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William Klesse, chief executive of oil refiner Valero Energy, is riled up. "I think cap-and-trade is ludicrous," he says. "The whole bill is a hidden tax." The so-called climate bill wending its way through the Senate aims to create a cap-and-trade regime covering emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. If it passes in anything close to its current form, the bill would milk more carbon cash (payments to the government for the right to pollute) out of refiners than any other industry--somewhere between $30 billion and $110 billion a year. Valero, as America's biggest refiner (2.4 million barrels...

Oil-refinery workers on the Delaware River yesterday received their second big blow in six weeks, when Valero Energy Corp. said it would close its operation in Delaware City, Del., casting 550 out of work. When workers heard the news, "it was like a time bomb went off," said Matt Edler, who has worked for 10 years at the refinery that rises out of the lowlands near the Delaware River in southern New Castle County. "My grandfather worked there, my father, and I worked there," said Edler, who yesterday afternoon joined other shocked refinery workers at Red Lion Inn in Bear,...

Valero Energy Corp., the largest U.S. refiner, announced today that it will permanently close its Delaware City, Del., plant because of losses brought on by the poor economy. The shutdown is expected to affect about 550 employees. "A safe and orderly shutdown of the refinery will commence immediately," the San Antonio, Texas-based company said today in a statement, adding that employees were told today of the move. The company said it expects to save $450 million in operating expenses next year by shutting the refinery.

<p>Contact your Senators and let them know what you think!</p> <p>U.S. veterans or subsidies for United Nations (U.N.) bureaucracy.</p>

New York beef manufacturer Fairbanks Farms has issued a voluntary recall of a little more than half a million pounds of ground beef. The recall, which affects states from Maine to North Carolina -- Maryland included -- comes after one person died in New Hampshire and people were sickened in other states after eating beef thought to be contaminated by the bacteria E.coli. The products, which include ground beef, meatloaf and meatball mix, carry sell-by dates from Sept. 19-28 and were sold under such brands as Trader Joe's Butcher Shop Fine Quality Meats, Giant Meatloaf & Meatball Mix and BJ's...

CNN) - Former Vice President Joe Biden challenged Republican voters in New York's 23rd congressional district to teach conservative "absolutists" a lesson in the special House election Tuesday by voting for the Democratic candidate in the race "We aren't asking you to switch your party," Biden said at a rally for Democrat Bill Owens in Watertown, New York Monday morning. "We are just saying join us in teaching a lesson to those absolutists who say no dissent is permitted within your own party."

Delaware beats Switzerland as most secretive financial center By: Reuters | 31 Oct 2009 | 07:59 PM ET Text Size By Kim Dixon WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Move over Switzerland. The tiny state of Delaware beats the Alpine country in a contest for the most secretive financial jurisdiction, a tax justice rights group said on Saturday. The United States, led by the eastern seaboard state, took in $2.6 trillion in deposits from non-resident corporations and individuals in 2007, according to a survey of financial jurisdictions analyzed by the Tax Justice Network. The survey of laws, practices and size of inflows in...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Brooklyn. Vinny. You're next. Hello, sir. CALLER: Hello El Rushbo, mmm, mmm, mmm. RUSH: Yeah, I love that. REPORTER: Listen, two days ago, and I only heard this once, ABC reported that President Obama did a midnight run to Dover airfield base. My first question to you is I've never heard of any other president doing that, and why would he go out to view the dead coming back from Afghanistan? I mean this seems like some kind of, look at me, I'm the president, you see how sorry I feel for our dead soldiers returning, but...

General Motors (GM) closed its Wilmington, Delaware plant in July, leaving 550 active employees out of work, and another 500 laid-off hourly workers without the hope of being called back to work. Vehicle manufacturing used to be Delaware’s second largest private employer. Perhaps it will be again. Fisker Automotive announced on October 27 it signed a letter of intent to buy the plant for $18 million after a routine four-month evaluation period. Built by GM in 1947, the Wilmington plant produced 8.5 million cars, and has a production capacity of 300,000 cars a year. The Wilmington plant will support the...

ABC News' Pentagon correspondent Luis Martinez reports that Barack Obama brought twenty-four reporters, photographers and videographers from fourteen media outlets to Dover Air Force Base to cover his 'surprise' visit there early Thursday morning.The New York Times reported earlier that there was a "small contingent" of media at Dover. However, two dozen is a crowd, especially when vulnerable grieving families are involved.Liz Cheney is being attacked (and here) for pointing out that Obama imposed the question of media coverage on the families by his presence at Dover. Seventeen out of the eighteen families of the fifteen soldiers and three DEA...

