Where public policy meets common sense
Posted in Education, Jack Markell on Oct 13th, 2009
Update at end Governor Minner gave us the brilliant slogan “Delaware, It’s Good Being First,” and indeed we were first, page A1 of the Monday edition of the New York Times. However, based on the article maybe we should change our slogan to “Delaware, It’s Good Being Zero,” as in zero tolerance. Hat Tip to Delaware Dem over at Delaware Liberal for first [...]
Posted in Greg Lavelle, Jack Markell, Open Government, Transparency on Sep 18th, 2009
The Governor’s office responded to Rep. Lavelle’s FIOA request for Mr. Vince Meconi. The answer is there is no formal contract and no formal standards have been set. He is a casual/seasonal employee with no formal job duties contracted, but his agency sets out expectations. He is paid $38.46 an hour and must keep a [...]
Posted in Jack Markell, Military on Sep 1st, 2009
Our fine Governor (at least for today) is signing a bill to give new bill which will help pay for Master’s Degrees, provide in-state tuition rates to Del. Guardsmen who live out-of-state. There are ever increasing challenges for Guardsmen. The question is no longer if you will be deployed but when. It is a good [...]
Posted in Budget, Business, Education, Jack Markell, Markell on Aug 20th, 2009
August 19, 2009 Governor Markell and the General Assembly members for the Dover area held an under advertized town hall meeting for the local residents at the Kent County Administrative Offices in Dover. The 2 hour meeting began with the Governor laying out some of his vision and answering questions from the public. It [...]
Posted in Courts, Jack Markell on Aug 20th, 2009
Out of the choices available, the Governor has taken the safe path by nominating J. Travis Laster, a Wilmington attorney, to serve as Vice Chancellor on Delaware’s Court of Chancery. The Governor had to choose a Republican by law. The nominating commission gave him a chance to choose a sitting judge with a proven record, [...]
Posted in Jack Markell on Aug 17th, 2009
The Budget was passed on time and balanced (even if part of it was on the already strained backs of taxpayers) and for the first time in a 30 years it was smaller than the previous budget. Real education reform was passed which will test students in real time, reward successful teachers, and cut extraneous [...]
Posted in Energy, Jack Markell on Aug 16th, 2009
Governor Markell touted the cash for clunkers program claiming that over a million and a half dollars had already been allocated for Delaware. You may know that from the papers. He touted the program as a reason to back his energy rationing scheme. “The ‘Cash for Clunkers’ program shows we grow our economy while also [...]
Posted in Budget, Jack Markell on Aug 10th, 2009
The News Journal reports on Wednesday that Vince Meconi, the social services secretary under former governor Minner, remains on the state payroll as a consultant, pulling down a nice $6093.75 a month for his work. The News Journal states: Not only is Meconi collecting $6,093.75 every month for his work in the governor’s office, he [...]
Posted in Cathcart, Delaware Democrats, Delaware GOP, Jack Markell, Open Government, Schwartzkopf, State Senate, Taxes, economy on Aug 7th, 2009
Representatives Cathcart and Short swing back: Rep. Schwartzkopf took unjustified jab at House Republicans Dick Cathcart and Dan Short Recently, State House Majority Leader Pete Schwartzkopf wrote a column in which he used one arm to pat House Democrats on the back while using the other to take an undeserved swipe at House Republicans. We [...]
Posted in Bluewater Wind, Delaware Democrats, Energy, Environment, Jack Markell on Jul 30th, 2009
Markell and Longhurst thing the way to grow our economy is to shrink it. I wonder how do they think that this is a good idea? The governor signed two bills yesterday which will impact everyone who lives or works in Delaware. I am all for encouraging conservation, but we should not be setting into [...]
Posted in Delaware Blogs, Delaware Democrats, Entitlements, Hate Speech, Jack Markell, State Senate on Jul 27th, 2009
The Sussex Countian is reporting that Polly Adams has decided to participate in the Sussex League of Women Voter’s forum on July 30th at the County Council Chambers on the circle in Georgetown: Democratic State Senate candidate Polly Adams Mervine confirmed on Monday that she will take part in a Thursday candidate’s forum sponsored by [...]
Posted in Delaware Democrats, Election 2009, Entitlements, Jack Markell, Sarah Palin, State Senate, Stuff, economy on Jul 20th, 2009
It appears that the plot may be thickening when it comes to the alleged candidacy of Polly Adams Mervine Polly Mervine Adams. When we last left the alleged candidate, she apparently tried to get Senator Bob Venables to stand in for her at tonight’s forum at Crossroads Community Church in her hometown of Bridgeville, got [...]
Posted in Election 2009, Jack Markell on Jul 15th, 2009
This is expected news, but news nonetheless. What is interesting is that Mr. Book of Issues did not reference one issue in the endorsement. Read it for yourself. Polly Adams Mervine is the Democratic candidate for the 19th Senate district. Her father, Thurman Adams, represented the 19th Senate district for over three decades until his [...]
