Find out how Cooch took $55,000 from the disgraced "U.S. Navy Veterans Association," in apparent exchange for his promise to get the Virginia Office of Consumer Affairs (which had "notified Thompson's group that it no longer qualified for an exemption from state registration requirements") off the group's back. Can we say "pay-to-play?" Find out more.
The reported vandalism of a mosque in Chantilly, Virginia, is an affront the American traditions which we hold dear. We must not remain silent when any house of worship is attacked like this on our soil.
I couldn't agree more. This is utterly unacceptable, unAmerican behavior - inexcusable.
P.S. Per the Post article: "Police are continuing the investigation. Anyone with information about the case can contact Crime Solvers at (866) 411-TIPS/8477."
Jim Webb's election as US Senator in 2006 held great promise for the future of Democrats in Virginia and nationwide. He was and is a unique kind of Democrat, offering the hope of bringing a very different constituency into the party - the Scots-Irish, more rural and pro-military but profoundly populist folks who are too poorly served by their steadfast support of the Republican agenda of enriching America's millionaires.
This past week's election results, leaving Republicans in total control of state government, made crystal clear that the forces of reaction have roared back to crush this revolution - for now. Democratic hopes of expanding our base in Virginia have largely stopped dead at the borders of Fairfax County, as we have failed to appeal to the kind of Virginians, from the exurbs to the small towns, who look and in some ways think like Jim Webb.
But rather than sulking, we need to figure out how the revolution that Jim Webb promised got stopped in its tracks, and how we revive it - with new Jim Webbs, wherever we can find them.
It is important to remember what an unlikely Democratic candidate Webb made in 2006. Webb is an archetypal symbol of Marine machismo, who blazed a trail from his famed boxing match with Oliver North at Annapolis to his uncommon courage in Vietnam, where he earned the Navy Cross, Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and two Purple Hearts. He made his mark as a Reagan administration official, bringing the Marines back from a low point and dramatically resigning as Navy Secretary when he disagreed with the president's policies.
I've rarely if ever seen Jim Webb this angry, but I think it's totally appropriate given the outrageousness of Republicans' rhetoric in this campaign. Specifically, Webb is disgusted by a Loudoun County Republican Committee Halloween message that included an image of President Obama with a bullet hole in his head. Note that the chair of that committee, Mark Sell, has not resigned or apologized (other than a ridiculous, non-apology "apology") to this day. Nor have most Loudoun Republican politicians condemned Sell or demanded his resignation. That really says it all, wouldn't you say?
This is simply astounding. I'll let Jim Webb explain, as I'm just about speechless at how crazy this is.
Senator Jim Webb issued the following statement today after Senate Republicans blocked passage of legislation to establish a bipartisan National Criminal Justice Commission. Over the last three years, Senator Webb's legislation has won support from more than 100 organizations, including the National Sheriffs' Association, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the Fraternal Order of Police, the Sentencing Project, the NAACP, the ACLU and Prison Fellowship.
"Today Senate Republicans blocked an important opportunity to make our criminal justice system more fair and effective. Their inflammatory arguments defy reasonable explanation and were contradicted by the plain language of our legislation. To suggest, for example, that the non-binding recommendations of a bipartisan commission threaten the Constitution is absurd.
"But we have been here before: In 2007, our soldiers and Marines were being deployed again and again, resulting in rising mental health problems and falling retention rates. On two occasions, I offered legislation requiring active-duty troops to have equal time at home as on deployment. On both occasions, Republican Senators blocked this sensible, time-honored policy. We did not back down. We kept fighting and we changed the debate. Today proper dwell-time rotations are a top priority at the highest levels of the Defense Department.
"Likewise, over the last five years we have put the issue of criminal justice reform on the national agenda and changed the tone of the debate. When I first raised the issue in 2006, it was believed to be political suicide. But after years of building the case for reform, we have earned the trust and support of advocates across the philosophical and political spectrum. We will not back down. We will keep fighting for a comprehensive review of the justice system, with the help of the thousands of sheriffs, police, mayors and justice advocates who have joined us in pressing for reform."
