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.
Our fine Attorney General continues to work hard for the people of Virginia and...yeah, right, what am I TALKING about? In reality, Ken Kookinelli continues to waste everyone's time on his crazy, extremist, ideologically-and-politically-driven wild goose (or should I say rat?) chases. The latest example? Check this out.
The Pacific Research Institute and Eagle Publishing are hosting a cocktail reception Thursday night to honor health care expert Sally Pipes with special remarks by Virginia AG Ken Cuccinelli.
Pipes, author of The Truth About Obamacare, will explain just how big a threat she thinks "Obamacare is to the health and wealth of the American people" in her new book: The Pipes Plan: The Top Ten Ways to Dismantle and Repeal Obamacare
Great stuff, huh? Sounds like a true meeting of the minds. So who is this Sally Pipes individual? I'll let Think Progress Health explain:
With her 'BA with honors' in economics, Pipes leads a tiny 'think tank,' Pacific Research Institute, and advances special interest (PRI's list of donors include Altria (formerly known as Philip Morris), Microsoft, Pfizer and ExxonMobil) agendas. PRI promotes itself a s "free-market think tank," but Pipes offers little in the way of solutions...
...Pipes' real contribution is her ability to conflate the administrations' health care proposals with the evils of socialized Canadian medicine and reference discredited health care crisis deniers along the way. For instance, when Braley asked Pipes why "dont' people who come from your point of view come to this committee and talk about constructive ways we're going to reduce preventable medical errors" and lower overall health care costs, Pipes quotedfellow health care denierBetsy McCaughey!
Great stuff, huh? By the way, is it just me, or have you noticed that the word "denier" comes up an awful lot when we're talking about Ken Kookinelli and his nutty friends? The pattern here is simple: they reach their conclusions based on ideology, what their corporate allies want, and general lunacy, and then they ignore any empirical evidence (aka, "facts") that don't conform to said conclusions. Thus, there's no need to do anything about greenhouse gas emissions because...magically, presto change-o, there's no global warming. See how easy that was? It must be nice and comforting to live in a fantasy world of your own making, where purple unicorns prance through the fields, and where there are ponies, ponies for everyone! That's where Ken Kookinelli resides, apparently, and he's none the wiser about it.
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli announced today that his office has reached a settlement with a company that solicited funds from Virginians for the now defunct and fraudulent United States Navy Veterans Association.
[...]
USNVA claimed that it assisted disabled and needy war veterans and that it sent care packages to U.S. troops stationed overseas, among other charitable work. However, on March 21, 2010, the St. Petersburg Times began publishing a series of articles regarding USNVA that questioned its legitimacy. By the end of June 2010, USNVA ceased operations and its founding director, Bobby Thompson, disappeared amid allegations that USNVA was a fraud.
"The U.S. Navy Veterans Association defrauded people in the name of veterans, and this fraud diverted needed money from veterans' charities," said Cuccinelli. "This office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners at the state, local, and federal levels to find 'Bobby Thompson' and any other cohorts, to ensure that those responsible are held accountable for what they have done.
So, great job by Cuccinelli, right? Well, uh...not exactly. Why not? First and foremost, because Cuccinelli completely omits his own involvement in this scandal, as if his hands are clean. Well, they most certainly are not. Back in June 2012, NLS and Steve Shannon laid it all out. Here's an excerpt from the sordid scandal (one which the media has done an absolutely horrible job of investigating):
Just when you think Ken Cuccinelli can't get any more heinous, he does.
Cuccinelli: Well, I saw the same rat story about D.C. that y'all have been talking about. What you may not know is that last year, in its finite wisdom, the D.C. City Council passed a new law, or a triumph of animal rights over human health, where those pest control people you suggested they bring in aren't allowed to kill the rats. They have to relocate the rats and not only that -- that's actually not the worst part -- they cannot break up the families of the rats. Now, as actual experts in pest control will tell you, if you don't move an animal at least 25 miles, it'll come back. And so what's the solution to that? Well, cross a river.
Host: Send 'em over to Virginia, that's right.
Cuccinelli: Guess why I care about that sort of thing?
Other host: I bet.
Cuccinelli: Anyway, it is worse than our immigration policy -- you can't break up rat families. Or raccoons or all the rest and you can't even kill them. It's unbelievable.