Posted in Jack Markell on Jun 27th, 2009
The Governor’s office pulled back from a major oversight. They originally scheduled the signing of SB 121 for the same day as Senator Adams Funeral. They since changed it to the 2nd of July. Scheduling any bill signing without checking that funeral schedule was a major oversight. This is the second major bill signing that [...]
Posted in Budget, Cathcart, Deficit, Delaware Blogs, Delaware Democrats, Delaware GOP, Jack Markell, Local Media, Republican Party, Taxes, economy on Jun 19th, 2009
For the record, I am happy we have Dick Cathcart and Jack Markell, I really am. These two are absolutely hardballers and having them in opposition right now over the budget is a great thing. There should be fighting over this. Never would I want to see happy bandwagoners supporting something as drastic as this [...]
Posted in Charlie Copeland, Comment Rescue, Delaware Blogs, Delaware Democrats, Jack Markell, Open Government, Transparency on May 29th, 2009
Lt. Governor Matt Denn has caused a stir in Delaware’s Blogosphere by starting a blog that he touts as, “the first official blog written by a member of Delaware’s state government.” And as far as I can tell, it is. It’s also, as I pointed out on Down With Absolutes, a blog that doesn’t give [...]
Posted in Carney, Change, Crime, Delaware Democrats, Employment, Ethics, Jack Markell, Local Media, Open Government, Quotes, Schwartzkopf, unemployment on May 5th, 2009
Today I found out that my state representative thinks his job is to be the Governor’s waterboy: “Part of my job is to carry the water for the governor and it’s just that simple.” ~ Rep. Pete “The Waterboy” Schwartzkopf We just got out of an election season where John Carney, the former Lt. Governor, [...]
Posted in Comment Rescue, Delaware Blogs, Jack Markell, Markell on Apr 1st, 2009
I am rescuing my own comment from Elbert’s “Elbert With an ‘E’” blog post. Linked above, pasted below: OK, it’s time to give up this outrage. The name given to this event was developed by bloggers (possibly DD, I believe), not Governor Markell or any of his staff. It was indeed a MISNOMER by calling [...]
Posted in Budget, Change, Conservatism, Delaware Blogs, Election 2008 - Delaware, Jack Markell, Open Government, Reform, economy on Mar 31st, 2009
Governor Jack Markell held a “roundtable” in Newark this morning with “Delaware Bloggers.” Strangely missing from the “roundtable” were bloggers from Sussex County, the majority all of Kent County, and any blogger anywhere in Delaware that even slightly smacked of conservatism.
Posted in Budget, Change, Delaware Democrats, Education, Election 2008 - Delaware, Jack Markell, Liberalism, Open Government, Spending, economy on Mar 25th, 2009
Fear Mongering And Loathing In Las Vegas Delaware Once upon a time, I worked for a wise candidate who told me that when budget cuts are on the horizon, an administration will threaten teachers’ jobs or pay to scare and anger the masses. That way, when a teacher’s 8% pay cut ends up being a [...]
Posted in Budget, Business, Delaware Democrats, Development, Jack Markell, New Castle County Council, Spending, Sports, Waste, economy on Mar 20th, 2009
Three new casinos for Delaware? That’s our new Governor’s vision for our beloved state. Think about it…Delaware is 96 miles long…3 new casinos will give us a casino every 16 miles! Oh yeah, and apparently we might need sports betting (even though professional sports is opposed to it), and table games, too. Well, I have [...]
Posted in Change, DNREC, Economics, Energy, Environment, Global Warming, Jack Markell, Minner Failures, NRG, Stuff, economy on Mar 17th, 2009
Governor Jack Markell has announced that a Californian named Collin O’Mara is his pick to head up the train wreck known as DNREC. O’Mara is described by the Markell Administration as a “climate prosperity leader” and a “climate prosperity expert.” Well, I had no idea what the heck either of those things were, so I [...]
Posted in Jack Markell, Sports on Mar 12th, 2009
Delaware gov. eyes legal sports bets . On a side note, the dope(s) that handles the web-posting of their stories managed to misspell Delaware on the HTML-page-title.
Posted in Change, Education, Jack Markell on Mar 8th, 2009
In the beginning of February, I got a newsletter from school reminding parents that the Delaware State Testing Program was coming up in March. It contained a little advice: …please be sure that your child gets an adequate amount of rest the nights before the DSTP tests. A good breakfast is also very important. Send [...]
Posted in Jack Markell on Dec 15th, 2008
Delaware Talk Radio is reporting that Dennis Rochford will not take over as Governor Markell’s chief of staff. We hope that this does not signal a backsliding of recent efforts for cost control in state government. This disturbing development will be updated as more information becomes public.
Posted in Jack Markell, economy on Dec 5th, 2008
Alan Levin is a great business mind who will serve the state well as Economic Development Director. It looks as Levin’s political instincts have paid off after all. It would have been a bad year to run and by not running he ends up serving the state. Mr. Levin brings a significant change in focus [...]
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