Let me apologize to my readers, I know this is the second Bob Mitchell post in a week, after all, how much Mitchell can we stand. On Tuesday night, I attended the Sussex County Republican Women’s Club event, at Kings Creek Country Club. As always their events are well-organized and well attended. This particular one was to highlight Republican candidates for the position of state Representatives.
The list included Representatives, Ruth Briggs-King, Ron Gray, Steve Smyk and my very own Representative, Dave Wilson. The event also allowed non-incumbent candidates to speak as well. These included James DeMartino who is running against House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf , and the only primary challenger, Bob Mitchell, who as we all know, has decided to run against Dave Wilson.
I speak of Tuesday’s event only to point out, all of the incumbent Republicans who spoke, spoke of the need to establish some political balance at the state level, in other words, we need for Republicans to hold the seats they have in the House and gain what they can, and possibly take control of the Senate.
And then you have Bob Mitchell, who talks endlessly about Republican this, and Republican that, yet has challenged a Republican Representative in good standing within his district, who has the most conservative voting record in the Legislature, and who is considered a safe seat. But Bob Mitchell and the Greenwood MOB think it is a good idea, to try to ding Dave Wilson in a primary.
I have written plenty about the real reason Mitchell is running, it is to settle the vendetta for the MOB against Dave Wilson, for supporting the best person in the Register of Wills race last time around. Rep. Wilson supported Cindy Green’s opponent and the MOB has been out to get him ever since.
This was oh, so evident on Monday night when the 35th Representative District held their monthly meeting. The Committee is headed by long time Green supporter Jordan Warfel, and had been announced that Dave Wilson had been invited to speak about SB 256, which would create a constitutional amendment to consolidate the three county Wills offices under one state office.
Let me say first, the bill has been tabled in committee, and so the discussion was rhetorical on Monday night. That didn’t stop Ms. Green and her MOB from debating the issue. Dave Wilson spoke first and gave his reasons for co-sponsoring the bill, and then spent the next two hours answering all questions about the bill and other issues.
Even when one of the regular off-center members of the Committee made accusations of impropriety during his time as Register of Wills, Dave Wilson looked them in the eye and answered the questions.
Cindy Green, after claiming the office was a bastion of local control, was heard to say several times, the office of Register has no control over setting the fees, of hiring anyone but their personal deputy, or for setting salaries. When asked what the Register actually controls locally, she had no answer. In fact, at one point she stated, the Register is in charge of carrying out Delaware Code. A point I have made right here. The office is nothing more than an elected bureaucrat. It was made clear by Rep. Wilson, and Ms. Green, that the Court of Chancery and the County Council run the office, making a good case to save the tax payers money by eliminating the salaries of the three Registers and consolidating.
But maybe the most interesting statement came from our good friend Bob Mitchell. He had sat quietly for most of the meeting, and should have remained so, but chose to join the conversation at a point when, I myself had pointed out, the County Council, who many in that room hold up as a symbol of conservatism, was holding a $70+ million surplus, and in my view, this sounded like over taxation. But considering the County will likely be facing a law suit from the Overbrook vote, it may not be enough.
It was at this point, Bob Mitchell spoke up and stated, he wished the state of Delaware had a $75 million surplus. I could not believe my ears, so I asked him if he really meant that? And he doubled down on stupid and said yes, he wished the state had that surplus. I pointed out the state was constitutionally mandated to balance the budget. His only come back was, “if so, why do we have deficits?” I would agree with that, but to state you want the state, to over tax the people to the tune of $75 million, again doesn’t sound like solid conservative ideology.
What it sounds like is, what we get out of these big government conservatives, much like in the Jeff Christopher for Sheriff race. Bigger government is fine as long as they are in charge of it. Bob Mitchell would have no problem with taxing you to create that surplus, as long as he got to decide where it went.
One more example that Bob Mitchell is either in way over his head, or he is the worst kind of hypocrite.
Good morning, Frank.
I have said repeatedly that you are the biggest hypocrite that I have met since announcing that I was going to run. Thanks for continuing to prove that.