As dcist points out, Kookinelli is wrong on every level here - on the animal law (in fact, it "explicitly exempts rats and mice from its provisions" - nice try, though, Cuckoo Boy), on the supposed smuggling of rats into Virginia (apparently, Kooky has a vivid fantasy life), and on the comparison of immigrants to rats. As dcist puts it, "we're not really sure if that little snipe about immigration policy means that you think that immigrants should be killed. Just for that, we're sending a few hundred extra rats over tonight."
Remind me again, who the heck voted for this bigoted ignoramus exactly? Wow.
Ken Cuccinelli is nothing if not bizarre. Now, after politicizing the AG's office and demonstrating a significant degree of disrespectful to Judge Gibney, who had specifically ordered Cuccinelli to produce a "three page statement of authorities regarding any conflict that may exist given his public declarations about the subject matter of this case," Cooch has apparently reversed course. Check this out, from his latest "Cuccinelli Compass."
January 1, 2012
Dear Friends and Fellow Virginians,
As many of you read yesterday in the news (link here for the story) I was considering supporting an effort to change the rules to allow the full range of presidential candidates on Virginia's ballot on March 6th.
I obviously feel very strongly that Virginia needs to change its ballot access requirements for our statewide elections. However, after working through different scenarios with Republican and Democratic leaders to attempt to make changes in time for the 2012 Presidential election, my concern grows that we cannot find a way to make such changes fair to the Romney and Paul campaigns that qualified even with Virginia's burdensome system. A further critical factor that I must consider is that changing the rules midstream is inconsistent with respecting and preserving the rule of law - something I am particularly sensitive to as Virginia's attorney general.
My intentions have never focused on which candidates would be benefited or harmed, rather I have focused on what is best for Virginia's citizens, as hundreds of thousands of Virginians who should have been able to make their choices among the full field of presidential primary contenders have had their number of choices reduced significantly.
My primary responsibility is to the people of Virginia, and how best to fulfill that responsibility in these particular circumstances has been a very difficult question for me. I believe consistency on the part of public officials is an important attribute. And I believe that Virginians are best served by an attorney general who consistently supports the rule of law. That leads to my conclusion that while I will vigorously support efforts to reduce the hurdles to ballot access in Virginia for all candidates, I will not support efforts to apply such changes to the 2012 Presidential election.
I do not change position on issues of public policy often or lightly. But when convinced that my position is wrong, I think it necessary to concede as much and adjust accordingly.
Sincerely,
Ken Cuccinelli II
Attorney General of Virginia
I actually agree with this analysis, that the Virginia Attorney General should consistently follow the rule of law in everything he or she does. Unfortunately, as we know, Ken Cuccinelli has NOT done that since becoming AG, but has been arbitrary, capricious, political, unprofessional, and above all hyper-ideological in just about everything he's done, from his persecution of climate scientists to his expensive (and superfluous, as he could have just joined the multi-state effort) crusade against "Obamacare," to his insertion of his own prejudices into public policymaking when it comes to GLBT citizens, etc, etc. Now, Cuccinelli has reversed course -- for whatever reason(s) -- on yet another matter he should have kept his mouth shut about. I guess we should be glad about that, given how out of control this clown is, but we also should make d*** sure said clown never becomes Virginia's governor, and in fact is never elected to any office in Virginia (or elsewhere) again.
Not that this is a big surprise or anything, but Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is ending another year as AG just as he's behaved his entire term in office: in a hyper-political and ultra-partisan manner that has been, and continues to be, a disgrace to his office.
In the current case, Cuccinelli has inserted himself into an intra-Republican-party dispute (over access to the Republican presidential primary ballot here in the Commonwealth), one that he certainly has a right to have an opinion on as a private citizen, but also that he would be wise - if wisdom were one of his virtues, which it clearly is not - to keep a low profile on, at least in his role as AG.
I also find it fascinating and ironic that all of a sudden this staunch "conservative" has become a big fan of an activist judiciary, and/or of a legislature telling the state party how to run its own affairs. On this topic, even as the AG's office works to defend Virginia in court, the AG himself keeps talking and talking about it, expressing his view "our system is deficient" (he suddenly came to this realization a few days ago, apparently), that "Virginia owes her citizens a better process," and that "We can do it in time for the March primary if we resolve to do so quickly."
Of course, it might just be poor political judgment on Cuccinelli's part to mouth off on a subject that he's in the middle of litigating, but that in and of itself does not appear to be a legal problem. It is, however, another kind of problem, insofar as Cuccinelli's supposed to be acting professionally, in his capacity as the Attorney General of Virginia, but is simultaneously demonstrating (yet again) that he's far too partisan to effectively do that very thing.