Thank you, Jim Webb, please keep on fighting. As for the Republicans who filibustered this? Let's just say, this is a family-friendly blog and leave it at that. More on the "flip."
Only in the "wounded sea slug" Senate (to quote our old pal Felix Macacawitz) could an almost totally noncontroversial proposal like Jim Webb's National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2011 not be on a fast track to passage and signature into law. Meanwhile, our criminal "justice" system continues to fester in injustice, inefficiency, and inequity. Why is this being allowed to continue day after day, month after month, year after year? There's absolutely no excuse. Pass Sen. Webb's criminal justice reform bill NOW and let's start fixing a system that's clearly broken. Is that really too much to ask?!?
P.S. Thanks to Sen. Webb for not giving up on this, for stubbornly pushing forward despite massive inertia and other obstacles standing in his way. THIS is the type of initiative and perseverance that makes me proud to have "drafted" Webb in 2006, I commend him for it.
At the recent Mason District (Fairfax County) Crab Feast, I observed, among the usual parade of politicians, two who stood out from the crowd.
Jim Webb and Tim Kaine demonstrated a level of class, earthiness and sincerity that we ought to expect from everyone we elect to public office. While Webb will be missed, his impending departure makes all the more critical that we replace him with someone real, like Kaine -- and not a dime store cowboy.
Webb spoke of his experiences on September 11th, when he happened to be in the Pentagon speaking with Corporal Jim Jones. Jones was called away by the news of a plane hitting the World Trade Center -- and Webb was driving away on Route 110 when he heard and felt the thud of the plane hitting the Pentagon.
The experiences of that day, and the irresponsible reaction of the Bush administration -- particularly the egregious, destructive War in Iraq -- led Webb to leave the Republican party, seek office as a Democrat, and become our Senator in '06. And Webb has used his office not for grandstanding or stuffed-shirt nonsense but to pursue serious, meaningful causes like the new GI Bill, reducing our massive prison population, and decreasing income inequality.
It is not surprising that former Virginia Governor George Allen, campaigning to be the Republican nominee to fill Virginia's Senate seat, currently held by Senator Jim Webb, is making the claim that, while he was Governor of Virginia, he reined in Virginia's budget and reduced the size of its government. He is, after all, a Republican, what else could he say? His words now, however, do not fit his actual deeds then, when he was Governor, according to Politifact, which did its usual meticulous job of analyzing statements by politicians---- what we used to call "fact checking."
Checking the facts when it comes to budget claims means sorting through a welter of figures, not just the actual state budget, but the growth or decline in the economy, as compared with history. To begin with, over-all state spending "increased significantly" during the Allen administration, rising from a budget of $14.7 billion when Allen came into office to a budget of $20.7 billion when he left, a 40.7 percent increase. Since much of that increase was beyond a governor's control because it came from the non-general fund and was composed of earmarked revenues (like federal highway grants), simply looking at overall spending "may be unfair." Instead, Politifact checked the general fund "which supports public education, health programs and public safety. It's supported by state income and sales taxes." When Allen came into office, the general fund was almost $6.8 billion; when he left, he proposed a $9.9 billion general fund budget beginning 1 July 1998, a 45.6 percent increase.
A few minutes ago, the U.S. Senate voted 74-26 to approve the debt ceiling deal reached this past weekend. Both Jim Webb and Mark Warner voted "aye." Below, watch Mark Warner explain his thinking on the debt ceiling deal, his "aye" vote, and also his belief in the need for a "full, long-term solution...to get our debt-to-GDP ratio back in line."
P.S. There's a rumor floating around on some of the (far, far!) right-wing blogs, that Mark Warner supposedly won't be running for reelection in 2014. I just checked with Warner's office, and spokesman Kevin Hall told me that is "[c]ompletely not true".
