All You Need To Know About The Koch Brothers' 2012 Election Strategy - And No, Neither Are Running For Election

(Mother Jones) Gavin Aronsen reports ~ Exclusive: The Koch Brothers' Million-Dollar Donor Club and Exclusive: The Secret Koch Brothers Tapes

One member of the club struck his fortunes here in Delaware: Foster Friess ~

From Wiki - Career
In 1964, Foster launched his investment career with the Brittingham family-controlled NYSE member firm in Wilmington, Delaware, eventually becoming Director of Research. Success came slowly during the beginning years of building his own investment management firm, Friess Associates which he and Lynn launched in 1974.[2]
The firm grew to over $15.7 billion (assets under management) before Foster turned the reigns over to new management in 2001. Forbes named Brandywine Fund, Friess Associates flagship, as one of the decade's top performers as a result of its average 20% annual gains in the 1990s.

~*~

21,000 Delaware Jobs At Risk Under GOP Extreme Policies

Update:
New York Times ~
Fed Chief Describes Consumers as Too Bleak
Obama Calls On Congress to ‘Pass This Jobs Bill’ Quickly By Mark Landler - President Obama challenged lawmakers in a blunt address to enact a sweeping package of tax cuts and new spending designed to revive the stagnant job market.
Krugman: The proposal is significantly bolder and better than expected.
Brooks: Obama’s plan has potential and is worth pursuing.

CBSNews #Obama dares Republicans to thwart his $447 billion jobs proposal. Can he possibly win? bit.ly/pezRXG
~~~~~
(DE DEM) Sarah Rivin reports ~ In Advance of GOP Presidential Debate, The Delaware Democratic Party Releases New Job Loss Estimates that would Result From GOP’s Extreme Policies - Republican Candidates’ Extreme Budget Plans Would Cost 9.5 Million American Jobs, More than 21,000 in Delaware

(NEW CASTLE, DE) – The Delaware Democratic Party, based on a new analysis conducted by the Democratic National Committee, released an estimate of jobs that would be lost in Delaware as a result of the Republican presidential candidates’ extreme economic policies. All Republican Party candidates have expressed their support for damaging Tea Party proposals, including a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution like the one in the Tea Party budget plan passed by the U.S. House of Representatives this summer.
The DNC’s analysis found that the balanced budget amendment alone, if in place in 2012, would result in the loss of 9.5 million American jobs and 21,910 jobs right here in Delaware. That could sink the U.S. into the kind of deep depression the country hasn’t experienced since the Great Depression.
...“Americans want real solutions to the problems we face. We need a plan to create real jobs in the short term and lay a foundation for long-term economic growth. The extreme Republican proposals would fail on all fronts.”

http://my.democrats.org/DNC-report

Meanwhile, truthout On the News With Thom Hartmann: President's Job Plan Will Cost $300 Billion, and More #jobs http://ow.ly/6nT97

Plus, MarketWatch On Thursday, Ben Bernanke to lay out what the U.S. central bank can do to revive the economy on.mktw.net/r42LLp and (Market Watch) Obama to play small ball, constrained by gridlock

Obama has already said he will propose an extension of the expiring payroll-tax cuts and push for new spending on roads and bridges. Reports suggest he will also propose a new jobs tax credit for business.
The price tag for the Obama jobs plan has been estimated at $300 billion.
Stocks opened higher on Wednesday in part on the report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/zigman/627449/delayed DJIA +2.33% was recently up 150 points at 11,290.
Big ideas — like a sweeping plan to allow homeowners to refinance mortgages even if they are underwater — are likely to be left on the shelf.
“We don’t believe that the president is ready to implement a streamlined refi program,” Greenlaw wrote in a note to clients. Obama said he wants Congress to pass pending trade deals with South Korea, Colombia and Panama.
Economists generally were not impressed with elements being floated from the president’s speech.
“Hopefully, there is more to the president’s proposal than this,” said Stephen Stanley of Pierpont Securities. “The public and the markets were hoping for a sumptuous steak dinner, and if this is all there is, they are about to get a skimpy helping of 3-day-old tuna surprise.”
Obama’s speech comes as the economy has shown signs of stalling, sparking fears of a double-dip recession.