By the way, can AG Cuccinelli be any more disrespectful to Judge Gibney, who just finished ordering Cuccinelli to produce a "three page statement of authorities regarding any conflict that may exist given his public declarations about the subject matter of this case?" Oh wait, I almost forgot that disrespect for a federal judge is actually a badge of honor for the current crop of "conservative" presidential candidates. Heck, even George Will understands this, arguing (correctly, for once) that disrespect for the judicial branch is fundamentally ANTI-conservative. In this case, clearly it's more about Cuccinelli positioning himself politically - and by championing whoever his favorite non-Romney candidate happens to be, while also cleverly taking a shot at his rival Bill Bolling, who strongly supports Romney - than about any "conservative" principles. In sum, with Ken Cuccinelli, he's a rabid ideologue, no doubt, but he's also a clever, conniving - and highly skillful in his own way - politician. All in all, it's not a combination we should admire, although it certainly is a combination that history has taught us to fear.
UPDATE: Vivian Paige wonders whether it's actually April Fools' Day. The obvious snarky comment is that Ken Kookinelli is a fool every day of the year, not just on April 1.
UPDATE #2: Doug Mataconis explains why what Cuccinelli wants to do here is almost certainly not going to work.
In order for a law to become effective immediately upon signature by the Governor, it would have to be passed by supermajorities in both houses of General Assembly, not just any supermajority, but a 4/5ths supermajority...the State Board of Elections has already said that the ballots for the March 6th primary will be printed by January 9th, two days before the legislature convenes. Additionally, as a matter of law, absentee and military ballots must be ready to be mailed no later than January 21, 2012, ten days after the legislature convenes. Absent what would essentially amounts to unanimous consent, as well as an agreement to skip the normal committee process, it would be next to impossible for the legislature to pass a law and the Governor to sign it in time for the SBOE to be able to do the job it is required to do under the law.
Either Ken Cuccinelli doesn't know any of this, in which case he's incompetent, or he knows it full well and is simply posturing politically. My guess is the latter, but I certainly wouldn't rule out the former.
See after the "flip" for Ken Cuckoo-nelli's latest "Compass" (note: bolding added by me for emphasis). It's a particularly amusing edition, with highlights including:
*Kookinelli discusses the "private agreement" between Bob McDonnell and Bill Bolling, stating that he was "was unaware of the agreement before it was announced, and...had no role in its development."
*Despite this deal, Cuckoo-nelli says that he will remain "allies in governance" with Bolling, "even if we will be competitors in politics in 2013." Awwwww.
*He reemphasizes that he's not a "waiting my turn" kinda guy, that in fact this would violate some sort of conservative principles regarding "free markets and open competition" (in reality, of course, the Republicans are all about crony capitalism, corporate welfare, and anything BUT "free markets and open competition," but whatever...)
*He will "begin the campaign {for governor} gradually," whatever that means, as he focuses on the "most important election...in our lifetimes" (no, not his race for governor, but the 2012 presidential and U.S. Senate races, presumably)
*He argues that if other state AGs can continue doing their jobs while running for governor, then he can too. So there!
Anyway, enjoy the latest "Compass." Just remember that in Cuccinelli's case, that "compass" always points to the extreme right.
*Newt's "at 41% [in Virginia] to 15% for Mitt Romney with no one else in double digits. Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry at 8%, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul at 6%, Jon Huntsman at 3%, and Gary Johnson at 1% round out the field.
*"[W]e took a very early look at the 2013 GOP primary for Governor and again find Ken Cuccinelli with a big early lead over Bill Bolling, 44-25."
*"There continues to be very little appetite for a Tea Party challenge to George Allen in the Republican Senate race."
Actually, I'm surprised that Cuccinelli's not leading Bolling by more than 44%-25% Where Cuccinelli's trailing Bolling is interesting: among Huntsman and Romney supporters, among "moderate" Republicans (but oddly, not among "liberal" Republicans, whoever those people are!), and among Democrats. That does not bode well for Bolling in a Republican primary or convention, but we'll see; maybe Virginia Republicans will have moved back a bit towards sanity by then? Naaaaah, who am I kidding?!?
Yesterday, ProgressVA reported on how Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli will even further politicize his office by refusing to step down while running for in the Republican primary for Governor of Virginia. Today there is a prime example of how he has been doing it already.