We also oppose the provision in the House-passed Continuing Resolution that cuts Planned Parenthood health centers off from federal funds used to provide cancer screenings, birth control and other preventive health care services to three million Americans every year.
Without access to these services, many of these women will be unable to get preventive screenings, be at far greater risk for diseases such as cancer and will face more unintended pregnancies.
Protecting women's health is a goal we can all agree on. We urge you to stand with us against extreme proposals by some Members of the House that would harm women and their families.
It's truly astounding how extreme the Republican Party has gotten; just a few years ago, this type of assault on Planned Parenthood - or on the Clean Air Act, for that matter - would have been unthinkable. This is certainly not your father's, let alone your grandfather's, Republican Party anymore.
Yesterday afternoon, Sen. Jim Webb's office put out a press release (see the full thing on the "flip") calling for a vote on the "Rockefeller Amendment to Delay EPA Greenhouse Gas Regulations." Needless to say, I strongly disagree with Jim Webb that any delay in taking aggressive, comprehensive action on clean energy and climate change makes any sense whatsoever. There are three main reasons we need to act immediately, not delay a minute longer:
1) the scientific evidence of dangerous, man-made climate change is crystal clear and voluminous, as is the overwhelming consensus among climate scientists that we need to act urgently - as in, this is a planetary environmental emergency - to slash greenhouse gas emissions NOW;
2) our national security depends heavily on a rapid move off of our "oil addiction," which means first and foremost transitioning the U.S. vehicle fleet to far higher efficiency, and also to clean-energy-generated electricity;
3) our economic future will be determined in large part on how rapidly we transition off of 19th and 20th century fuels (mainly coal and oil) and into 21st century energy sources (efficiency, wind, solar, wave, geothermal, next-generation biofuels, and possibly also nuclear power if the cost, safety, and waste disposal issues are all taken care of.
Today is I love mountains day. For many activists in Virginia today represents an opportunity to protest the injustice of mountaintop removal, and for others it represents one more opportunity to call on Senators Webb and Warner to support the Clean Air Act.
The Clean Air Act has a more than 40 year history of cost-effectively reducing air pollution and protecting public health. Unfortunately, legislation that was passed with bipartisan support in 1970, and signed into law by Richard Nixon, has become political fodder. It all stems from a 2007 Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts v. EPA where the court ruled that the EPA must conduct proceedings to determine if carbon pollution is a threat to public health.
The process began under the Bush Administration, but was not completed until the Spring of 2009 when the Obama EPA found that the science does show a link between greenhouse gas emissions and public health. In the time that has lapsed since then, Republicans have cried foul arguing that the EPA doing its job to protect public health is federal overreach.
Unfortunately, they've found support in a few coal state Democrats like Virginia's own Jim Webb. That brings us to the events of today, and the pleas of more than 100 Virginians that Senator Webb stop obstructing the EPA and let it do its job.
1. We have a military operation "but we do not have a clear diplomatic policy or a clear statement of foreign policy that is accompanying this military operation"
2. "We know we don't like the Qaddafi regime, but we do not have a clear picture of who the opposition movement really is"
3. "Yes, e got a vote from the U.N. Security Council in order to put this into play but we had five key abstentions in that vote - Brazil, Russia, India, China, and Germany - and we have not put this issue in front of the American people in any meaningful way."
4. According to Sen. Webb, we've been "sort of on autopilot for almost 10 years now in terms of presidential authority in conducting these type of military operations absent the meaningful participation of the Congress." According to Webb, "this isn't the way our system is supposed to work."
5. Sen. Webb says that "the President and the Secretary of State have a very clear obligation now to come forward to the American people and to the Congress and state clearly what they believe the end point of this should be; they haven't done that."
6. Finally, Webb believes "this issue is of much more economic importance to Britain and France...we don't have to get involved in every one of these [operations] quite frankly."