~*~

Fifth Annual Battlefield Memorial Ceremony - Delaware Battle of Cooch's Bridge Set For 7PM Tonight In Glasgow

Fifth Annual Battlefield Memorial Ceremony

When: Wednesday, Sept. 7th -7pm to 8pm

Where: Pencader Heritage Museum, 2029 Sunset Lake Road, Newark Admission: Free

Contact: (302) 737-5792 or pencaderheritage.org

(images: DE Historical Society)

Read and see more photos at:

DFMNews Delaware's only Revolutionary War battle helped to save the revolution #NetDE Pam George writes ~ Cooch’s Bridge: Delaware’s lone Revolutionary War battle

The ceremony features Delaware re-enactor units. French army re-enactors were also invited to represent the American allies’ encampment in this area in 1781, when they were en route to and from victory celebrations at Yorktown.

Raising awareness about Delaware’s Revolutionary War battle and the area’s role in history is a primary goal of the Pencader Area Heritage Association, which was founded in 2001 to collect, document and preserve the physical and oral culture of Pencader Hundred.

...The three-room Pencader Heritage Museum, located in a circa 1865 dairy barn on the Cooch-Dayett Mills property, features such relics as a Hessian short sword, found on the Cooch’s Bridge battlefield, and British cannonballs dropped during their encampment. There are also documents and relics from the Chrysler plant’s days as a tank-manufacturing site. (The Delaware Nature Society offers programs in the mill, built by William Cooch Jr. in 1838.) .

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Frieda Berryhill Writes: The Nuclear Reactors Are Leaking...

Update: How worried is the IAEA?: IAEA to call for nuclear crisis team

VIENNA — The International Atomic Energy Agency will call on its members to establish an emergency team to respond to major nuclear accidents worldwide, part of an agency plan to enhance nuclear safety, according to a draft obtained Tuesday.,,,,

O.K. So…once again, the fact that they are PLANNING to ramp up the response to "major nuclear accidents worldwide" and create "international conventions on compensation for cross-border damage incurred by major nuclear accidents" is another huge admission that the monsters aren't safe, right? I don't quite follow how planning for "major nuclear accidents" fits into a "plan to enhance nuclear SAFETY." Don't "major nuclear accidents" demonstrate that "safety" measures failed? That's some real kinky thinking--as usual.

Well right no we are not building any more, the only active project by Southern Company , I predict..; will be running into major delays and cost overruns. which make completion doubtful

Future generations will then have take on the job to shut them all down.

A major undertaking and $ Trillions wasted by ignoring all clean, renewable and plentiful energy options

(WNJ image)

Top Secret-Oyster Creek Nuclear
Plant, NJ-Leaking-March 20th ... - 20 Mar 2011 ... To those who follow the course of current events it was reported today March 20, 2011 that there is a leak at the Oyster
Creek Nuclear Plant, NJ ...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzuJe9ucXss
Leak reported at
Salem nuclear power plant in New Jersey The ... - 15 Jul 2011 ... July 15, 2011 – NEW JERSEY – Unusual event declared based on reactor coolant leak greater than 10 GPM. “At
2053 on July 14, 2011 Salem ...http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/leak-reported-at-salem-nuclear-power-plant-in-new-jersey/

'Unusual event'declared at Salem 2 nuclear reactor after ... - NJ.com - 15 Jul 2011... by operators of the Salem 2 nuclear reactor here overnight after a leak of ... July 15, 2011, 2:04 PM Updated: Friday, July 15, 2011, 4:52 PM ...http://www.nj.com/salem/index.ssf/2011/07/unusual_event_declared_at_sale.html

Salem 2 nuclear reactor back in service after leak in plant's ... - NJ.com - 19 Jul 2011 ... The Salem 2 nuclear reactor returned to service early today ...http://www.nj.com/salem/index.ssf/2011/07/salem_2_nuclear_reactor_back_i_1.html

“Emergency declared” at New Jersey nuke plant after reactor ... — “ Leakage outside containment”. July 15th, 2011 at 10:41 AM ...http://enenews.com/emergency-declared-new-jersey-nuke-plant-after-reactor-coolant-leak-leakage-containment

“Emergencydeclared” at New Jersey nuke plant after reactor ... - 15 Jul 2011 ... “At 2053 on July 14, 2011 Salem unit 2 declared an Unusual Event due to ... A total of approximately 90 gallon of reactor coolant leaked into the BIT room. ... From June 28: Cooling pump fails at New Jersey nuclear reactor,...http://12160.info/profiles/blogs/2649739:BlogPost:496518

Global News Views: NUCLEAR EVENT ALERT! New Jersey ... - 15 Jul 2011
... Nuclear Event - North-America - USA / State of New Jersey. An “unusual event” was declared by operators of the Salem 2 nuclear reactor here overnight after a leak of radioactive water ... Published: 2011-07-15 16:13:45 GMT ...http://globalnewsviews.blogspot.com/2011/07/nuclear-event-alert-new-jersey.html

Radioactive tritium leaks found at 48 US nuke sites - US news ... - Next story in Environment 27 nuclear reactors more vulnerable to quakes. related ... updated 6/21/2011 5:48:09 AM ET 2011-06-21T09:48:09 ... At a fourth site, in New Jersey, tritium has leaked into an aquifer and a discharge canal feeding ...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43475479/ns/us_news
environment/t/radioactive-tritium-leaks-found-us-nuke-sites/

=====
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

~*~

Car Buff Biden Talks Stimulus: "One Role Of Government Is To Go Where Venture Capital Won’t"

(via thegarance: Biden sounds remarkably like The Onion version of himself in this awesome interview)


(Car and Driver) by John Phillips, Illustration by Brett Affrunti ~ What I'd Do Differently: Vice President Joe Biden - Interview - America’s vice president owns a ’67 Corvette, and though he’s not allowed to drive, he still enjoys the occasional smoky burnout.

