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.
While Virginia's Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli crusades against crimes that appear to arouse his ideological err, what should be a crime is the selective focus of Virginia's tax money and manpower hours towards crimes that are cherry-picked for review based solely upon political/ideological grounds.
Virginia's AG has teamed up with Richmond city officials to investigate a video showing a supposedly wealthy Russian drug smuggler being informed by a government employee about how to apply for Medicaid.
While the investigation may be legitimate, it fits the profile of cases that Cuccinelli has based his tenure as AG on, and a lot of taxpayers dollars.
If you recall the way the Reagan administration attacked the "welfare queens" of the 1980s then you can see that the Republican playbook hasn't changed too much.
Is Medicaid perfect? No. Can Medicaid be reformed? Sure. But what people like Cuccinelli and his followers want is to underhandedly eradicate Medicaid altogether while insisting that reforms are their only goal.
It's time for Virginians to wake up to the awful truth: many of the Tea Party political representatives want nothing more than to turn back the clock in Virginia to the pre-FDR era.
For all of its faults, the social safety nets that have been put into place have been pivotal to helping millions of Americans each year from slipping into poverty, or worse.
Social welfare programs like Medicaid, therefore, are pivotal components of society in the U.S. today. Politicians like Ken Cuccinelli, however, are not.
For progressive-minded individuals in Virginia, a recent Quinnipiac University Poll came up with mixed results.
A new Virginia-wide poll found that Gov. Bob McDonnell is "highly" popular in the Commonwealth while also finding that 51% of those polled agreed with the statement that "it's time to end Virginia's ban on adoption by same-sex couples."
55% of the 1,434 registered voters polled in Virginia approved of McDonnell's performance while 26% disapproved.
52% of those polled also oppose gay marriage.
The margin of sampling error for the poll is plus or minus 2.6 percentage points, which could mean that Virginian's are split on opposing gay marriage and that less than a majority may in fact agree with the statement that it's time to end the ban on same-sex couples adoption.
If McDonnell is considering a run for higher government office (which he almost certainly is), the new poll gives him a great political and personal confidence boost.
I suppose there is an upside though, right? Ken Cuccinelli could be our governor instead (unfortunately, he may well be in the next election!).
UPDATE by Lowell: I'd say these poll numbers, including ones for Ken Cuccinelli, represent an enormous messaging FAIL for DPVA. How on earth can Ken Cuccinelli, who has been nothing but divisive, have a positive approval rating? And how can Bob McDonnell, who aside from his Big Lies, has accomplished a whole lot of nothing as governor, be so popular? In part, I'd say it's because Virginia's economy is relatively strong, no thanks to McDonnell (it's almost all the federal government, stimulus and military spending, all of which Virginia relies heavily on for its economy). But in part, it's the utter failure to lay down a strong, convincing, powerful narrative about McDonnell, starting on Day #1 of his governorship, and pound away at that day in/day out. Again, that's the responsibility of DPVA, and they simply haven't done it for whatever reason. FAIL!!!
Take THAT Kookinelli, in large part from a "a Bush appointee who clerked for Antonin Scalia and who is seen as a major states rights advocate."
No matter how you slice the relevant market - as obtaining health care, as paying for health care, as insuring for health care - all of these activities affect interstate commerce, in a substantial way. Start with obtaining medical care. Few people escape the need to obtain health care at some point in their lives, and most need it regularly...
Congress could reasonably conclude that the decisions and actions of the self-insured substantially affect interstate commerce.
In choosing how to regulate this group, Congress also did not exceed its power...
Does the Commerce Clause contain an action/inaction dichotomy that limits congressional power? No - for several reasons...
In other words, according to a judge who is both "a Bush appointee who clerked for Antonin Scalia and who is seen as a major states rights advocate," Ken "Koch" Cuccinelli is absolutely, dead wrong in his "reasoning" against the Affordable Care Act and its so-called "individual mandate" (note: I put "individual mandate" in quotes because it's debatable whether there really is a "mandate" in the federal health care law; it's also worth reminding everyone that the individual mandate was a Republican idea, an alternative to the employer mandate).
