The Delaware Democrats want to hear from you

Your story and the stories of our fellow Delawareans must be heard in 2010. Congress has voted on important measures, including financial regulation, economic stimulus and health care. These votes have affected you and me, our families, friends and co-workers.

Please help highlight the impact these votes have had and will have on our lives — Tell us your story.

• Have you been impacted by the financial and economic crisis of the past 2 years?
• Have you experienced a foreclosure on a home or seen savings & investments evaporate?
• Have you been employed on a project funded by stimulus funds?
• Are you frustrated with the GOP’s “Say-No” attitude that is preventing your recovery from the current crisis?

If you answered, “yes” to any of these questions, please click here and describe your situation.

Your story is important to us because the future of Delaware will be affected by outcome of the election in November. We can continue making progress on the issues that are critical to the future of Delaware or we can sit back and watch as Republicans vote against our state’s interests.

All across our state, lives have been or will be affected by decisions made in Washington. If you know someone who may have a story about these effects, please ask them to share their story with us by clicking below:

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Thank you for taking the time to help ensure our representatives will vote for us, the citizens of Delaware. 

Sincerely,

Rebecca Young

P.S.: Click here to see where our leaders stand on the most important issues in Delaware

Christine O’Donnell. Mammograms, and Health Care

While she has not yet “officially” announced that she is running for Senate, she has been on WGMD repeatedly to talk about it and said that she would officially kick of her campaign once she reaches 10K in donations.   I think it is fun to keep her around for the entertainment value – sort of like Mike Protack – just another perennial candidate that makes us laugh out a lot (or shake our heads in disbelief).

ANYWAY – my favorite comment of hers during the last radio interview was that she said it was the SOCIALIST AGENDA that caused the recommendations by the United States Preventive Services Task Force to begin breast cancer screening for women at age 50 rather then 40¹, as is the case right now. 

According to her, Socialists would change the age for screening because they do not care about the individual but they would change the age because screening at a younger age is not beneficial to the people at large.  It’s that tired old argument that socialists only do what benefits the greater good rather then any individual.

No Ms. O’Donnell – it’s not the SOCIALISTS that would change the age for screening, but the CAPITALISTS that want to remove one more procedure from the list of items health insurances have to cover and pay for.  The New York Times writes:

The guidelines are not expected to have an immediate effect on insurance coverage but should make health plans less likely to aggressively prompt women in their 40s to have mammograms and older women to have the test annually.

And I believe they are right – that is EXACTLY what will happen – health insurances will see a way to save money and act upon that, because…

Congress requires Medicare to pay for annual mammograms. Medicare can change its rules to pay for less frequent tests if federal officials direct it to.

Private insurers are required by law in every state except Utah to pay for mammograms for women in their 40s.

So the major benefit of changing the age for mamograms is the cost saving – does that sound like a socialist agenda item to you? 

Oh yeah, and I don’t consider myself a SOCIALIST but a SOCIAL DEMOCRAT.  Though, I doubt Ms. O’Donnell would know the difference between the two.

Sidenote: Having lived in a country with universal health care, I can not say that the individual is not cared for.  To give a few examples of my history with health care in Germany.

• I rarely ever made appointments with my primary care doctor, most of my appointments where walk in with a wait of less then 30 minutes.
• Dental care is part of the regular health insurance and not separate.  This was especially important to me when an accident at age 13 knocked out my two upper front teeth and required me to have first a partial and later a bridge to cover the gap. I walked into my dentists office without an appointment as soon as possible after the accident and left that same day (many hours later) with a partial denture to cover the gap (I was too young for a bridge at that time).
• A school accident left me with a moderate concussion at age 16.  I walked into the Emergency room and, within an hour, was admitted into the hospital.  10 days and several brain scans later I was released with almost no residual effects of the concussion.  The reason they kept me rather then sent me home was that they know children do not lay still at home and because this was a moderate concussion that left me with no memory of the 2 hours following the event, they felt it was necessary to monitor me.  The concussion was so severe that I did not go to the hospital the day it happened but rather then next morning – when my parents thought I was on my way to school, I walked myself to the hospital 45 minutes away — I have no idea why I did that – I don’t remember much of the hours after I passed out (I passed out and hit my head on a sink).
• When I was pregnant with my son I had some minor complications (very low blood pressure) and could see my doctor any time needed to address this. Unfortunately I had to have a c-section; however, since German’s consider this a type of major abdominal surgery, they like to keep you in the hospital.  I left the hospital with my son 9 days after he was born – drains, bandages, stitches – everything had been removed.  Again – they like to do this to make sure you are OK and that there aren’t any complications.