C/D: It must be gratifying to see Chrysler pay off its government loans six years early. Where is GM in its payback schedule?
JB: GM is on schedule. They’ve paid back a significant portion. We still hold 33.3 percent of GM common equity, but the point is that 33.3 percent is worth something. So taxpayers have an asset. But the best news is GM is talking about hiring back essentially the last of the laid-off workers by  year’s end. No one ever thought we’d get there.
C/D: You said the loss of GM and Chrysler would’ve killed a million jobs?
JB: One million, absolutely. The critics talk about, “Oh, the market would have balanced things out.” But that’s like saying, “In the long run, we’ll all be dead.” Had we not forced the car companies to reorganize, then given them help, well, the failure of the suppliers then could have caused Ford to fail as well. So this has exceeded everyone’s expectations.
C/D: Absent a simultaneous recession, would you still have bailed them out?
JB: I would have, just because I don’t accept this proposition that somehow the U.S. cannot handle a heavy-duty manufacturing capacity, that we should shift our focus to service industries. Look at Japan and Germany—their labor costs are as high as ours. Big countries have to be able to make big things. Have to.
C/D: In ’09, you pushed a $2 billion grant for battery research. How’s that going?
JB: One of the things I’m proudest of is what we’ve done in battery technology. In the next decade, we’ll have batteries that are one-third to one-tenth the weight of today’s. You’ll be able to go 1000 miles. They’re making breakthroughs in the lithium-ion batteries packing more power. It’s already being applied to industrial uses—in buildings, generators, tractors. They’re on the cusp of a follow-on to the lithium-ion battery. You’ll see this leapfrog present technology. It’s going to be destabilizing, in one sense, because you’ll find that some of the [hybrid] technology out there becomes obsolete. But with the average life span of an automobile being less than a decade, it’s not going to matter much economically.
C/D: A repeat of Cash for Clunkers?
JB: Probably not. But it makes sense. One role of government is to go where venture capital won’t. In the Civil War, you had a president pay the railroads $16,000 for every mile of track they laid. You had Eisenhower invest $25 million in a defense agency called ARPA that came up with a thing that became the internet. We not only won’t get another Cash for Clunkers, but we’re having trouble keeping our friends on the other side of  the aisle from doing away with what’s left of the seed money for innovative technologies that bring billions off the sidelines.
(h/t Ben Smith, politico)

~*~

Kiss The Middle Class Goodbye?

(DKos image: Mission accomplished: GOP austerity killed job growthclick to enlarge)

(ThinkProess Economy) Zaid Jilani ~ REPORT: The American Middle Class Was Built By Unions And It Will Decline Without Them

And (FDLNewsDesk) David Dayen writes ~ Labor Day in an Age of Austerity - the chickens are coming home to roost

As Harold Meyerson writes today, the myth of post-industrialism, of the idea that you can have prosperity while selling off the sectors that create a middle class, was always misguided.

On Labor Day 2011, the America that’s replaced the vibrant industrial giant of the mid-20th century is a basket case. We’ve lost the jobs that created the broadly shared prosperity that made us the envy of the world. In their place, when we’ve created jobs at all, they’ve generated
neither prosperity norsecurity [...]
Today, the economy that arose on manufacturing’s ashes has turned to ashes itself. The Wall Street-Wal-Mart economy of the past several decades off-shored millions of factory jobs, which it offset by creating low-paying jobs in the service and retail sectors; extending credit to consumers so they could keep consuming despite their stagnating incomes; and fueling, until it collapsed, a boom in construction.