When you asked if I wished that the state had a $75mm surplus, I said, “Yes.” And you asked me again, and I clarified my statement when I said, “I would prefer that they have a $75mm surplus rather than having the current $2 BILLION DOLLARS IN DEBT!” Which is what my opponent’s supporting votes have helped enable the Democrat controlled legislature to incur.
“Econ 101”, Frank – you get a surplus when you Control Spending, not when you overtax. If you have money in your savings, is it because your employer overpaid you?? No… It’s because you consciously chose to control your spending, live within your means, and set aside funds for any future liabilities. It’s common sense.
And to further showcase your lack of knowledge of financial matters, if the state actually had a $75 million surplus it would hardly be a drop in the bucket to hold against the $16 BILLION in Unfunded Liabilities that our State will owe to its retirees. These are costs that we have promised, but have not adequately funded. So our children will be paying for these promises that were made by negligent politicians who refused to set aside funds to cover them… that should outrage people because it essentially guarantees tax increases in the future as we struggle to pay for normal expenses and to pay for retiree benefits. But hey, let’s keep kicking that can down the road…. that’s what’s happening and it’s shameful.
I’d like to say that you don’t get it, Frank, but I actually believe that you do, but you purposefully choose to twist and ignore the fact that Dave Wilson is the ONLY Republican to Co-sponsor that Democrat Bill to take an office that currently returns over $400,000 per year to Sussex County and turn it over to the Democrat controlled State – which cannot even Balance it’s budget, let alone be able to set aside money for future liabilities as our County has done! And you have the nerve to call ME a hypocrite??!! You are laughable in your attempts to justify this bill and Dave’s Co-sponsorshipof it.
You try to say my campaign is about Cindy Green. And you know that you are lying. I told Dave Wilson face to face that I had no problem with him backing a Republican challenger to that office, nor did I care about his personal issues with her. But when he stepped over the line to publicly endorse the Democrat challenger, I, and almost every Republican I have talked to, believe that he went too far and damaged his party. And you talk about “doubling down”? He defiantly told me that he “would do it again tomorrow” – while in the same conversation he said he didn’t support that same Democrat in his current run for Lieutenant Governor. Yet you call me a hypocrite??
Dave’s Co-sponsorship of this bill is seen by everyone who is willing to look at it objectively, as nothing more than a continuation of his personal vendetta against that office. That’s why the bill is dead; because his fellow Republican Legislators refused to support him in his personal quest. There are much bigger issues facing our State, and this is the bill he chooses to co-sponsor??
You keep trying to spin it, Frank…. maybe one day you’ll even believe your own hypocrisy…
“There are none so blind as those who choose not to see…”
Oh that’s precious. Little Frankie can’t handle a surplus!
Cindy Green is not qualified to be dog catcher. Just let her talk for a minute to see for yourself. She’ll stop at nothing to keep her buddy Bodenweiser and fellow cronies in jobs. Word on the street is she’s raised the budget 200k since she was first elected and keeps the County CounSEL busy. She’s over her head!
Ok Bob, first I am not a conservative who believes that government should be run like a business for profit. And the state does have a rainy day fund. You can control your spending without creating such a large surplus.
As for Rep. Wilson being the only Republican to cosponsor the bill to consolidate the Wills office? Well William Penn said, “Right is right no matter who disagrees with you, wrong is wrong no matter how many agree with you. ”
Have you considered that the other Republicans just don’t have the political courage to sign on? Dave supported the bill because he felt it would be good for the state and the tax payers
You comment about the revenue generated by the Wills office being transferred from the county to the state, shows that either you have not read the bill, like Jordan Warfel, or you are purposefully lying to my readers. The bill clearly stated that the revenue will remain in the county.
And as for Rep. Wilson supporting Greg Fuller for Register of Wills and not for Lt. Governor is not hypocrisy, it simply means that he felt Fuller was the best person in the race for Register, but not for Lt. Governor.
And it’s you who continue to say your campaign is about Cindy, right here, “You try to say my campaign is about Cindy Green. And you know that you are lying. I told Dave Wilson face to face that I had no problem with him backing a Republican challenger to that office, nor did I care about his personal issues with her. But when he stepped over the line to publicly endorse the Democrat challenger, I, and almost every Republican I have talked to, believe that he went too far and damaged his party.”