The Virginia Coalition to Protect Women's Health, which ProgressVA supports, called out Cuccinelli for using the office of the Attorney General to influence the regulatory process of women's health clinics in order to, in effect, end a woman's right to choose and access to safe and legal abortion services in the Commonwealth. The Coalition states,
"As a coalition of women's health providers and advocates, we are shocked at the degree to which the McDonnell administration has chosen to ignore the recommendations of medical experts to push its own politicized agenda.
"Politics - not public health - is the driving force behind the regulations, which are clearly part of an unprecedented political campaign at the state and federal levels to undermine women's access to safe, legal reproductive health care services.
"We are truly dismayed to learn of the state's hypocrisy in convening a panel of medical professionals, and then rejecting their advice when it didn't advance the state's goal of shutting down abortion providers. Not only does this demonstrate that the Attorney General's office has no regard for women's constitutional right to reproductive choice, but it also shows disdain for the rulemaking process and disrespect for medical professionals who volunteered their time and expertise to uphold patient health."
The Coalition is speaking out against the regulations today at a State Board of Health meeting in Richmond. As a result of Cuccinelli politicizing the process that resulted in the restrictive regulations, the Coalition is calling on Governor McDonnell to reject them. Virginians deserve regulations that genuinely prioritized the health of Virginia's women, and that are not influenced by the ideological beliefs of Ken Cuccinelli.
To summarize Ken Cuccinelli's comments on Faux "News" this morning:
1. Newt Gingrich did not give Cuccinelli confidence that, given Newt's many non-conservative positions over the years, he would be a real, "small government conservative" as president. Instead, Cuccinelli fears that Newt could end up being another "compassionate conservative"/"big government conservative." Like Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, in other words, both of whom grew government tremendously.
2. According to Cuccinelli, if Gingrich can reassure "small government conservatives" that he's really one of them, he could "close the deal" in Iowa.
3. Cuccinelli states correctly that here's almost no difference between "Romneycare" and "Obamacare," and that this is a major problem for grassroots conservatives. According to Cuccinelli, Romney's (non)answer on that question hurt him.
4. Rick Perry was wrong in saying he can repeal a law, passed by Congress and signed by the President, with an executive order (I'd add that what Perry's saying is a wild violation of the Constitution, the framers' intent, "first principles," etc., and this should outrage Cuccinelli). Still, Cuccinelli inexplicably thought Perry had a strong debate last night. Standards for these things are not the highest, as you can see.
Yes, it's official -- the most extremist statewide official in modern Virginia history is running for governor. He confirms it himself in an email to his staff. Check it out -- it's hysterical in more ways than one. Or maybe "hallucinogenic" is the right word.
Cuccinelli humbly praises himself as Attorney General for "unprecedented battles for liberty in our lifetimes." Hmm...I'm thinking that may be a typo -- perhaps he meant "unprecedented battles to squelch liberty in our lifetimes"? As in:
- Squelching academic liberty by relentlessly harassing the University of Virginia because Professor Michael Mann engaged in groundbreaking climate change research. What is truly unprecedented is having a powerful state official attempting to limit the speech and research of academics whose work offends his Big Oil and Big Coal donors. I can't think of a similarly ugly assault on the First Amendment in my lifetime.
- Trying to end progress on civil rights in the state by preventing state colleges and universities from banning discrimination against gays. Surely George Mason and Thomas Jefferson flipped in their graves at this attempt to stop and then reverse the flow of history toward ever increasing freedom.
I originally posted a somewhat shorter version of the below message on my Facebook wall earlier today - but after a little encouragement, I've decided to post it here.
I was taken aback by the number of my Virginia Democratic friends who were posting how excited they were by the apparent, forth-coming announcement of Ken Cuccinelli for Governor and how he is the candidate we want to run against.
Well I say...HOLD YOUR HORSES.
We've poured tens of thousands of dollars (well Steve Shannon spent more than $3.5 million trying to beat him in 2009) in the past, exposing his craziness, yet he kept beating us and rising up through the ranks.
And with the current state of the Republican base (read: all f'ing crazy) - Ken and his extreme views will excite them like no other.
So as we gear up for 2012, we ALL need to keep an eye on 2013. We can't go into 2013 thinking we're going to win because we're going against Ken. We need to go into these elections with the determination to work harder and smarter and get back to pouring in the effort to we know it takes (think 2005-2008) to win - recruiting more committee members and volunteers to knocking on more doors and making more phone calls.
