. Find out how to make your points to your legislators and newspapers at http://www.progressivedemsdel.com/meetings/FOIA_LTE_TALKING_POINTS.php

More importantly, drive to Dover this Tuesday, the 8^th, to let our state Senators that five years in a desk drawer is too much, and that Senate Bill 4 deserves a vote. Let Rebecca Young know if you will be going, by emailing her at young.rh@comcast.net She has a limited number of OOGA T-shirts, and she will have buttons. WDEL will be broadcasting all afternoon from Legislative Hall. There will be a carpool from New Castle, leaving at 12:30pm. If you can make it, PLEASE DO!!!

Wind Power in Delaware—Proving how much we need to OOGA, the General Assembly leadership, in a closed-door session, forced Russell Larson, their Controller General to defy the public (who support bringing wind power to Delaware by 20:1) and to ignore the experts at the Delaware Public Service Commission which studied the Bluewater Wind proposal for a year and found it to be in the state’s best interests. Larson put wind power on hold. Of the four government arms to decide on the next form of energy for our state, only one is closed to the public, the General Assembly’s Controller General, Russell Larson.

What can you do? Let your representative and senator know that you are fed up with ‘business as usual’ in Dover, in closed-door sessions, and in the General Assembly leadership ignoring the voters and caving to corporate interests. Let them know that you want them to stand up and insist that Russell Larson support the Bluewater Wind contract already approved by the Public Service Commission, without further disgraceful delay.

Presidential Primary Forum—One state down, forty-nine and DC to go. Delaware’s primary is February 5^th. My church (directions at www.uufn.org) is sponsoring two forums on Saturday January 26^th. All Democratic candidates are invited to send a representative to the morning forum, from 10am to noon, and all Republican candidates are invited to the afternoon forum from 1-3pm. Please reserve the date and time, and come and find out which candidate you will be voting for on February 5^th, and tell a friend.

Paul S Baumbach

Send me an email if you would like to be removed from this email list.

You can find this and all past emails at my blog site: http://paulprogressive.blogspot.com

AMT Fix Held Hostage by Republicans

Republicans—The Party Striving to Bankrupt the Government—Today, Senate Republicans showed their true colors, by putting rich donors ahead of our kids. They blocked a desperately-needed extension to the AMT-patch. Why did they do this? A little history is needed to answer that.

The AMT tax is a parallel tax system designed in the 60’s to fix a problem. 255 families avoided paying any taxes through excessive deductions. Congress designed the AMT to assess a minimum tax level on everyone’s income, even without normal deductions. Unfortunately, a lot has changed in the past 30 years, and the AMT does not have an annual inflation-adjustment. Without a patch, the 2007 ‘exemption amount’ not only wouldn’t rise with inflation, it falls 28% to $45,000 for a couple. Without a patch, the 2007 AMT will catch tens of millions more taxpayers than in 2006.

Both Republicans and Democratic Congresspersons want to fix this (since they don’t want to lose votes in 2008). The Republicans, however, want to fix it in an interesting way, by charging it. Yes, this week they objected to following the Democratic designed ‘PAYgo’ system, where a bill with a tax cut has to provide revenue to PayAsYou go. The Republicans merely want to add $51 billion to the deficit, and let our kids and grandkids worry about it.

The Democrats (remember when Democrats were chastised for tax and spend?) instead offered a way to partially pay for it. They wanted to have hedge fund managers pay their fair share. Hedge fund managers typically are paid ‘2 and 20’, 2% on the size of their funds plus 20% of any investment return. So if a hedge fund manager runs a $100 million hedge fund that earns 10% in 2007, they would receive $2 million plus $2 million, or $4 million. Not bad for a year’s work.

You would think that the $4 million the manager receives is taxed as ordinary income, right? Wrong! It is called ‘carried interest’, and enjoys the very low long-term capital gain treatment. Just think if your W2 income was taxed at only 15%--that sure would be nice! By fixing this loophole, Democrats could pay for much of the necessary AMT-fix. There is only one problem—Republicans in the Senate.