We are only now beginning to understand the toll this economy has taken on America’s workers — and on our working men in particular. A stunning study from Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney of the Hamilton Project, published in the Milken Institute Review, reveals that the median earnings of men ages 25 to 64 declined 28 percent between 1969 and 2009. Within this age group, the median earnings of men who completed high school but didn’t go on to college fell 47 percent, while the median earnings of male college graduates also declined, if only 12 percent.

In this reading, the austerity emerged from a financial crisis, a key pillar propping up the post-industrial society. The other pillar is based on overall demand through consumer spending, which crashed in 2008 and which we still have not restored to any legitimate degree. (That the Hamilton Project chronicles this is news in itself.)

Harold Meyerson - Of all the lies that the American people have been told the past four decades, the biggest one may be this: We’ll all come out ahead in the shift from an industrial to a post-industrial society.

~*~

June Eisley Writes: Pacem In Terris Marks 10th Anniversary Of 9/11 With An Interfaith Gathering 3PM Saturday In Wilmington

TEN YEARS AFTER 9/11 MOVING FROM FEAR TO FRIENDSHIP: LIVING AND WORKING TOGETHER AS ONE HUMAN FAMILY

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2011 - 3-4 PM
WILMINGTON FRIENDS MEETING
4TH & WEST STREETS, WILMINGTON

NOTE: We need someone with a vehicle that has a trailer hitch (we have the trailer) to transport a very heavy bell from North Wilmington to Friends Meeting on Saturday for this service. Please send an email back or call Sally at the Pacem office, 656-2721 if you can help.

The September 11th Coalition for Just and Peaceful Initiatives, a project of Pacem in Terris which was organized as a peaceful response to 9/11, has initiated an interfaith gathering to mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

All persons of faith and those who have no particular faith are invited to share in this meaningful gathering. You will hear practitioners of different faiths: Bahai'i, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Native American, Non-denominational, Religious Society of Friends, and Unitarian Universalists share readings, prayers, mantras, or chants from their traditions that help them move from fear to friendship and that inspire them to feel hope in these troubled times.

Local singer/songwriter, John Flynn, will perform. There will be a fellowship time after the service to meet new friends of different faiths and afford you the opportunity to sign up to be part of a team to continue interacting with all different faiths.

We have created a meaningful and inspiring service. Please join us and bring friends.

~*~

As Austerity Measures Are Poised To Gut Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security And More, Who's Protecting How The "Other Half" Lives?

(AlterNet) Jake Blumgart writes ~ 4 Ways Government Policy Favors the Rich and Keeps the Rest of Us Poor

The rich really are different from you and me. There’s the obvious, of course: They have a whole hell of a lot more money. But just as important, they are able to preserve their wealth from the forces that decimate the earning power of your average American.
While government programs for working or jobless Americans are under constant attack, the state frequently intervenes on behalf of the rich, or at least lets them keep their earnings, tax free (leaving the rest of us to pick up the tab).
Republicans in Congress, and to a lesser extent the Obama administration, seem to believe that austerity is the best way to deal with our recessionary woes (despite all economic evidence to the contrary).
Instead of unraveling the safety net, voters should consider all the ways the government aids and abets the one class of people who clearly don’t need help.

1. Protectionism for high-income professionals, free trade for everyone else
2. Rich and own a big house? Here’s some money!
3. A sales tax for bread but not for bonds (or stocks or futures)
4. Tired of payroll taxes? The wealthy aren’t because they don’t have to pay

...There is little chance of these policies, most of which are tax-related, being changed to address the deficit. There is nothing harder to dislodge than entrenched privilege. This is especially true when one of the two major political parties refuses to raise taxes under any circumstance and controls a major policy choke point. (The unchecked torrent of money for lobbying and campaigning advantages the rich as well.)
Keep that in mind while you work until you drop, with little hope of Social Security backed retirement. At least the rich will be able to enjoy the program: They live longer.

Meanwhile, ~ The Hill's 2011 50 Wealthiest Members of Congress

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) has dethroned Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) as the richest member of Congress, according to The Hill’s annual list of the 50 wealthiest lawmakers.
McCaul reported a net worth of at least $287 million, by far the most of any lawmaker.
Analysis for The Hill’s Wealthiest shows that 2010 was a banner year for many well-heeled members of Congress. Lawmakers including Republican Rep. Darrell Issa (Calif.) and Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) saw gains of millions of dollars in their fortunes.
Together, the 50 wealthiest lawmakers reported a minimum net worth of $1.6 billion, about $200 million more than the lawmakers who appeared on 2010’s list.
Last year’s wave election brought big changes to The Hill’s rankings. More than a dozen lawmakers appear on the list for the first time, including 10 Tea Party-backed GOP freshmen with backgrounds in business, medicine and auto sales, among other professions.