In addition to demolishing Cuccinelli's "reasoning" on whether health care constitutes interstate commerce, the court - including its "Bush appointee who clerked for Antonin Scalia and who is seen as a major states rights advocate" - also eviscerated the bogus "activity/inactivity" dichotomy, as well as Cuccinelli's silly "broccoli" argument (sometimes he switches to asparagus instead of broccoli, apparently for variety).
In sum, with health care fundamentally ensconced in the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, and with the individual "mandate" (if it even is a "mandate") judged to be constitutional, there's not a heck of a lot left for Kookinelli to work with. Except, of course, for wasting Virginia taxpayers' money and his office attorneys' time, when he should be focusing on things an Attorney General is supposed to do: protecting the citizens of Virginia from pollution, corporate malfeasance, crime, internet predators, etc.
Now, with this slam-dunk ruling against his frivolous lawsuit, perhaps our esteemed AG will see the light and focus on his real job? Yeah, I know, snowball's chance in h*** on that one!
That's right, according to Ken Kookinelli, net neutrality - "a principle which advocates no restrictions by Internet service providers or governments on consumers' access to networks that participate in the internet" - is actually the "most egregious of all violations of federal law." Yes, and up is down, black is white, war is peace, etc. Completely bonkers, yes, but since when has that ever stopped "the Cucc?"
Here at Blue Virginia, Del. Adam Ebbin's weighed in, pointing out that, in reality, new net neutrality "guidelines would increase competition, prevent censorship and protect consumers." As for Ken Kookinelli? I couldn't agree more with Adam Ebbin on this one:
"[Cuccinelli's] extremist campaigns against clean air, against a woman's right to choose, against union workers and against net neutrality are not what the people of Virginia want or need from their Attorney General," Ebbin said. "Ken Cuccinelli doesn't understand that today's emerging businesses depend on an open and free Internet to allow them to innovate and grow. He's willing to risk our economic future to advance his partisan agenda."
Ken Cuccinelli, the crazy, ignorant, intolerant face of the Virginia Republican Party. Any further questions? No? Good, then vote Democratic this November and let's make sure we don't lose the last check on this lunatic we've got -- the State Senate!
Fans of Superman -- or Seinfeld -- will know about the Bizarro world, where everything is the opposite of here. As Jerry Seinfeld described the Bizarro Superman's world:
Up is down; down is up. He says 'hello' when he leaves, 'goodbye' when he arrives.
Here in Virginia, we have the Bizarro attorney general -- Ken Cuccinelli. Just think about it:
- A real AG upholds the law. Our Bizarro AG sues the EPA to prevent it from meeting the Clean Air Act and a Supreme Court ruling requiring the agency to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
- A real AG defends the powerless. Our Bizarro AG tells state colleges and universities that they are prohibited from anti-discrimination policies against gays -- that, in other words, they are obligated to discriminate.
- A real AG defends his clients, including the state's universities - and upholds the state and federal Constitutions. Our Bizarro AG launches a perverse war against the University of Virginia to force a climate scientist to stop doing legitimate research.
- A real AG challenges powerful interests to ensure that they don't harm the state or its inhabitants. Our Bizarro AG pockets donations from large industries like Massey Energy and makes no effort to determine if they are committing the same kinds of coal mine safety violations in Virginia of which they have been found guilty in West Virginia.
And now there is the issue of separation of church and state. Per the WaPo yesterday, our Bizarro Attorney General counseled a group of ministers on how to evade the bans on using their pulpits for political endorsements:
Mega-corporation Koch Industries today bought the naming rights to Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli for an undisclosed sum. As part of the deal, the attorney general shall from this point forward be known as "Kochinelli".
The billionaire Koch brothers decided to formalize their ownership of the Attorney General after Mr. Kochinelli demonstrated his value by launching a new lawsuit against the US Environmental Protection Agency in the hope of overturning EPA's finding that climate change represents a danger to human health. As David Koch put it: "In the interest of full disclosure, I figured we may as well let the world know how proud we are of our investment in this guy."