Barack Obama was nearly denied the photo-op he traveled to Dover Air Force Base for early this morning as all but one of the military and civilian families of the fallen refused permission for the media to report on the return of their loved ones.The sole family to allow media coverage was the family of Sgt. Dale R. Griffin.According to media reports, Griffin's casket was the last to be brought off the C-17 cargo plane that carried the bodies of 15 soldiers and 3 DEA agents killed this week in Afghanistan.That is a stark contrast to the reported 60% approval...

The unannounced trip began around midnight and was expected to have the president back at the White House before dawn on Thursday. ...The White House kept Obama's plans off his schedule, informing a small group of traveling reporters in advance on condition of secrecy. Obama was expected to observe a somber ceremony on the tarmac of the base without public comment.

WASHINGTON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Republican Senator John McCain said on Wednesday his party needed a positive agenda to better attract those Americans who are disenchanted with Democratic policies. McCain said he sensed "a lot of anger and a lot of frustration" among Americans over taxpayer-backed bailouts of banks and auto companies while they cope with a persistently high U.S. jobless rate of 9.8 percent and see bank executives get "obscene" bonuses. McCain, who was his party's presidential nominee and lost the 2008 election to Democrat Barack Obama, spoke to a Reuters Summit in a roundtable interview with journalists.

Demure Delaware was the first state to ratify the Constitution, but since then has not made many waves. It might, however, be part of a political wave a year from now, thanks to a direct descendant of Benjamin Franklin. The great man's great-great-great-great-great grandson, Mike Castle, 70, a nine-term Delaware congressman, will be next year's Republican nominee for the Senate seat Joe Biden held for 36 years. This and other candidate-recruitment successes make it reasonable for Republicans to hope that in January 2011 the Senate will contain fewer than 60 Democrats. Biden's seat is currently occupied by a former Biden...

Demure Delaware was the first state to ratify the Constitution, but since then has not made many waves. It might, however, be part of a political wave a year from now, thanks to a direct descendent of Benjamin Franklin. The great man's great-great-great-great-great grandson, Mike Castle, 70, a nine-term Delaware congressman, will be next year's Republican nominee for the Senate seat Joe Biden held for 36 years. This and other candidate-recruitment successes make it reasonable for Republicans to hope that in January 2011 the Senate will contain fewer than 60 Democrats. Biden's seat is currently occupied by a former Biden...

After nearly a year-long tour in Iraq, Vice President Joe Biden's son, Joe "Beau" Biden III, said he is "absolutely" considering a run for the Senate seat his father occupied for 36 years. "I'll be making the decision in due course," Biden, 40, told "Good Morning America" today in his first television interview since his return to Delaware last month amid speculation that he would make a bid for the seat.One of a handful of elected officials to serve in Iraq since the U.S. led invasion in 2003, Biden took a leave of absence from his job as Delaware's attorney...

Six-year-old Zachary Christie was so excited to become a Cub Scout that he brought his camping utensil to school. The tool serves as a spoon, a fork and a knife, and Zachary wanted to use it at lunch. What Zachary didn't know was that the gizmo violated his school's zero-tolerance policy on weapons. And now the Christina School District in Newark, Del., has suspended the first grader and ordered him to attend the district's reform school for 45 days. Zachary's parents insist their son did not intend to hurt anyone, and they are fighting to overturn the ruling. "Zachary wears...

Zachary Christie with his mother, Debbie, his father, Curtis, and the Cub Scout utensil that got him suspended from school. NEWARK, Del. — Finding character witnesses when you are 6 years old is not easy. But there was Zachary Christie last week at a school disciplinary committee hearing with his karate instructor. Zachary’s offense? Taking a camping utensil that can serve as a knife, fork and spoon to school. He was so excited about recently joining the Cub Scouts that he wanted to use it at lunch. School officials concluded that he had violated their zero-tolerance policy on weapons, and...

NEWARK, Del. — Finding character witnesses when you are 6 years old is not easy. But there was Zachary Christie last week at a school disciplinary committee hearing with his karate instructor and his mother’s fiancé by his side to vouch for him. Zachary’s offense? Taking a camping utensil that can serve as a knife, fork and spoon to school. He was so excited about recently joining the Cub Scouts that he wanted to use it at lunch. School officials concluded that he had violated their zero-tolerance policy on weapons, and Zachary now faces 45 days in the district’s reform...