I don’t know about you – but I personally felt that I as an individual mattered and was cared for. 

As for the mammograms, I had my first one shortly after my 38th birthday and a second shortly thereafter because of “issues” – and it was emotionally very stressful and I worried a lot.  Luckily the second one came back fine.  I believe they should not change the age for mammograms but maybe have them  a bit less frequently before age 50 – say every two years or three years until age 50.

1. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/health/17cancer.html [↩]

Calling on Kowalko!

So “I am not a lobbyist, I am an advocate”-Ruth stated that she would no longer be a registered lobbyist if she is elected in tomorrow’s special election.  According to her, lobbyist status would “no longer be needed”.  Well, since she said she only became a lobbyist so she would not have to go through the search etc. at Legislative Hall – I suppose as Representative she could just go in and out without the lobbyist card.  She also stated that the Realtors had a paid lobbyist and that it wasn’t her.  OK, I buy that one, since she appears to never have filed an expensive report as a lobbyist.  No wait, let me rephrase that, she filed expense reports – as required by law – but always had zero expenses.  So if you are not a lobbyist, why file a lobbyist financial report?

 You know, there is a reason why we didn’t want politicians turning lobbyist the moment they are out of office – I think we need a law the other way around – registered lobbyists also should not be allowed to run for office for at least a year after they stop being lobbyists.  Let’s get some distance between they group they lobbied for (or, according to Ruth, “advocated for”) and the person. If it works one way, why not the other way around?  Calling Kowalko - hey, do something, will you?

Back to a topic from a bit over a week ago…

So I am still pissed about Dave Wilson stating on his literature that was sent to area residents 3 weeks ago that he “successfully co-sponsored the FOIA bill” – meaning HB1.  A quick check on the website showed that he was not on the bill at the time of printing and introduction into the House.  A friend of mine suggested I check with the Delaware House of Representatives and find out if he signed on later and is, therefore, on the backer as a co-sponsor.  A call to House staff, however, showed that he is not in their internal system either — where he would have been added had he signed on at a later time.  So I am reasonably sure that he did not sign on to the bill at ANY TIME.  He did vote for it – but so did EVERY OTHER LEGISLATOR – because they simply could not vote any other way because of their constituents.  The media would have had a field day had anybody voted “no” on HB1.  SO I am wondering what the next step is.  I live in Wilson’s district and if he is in fact NOT telling the truth – which I have every reason to believe is what is happening – then he should publicly apologize – don’t you think?

What would you do?  Drop it or run with it?

Something I meant to bring up from the Briggs King/Robinson debate the other night

…One of the suggestions from Ruth Briggs King was to utilize the rail roads more (thought I am not sure they are in a good enough shape to handle more then occasional usage). The suggestion that was really hilarious was the one to build roads on top of he tracks or directly right and left of them.
1. There sometimes just isn’t enough room to build 2 lanes next to the tracks nor would we have the money to do it
2. The rail roads tracks here are privately owned and not State or federally owned and controlled – I think the owners might mind it f we just build over them and so would the farmers that use them for agricultural purposes.
3. Would you really want cars this close to the tracks everywhere? What about safety?

I agree we need better transportation options between Lower Delaware and the north but her proposals/ideas are just plain dumb and not well thought out.

Dave Wilson – WTF?

Since I live in Dave Wilson’s district I get his mailings.  The last one really made me shake my head.

On another note, I successfully co-sponsored legislation that now makes the General Assembly subject to the state Freedom of Information Act, increasing the transparency of government.