Mr. Kochinelli has been one of the most aggressive proponents of the climate change conspiracy that the Koch brothers have worked so diligently to advance. He has even launched an all-out assault against Thomas Jefferson's proudest creation, the University of Virginia - a state institution that the Commonwealth's attorney general is actually bound by law to defend - with the goal of putting one of the world's most accomplished climate scientists, Professor Michael Mann, behind bars. The charge? "Fraud" - in other words, science that goes against the corporate interest of the Koch Brothers.
Let's be clear: according to Greenpeace, the Koch Brothers to date have plowed an eye-popping $55 million into climate denial groups. Like any good businessmen, they understandably want to protect their investment - and the acquisition of Kochinelli is a wise business strategy to do so.
See, Bob McDonnell promised he would bring new investment to Virginia! This acquisition is good for the Koch Brother's oil holdings, it's good for Attorney General Kochinelli, and it's good for those with an interest in hastening the End of Days. (Floods? Check! Killer hurricanes and tornados? Check? Heat waves? Check! Tropical disease? Check! Mass migrations? Check! Climate change - the perfect solution for all your apocalyptic cravings.) Win, win, win.
Yes, I know that some lefty, commie, pinko, Spotted Owl-huggers will see this as "corruption" or a "sell out". But the business of America is business, and therefore the business of America's politicians has to be business, and they might as well be handsomely compensated for their work, since that's how business works.
But hurry on down to Richmond, folks, because the naming rights to Gov. McDonnell and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling are still up for grabs!
Attention, Ken Cuccinelli: A Vatican-appointed panel of scientists has accepted that the Earth is getting warmer, glaciers are melting, and strong actions are necessary to mitigate the damage to the planet we all share. Not only that, but they titled the report, "Fate of Mountain Glaciers in the Anthropocene,"using a term that some geologists have given to our present age, one that they warn may constitute the sixth era of mass extinctions of life forms on the planet, this time caused by human population and activity.
The authors of the Vatican report called for immediate reductions of carbon dioxide emissions and reductions in methane and other pollutants that warm the air, as well as better observation of mountain glaciers in order to track their changes.
The Pontifical Academy of Sciences hosted a conference in April to ascertain the causes and consequences of retreating mountain glaciers. The final report, dated May 5 and with minor corrections on May 11, can be found on the Vatican website.
The report said, "We appeal to all nations to develop and implement, without delay, effective and fair policies to reduce the causes and impacts of climate change on communities and ecosystems, including mountain glaciers and their watersheds, aware that we all live in the same home. By acting now, in the spirit of common but differentiated responsibility, we accept our duty to one another and to the stewardship of a planet blessed with the gift of life."
"We are committed to ensuring that all inhabitants of this planet receive their daily bread, fresh air to breathe and clean water to drink as we are aware that, if we want justice and peace, we must protect the habitat that sustains us."
Will the fact that his church has taken this position affect Cuccinelli? Nah, not unless the Pope makes it one of the key teachings of the church.
Busy investigating college professors at traditional colleges, Ken Cuccinelli is absent from the honor roll of Attorneys General out to put a halt to one of the largest fraud schemes in American history. Bilking the federal government and students out of billions of dollars doesn't appear on his radar screen.
"A lot of people who are in Washington right now want to run around talking about fiscal responsibility. Well, making certain that $25 billion in federal education dollars doled out is being spend in a way that appropriately trains people and prepares them for job opportunities that are out there ... That, to me, is a fiscal responsibility issue." - Attorney General Conway to the Huffington Post
The Tea Partiers actually seem to believe that they are the reincarnation of the Founding Fathers, fighting a second American Revolution against government tyranny. Here's Ken Cuccinelli playing to that delusion in a recent letter to supporters:
Our founding fathers took the brave and courageous step of standing up to Great Britain. The values our founders risked their lives for then are still relevant today. [...] [H]ere in Virginia and across the country, Constitution-minded citizens and elected officials are struggling to push back against Washington's astonishing encroachments upon our constitutional system of government.