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R) will reveal his plans next week to run for governor in 2013, according to well-placed Republican sources.
Cuccinelli, a tea party hero who garnered national attention for suing the federal government over the new health-care law, expects to make a formal announcement after the legislative session in the spring, according to the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so they could speak freely about his plans.
The fact that a homophobic, science-denying, extreme social conservative is highly like to be the Republicans 2013 nominee for governor, that's all the more reason for Virginia Democrats to get their act together ASAP. The fact is, as crazy as Kookinelli is, he's a strong politician who should never be underestimated. Clearly, that means we'll need to be as strong as possible heading into 2013. Unless, of course, the thought of "Governor Cuccinelli" isn't enough to light a fire under all of our butts. If that's the case, though, frankly, then we're far beyond hope.
Along these lines, another thing we will need to figure out pretty soon is who our ticket will be in 2013. Assuming T-Mac's at the top - and that's not 100% guarantee (either that he'll run, or necessarily that he'd win the nomination, although he's certainly the strong favorite), who will be the LG and AG candidates? I'd argue for strong progressives from the "urban/suburban crescent," candidates who can really fire up our base. I think it's fair to assume that their base will be excited having a Tea Partier at the top of their ticket. What are we going to do to counter that? And, as always, the gubernatorial election will be a battle of bases, so let's definitely have no "Deeds Country" idiocy this time around, please!
P.S. Oh, and as for Bill Bolling, the only question is how badly he'll lose to Cuccinelli, given the latter's popularity among the far, far-right-wingnuts who dominate Virginia Republicans' nominating process.
It's nice to see the Tea Party proudly supporting people who think like them, folks like Jim LeMunyon for starters (note: click on image to "embiggen"). For anyone who thinks LeMunyon and his crazy REPEAL Amendment are "moderate" in any way, I've got a nice, Colonial-era three-cornered hat (authentic, really it is!) and some tea from Boston Harbor (also totally authentic!!!) to sell you. As might his Democratic opponent, Eric Clingan, who I urge everyone in the 67th district to vote for!
Also note that the NOVA Tea Party writes that "For the first time in a long time, we have the opportunity to control the Governor's mansion, the Senate, and the House of Delegates." Notice the highly significant use of the word "we" in there? No differentiation between members of the Tea Party and the Republican Party, hence why I call them "Teapublicans." Basically, they're flip sides of the same coin, tweedle dee and tweedle dum(b).
All of which means that your choice in 11/8 is surpassingly simple: if you want the Tea Party to control Virginia (and bring the type of dysfunction and extremism we see with Eric Can'tor, etc. in Washington), then by all means vote Republican! If you do NOT want the Tea Party to control Virginia, then make da** sure you get off your butts on 11/8 and go vote Democratic, up and down the ticket. Also, make sure you tell ALL your friends, colleagues, relatives, neighbors, etc., to do the same. The message: STOP THE TEA PARTY from taking over Virginia on November 8! It's as simple as that.
Per the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Attorney General Cuccinelli dropped a bombshell last week when he "told a student at Norfolk Technical School on Tuesday that there is a 'good chance' he'll run for governor."
Yes, there was the usual after-the-fact correction by his spokesman, "clarifying" that Cuccy didn't specify when he would run for governor. Perhaps those who've never heard a politician talk before may fall for that one. As for the rest of us...
Look, let's cut through the BS. While Cuccinelli excites the extremists who possess his party, Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling has all the charisma of an armadillo. And as soon as Cuccy announces for Guv, Bolling is guaranteed to look like one of those armadillos by the side of a dusty Texas highway.
If Cuccinelli runs, he will be the Republican nominee, and if the Dems fail to challenge him effectively, he will become our next governor. Just think about how much he would set back the progress and reputation of this state. At a time when even the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and The Economist are admitting that climate change is a scientific reality, Cuccinelli continues to pursue his lawsuit against the EPA for attempting to protect the public from the effects of climate change -- while refusing to drop his baseless and unconstitutional assault on Professor Michael Mann for engaging in legitimate academic research.
Cuccinelli's Virginia will be one in which the state acts aggressively as a bully to suppress all the favorite scapegoats of the far right -- gays, unions, environmentalists, immigrants, pregnant women, etc., while favoring vested interests like Big Coal, multinational corporations, gun manufacturers and the Church.