The richest GOP freshman is Rep. Jim Renacci (Ohio), who reported a minimum net worth of $35.9 million, ranking him 11th on The Hill’s list.
One freshman Democrat, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), edged into the top 10 with a minimum net worth of $54.9 million.
GOP gains in the 2010 elections helped shift the list toward Republicans. Six Democrats who made The Hill’s 50 Wealthiest in 2010 lost their reelection bids.
The rankings include 32 Republicans and 18 Democrats. By chamber, the breakdown is 29 from the House, 21 from the Senate.
To compile the rankings, The Hill reviewed all the congressional financial disclosure reports that lawmakers filed for the 2010 calendar year.
Those reports do not have precise values for lawmakers’ assets and liabilities but instead disclose value ranges for each item. The Hill’s researchers recorded the lowest number of each value range to calculate lawmakers’ assets and liabilities. The sum of the liabilities was subtracted from the assets for a low-end estimate of each lawmaker’s net worth.

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6th Annual POW MIA Remembrance Ceremony Set For 1PM Sept. 18th At Dover AFB - This Year's Event Will Honor My Brother Edward Arlo Willing, USMC

6th Annual
Delaware
POW MIA Remembrance
Honoring Gunnery Sergeant

Edward Arlo Willing MIA Vietnam

Ceremony to be held on Sunday September 18th at 1:00 at the Dover AFB AMC Museum

The Air Mobility Command Museum is located off of Route 9 on the south side of Dover AFB

Join us for the much awaited
Delaware
POW/MIA
Memorial dedication

Guest Speaker: Retired Brigadier General Jon A. Reynolds
Ceremony will include participation from the following organizations
Dover AFB Honor Guard
Veterans of Foreign Wars
American Legion
AMVETS
Vietnam Veterans of America
Patriot Guard Riders
For information please email thomasredden@gmail.com

Refreshments will be available

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Labor Day Parade Today - 10AM In Wilmington

Monday, Sept 5th at 10:00 a.m. – Governor Markell will serve as the Grand Marshall of the annual Labor Day Parade (starts at 14th & King Streets, Wilmington) with a celebration that follows of food, beer and bands at the Garrett - Tubman Park on the Riverfront.

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Hale-Byrnes House - Revolutionary Afternoon - 4 - 9 PM Today In Stanton

(image: John Foskey of 1st Delaware Regiment will be at Hale Byrnes House this Sunday 4-9 pm. - Under Col. Haslet. The Delaware "Blues" participated in most (if not all) of the major battles of the mid-Atlantic states.)

Revolutionary Afternoon

Sunday, September 4th - 4:00-9:00 P.M.

Historic Hale Byrnes House - 606 (old) Stanton-Christiana Road, Newark, De 19713 Bring a dish to pass and your friends
and family to a covered dish dinner on the banks of the Wild & Scenic White Clay Creek. Re-enactors Willis Phelps and John Foskey and historians including "the marchers" who have walked from Rhode Island to Yorktown, Virginia and Gene Pisasale, a Lafayette researcher, will be on hand to talk about the Revolutionary history of Northern Delaware. Children cordially invited. free. Bring a dish to pass or a beverage to share.
Hale-Brynes House
http://www.halebyrnes.org/

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Middletown Corridor Coalition Chair, Andye Daley, Writes: US 301 And DelDOT's FUNNY MONEY

From the inbox ~ No One Can Justify The Costs of Bonds For The Construction Of US 301

If Transparency is what our new DelDOT Secretary is going for he can start with the Rt 301 By-Pass Project. If you look at the DelDOT website and go to the 301 Project, the explanation of the financing of this $ 800 million dollar project is weak at best.

http://www.deldot.gov/information/projects/us301/pdfs/aug11/No%205%20-%20Funding%20Concepts%20and%20Traffic.pdf

Take a look at this link… the latest info shown on the DelDOT’s project section of their website. If you see actual calculations and numbers, I would love to know where.

It was not until The Middletown Corridor Coalition met with WILMAPCO officials and Senator Bethany Hall-Long did we see some numbers. It was not until after that meeting that I asked Mark Tudor (301 Project manager) directly, that I was given the information that literally spun my head!