If you live in a state with a Republican Senator, contact them and insist that they stop the gravy train for hedge fund managers, that they stop holding AMT relief hostage to maintaining a loophole for hedge fund managers, that they return to their roots of fiscal responsibility, and follow the Democrats’ PAYgo system which protects future generations from a crushing federal debt.

Progressive Update--12/04/2007

Bob Carson--Carson is running as a Democrat for the office of state Representative from the 28th RD district. This seat opened up when Democrat Bruce Ennis succeeded in winning the election for state Senator from the 14th SD district. This is a special election, to be held this Saturday. My very limited sources indicate that Bob 1) is a shoe-in, and 2) is no progressive. I do not plan to pitch in to help in this election.

Mike Terranova--Mike plans to run as a Democrat against Republican incumbent Liane Sorenson in 2008, for state Senator in the 6th SD district. I met Mike last night at the 23rd RD Democratic committee meeting. He seems like a good guy and a good candidate. He cares about law enforcement (he is a retired county police officer, and lobbied for a few years in Dover on behalf of the FOP), fire-fighters and first responders, and education. He mentioned that he is reaching out to labor for support, that he supports open government in Dover, and opposes the desk-drawer veto Senate rule. At this early point, I am hopeful with this candidate.

2008 Strategy--I would like to see progressive Democratic candidates successfully challenge Republican state Senators such as Sorenson in the 6th and Amick in the 10th. In this manner, I am hopeful that the party can replace Thurman Adams as President Pro Tempore with a less conservative Democratic senator. I would like to see Democrats attain a majority in the state House, through victories in districts with heavy Democratic majorities and yet Republican Representatives, such as Spence in the 18th, Oberle in the 24th, and Lofink in the 27th. I would like to see a more progressive candidate than Earl Jacques run against Lofink in the 27th, or perhaps he has shifted a bit since 2006.

If you know of a progressive friend in one of these districts, please encourage them to run. They should feel free to reach out to Rebecca Young at young.rh@comcast.net (or myself at paul@mallardadvisors.com). Rebecca is the executive director of the Progressive Democrats of Delaware at www.progressivedemsdel.com

Progressive Update--12/02/2007

The last broadcast email I sent was almost three months ago. I have, however, posted more than a half-dozen entries to my blog at (http://paulprogressive.blogspot.com/). I have changed my ‘MO’ due to my busy life and yours. I haven’t had time to send out a monthly, or even bi-monthly, progressive email. I suspect that you’d rather check on progressive items on your schedule. My blog permits you to get information when you are ready. I will try to post something every week to month, and I expect the frequency to increase as the elections approach.

CONGRESS

The Republicans are pissed off that the country booted them out of Washington thirteen months ago, as the Democrats grabbed majority of both Houses. To soothe their fragile egos, and to confuse the country, they are pushing the polls that show that Americans are more frustrated with Congress than they are with Bush. This is right and accurate. It is right and accurate because the country (finally) knows that Bush is hopeless, however for a while there we had hope that this Congress could reverse our course, a hope since dashed. We are frustrated, frustrated that Congress can not restrain Bush. We are frustrated that, with a majority in Congress, Democrats are unable to get reasonable healthcare for kids, or an exit timetable from Iraq. This is not due to a weakness of Congressional Democrats, it is due to the Congressional rules, which permit 40 Senators to block most Senate action, and which permit 34 Senators to block an override of Bush’s vetoes. The Democratic Party’s sin is that we follow the US Constitution (unlike Bush), and we follow Senate rules.

The only fault of the Democratic Party is that they were not clearer in 2006—they should have said, give us the majority, and we will be able to stop Bush from making things worse, and we will be closer to getting the country on the right track. You (the country) got us into quite a pickle with so many conservative Republicans in Congress—it will take more than one mid-term election to get us back on track. If the NBA required that Michael Jordon wear lead shoes, we would be quite disappointed in his performance, however we would not be able to properly put the blame on him!

IRAQ WAR

The surge is working! Really? The one thing that this country knows for certain about Iraq is that the Administration can not be trusted to tell the truth. I like the fact that Iraqi’s who are shot in the front of the head are counted differently from those shot in the back. Thirty to forty thousand more troops on the ground makes a difference in security? What news! Does that mean that this ten-month long surge is over? Of course not.