This from the same man who is using his power as attorney general to ban climate research at the University of Virginia, to ensure that discrimination against gay people is enshrined as government policy, and to prevent poor woman from having access to health services that could save their lives and futures. The same man who champions the liberty of Massey Energy to pollute our streams and neglect the lives of their employees, the independence of the Koch brothers to foment lies about climate change to protect their business interests, the freedom of homophobes to block gay people from basic access to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
As you may have seen in the news yesterday, Virginia Grand Inquisitor Attorney General Ken "The Cooch" Cuccinelli is busy waging his crusade against gay people, advising the State Board of Social Services that it "lacks the authority to adopt this proposed language" that could "for the first time allow gay couples to adopt children in Virginia." Other than being disgusted and horrified that this ignorant bigot is Virginia's Attorney General (hello, everyone who stayed home in 2009 and didn't vote for Steve Shannon, are you still thinking your vote didn't matter?!?), I'm curious what's behind all this. I saw this analysis and thought it worth passing along:
What is really important in that statement is what The Cooch, Conservatives and Gov. McDonnell are trying to do is keep sexual orientation from being recognized as protected class in terms of discrimination law. As long as that does not happen it allows Republican governors to use administrative decisions to keep from providing things like health care for the partners of gay state employees and from having to provide the same kinds of protections from discrimination that African Americans or women receive.
However, the tide on this issue is turning. The ability to treat gay citizens as somehow other, as people just engaging in behavior that has wide spread social disapproval is ending. More and more people from the Right are seeing the reality that gay people are not materially different from anyone else. The fact of who they are attracted to sexually is, when you get right down to it, one of the least important things about them and should not be used as a way to deny them rights that all other citizens enjoy.
Unfortunately, here in Virginia, notorious gay bashers (all Republicans, of course) like Cooch, "Sideshow Bob" Marshall, Eugene Delgaudio, and Dick Black, aren't "seeing the reality that gay people are not materially different from anyone else." Instead, they're totally mired in their medieval worldview, one which demonizes GLBT people, and one that America as a whole is rapidly rejecting. The only question is, will America as a whole also reject the politicians - overwhelmingly Republican, I'd point out - who espouse these hateful, misguided, ignorant views?
News flash -- the reason Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is such a raging, right-wing maniac is because -- he cares so much about poor people and the environment!
Yes, that's pretty much what he told a crowd of state environmental officials today, according to the Richmond Times Dispatch. The enemy he is fighting on behalf of the disadvantaged is, of course, regulations and taxes on humungous multinational corporations:
When you start to consider ANY new regulation, before you put pen to paper, go to the poorest part of your state and just drive around, then walk the streets and talk to folks. Because broad regulations hurt the poor first and worst.
(Hmm -- as in those poor coal miners without health care whom Cooch is trying so desperately to keep from being benefited by Obama's health care plan?)
This ought to be interesting. According to the Virginia Times-Dispatch story,
In granting the full hearing, the court outlined key legal questions to be considered, including what is the standard Cuccinelli had to meet for believing that U.Va. had relevant documents; how much proof of wrongdoing Cuccinelli had to show to have his request granted; and whether a Virginia statute aimed at combating fraud of taxpayer dollars applies to federal grant money that only passes through the state's hands.
Still, I have to admit I have rarely followed the VA Supreme Court and don't know quite what to expect to them. Per Judgepedia, I see a 3-2 Republican-Democratic split on the court. Will the Republican appointees slavishly defend Cooch, or will they act like actual judges considering the facts of the case?
I encourage all interested parties to file amicus briefs arguing for academic freedom at the University of Virginia and beyond. I'd also like to hear from some of our lawyer friends about what they think we should expect from the court and any suggestions on how to file such briefs successfully.
Ultimately, I'm confident that we will win this fight, because freedom of speech and inquiry is what America is all about.