It is DelDOT’s intention to sell all $570 million in bonds at once. In addition, there will be an underwriting cost of $3.5 million dollar (approx. $6.25 to 7.25 per $1000 in Bonds sold.) fee to actually sell those bonds. Then we pay an issuance cost of $250,000 that goes to attorneys, financial advisors, and rating agencies. (Right, we pay ratings agencies to rate the very bonds we sell. Ugh!) Then add approximately $6 million a year for operation and up keep. The basic debt service on this boondoggle is $25 million a year for 40 years. FYI DelDOT presently pays $134million in debt service a year. Oh and don't forget once the main line construction is completed (approximately 5 years ) DelDOT goes back to Bond Bill and asks to sell yet another $120 million to construct the "Spur" ... tack that to the bill too.

The fact is that traffic numbers are not sufficient enough to pay the debt service let alone the operations costs. In June DelDOT and WILMAPCO were told, by the independent company they hired to approve bond sales for this project, that it was not approved for sale due to the low traffic projections and even lower growth projections in the MOT area. If DelDOT was approved to sell the bonds the toll revenue projections would not enough funds to pay back the Debt service. Where do you think the $25 million a years comes from if we fall short in Toll Revenue? We surely don’t want to default on the debt service and downgrade or AAA rating (Ha Ha). I’ll save you some time; it’s the general fund that gets tapped. Add to all that the facts about the $125 million in GARVEE Bonds we sold (against my very loud protests). Money that we have to be spent by 2013 or your chances for Federal funds the next time to ask, goes down substantially. The Debt service on that is $11 million a year for the next 14 years taken from future Road projects we NEED! And that money is to just be spent on Right of Way acquisition and Design on this project. So with that money you tell us that you are performing all new traffic studies in November of 2011. Just to see if the traffic numbers have changed since just this past June (as I explained above, where the numbers did not substantiate the sale of the Bonds).

Why then is it necessary to have yet another US 301 Workshop before those numbers are calculated? Isn’t that actually backward? Shouldn’t the numbers be crunched on the funding before we spend another dime on a road project we can’t afford, don’t need, and no one wants (oh except those developers/ land owners being paid out my DelDOT)? ALL of this is a huge waste of money, certainly, in my life time we will never get approval for the sale of these bonds. Let's see who DOES make out....Oh that's right our lovely consultants R K and K Engineers and Kramer and Assoc. DISGUSTING!

On the web site graph, DelDOT forgets to inform the reader that WalMart had opened during that 2008-2010 up tick in traffic increase over the MD/DE line. One has to wonder Walmart execs know of a toll at that location that would likely inhibit consumers from traveling to this DE location from Maryland?

Andye Daley
Chair, Middletown Corridor Coalition

PLUS, Here are some recent articles on the Down grade of Toll Revenue bonds and traffic counts that are rather eye-opening.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903480904576508742792099046.html “In January, Moody's Investors Service assigned a negative outlook to the Port Authority's credit, saying a downgrade could result if the agency's debt continued to grow faster than its revenues. Moody's currently rates the Port Authority's debt Aa2, its third-highest rating. "We see some pressures because of the amount of debt they're taking on and the general sluggishness of the regional economy," Maria Matesanz, an analyst at Moody's, said in an interview. To be sure, the agency's financial situation is considered far from dire, and the other two major credit agencies, Fitch and Standard & Poor's, haven't assigned a negative outlook for the agency. A downgrade would likely add millions in borrowing costs for the agency, which relies heavily on debt to fund its construction-heavy budget. To avoid triggering a downgrade, it has drafted plans to cut scores of projects—from repaving projects at ports to small repairs to the PATH system—if it doesn't receive a toll increase. The Port Authority is jointly controlled by Govs. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Andrew Cuomo of New York.”

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100728006155/en/FitchDowngrades-TRIP-II-Dulles-Greenway-Toll
“The downgrade reflects the effects of improvements along alternative free routes and the impact of the economic recession in Loudoun County, Virginia service area (a western suburb of Washington D.C.) which have resulted in a continued decline in traffic on the Greenway since fiscal 2006. Including the drop in interest earnings, net revenue declined by 6.2% between 2006 and 2009 while annual debt service obligations grew by 15.5%. As debt service grows at a compound annual growth rate of 3.6% between fiscal 2010 and 2034, the Greenway is dependent upon consistent levels of growth that may be more difficult to achieve. In addition, there is some potential for additional loss in traffic and pricing power when the Dulles Metrorail project opens later in the decade.”

http://www.bondbuyer.com/news/-299840-1.html
“Fitch Ratings has downgraded the $40.1 million outstanding Lake of the Ozarks Community Bridge Corporation Bridge System refunding revenue bonds, series 1998 to 'BB+' from 'BBB-'. The Rating Outlook is revised to Negative from Stable. The bonds mature in December 2026 and are secured by the net ..”