As soon as Republican Rep. Michael N. Castle announced last week that he was running for Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s open Senate seat, election analysts rated the contest a tossup favoring the Republican Party. Mr. Biden's seat had been rated safely Democratic by all the forecasters. However, the nine-term congressman and former two-term Delaware governor, who has never lost an election (winning vote totals in the 60 percent to 70 percent range) changed all that with his entry into the race. The Democrats were in danger of losing yet another Senate seat in 2010...

WILMINGTON, Del. -- Delaware Republican congressman Michael Castle is announcing that he's running for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Democrat Joe Biden last year after Biden was elected vice president. In a brief, exclusive interview with The Associated Press before his news conference, Castle said he's running because he can do more for Delaware in the Senate than in the House.

U.S. Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del., will announce at noon that he's running for former Vice President Joe Biden's Senate seat, a Republican source tells CBS News, setting up what may be one of the Republicans' best shots at taking a Democratic-held Senate seat in 2010. Castle's announcement immediately puts Biden's former seat – a seat he held from 1972 until January - in play for the Republicans, even as Biden's son, state attorney general Beau Biden, readies for his own run. While Delaware is a reliably 'blue' state in presidential elections, the 70-year-old Castle, a moderate Republican, has held statewide...

The 2010 U.S. Senate race in Delaware is all about the candidates who haven’t decided whether to run yet. The first Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 survey in the state finds that longtime Republican Congressman Mike Castle beats state Attorney General Beau Biden by five points – 47% to 42% - in a hypothetical match-up for the seat Biden’s father held for 36 years. Five percent (5%) like some other candidate, and six percent (6%) are undecided.

A fascinating moment of candor captured by CNS, ostensibly offered as proof that Carper’s lazy but actually much more troubling than that. If this were a simple case of a senator showing disinterest in his work, the problem’s easily solved: Vote him out and get a new senator. The thing is, he’s right about legislative language being incomprehensible, especially when, as in the case of ObamaCare, the subject matter has to be reconciled with so many other provisions of existing commercial law. Essentially, it’s an endless labyrinth of cross-referencing other statutes; you’d have to have the entire U.S. Code in...

The 2010 U.S. Senate race in Delaware is all about the candidates who haven’t decided whether to run yet. The first Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 survey in the state finds that longtime Republican Congressman Mike Castle beats state Attorney General Beau Biden by five points – 47% to 42% - in a hypothetical match-up for the seat Biden’s father held for 36 years. Five percent (5%) like some other candidate, and six percent (6%) are undecided.

David Axelrod, senior adviser to President Barack Obama, will appear at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 7, at the University of Delaware's Mitchell Hall. The presentation, in which Axelrod will speak briefly and then engage in a conversation with Ralph Begleiter, UD's Edward and Elizabeth Goodman Rosenberg Professor of Communication and Distinguished Journalist in Residence, is part of the fall public affairs lecture series, “Assessing Obama's First Year.”

FREE REPUBLIC NASCAR THREAD AAA 400 Welcome to the Sprint Cup Chase Race #2 at (Click on the Pics, Graphics, & Links for related news & info.) History of the“Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup”at Dover International Speedway Current Cup Driver Standings Dover Weekend Track Schedule AAA 400 entry list Qualifying: Friday 9/25 3:00 pm/et Sprint Cup Qualifying ~ Race: Sunday 9/27 2:00 pm/et SPRINT Cup Race ~ 's NASCAR Raceday Pre-Race Show: 11:00 am/etScheduled Green Flag (approx): 2:16 pm/et Track Details with Current & Historical Track info from: NASCAR News, Info and Stats from

Joliet, Illinois (CNN) – Organizers of the Tea Party Express bus tour arriving in Washington later this week planned their route to go though Democratic congressional districts they consider vulnerable. "What we did was take a map of the United States and then we went head and pin pointed the members of congress that merited our attention and then we looked at those that might be politically vulnerable," said Joe Wierzbicki, a strategist with the conservative PAC Our Country Deserves Better, who are organizing the cross country Tea Party Express tour. Topping the group's target list in the Senate is...

December 29, 2001 Delaware Sen. Biden reflects on Sept. 11 By Tom Eldred, Senior writer DOWNSTATE - Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., D-Del., was on the train to Washington when he got a telephone call from his wife Jill. He'd made the same trip over and over during 30 years in the Senate. This one he wouldn't forget. It was Sept. 11, 2001. "I'd gotten on the 8:34 a.m. train,'' he said. "I got a call, which was highly unusual, from my wife." Mrs. Biden was getting ready to go to work. "She says, 'Oh my God, I'm watching the ...