While we all are speculating about who will be the Democratic nominee for senator in 2012, I decided to pause a bit and recall my most vivid memories from the 2006 Webb campaign, a campaign that started out as a long shot, not one not at all sure of victory, but one filled with grassroots and netroots energy and optimism.
The first time I met Jim Webb was early in the campaign at a Roanoke Valley picnic. There were about 100 of us Democrats there. Jim Webb arrived in his vehicle with its camouflage paint job. As Webb stood by waiting to be introduced, I was struck by how he seemed ill at ease and concluded then and there that he was an introvert for whom such events could not be easy. However, when he took the microphone and began to talk, he readily warmed to his task, especially when he told us, with great pride in his voice, why he was wearing combat boots in honor of his son serving in Iraq.
At that same picnic I first met and chatted with Mac McGarvey, Webb's radio operator in Vietnam who left his small business in Tennessee and came to Virginia to volunteer as Webb's driver. Mac lost his right arm above the elbow in combat, and Webb introduced Mac to the crowd and told us about a tattoo Mac had put on that arm. It was a dotted line that had the words, "Cut along dotted line," above it. Mac and Jim Webb had that bond that is only shared by those who have served together in combat. (Mac became Sen. Webb's liaison for veteran's affairs.)
Jim Webb was at his best at all the events I attended as the campaign progressed when he told us his common-sense, genuinely populist program, the reasons he wanted to be a senator. That was a textbook example of what far too few politicians do: tell voters why they should vote for him/her.
There are a half-dozen other such measures in circulation, at least one of which would weaken the agency's long-held powers to regulate conventional ground-level pollutants like soot and mercury.
One or another of these bills has a real shot in the Republican-controlled House. Their chances are slimmer in the Senate, where the bigger danger is a proposal by Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, that would block any new regulations on power plants and other industrial sources for two years.
That is just obstruction by another name. It would delay modernization and ensure that more carbon is dumped into the atmosphere. History shows that regulatory delays have a way of becoming permanent. [...]
In his State of the Union address, President Obama promised to protect "common-sense safeguards" to the nation's environment. The rules under siege in Congress will help clean the air, reduce toxic pollution in fish and slow emissions of greenhouse gases. It is hard to imagine anything more sensible than that.
As Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said, "There is a case to be made that, in the contest between corporate profits and children's lungs, someone should be standing up for children's lungs." Will Sen. Webb really choose to stand on the side of corporate profits?
In a Tuesday afternoon interview with MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell, former Virginia Governor, and current Democratic National Committee Chairman, Tim Kaine said he has "no reason to believe" that Virginia Senator Jim Webb, a fellow Democrat, will not run for re-election in 2012.
"I just believe for a variety of reasons ... That he's going to run," Kaine told Mitchell, adding that he had no specific knowledge of Sen. Webb's plans.
Good news, if true. Although I've had my differences with Webb, particularly on energy/enviro issues, I think overall he's done an excellent job and also is infinitely superior to any of the Republicans running (Allen, "Sideshow Bob" Marshall, Corey Stewart, Jamie Radtke).
Meanwhile, I was quoted in the Washington Examiner about 2012. A few of my main points didn't make the article for whatever reason: 1) Webb would start this time as the incumbent, with all the advantages that entails, as opposed to Allen as the entrenched incumbent with a warchest in 2006; 2) Webb won't be at the top of the ticket this time, as it will be a presidential year, so his fortunes will depend to a significant extent on how Obama fares in Virginia this time around; 3) Allen may very well not be the Republican nominee, but if he is, he starts off with "macaca" and continues on with "macaca," because he's never fully explained or really come to terms with not just the word, but with his longstanding attitudes towards African Americans (deer head in a black family's mailbox, habitual use of the "n word," etc.); 4) 2012 will be a very different year than 2006 in terms of activist energy levels, so it will be interesting to see if Webb can recreate the "ragtag army" this time around. Finally, with regard to Tom Perriello, my point was most definitely NOT to say that he couldn't win statewide, because I believe Tom would be a very strong statewide candidate, but simply a factual statement that he's never run statewide, while Webb and Kaine both have.