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/terrihall/2011/08/credit-downgrade-may-effect-toll-projects/ “Then there’s the federal borrowing to prop-up toll roads that can’t pay for themselves using a loan program known as Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA). The first federal TIFIA loan went to a P3 venture in San Diego known as the South Bay Expressway. Less than three years later, the road went bankrupt (traffic projections were off by 40,000 cars a day) — resulting in a loss of nearly $80 million to taxpayers. Now, the local government is going buy back that failing toll road with yet more taxpayer money, which is, in effect, another bailout.”

Andye, I can tell you who is going to profit off of the DelDOT purchase of Right of Way for US 301: the owners of the record plans being developed as Whitehall led by Larry Tarabicos, that's who! I am sure there are more. How about Pam Scott-Paul Clarky's old Saul Ewing clients, Jay Sonecha's Blenhiem Homes' City of Bayberry? Isn't the fella, Richard Forsten, who got himself elected to the Appo School Board now representing Sonecha and all of the new City to come? Nice work if you can swing it.

~*~

A Few Meetings Set For Sept. 6th On Projects That Will Potentially Greatly Increase The Public Debt For Delawareans

The US 301 Public Workshop Set For 3PM - Stoltz At Planning Board At 7PM - All On Sept. 6th!

Upcoming Project Workshop Rt 301: Workshop The US 301 Public Workshop has been rescheduled for Tuesday, September 6 between 3:00pm and 8:00pm. The location remains the Middletown Fire Hall at 27 W. Green Street. There will be a PowerPoint presentation at 3:15, to be repeated at 4:15, 5:15, 6:15 and 7:15pm. Please let your friends, neighbors and anyone else who may have an interest in the US 301 project know of this rescheduled date.

This a a project that the Civic League has opposed due to the misguided alignment that appears to be designed to promote sprawling new development, such as the Bayberry North and South Developments, rather than interstate transportation.

Of even more critical concern is the highly questionable need and deeply concerning debt financing for this road. The project does not appear to have any potential to be self sustaining due to inadequate traffic volumes and limited toll revenues. Anyone in NCC should be concerned with this project and its questionable funding scheme.

The initial phase was funded with GARVEE Bonds, which are a sort of a federally authorized Ponzi scheme where States borrow large sums of money, but must repay it using federal funds "expected "to be received in the future. There is no guarantee that the federal funds will be available. (But perhaps congress may consider cuts to things like social security, medicare, or education to fund GARVEE debts!!!).

At present, the risk to Delaware tax payers of having to pay these debts is pretty high due to the imminent risks of federal budget cuts, an expected delay in extending the gasoline tax, and a likely stalemate over a new transportation bill in the U.S. Congress. If federal funds are not sufficient, the State taxpayers will have to pay the bill directly.

Even if federal funds were available, the GARVEE commitment will severely limit options for future road projects that may actually be much higher priorities throughout NCC than the Proposed Rt. 301. Thursday, we learned that the US 301 project did not get the targeted federal aide. Someone at the federal level appears to have done their homework and concluded that this project is not sustainable due to low traffic demand. They realize that the traffic volume will not produce enough toll revenue to pay the debt service in the bonds proposed for financing its construction. It is unsustainable unless the Delaware tax payers decide to heavily subsidize this sprawl promoting effort. There is a pretty good overview of the problem by Jeff Montgomery of the News Journal. You can read it at: http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110903/NEWS02/109030324/US-301-project-loses-out-aid?odyssey=tabtopnewstextHome

Please come out to ask questions, learn what is happening, and let your views be known on this massive project. After all, no matter what, you will be paying for it. A few potential questions to consider:

• If we must subsidize this small area with hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue, should we be building this highway, or considering other alternatives such as improved bus service or train service to get local traffic off 301?


• Do you have other pressing transportation issues that should be made a higher priority in NCC?


• Do we want to continue to claim we support Smart Growth in the New
  Castle County Development Plan, and then build sprawling communities dependent on interstate highways in areas with no employment base such as SNCC?


• Is this project really needed, or just a misguided effort by self serving politicians to try to create some unsustainable jobs in the short term that will make employment conditions even worse in the future due to the long term debt incurred with no clear revenue stream to pay it back?


• Do you think it is fine to subsidize this road, and want to support it?
  Please come out to ask questions, learn what is happening, and let your views be known on this massive project. After all, no matter what, you will be paying for it.