Just wondering where they are keeping the VP locked up during this run towards fascism? Shackled in the basement of the super secret VP bunker? Betty Ford Clinic? It's mysterious that we aren't hearing uncle Joe's thoughts on nationalized health care.

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del., Aug. 17, 2009 – In 2003, Catherine Roberts, a midwife and a 25-year quilter from Seaford, Del., wanted to give a wounded soldier a quilt to bring him comfort during his recovery. Angie Carr and Air Force Capt. Sandra Bannan display a Quilt of Valor June 12, 2009, at the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations Center on Dover Air Force Base, Del. The quilts have been awarded to several hundred workers at the center since late 2006. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Benjamin Matwey  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “We are a...

Democrat seemingly doomed: Nevada Much has been made about strong candidates passing up the opportunity to knock out Sen. Harry Reid. Big deal. GOP chairwoman and state senator Sue Lowden even handily defeats Reid, 48-42. All the cash in the world can’t help Reid escape the dishonor of being the most hated senator in America. North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven has gained 39 points on Sen. Byron Dorgan in six months. Yeah, you read that right. Hoeven now leads by 17. Even if he doesn’t run, with Dorgan that unpopular, Duane Sand can kick a little well, sand, in his...

DOVER, Del. -- Delaware officials are fighting a request by professional sports leagues and the NCAA for a quick ruling by a federal appeals court on the state's plan to offer sports betting. A federal district judge has already denied a request from the leagues and the National Collegiate Athletic Association for a preliminary injunction that would have barred the state from offering sports betting with the start of football season in early September.

Well, I am back from participating in the MOB! (gee sure seemed like VERY friendly folks to me) Two Senators and our sole Representative were ABSENT! In fact - While the group was gathered, Our Representative Michael Castle R DE announced that he will NOT be holding any town hall meetings out of "Safety Concerns"

<p>After months of planning, FR's DC Convention is coming together.</p> <p>Help make history, join in Free Republic's return to DC as a national group and help to herald in another wave of conservative activism Free Republic is famous for!</p> <p>“Reagan is good for business” was Andrew’s introduction to politics. “I was real little, but that’s what my dad used to say.” Andrew Wilkow began his radio career at the college radio station. Conservative leaning politics were always his heart and he expressed his views on the air regularly, much to the anger of his co-workers. “I was basically just anti-P.C. at first.” He broke out of music radio in 2002 when he was given a trial/fill-in slot for Mark Levin on his hometown station, WABC in NYC. “That was huge and that’s when I first met Sean Hannity.” Soon after that he earned a weekend slot then a full time job at an upstate station. I basically did a 300 mile roundtrip every weekend for over 3 years to do both shows. Wilkow’s move to SIRIUS brings his new sound of conservative talk radio to a national audience. To quote Andrew, “Now is the time for the new school of conservative voices with a whole new style and passion – moving to SIRIUS lets me take that style and passion nationwide."</p>

August 04, 2009 GOP upset victory in Delaware special election Brett McCrae Roughly one month ago Delaware State Senator (Senator President Pro Tem as well) Thurman Adams (D) died at the age of 80 from a bout with pancreatic cancer. There was a special election yesterday and the two front runners were Joe Booth (R) and Polly Adams Mervine (D and daughter of the late Senator Thurman Adams). Polly had two major things going for her: 1) she is a Democrat; and 2) she is the daughter of Thurman. Legacy politics is the political way of life in Delaware. Beau...

Voters in the 19th District have chosen Republican Joe Booth. He took over 60% of the vote. Unofficial numbers from 15 of 16 districts: Republican Joe Booth – 4335 Democrat Polly Adams Mervine – 2083 Independent Matthew Opaliski – 408 Libertarian Wendy Jones – 56 The numbers are unofficial because for the second time in two elections, there have been problems with the state’s website and reporting the results as they come in from the election districts. With Joe Booth’s unofficial win in the 19th District Senate race, that leaves the 37th House District without representation – and another special...

The dumbest Senator ever brags about his smarts ..