And guess what? If we allow the State Senate to go Republican Tuesday, November 8th, there will be no check on the man and a lot of momentum carrying him forward. Scared? Well then get out there and fight for our Democratic candidates!
Virginia's reactionary activist Attorney General will continue his Tea Party outreach campaign in Kentucky with for-profit college scam denier and Republican candidate for Attorney General, Todd P'Pool. Traditionally AG's don't cross state lines to politic; traditionally DPVA Chairmen don't promote industries that prey on the unwary. A perplexing combination.
During his dialogue with the Virginia Beach Taxpayer Alliance this weekend, Cuccinelli let it be known that he has his sights on Jack Conway, Kentucky's progressive Attorney General. Tradition be damned, Oklahoma's AG Scott Pruitt, making his mark fighting the EPA, following suit, has also scheduled travel to Kentucky in support of Republican P'Pool. Conway's aggressive criticism and prosecution of for-profit education's consumer practices has apparently motivated campaign finance violations by industry officials; an industry emboldened and enabled by Brian Moran's efforts. We probably won't be hearing much criticism from Moran of Cuccinelli's support for this candidate. Nor will we be hearing much support from Moran of Jack Conway. So maybe P'Pool's campaign can continue to make light of the situation:
Pat Mullins, Chairman of the RPV, dropped in on Virginia Beach Republicans today to provide perspective on the Virginia elections this fall and update the faithful. His message was simple, direct, and aimed at taking advantage of the vacuum of DPVA leadership; in hiding since 2008.
The elections this year, and you've got all your delegates running, your senators running, what we want you to do is not let anybody currently an incumbent get defeated. Be sure and get out and vote. Even if they are unopposed, vote for them, because if they get 95% or 100% maybe it'll scare people off next time too.
The reason I'm saying this is the whole country is watching Virginia elections this year. I go to RNC meetings and they tell me "We're watching you," just like they did two years ago. After the current occupant of the White House (and I have difficulty calling him President) the current occupant of the White House carried Virginia, there was a fear around the country, "was this going to keep carrying over?" And we said the next year we've already had enough of him. And we voted in Bob and Bill, and Ken; the following year we took three Congressional seats including Scott's in this area and we sent a message.
They're watching this year to see if the blame game being placed on the Republicans, on the Tea Party people, on anybody who doesn't agree, believe it or not, with the White House, is the blame game working? So, they're telling me if we can win the Senate, pick up those two to three seats we need, pick up a couple of House seats, then the word will go out to the country: the blame game isn't working. Virginia is going to be the first state to refudiate (sic) Obama and we're going to carry it through next year.
Now why is that important for next year? Because I've been told that if Virginia's electoral votes don't go Republican, the current occupant of the White House will stay there. If Virginia's votes don't elect a Republican United States Senator, that the Senate is going to stay in the Democrat (sic) majority. So it's that simple. If we want to win, we've got to win this year and send a message: Next year elect a Republican (and any running is better than what's in there right now) and elect a United States Senator to get us a majority we need in the United States Senate.
Attorney General Cuccinelli had an interesting response to President Obama's jobs plan the other day, per WSLS in Lynchburg:
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli thinks tax cuts will hurt the economy. "It puts a few dollars in people's pockets and everybody would appreciate more money in their pockets, but it also increases the deficit in a way that doesn't stimulate the economy."
Um...run that one by me again? Aren't Republicans always in favor of tax cuts? Don't they repeat like every day that they are the best thing for whatever ails the economy?
Well, apparently not, when a tax cut proposal comes from a demonized Democratic president. And for those who thought that Cuccinelli was ideologically consistent, the evidence keeps coming in that it's partisanship, and the quest for power, that drives his decision-making -- not principle.
And you can point to his continued harassment of climate scientist -- and Koch target -- Professor Michael Mann and his former employer, UVA. For all that he and his Tealiban acolytes talk about "liberty" and claim to revere the Constitution, this case proves that the Bill of Rights is the first thing to go out the window when they gain power and have an enemy -- or prized scapegoat -- in their sights.
Even after UVA agreed to disgorge thousands of documents to a conservative group that filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the same info, the Ayatollah General continues his mad pursuit like Captain Ahab chasing the white whale.