I recognize that this meeting conflicts with another critical project meeting with serious transportation implications when NCC Planning Board will review the Stoltz plan (at 7PM in New Castle at 77 Reads Way). http://www2.nccde.org/landuse/PlanningBoard/PublicHearingAgenda/Default.aspx?MeetingDate=2011-09-06T04:00:00Z

For those that can make it down to Middletown, you may be able to attend early and then still get up for the 7 PM Stoltz meeting. If not, you can at least comment on the DelDOT webpage. Thank you for your consideration of this critical public issue and hope you will let Del DOT know your thoughts and views on this project.

Dave Carter

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The Right To Vote Should Be Clearly Stated In The Constitution

Ari Berman has a great piece in The Nation ~ The GOP War on Voting - In a campaign supported by the Koch brothers, Republicans are working to prevent millions of Democrats from voting next year

...that's further discussed at Think Progress: Matt Yglesias wants the right to vote clearly stated in the Constitution: HERE

And wheeeeee! Here's another perspective......

Conservative columnist Matthew Vadum is just going to come right out and say it: registering the poor to vote is un-American and "like handing out burglary tools to criminals." "It is profoundly antisocial and un-American to empower the nonproductive segments of the population to destroy the country -- which is precisely why Barack Obama zealously supports registering welfare recipients to vote," Vadum, the author of a book published by World Net Daily that attacks the now-defunct community organizing group ACORN, writes in a column for the American Thinker.

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American Lung Association Pushes The Reset Button On Clean Air - EPA Lawsuit

(DKos) Hunter writes ~ EPA regulations create jobs, save lives

American Lung Association to file suit against EPA; environmental, health groups feel double-crossed

The American Lung Association has issued a statement saying that as a result of today's Obama administration decision, their previously delayed lawsuit against the EPA is now back on:

The American Lung Association filed suit against the EPA following the weak Bush standards but dropped it after the Obama administration said it was going to reconsider. The group issued a statement on Friday signaling that it will revive the suit now that the Obama administration has signaled that it is not going to improve the standard, which is a violation of the Clean Air Act, the group says.

Brad Plumer has an excellent summary of the history and implications of these EPA rules that have now been nixed by the White House including how the Obama administration got the American Lung Association and other groups to delay their lawsuits on the matter by promising that new rules were forthcoming. Of special note:

So now, today, the White House announced that it’s not going to have any new rules. On a call with reporters, White House officials argued that it doesn’t make sense to put out new rules in 2011 when there’s going to be another scheduled review of the ozone science in 2013.
But critics say that this reasoning is flawed. For one, notes Amy Royden-Bloom of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, if the EPA did issue a new ozone standard this year, then it could always just postpone its next scientific review until 2016, in line with the law. Second, notes Frank O’Donnell of Clean Air Watch, there’s no reason to think that a brand-new ozone standard will actually be issued by 2013. That’s just when the scientific review is due.
Crafting new rules will take longer than that, given the inevitable delays and lawsuits. “I’d say three years, minimum,” says O’Donnell.

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Alliance for American Manufacturing Writes: Honor Labor Day By Supporting American Job Creation

From the inbox ~ Honor Labor Day by Supporting American Job Creation

Labor Day Weekend is here. As you honor America’s workers, we hope that you will also take a moment to help them.
You see, this Labor Day follows a disastrous August jobs report released this morning. The economy created zero jobs, the unemployment rate is stuck at 9.1%, and U.S. manufacturing lost 3,000 jobs.
The time for partisan speeches and assigning blame for the state of our economy has long since passed. We need aggressive policies right now to create jobs in America. Last month, we proposed some bipartisan, concrete steps to create jobs—both now and in the long run—in the most productive sector of the economy, manufacturing.
One of these steps wouldn't cost the U.S. Treasury any money, but could start to level the playing field for U.S. manufacturers with China and create good-paying jobs.
Congress should immediately pass the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act (H.R. 639/S. 328).
Both the House and Senate have previously passed similar legislation with overwhelming bipartisan support. As a recent AAM national poll shows, 85 percent of likely voters want their elected officials to hold China accountable for currency manipulation. This strong support extends across political boundaries – ranging from Tea Party supporters and Republicans to union households and Democratic voters. For the sake of our nation’s workers, you need to get involved. CLICK HERE to tell your Member of Congress and Senators to create jobs, hold China accountable, and cosponsor the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act.
Together we can keep it made in America.
Sincerely, Scott N. Paul, Executive Director, Alliance for American Manufacturing

Meanwhile, Chris Coons has put together "A Blueprint for American Jobs" drawn from his series of August roundtables: Congress spends too little time on jobs

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This Is Why We Need Health Insurance Reform - Single Payer Anyone?

jbarro: This is why we freak out about Medicare instead of Social Security, people: bit.ly/nznvsB

(click to enlarge image)

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