I had a chance to attend State Senator Chap Petersen's annual Business Leaders Breakfast (thanks for the invite!) this morning, and the guest of honor was Sen. Jim Webb. I've got video of Webb speaking on a variety of topics, including criminal justice reform, foreign policy, health care reform, the budget deficit, economic fairness, and unions. I'll be posting those shortly. For now, here's Webb speaking about filibuster reform and the "paralysis" that has "invaded the Senate." Key points:
*Webb agrees that the Senate has been paralyzed the past two years, largely blames the GOP strategy to slow down/stop everything in order to "prove" that "Democrats can't govern"
*Webb believes that the way the filibuster - and things like secret "holds" - has been used has been absurd.
*But, despite all this, Webb is skeptical that we should change the rules, especially with just 51 votes, when it's possible that "down the line" the Republicans could be in charge and "dramatically" change the rules themselves. According to Webb, "I'm not sure that's a great way to go in terms of the stability of the Senate."
I just received this from Sen. Webb's office, and am very sorry to hear the news. My deepest condolences to Jim Webb on his loss.
Vera Hodges Webb, Mother of U.S. Senator Jim Webb, Dies at 85
Vera Hodges Webb, mother of U.S. Senator Jim Webb (D. Va.), died on January 3rd in Jacksonville, North Carolina, after a long illness, at the age of 85.
Vera Lorraine Hodges was born in Kensett, Arkansas, on June 24, 1925, to Birch Hays Hodges and Georgia Frankie Doyle. One of eight children, by the time Mrs. Webb was ten years old the hardships of rural Arkansas had caused two of her sisters and one brother, as well as her father, to die of illnesses that would be preventable or treatable in today's America. From an early age, Mrs. Webb and her siblings worked year-round by chopping and picking cotton, picking strawberries, cutting and ricking wood, and through other agricultural pursuits...{the full statement is on the "flip"}
By the way, Jim Webb's mother's medical condition - Alzheimer's - was raised in the 2006 Senate campaign, in the context of Jim Webb's support for stem cell research. As Webb said at the time, "There are a lot of people who are facing that in their future. And there's a way out of this with the proper use of science." I couldn't agree more!
If Jim Webb decides to seek reelection in 2012, is he a shoo-in? Based on this superb analysis, on a pro-Republican blog no less, I'd have to say "yes."
Ugh.
It's not even 2011 and that's my sentiments about the 2012 Republican nomination battle. While most of the state is not paying attention to this intra-party nonsense, the posturing by the candidates and soon-to-be candidates has been awful. There's no other word for it, simply awful from top to bottom. With the selection of a primary, the stage was set for former Senator George Allen to ascend. Bob Marshall and Jamie Radtke's only chances were a convention, so with State Central opting for a primary, that in theory would have preempted any candidacy. Whoops.
The analysis goes on to conclude that George Allen, aka "the man we know and love as 'Felix Macacawitz'", is the strong, odds-on (1:3) favorite for the Republican nomination to face Webb in 2012. But not before "the uncomfortable prospect of [a] scorched earth, 'anyone but Allen'" contest that makes this a "long year" for Republicans. And at the end of the GOP nomination process, we get a clueless, unrepentant George Allen, which means we start with "macaca," we continue on with his apparent shame over having Jewish heritage, we recall his habitual use of the "n word" and other shenanigans (deer head in a black family's mailbox, noose in his office, love for the Confederate flag), we then proceed with his 97% voting record with George W. Bush, onward to his utter lack of accomplishments - and disdain for - the "wounded sea slug" of a U.S. Senate, etc, etc. And all this will come in a presidential election year, with President Obama on the top of the ticket and looking like a strong favorite for reelection.