Just the other day, Cuccy had his deputy in court continuing to pursue the case, even claiming "We don't care if global warming (theory) is right or wrong. It's whether the data was intentionally or knowingly manipulated." This despite the fact that Cuccinelli's filings on the case read like a breathless conspiracy theory diary posted on a climate denialist blog.
Yes, it's all in a day's work for Cuccinelli. It's just not honest work.
Late last night, our all-time favorite Attorney General ever, Ken Cuccinelli, sent out his latest "Cuccinelli Compass" (see the "flip" for the whole thing). They Compasses are always a hoot, a window into the mind of a smart, but also completely-off-the-deep-end, right-wing extremist. Even by the high standards of the Cuccinelli Compass, though, this one was particularly fascinating, as it provides Cuccinelli's take on the Republican Presidential candidates, as he viewed them in the South Carolina forum put on by Jim "It will break [Obama]" DeMint, with questioning by uber-xenophobe/nutjob/bigot Rep. Steve King (for instance, King once said: "if [Barack Obama] is elected president, then the radical Islamists, the al-Qaida, the radical Islamists and their supporters, will be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on September 11 because they will declare victory in this War on Terror. Additionally, his middle name (Hussein) does matter."). In other words, this was the perfect crowd for someone like Ken Kookinelli, who indeed appeared to enjoy it immensely, per his "Compass."
Anyway, since there's a big Teapublican't Presidential debate tonight, I thought that Blue Virginia readers might be interested in Cucci-cuckoo's take on the candidates. The entire thing's on the "flip," but here are a few highlights -- the world according to Kookinelli!
*"Bachmann and Cain answered the best in my view, demonstrating an internalization of first principles that, frankly, I expect from these candidates."
*"Bachmann presents well, though as a lawyer I continue to take exception with her unsupported statement that an individual mandate by a state (e.g., Massachusetts) would be unconstitutional under the U.S. Constitution."
*"A political concern I have here is that [Bachmann's] conclusion isn't so much a legal one, but is an over-the-top play for tea party support."
*"Romney was clearer on his points than Paul, while Paul demonstrated a passionate commitment to the importance of first principles in governance."
*"I couldn't help noticing that from the moment [Gingrich] was walking out, he was very lackadaisical in his personal presentation. He was intellectually engaging but did not have the presence of either Bachmann or Cain before him, nor Romney after him."
*"Ron Paul suffered from a similarly non-Presidential presentation as Gingrich..."
*"Last of the evening was Romney, and after much reflection, I think he clearly outshined the other candidates, though not in all respects...presidential as usual without being haughty..."
So, there you have it, radical right-wingnut Ken Cuckoo-cinelli's take on the radical right-wingnut Republicans (Romney being the exception; I'd say he's more of a mainstream or even liberal Republican, having signed universal healthcare with an individual mandate into law in Massachusetts, which makes it even more striking that Kookinelli seems to favor him) who are running for President right now. Has anyone ever heard of a high-ranking Virginia official putting something like this out publicly? What, is Kookinelli auditioning to succeed Larry Sabato or something, when we finally boot him out of Virginia government? Who knows, but it sure is entertaining (kind of a brain teaser) to listen to his strange ramblings and try to make sense of them!
It seems that Eric Cantor has found a new sweetheart donor, Bank of New York Mellon. While Mellon only gave Cantor $1,500 in 2009, it gave him $15,000 two months after his wife Diana was picked by Bob McDonnell to head the Virginia Retirement System and added $5,000 to the total this year. There's no telling what Cantor might get next year. However, Ken Cuccinelli can write off any money from the same source.
The Roanoke Times in its editorial today praises Cuccinelli for finally filing a lawsuit that means something to Virginia taxpayers. The Bank of New York Mellon holds billions of VRS assets and, as custodian, executes all foreign currency trading necessary for VRS to buy and sell on foreign stock exchanges. Well, it seems that Mellon has been squeezing extra money out of the pension funds it holds for Virginia, Florida, Arlington, Fairfax, and God knows who else, with a scheme to get more profit by cheating on currency trades.
The Wall Street Journal explains how the scheme worked. VRS needed $12.5 million to make a trade on the Canadian exchange. Mellon sold $12.5 million in pension fund holdings and bought Canadian dollars at a conversion rate of 1.0795, getting $13.5 million. However, Mellon waited until the exchange rate dropped to 1.068 before moving money back into the VRS account and pocketed a profit of $141,250 instead of the fee it should have gotten, $6,250.