Now let’s look at HB 1

Do you see Wilson’s name there?  I sure don’t.

Amendments were sponsored by Schwartzkopf, Keeley, and Hudson.

Additionally, Wilson voted NO on suspending the rules to ensure a smooth vote on HB1 – but he did vote YES on the bill – as did each and every other Representative (even those that didn’t want to, because otherwise it would have made them look like crap in the eyes of their constituents.)

I swear, my district has the dumbest representative ever.  Most of the time he looks very clueless as he walks the halls of legislative hall.  He gets totally flustered when you actually dare to ask him a question, and before he votes he looks around and checks with his fellow republicans on how he is supposed to vote.  I have seen him do it – and others noticed it too.  Very funny.  I hope the Democrats have someone better then Chaffinch running against him  so he doesn’t get re-elected.  Though, I almost think Wilson won’t run again -IMHO he ran for no reason other then to say he was a legislator.

SCI and Prisoner Abuse

Truth? Lies? Or Partial Truths?  I am opting for the third.  The Ceasar Rodney Institute obviously doesn’t. I do believe that police officers as well as Correctional Officers at times use extensive force; however, I also believe that prisoners are capable of embellishing the circumstances just to get attention, get officers in trouble, and report injuries received during prison fights as injuries received from COs.   Do I believe all of them do that? No! But there are always a few that makes things look worse then they are and that strive on ruining other people’s lives.  And there are always a few COs that are not professional and that do not treat inmates correctly.  I have trouble believing that it is the majority of COs. 

What really bothers me about the accusations is the fact that some of the parties involved are currently involved in civil suits and now they are trying to try this case in the newspapers (so far the News Journal does not seem to have picked it up yet).  Where is CRI when the Department of Corrections’ budget gets cut even though they need to do something about being understaffed but do not get to hire more Correctional Officers?  DOC says that is it currently fully staffed or has only a few vacancies – but what fails to make the media is the fact that they are only a few people short of MINIMUM STAFFING – meaning staffing that covers the bare minimum and still causes officer’s to be told they can’t go home at the end of their shift but they have to work overtime — 8 HOURS OF OVERTIME – just to finally go home for 8 hours and then go to work again, leaving them with not enough time to eat and sleep considering travel time.  MINIMUM staffing puts everybody at risk – the officers AND the inmates. People tend to forget that COs, just like prisoners, stay locked up in prison all day and go through some of the same stresses even though they do get to go home — eventually.  The suicide rate among COs is extremely high for a reason. 

Ahh. I can just hear some of my readers now say that they chose to be COs – it’s not a job they have to do.  No, they don’t have to do it, but are you willing to?  If yes, why haven’t you applied?  If not them – then who?  Of course, we could also turn DOC into a private FOR PROFIT institution – then you will really get to see prisoner abuse and inadequate health care for prisoners.

I loved the Cesar Rodney Institute’s statement on their website: “An Open Letter To Carl Danberg poses 32 questions it had hoped the Correction Commissioner would answer. Danberg refused to comment for this series.” — Can I be honest?  I would refuse too, because CRI already made up its mind and NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING that Carl Danberg could say would do any good.  He does not owe CRI anything, but he does have to answer to the people of the State of Delaware and I hope that, in time, he will.

Also, I wonder why CRI didn’t mention what Sudler, the diabetic that will need to have his last remaining leg amputated, is in prison for – probably because that would make him less the recipient of sympathy.  Is it the same Sudler as mentioned here?:

Wilmington- On Sunday, May 11, 2008, at approximately 2:02 p.m., Troopers were called to the 3800 block of North Market Street to investigate the rape of a 8-Year-Old girl. In this case, it had been alleged that Mr. Benjamin Sudler, 55, of the aforementioned address, had been sexually assaulting the 8-year-old girl (–SNIPPED TO REMOVE IDENTIFYING INFORMATION ABOUT THE VICTIM–). The assaults apparently began in November of 2007. A computer check revealed Sudler was wanted by several courts in Delaware and authorities took him into custody.  He was transported back to Troop 2 where the investigation into the rape continued. Detectives successfully implicated him in the sexual assault and charged him with the following offenses: four counts of Rape 1^st and Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child.  He was arraigned and committed to the Howard Young Correctional Institute in lieu of $230,000.00 Cash Only Bond.