Given all this, how does "Felix Macacawitz" improve his 2006 performance and beat Jim Webb, who would start this time with staff, money, and incumbent advantages? I have no idea, but if anyone thinks of anything, please let me know. Until then, I'm penciling in Jim Webb as a "shoo-in" for reelection in 2012. That is, assuming he decides to put himself through the torture of running, of attending events, of kissing babies, of doing call time, and generally of doing the thing he hates most in the world - being a politician.
Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) said Friday that he could support changing the military's ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military.
The senior senator from Virginia, with a background steeped in distinguished military service, said he would support repealing the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," policy, provided there is "sensitivity" toward how change would be applied, particularly to combat units.
The announcement marked a shift from earlier in the year when Webb voted against repealing the policy.
In other news, Webb says he'll make a decision on whether or not to run for reelection "in the first quarter of next year." As was the case in December 2005 when I first met Webb, he continues to cite "the 'incredibly difficult process' of fundraising as one of the main issues affecting his decision." And, he adds, "If I'm not going to run we need to make sure we have a strong candidate who can." This should be interesting to watch...
UPDATE: A transcript of Sen. Webb's WTOP comments is on the "flip."
UPDATE #2: In other Webb-related news, check out this article on Webb's criminal justice commission legislation.
I'm very happy to see our two U.S. Senators vote "yea" on funding the military and repealing the discriminatory, counter-productive, obsolete, idiotic "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy. Unfortunately, in the U.S. Senate, majority does NOT rule, nor do 57 Senators voting "yea." Instead, it takes 60 "yea" votes to invoke "cloture" on a "filibuster" to...oh forget it!
Anyway, the bottom line is that the monstrosity known as "Don't Ask Don't Tell" lives to see another day, thanks to yet another FAIL by the Senate, mostly by Senate Republicans (and one "Democrat," Joe Manchin of West Virginia). I'm hoping that this story is correct, that a separate repeal of DADT "will be cosponsored by Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), and they said it will have bipartisan support." Just get rid of this damn thing already!
UPDATE: Video from the Senate floor on the "flip."
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The following is Sen. Webb's statement in response to the 
Jim Webb's election as US Senator in 2006 held great promise for the future of Democrats in Virginia and nationwide. He was and is a unique kind of Democrat, offering the hope of bringing a very different constituency into the party - the Scots-Irish, more rural and pro-military but profoundly populist folks who are too poorly served by their steadfast support of the Republican agenda of enriching America's millionaires.
This is simply astounding. I'll let Jim Webb explain, as I'm just about speechless at how crazy this is.
At the recent Mason District (Fairfax County) Crab Feast, I observed, among the usual parade of politicians, two who stood out from the crowd.
It is not surprising that former Virginia Governor George Allen, campaigning to be the Republican nominee to fill Virginia's Senate seat, currently held by Senator Jim Webb, is making the claim that, while he was Governor of Virginia, he reined in Virginia's budget and reduced the size of its government. He is, after all, a Republican, what else could he say? His words now, however, do not fit his actual deeds then, when he was Governor, according to 
Thank you to Senators Webb and Warner for 
Yesterday afternoon, Sen. Jim Webb's office put out a press release (see the full thing on the "flip") calling for a vote on the "Rockefeller Amendment to Delay EPA Greenhouse Gas Regulations." Needless to say, I strongly disagree with Jim Webb that any delay in taking aggressive, comprehensive action on clean energy and climate change makes any sense whatsoever. There are three main reasons we need to act immediately, not delay a minute longer:
While we all are speculating about who will be the Democratic nominee for senator in 2012, I decided to pause a bit and recall my most vivid memories from the 2006 Webb campaign, a campaign that started out as a long shot, not one not at all sure of victory, but one filled with grassroots and netroots energy and optimism.
I just received this from Sen. Webb's office, and am very sorry to hear the news. My deepest condolences to Jim Webb on his loss.
If Jim Webb decides to seek reelection in 2012, is he a shoo-in? Based on 
I'm very happy to see our two U.S. Senators 