Click the link.

special_election1.pdf via kwout

The Real Straight Talk Express? Biden's Candor a Persistent Challenge for Obama The Obama administration this week was compelled, once again, to explain and defend the vice president after he made some tough comments about Russia. But the problem with the remarks wasn't that they were off the mark. FOXNews.com Tuesday, July 28, 2009 Vice President Biden often gets labeled as a gaffe machine. But he's more like the Democrats' version of the Straight Talk Express. Love him or leave him, the man speaks his mind. The Obama administration this week was compelled, once again, to explain and defend the...

MOSCOW -- An interview U.S. Vice President Joe Biden gave to an American newspaper was front-page news Monday in Moscow, where his characterization of Russia as a weakened nation hit a raw nerve. Biden said Russia's economic difficulties are likely to make the Kremlin more willing to cooperate with the United States on a range of national security issues. "I think we vastly underestimate the hand that we hold," he said in an interview to The Wall Street Journal published Saturday. Biden's comments appeared to catch the Kremlin by surprise, coming less than three weeks after President Barack Obama said...

Link only due to copyright issues: http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090726/NEWS02/907260327/1006/NEWS

MOSCOW — Just weeks after a summit meeting intended to show a thawing in relations between the United States and Russia, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. made blistering references to Russia’s failing economy, loss of face and a leadership that is “clinging to something in the past” in an interview published on Saturday. Speaking on the heels of his trip to Georgia and Ukraine, Mr. Biden said flatly that the Obama administration would make no deals and accept no compromises with the Kremlin in exchange for better relations. Russia itself, he said, should find it in its own interest...

Most political town hall meetings are pretty dull affairs. Not this one. The YouTube clip of an irate woman waving her birth certificate in a plastic bag and telling Delaware congressman Mike Castle that Barack Obama was born in Kenya, not the United States, has become an online sensation. Castle, a mild-mannered moderate, was booed when he insisted that our president is in fact a citizen. It's been on the Drudge Report, Rush Limbaugh and just about every political website out there. The session was so embarrassing that a Castle staffer felt obliged to tell a local columnist that the...

Favorable views of Biden have dropped from 59% to 48% since November PRINCETON, NJ -- In contrast to U.S. President Barack Obama, whose current favorable rating among Americans is similar to what it was just after the November election, Vice President Joe Biden has seen some erosion in his rating. As a result, Biden lags significantly behind Obama in popularity, and, at this stage of the new administration, has the lowest favorable rating of any of the most recent vice presidents. Forty-eight percent of Americans now view Biden favorably, down from 53% in January and 59% in the first few...

SACARMENTO, CA - A national "Tea Party Express" tour (website: www.TeaPartyExpress.org ) will conduct a series of 35 tea party rallies across the country 35 days from now. The "Tea Party Express" will rally Americans to oppose the current policies of higher deficit spending, higher taxes, bailouts and quasi-socialistic government policies. Starting in California on August 28th, the caravan will travel eastward towards its final destination of the massive 9/12/09 Taxpayer March on D.C. The "Tea Party Express" is a project of the Our Country Deserves Better Committee, one of the nation's largest conservative political action committees. What started out...

Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., fighting to salvage his Presidential campaign, today acknowledged ''a mistake'' in his youth, when he plagiarized a law review article for a paper he wrote in his first year at law school. Mr. Biden insisted, however, that he had done nothing ''malevolent,'' that he had simply misunderstood the need to cite sources carefully. And he asserted that another controversy, concerning recent reports of his using material from others' speeches without attribution, was ''much ado about nothing.'' Mr. Biden, the 44-year-old Delaware Democrat who heads the Senate Judiciary Committee, addressed these issues at the Capitol in...

The on-again, off-again debate over whether Barack Obama was born in the United States is, well, on again. Just a few days after an angry protester, waving a birth certificate, confronted Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) over Obama’s origins, California Rep. John Campbell took to MSNBC’s Hardball to promote his bill requiring presidential candidates to submit copies of their birth certificates. But it didn’t take long for the interview to turn to questions about whether Campbell believed Obama himself was American-born. “What is going on that so many Americans doubt the obvious, that Barack Obama is a citizen, to the point...

Republicans have a very real chance in the 2010 elections to take the Senate seats formerly held by both Barack Obama and Joe Biden. The candidates we have in those races (Mark Kirk and Mike Castle) are far from perfect from a conservative perspective, but both would certainly constitute an upgrade from the previous occupants of the seat. So Mike Castle, the guy with the shot to take Joe Biden’s seat, was out a couple weeks ago doing a town hall on health care reform. Now, Mike Castle is terrible on this issue, and we will have to certainly hold...