The cheating was uncovered by a whistleblower, and with our corporate-friendly courts, who knows what the outcome of the Virginia and Florida lawsuits will be. Watch very carefully, however, and see what Eric Cantor does. If he slips an amendment into a piece of legislation that lets custodial banks off the hook for their shady dealings, we will know that Mellon bought itself a friend. At the very least, I agree with the Roanoke Times. Cantor should immediately return all Mellon money received since his wife was appointed to the VRS board. The contributions smack of an sleazy "asset" purchase.
*"In a primary contest between Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling and Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, Cuccinelli leads 45-21. Cuccinelli is strongest with very conservatives with whom he leads Bolling 56-15..." In other words, the people who actually decide Teapublican nominations these days strongly, overwhelmingly favor Ken Cuccinelli over Bill Bolling. In other words, if Cuccinelli wants the Republican nomination for governor in 2013, it's his for the asking. Sorry, Bill Bolling, looks like you're LG for Life! Heh.
*"George Allen appears to be too far a reach for the Tea Party...Allen takes 68% of the vote to 6% for Jamie Radtke, 2% for Tim Donner, 2% for EW. Jackson, and 0% for David McCormick."
*Also, "When we polled Virginia in late February Allen led a generic 'more conservative' challenger by 27 points at 52-25. Now that margin's expanded even further to 35 points at 58-23. A seriously contested primary for Allen was already a long shot. Now it's looking like an even longer shot."
This one's over, in other words. Felix will be the 2012 Republican nominee against Tim Kaine for U.S. Senate. And yes, the Democratic nominee WILL be Tim Kaine, as everything I'm hearing indicates that Bobby Scott is not seriously considering a primary race against Kaine.
*Finally, with regard to the 2012 Republican presidential contest, it "depends greatly on whether or not Sarah Palin enters the race." Either way, Rick Perry is very strong, as are Michele Bachmann and Mitt Romney. Everyone else is trailing, with Tim Pawlenty and John Huntsman barely registering at all. Very interesting.
The purpose of Blue Virginia is to cover Virginia politics from a progressive and Democratic perspective. This is a group blog and a community blog. We invite everyone to comment here, but please be aware that profanity, personal attacks, bigotry, insults, rudeness, frequent unsupported or off-point statements, and "trolling" (NOTE: that includes outright lies, whether about climate science, or what other people said, or whatever) are not permitted and, if continued, will lead to banning. For more on trolling, see the Daily Kos FAQs. Also note that diaries may be deleted if they do not contain at least 2 solid paragraphs of original text; if not, please use the comments section of a relevant diary. For more on writing diaries, click here. Thanks, and enjoy!
Our fine Attorney General continues to work hard for the people of Virginia and...yeah, right, what am I TALKING about? In reality, Ken Kookinelli continues to waste everyone's time on his crazy, extremist, ideologically-and-politically-driven wild goose (or should I say 
Hot off the presses, check out 
I originally posted a somewhat shorter version of the below message on my Facebook wall earlier today - but after a little encouragement, I've decided to post it here.
Virginia's reactionary activist Attorney General will continue his Tea Party outreach campaign in Kentucky with for-profit college scam denier and Republican candidate for Attorney General, 
Pat Mullins, Chairman of the RPV, dropped in on Virginia Beach Republicans today to provide perspective on the Virginia elections this fall and update the faithful. His message was simple, direct, and aimed at taking advantage of the vacuum of DPVA leadership; in hiding since 2008.
Late last night, our all-time favorite Attorney General ever, Ken Cuccinelli, sent out his latest "Cuccinelli Compass" (see the "flip" for the whole thing). They Compasses are always a hoot, a window into the mind of a smart, but also completely-off-the-deep-end, right-wing extremist. Even by the high standards of the Cuccinelli Compass, though, this one was particularly fascinating, as it provides Cuccinelli's take on the Republican Presidential candidates, as he viewed them in the South Carolina forum put on by Jim "It will break [Obama]" DeMint, with questioning by uber-xenophobe/nutjob/bigot Rep. Steve King (for instance, King once said: "if [Barack Obama] is elected president, then the radical Islamists, the al-Qaida, the radical Islamists and their supporters, will be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on September 11 because they will declare victory in this War on Terror. Additionally, his middle name (Hussein) does matter."). In other words, this was the perfect crowd for someone like Ken Kookinelli, who indeed appeared to enjoy it immensely, per his "Compass."
It seems that 
Verrrry interesting 