As for Rep. Wilson being the only Republican to cosponsor the bill to consolidate the Wills office? Well William Penn said, “Right is right no matter who disagrees with you, wrong is wrong no matter how many agree with you.”
What makes you so sure that you- and Wilson- are right?
Have you considered that the other Republicans just don’t have the political courage to sign on? Dave supported the bill because he felt it would be good for the state and the tax payers..
Have you ever considered that Socialist-Democrats always have an ulterior motive?
Rick, in calling Dave Wilson a socialist democrat, have you considered you are suffering from mental illness?
Government budget surpluses suck money out of the economy. If we were experiencing economic growth similar to the 1990’s we might be able to afford the luxury of a budget surplus.
Frank, it’s interesting that you and I both heard the same statement from Bob but my first reaction was support for it. But we totally understood it from two very different perspectives. While you were thinking Bob was insinuating raising taxes, I was thinking State operating within it’s means and budget. And that is how Bob meant it. He is NOT in favor of “tax and spend”. Have you ever seen the state of federal government take away responsibility from a lesser entity and made it more efficient and less costly while providing the same level of service? If we really think the state can do a better job than the county, we are whistling in Dixie. Taking control away from the county and giving it to the state is NOT a conservative move. The county will always give better service and operate more efficiently than the state.
“Rinnie”, who I believe to be Ronnie Yoder, simply misspelled his own name, by looking at the email address, you again make the point I was making when I pointed out that the county has a $70million + surplus, which is, that the so called local county government is no guarantee of good governance.
The idea that government having a large surplus is good fiscal responsibility at any level is a little scary. As Brock said above, it takes money out of the private sector. What happened to the idea that I know better how to spend my money than does the government? Is that not true if the government is local?
Or maybe as long as people like Bob Mitchell and Sam Wilson are in charge of the spending it’s ok?
How is taking more money from the people to hold, living within it’s budget? Government is not a family budget nor is it a business for profit. Government should take no more than it needs to run that which the people invest authority to do so, and to be prepared for unforeseen circumstances, and the state does have a rainy day fund, but no where near the $70 million of the county.
You defend Bob Mitchell by saying, ” He is NOT in favor of “tax and spend”. Obviously by his own statement of wanting the state to have a $70million plus surplus, he “IS” in favor of tax and keep.
Explain to me how a government that taxes me more than they need to operate, and keeps the money, is better than the government that taxes me at a high rate, but at least is spending it on projects and programs? I personally don’t prefer either. I want government which is responsive to the people, and taxes me only enough to cover the cost.
The problem with Bob Mitchell and those who support him, is that he is running against Dave Wilson, and not running for office. He is settling a vendetta for Cindy Green which means he has to grasp at straws, and in doing so he says outrageous things like it being a good idea for government to have large surpluses, and then you follow suit by supporting the idea. Sorry but large government surpluses are not sound fiscal policy, it’s just faux conservative big government ideology.
True conservatives will see through it.
Rick, in calling Dave Wilson a socialist democrat, have you considered you are suffering from mental illness?
Have you started smoking again? Here was the dialogue;
Frank:As for Rep. Wilson being the only Republican to cosponsor the bill to consolidate the Wills office? Well William Penn said, “Right is right no matter who disagrees with you, wrong is wrong no matter how many agree with you.”
Rick; What makes you so sure that you- and Wilson- are right?
Frank; Have you considered that the other Republicans just don’t have the political courage to sign on? Dave supported the bill because he felt it would be good for the state and the tax payers..
Rick; Have you ever considered that Socialist-Democrats always have an ulterior motive?
First, when did I call him a “Socialist-Democrat?”
Wilson was the only Republican to support a bill with considerable Socialist-Democrat support. Hence, Wilson- and you- perhaps failed to consider the bill’s long-range significance, since, as I did say;
Have you ever considered that Socialist-Democrats always have an ulterior motive?
Frank, when there is a surplus, think REFUND or lowering of taxes. I believe that has been done before.
Well Ronnie, when I write my post about the county employees Christmas bonus, and spoke to Arllett, Cole, and Vincent was when I found out about the surplus and asked about refunding, and was told it was not a consideration, because it would be so small. Is that good governance in your opinion?
I would rather Sussex county refund everyone $3.62 than do anything positive