He STILL does not deserve to be treated badly and he still deserves to receive treatment for his diabetes – but can DOC really be responsible for monitoring what each inmate buys and eats – had he not bought these items, he could have traded for them somehow else – there really isn’t much that can be done other then locking up inmates 24/7 in their cells – and everybody would scream about that as well – rightfully so.

I believe the accusations need to be investigated and I believe there are truths to the accusations as well as some embellishments — but the way I see it, the media already has made up its mind and found DOC guilty – can there really be such thing as a fair investigation?

Again, let me make this clear — I am AGAINST prisoner abuse and FOR adequate medical care for prisoners.  I am all for investigating reports of prisoner abuse.  HOWEVER, I refuse to take CRIs report for granted, because it is aimed at making prisoners look good and DOC look bad and talks about hand picked inmates and releases only information about those prisoners that is aimed, again, at getting sympathy for them.  The report mentions Sudler being a family man but forgets to mention he raped an 8 year-old girl.  Give ALL the info or non – don’t pick through it and only give out the information that gives you the reaction that you desire to get. 

Oh yes, and did I forget to mention that my partner is a CO – and she has a much higher chance of getting abused by prisoners and then discarded by the media then there is a chance of her abusing them?  We all remember the rape of the Counselor, right?  

Special Elections Take 2

From what I heard, the Republicans were supposed to announce today who will run for Booth’s House seat. However, the Sussex Countian reports that the nomination for the GOP candidate will be this weekend. I can’t imagine that it is tomorrow, since the people involved would then miss the tea-baggers and crazy Eileens at the Legislative Mall in Dover.

The Democrats have their nomination tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. at the Coolsprings Community Center. Candidates include Michael Wyatt, Robert Robinson, Jr., Frank Shade, David Robinson and Joseph Powers.

My sources tell me that Robert Robinson Jr would be an excellent choice. He is from Georgetown, has strong family ties to that area, his family has been very involved in politics over the years, and he has been involved in the community himself.

Who is your top choice?

I really don’t have a favorite, because this is not my district and I don’t know anything about the possible candidates that have come forward thus far. This should be interesting.

The News Journal..

…wrote last week:

A niece of the late Sen. Thurman Adams donated the maximum amount to the state Senate campaign of Republican Joe Booth after Sussex County Democrats bypassed Adams’ daughter as their candidate.

That has been known for weeks.  The check was written immediately after the first selection, because the Adams Family felt that RIGHTFULLY it should have been Polly.  See what “good Democrats” they are?  Flipping in a heart beat.

As for the election results from lyesterday’s election – the GRID view (with results per polling place) still shows NOTHING, but the other the Department of Elections has at least updated the page with the combined results

The more I think about it…

…the more funny I think these election results are.  First we had Carney trying to become governor because of tradition. and he lost — now we had Polly trying to become Senator due to her Daddy, and that didn’t work either.

Is Delaware, especially Sussex County, ready to turn a new leaf?

This is the second time that tradition did not win.  I kinda like it.

Dear Department of Elections

Whatever you pay your computer people – it’s too much.

Sincerely,

concerned citizen

Governor – can you check into that please?

The Sussex County Department of Elections is totally incompetent.  It’s been more then an hour and the website still shows NO results at all.  Meanwhile the blogosphere states that Booth is holding an acceptance speech.  (since I can’t get local TV due to much of Sussex County not being able to get cable, I can’t even check the local station – that’s another thing worth checking in to, since it cuts me of from the emergency broadcast system — the Doppler radar station gets in the way of my radio signal.

Thank you

40 minutes and no results online yet

SUSSEX COUNTY IS TOO FRIGGIN SLOW!

This is ridicolous – it was faster than this during the general elections when there were more votes to count – this is only ONE Senate District and they still can’t get it right?