The American people in November 2006 voted for Democrats who called for an end to the Occupation. To address this, Bush sent in thirty thousand more troops. Not until we have thirty thousand troops fewer than we had in Iraq in November 2006 will I be satisfied that we are making progress. I have yet to hear of a single significant political milestone accomplished this year in Iraq. Bring the troops home, and we’ll talk about a working Iraq program.

ATTORNEY GENERAL

I know that many of us were very disturbed by the responses to newly approved US Attorney General Mukasey to the issue of waterboarding. The kindest thing that can be said is that he was evasive. One Democratic Senator (Schumer?) reluctantly voted in favor of Mukasey, based on the ‘worst of two evils’ view that if Mukasey was rejected by the Senate, Bush would appoint a temporary AG for the remaining 13 months, and that Mukasey would very likely be far better than that alternative. I am not pleased with the result, however I feel that our energies should be focused on the bigger picture—torture, and executive excesses.

I find it very sad that the Congress needs to pass legislation that defines, and prohibits torture, however it is clear that this Administration needs such restrictions. I find it even more disturbing that Bush is not alone in justifying immoral torture executed by Americans. Several Republican candidates for President are falling over themselves touting their support for ‘appropriate torture’. If there is a snowball’s chance in Minnesota that one of these folks will follow Bush into the White House, then we need Congress now to pass legislation prohibiting torture. What a sad state!

Similarly, Bush has shredded so many Constitutional rules (eavesdropping on US citizens, for instance), and the balance of power must be restored. Otherwise, the Imperial Presidency will just have begun, rather than ended in January 2009. A friend of mine has nightmares thinking about the country, with the currently exercised presidential powers, under Rudy Guliani (for whom the ends always justify the means). The current Congress has the ability to begin rebalancing the three branches, and a stronger Democratic majority after the 11/08 elections will empower them to complete this restorative work.

WIND POWER

I get really ticked off with the incessant delays in bringing wind power to Delaware. I had my letter to the editor published last week in the Wilmington News Journal. My unedited version read:

Pawns of Delmarva

I was very disappointed with the events covered in the “Last-ditch chance for wind farm” article on the 21^st. I see that the ‘power’ in Delmarva Power doesn’t stand for energy, but rather power over Delaware’s government and citizens, power to line their pockets.

Months ago our state government selected Bluewater Wind in an open bid contest. Bluewater has worked tirelessly to move this process forward. Delmarva is another story. The article’s subtitle is that the state ‘agencies order contract negotiations’. Why must negotiations be ordered? Because at every turn, Delmarva has obstructed this process of bringing clean, sustainable energy to Delaware.

Delmarva is quoted as hoping ‘more companies will get the chance to bid on the wind contract’. That train has left the station; the bid process has already finished, and Bluewater was selected. I’m sorry that Delmarva doesn’t like it, but it isn’t their decision. What Delmarva is hoping, of course, is that more delays can continue their gravy train, at Delaware consumers’ expense. Delmarva’s spin machine had the nerve to complain about the cost increases due to the months and months of delay that Delmarva’s foot dragging has caused! Enough is enough.

The citizens and the state agencies have clearly stated that Bluewater should provide clean energy to our state. It’s time for Delmarva’s regulators to do their job and force Delmarva to stop holding the process hostage. Time (and energy) is wasting.

Keep your ears and eyes open for pressure on legislators and regulators to further delay this program, and speak up loudly and often. Your future wealth and health depends on it.

DEfog—DEfog stands for Delaware For Open Government. This is a new bipartisan, grass-roots group that is dedicated to open up state government to the people. FOIA is the Freedom of Information Act. When FOIA was passed by the state legislature, they conveniently made themselves exempt. Convenient, isn’t it? Senate Bill 4 is designed to have the General Assembly covered by FOIA. We expect that this bill will be mildly amended shortly, and will then have a good chance of passage, with your help. In the next two months I will let you know of opportunities to write to your elected officials and to the media to share your support for opening Dover to the light of day.

