The new Delaware
A set of goals for concerned citizens of our state to begin working toward.
As we saw in November, the citizens of Delaware stubbornly refused to participate in the red wave that crossed the nation, resulting in the re-election of President Trump.
But I think there are some principles we should work for, striving toward the day when we can throw off the yoke of unproductive government and get this state to a point where it becomes an attraction for people of all ages who want to breathe free. I jotted these down last Sunday as a note on my phone (yes, that infamous method of holding my thoughts) and figured now is the time to reveal and expand upon them.
A new Delaware:
Protects the rights of our most vulnerable population by making abortion safe, legal, and rare: restoring the pre-2017 law where it was allowed only in cases of rape, incest, and the life of the mother.
I honestly think women completely misunderstand the concept of choice: the choice is made when you sleep with the guy and have sex, whether unprotected or not: condoms break, birth control pills and devices fail, and I think sometimes sperm is just determined to survive and overcomes all those obstacles. After that, the choice must be whether to keep the baby or allow for its adoption to parents who are willing to raise it, because while the baby is unable to give informed consent, it still has rights from the moment of conception.
Delaware had that law, although enforcement surely stopped when the Supreme Court came up with the wrong decision in Roe v. Wade. But the majority in our legislature reacted to the first election of President Trump by eliminating the old language. From the synopsis of SB5 (2017):
This Substitute makes Delaware’s laws on abortion consistent with the scope of the right protected by the United States Constitution and the practice in Delaware for the past 43 years. In doing so, this Act permits the termination of a pregnancy prior to viability, to protect the life or health of the mother, or in the event of serious fetal anomaly.
Since abortion is no longer a “right,” and viability doesn’t determine one’s rights anyway, the way is clear to restore the rights of our most vulnerable population.
Establishes a modern competitive educational system where parents can choose the best option, whether it be public or private schools or homeschooling, with incentives to create opportunities for hard-to-educate children.
The argument about school choice is that private schools can accept whoever they want, and reject certain students based on arbitrary factors. But I believe this can be solved with the right incentives for private schools or assistance for homeschoolers and those who choose microschools, which is the term coined for the situation I once described as parents pooling their resources and hiring a teacher who teaches in a particular home, or small facility.
Let’s face it: public schools are nowhere near what they were in 1980 when I last encountered them. (I went to vocational school my junior and senior years, so my last time in my home school was the end of sophomore year.) I’m sure there was some politically correct BS even back then and I had a couple teachers on the liberal side - the social studies teacher who demanded to be addressed as Ms. (maiden name) comes to mind, even though she was married to another teacher - but I think I turned out all right. I can still think freely and discern a path forward based on available evidence. I’m not as certain the “skulls full of mush” are getting that same education (as opposed to indoctrination) now.
Hence, the push for school choice, which is popular among most voters. My desire is that the government keeps its mitts out of it with their overregulation. No strings attached, and parents who choose to send their children to public schools can be assured they’ll learn the three r’s of “readin’, ritin’, and ‘rithmetic” as opposed to Project 1619 history bunkum or how to question their gender. Competition can make them better, and Delaware can truly be the First State on this one.
Works to make electricity, natural gas, and gasoline less expensive by improving supply reliability and eliminating unproductive existing mandates, such as the renewable energy portfolio and withdrawing from the boondoggle of RGGI.
Some of this is self-explanatory, and it makes me wonder if anyone ever figured out a real cost-benefit analysis of these mandates or simply did them as virtue signaling about “saving the planet.” Got some news for you folks: we could do our lifestyle for 1,000 years and the planet would survive. Would we have to adapt at times? Certainly, but mankind has proven itself capable of surviving a lot of crises over the years. I saw where sea levels have supposedly risen 6-8” along the Gulf of Mexico over the last 15 years - last I checked, we place necessary equipment at elevation 8.00 feet. I think we’re good.
But there is a lot we can do to make moving energy around more efficient. I’ve noticed someone has invested in improving a high-voltage line near our house by putting in new poles, so what’s wrong with expanding existing natural gas pipelines and exploring some of the shale plays under our state to see if they have viable amounts of natural gas?
The key, though, is getting rid of the mandates and carveouts to let those things we have found to be efficient at storing energy (coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear) continue to do so while seeking more supplies.
Strives to attract more business by reducing or eliminating the gross receipts tax and allowing for right-to-work at the county level.
According to the state’s FY2025 budget analysis, the gross receipts tax provides roughly $360 million in revenue each year, or about 5%. And businesses hate it, because it’s just more paperwork for them to fill out. It’s generally a target of state government reformers, and at just 5% of revenue it seems to me we can find enough fraud and waste to eliminate that tax (see below.)
As for the other part, we have tried this but Big Labor has been too strong a lobby to adopt this statewide, despite the fact almost 90% of workers in Delaware aren’t members of a union and surely want more employers to come to the state. Maybe it’s time WE had a say, and it would give us a real-life case study: let Sussex County be right-to-work and watch us blow the doors off the rest of the state even more.
Adopts its own DOGE-style agency to root out the fraud and waste in our government, with savings returned directly to taxpayers.
Even better, let’s have taxpayers make the suggestions. Government has certain functions it does well and others it’s supposed to do, but the rest should be fair game. For example, allowing money to follow the child and providing a discounted per-pupil amount to parents if they choose to homeschool or send to private school (vs. the full amount spent on them in public schools) would start the effort off with a drastic savings: shaving just 1/4 of the education budget would save us $500 million a year (and eliminate the need for the gross receipts tax, as described above.)
The idea here, though, is not to do things as a politician or as part of one of the duopoly parties; instead it’s ordinary citizens expressing their demand for necessary change.
In 2023, Delaware was the only state among the fifty to be in a recession with its state economy. And let’s face it: our only growth industry seems to be retirees, who are swarming in along the beach areas of Sussex County to live out their golden years. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that, but they’re not creating the conditions for the families of their kids to follow them.
There are things unique to Delaware which can be done, and this list is by no means comprehensive or meant to be enacted in order. (I start with abortion only because I think right to life is paramount, for without life you can’t have liberty.) But I see a lot of people who are frustrated with Delaware and left because the state has no opportunity and an overbearing state government. We can change that if we put our minds to it and put in the work required - that, of course, is the hard part.
But let’s agree on a few good ideas and see where we can take them.
Until next time, don’t just remember you can Buy Me a Coffee since I have a page there - be aware I’m having a sale on paid subscriptions for a limited time. Just follow this link for 50% off!
Well said.
As to motivations, the decision is always between freedom and "free stuff."
That's why Gresham's Law applies to politicians.