Delaware Governor Primary Race—I like both Jack Markell and John Carney. Of the two, Jack seems more progressive to me. Nonetheless, I plan to support neither in the primary race, unless one turns negative. I’d rather have my dollars used in campaigns against Republicans and conservative Democrats. I will support the primary’s victor in their campaign against their Republican rival.

28^th Representative District—State Senator James Vaughn passed away this fall. 28^th RD Representative Bruce Ennis ran for Vaughn’s seat and won, leaving open his seat in the 28^th. Bill Carson was selected to run for the seat. While we are closing the gap to gain the majority in the House from the Republicans, we need this seat to avoid losing ground. I will post more information on this candidate when I receive it. www.deldems.org lists volunteer opportunities for Carson’s campaign.

Election Season—The Delaware Democratic Party (www.deldems.org) is working already towards the 2008 elections. They, and all fifty state parties, are working on developing a high-quality database of households in the state, to better focus campaigning efforts. The national Democratic Party recently noted that face-to-face visits are far and away more effective than phone calls and mailings. I know that I prefer face-to-face visits to phone calls—how about you?

I will keep an eye out for areas of high need, house (or senate) election districts where we can grab a seat from a Republican, like we did in the 25^th with John Kowalko in 2006, and Bryon Short earlier this year. I will also keep an eye out for county and state seats that need some extra help, and will let you know when I see these opportunities

Pennsylvania—There is a website of progressives in southeastern PA: http://www.progressivenetworksepa.org

Paul S Baumbach

Letter to Editor--11/28/2007

The Wilmington News Journal on 11/28 ran a letter that I submitted regarding bringing wind power to Delaware. They whittled my letter down a bit--here it is in its entirety:

Pawns of Delmarva

I was very disappointed with the events covered in the “Last-ditch chance for wind farm” article on the 21^st. I see that the ‘power’ in Delmarva Power doesn’t stand for energy, but rather power over Delaware’s government and citizens, power to line their pockets.

Months ago our state government selected Bluewater Wind in an open bid contest. Bluewater has worked tirelessly to move this process forward. Delmarva is another story. The article’s subtitle is that the state ‘agencies order contract negotiations’. Why must negotiations be ordered? Because at every turn, Delmarva has obstructed this process of bringing clean, sustainable energy to Delaware.

Delmarva is quoted as hoping ‘more companies will get the chance to bid on the wind contract’. That train has left the station; the bid process has already finished, and Bluewater was selected. I’m sorry that Delmarva doesn’t like it, but it isn’t their decision. What Delmarva is hoping, of course, is that more delays can continue their gravy train, at Delaware consumers’ expense. Delmarva’s spin machine had the nerve to complain about the cost increases due to the months and months of delay that Delmarva’s foot dragging has caused! Enough is enough.

The citizens and the state agencies have clearly stated that Bluewater should provide clean energy to our state. It’s time for Delmarva’s regulators to do their job and force Delmarva to stop holding the process hostage. Time (and energy) is wasting.

Progressive US Senate Hopeful Jeff Merkley from Oregon

US Senator Candidate Jeff Merkley from Oregon—A good friend of mine, Carol Boncelet, who owns a Fair Trade store in Newark, DE, has a college friend who is running for US Senate in Oregon. Jeff Merkely has an impressive resume, including nine years in the state House. Last year he was elected Speaker of the Oregon House, and in a single legislative session he chalked up one progressive victory after another.

As I have said before, the 2006 elections were step one, while necessary, they were not sufficient to get the country back on track. Democrats attained a majority of the Senate last year, however 51 Democratic Senators can not override a Bush veto, nor can they stop Bush-enabling Republican Senators from blocking legislation and votes (via fillibusters). The next step we must take is to get more than 60 Democratic Senators, and the country will be far better off if many of them are progressives like Merkley. To keep an eye on the 2008 Senate races, go to http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2007/Senate/senate_races.html

You can find out more at www.jeffmerkley.com; his record and platform is very impressive (read the DailyKos interview). Please learn more about Jeff Merkley. It is very difficult to beat an incumbent US Senator, and Jeff needs financial support from all progressives, including you!