Yesterday, a U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler issued a 64-page ruling which, among other things, demolishes Ken Cuccinelli's fallacious argument that "the passive act of not purchasing health insurance does not constitute an activity that can be regulated under the Commerce Clause." In fact, as Judge Kessler correctly points out:
It is pure semantics to argue that an individual who makes a choice to forgo health insurance is not 'acting,' especially given the serious economic and health-related consequences to every individual of that choice. Making a choice is an affirmative action, whether one decides to do something or not do something. They are two sides of the same coin. To pretend otherwise is to ignore reality.
Now, this really dates me, but Judge Kessler's reasoning here immediately brought to mind the rock group Rush, and specifically its song "Freewill." In that song, as all of us who listened to Rush as kids know, there's a verse that goes as follows:
You can choose a ready guide
In some celestial voice
If you choose not to decide
You still have made a choice
Well, it appears that Ken Cuccinelli has chosen Option A -- listening to "some celestial voice" (or maybe just the weird voices in his head?) -- on health care reform, and also on climate science and other issues for that matter. Apparently, though, Cuccinelli was not impressed with Rush's argument that "if you choose not to decide you STILL have made a choice." That, in a wildly oversimplified nutshell, is the rebuttal to Ken Cuccinelli on his challenge to the health care law and specifically the "individual mandate" (which, as Rep. Bobby Scott explains, isn't even a "mandate"). Time for Ken Cuccinelli to break out the old Rush album (but forgo the weed - lol)?
"There must be this whole school where they teach you to just kind of run around and not notice anything. They sit you down, show you a film of the rubout scene from The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, and if you don't see anything illegal going on, you're hired."
- Jerry Seinfeld on pro wrestling referees
The Energy Star program helps make sure your appliances use less electricity to do the same job, saving millions of Americans money. The U.S. House Republican Study Committee budget plan cries foul, targeting the program for a $52 million budget cut.
But the $36.5 billion dollars in subsidies the federal budget doles out over the next decade to oil & gas companies, which are already making massive profits off rising gas prices? The GOP doesn't see anything wrong with that - Big Oil's pork is protected by that House GOP budget blueprint.
It's a similar story here in Virginia. While Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli jokes about global warming, he sees nothing wrong with blowing billions on job-burning coal plants. It's no surprise that Cuccinelli's top donor, the Republican State Leadership Committee, is fueled by oil, with Devon Energy & Exxon Mobil among its leading contributors.
And let's not forget George Allen, whose willingness to look the other way for Big Oil's benefit makes George W. Bush look as fair-minded as Judge Mills Lane by comparison. Allen refuses to even admit America has a problem with imported oil, saying Bush was wrong to call out our addiction. Of course, it's not the glare off his designer boots that's blinding him - George Allen has been on Big Oil's payroll for years.
But now President Obama has laid out an energy policy that sounds like it was designed by rank & file Republicans - calling for development of not just clean energy but natural gas, nuclear & even coal, if it can clean up its act. Can GOP leadership keep running around pretending to not notice gas creeping back to $4 a gallon?
Attorney General Cuccinelli's decision to ban all payments to nonprofit organizations speaks volumes about the current state of the right wing in America. From the elder George Bush's "Thousand Points of Light" campaign 20 years ago to promote charities as an alternative to excessive government, we have now come to the point where conservatives don't even want to support a strong non-profit sector. No, they don't want anything to protect the vulnerable from the gale force of the marketplace, which must operate unfettered, unopposed and unquestioned.
Cooch may well be right about the plain language of the Virginia Constitution not authorizing payments to NGOs. And if indeed this question was raised by a constituent who didn't want his tax dollars going to a conservative blog, Tertium Quids, then I have to agree that state money should not support blogs -- and as a front-pager at Blue Virginia, I would not support accepting any state funds whatsoever, as it would create the impression that we are simply government stooges.
But most NGOs that receive state money are truly charitable, for purposes such as family services, the Special Olympics, and helping children correct facial deformities (plus some tourist activities with economic development benefits). Now just think about what Cooch's desire to cut off funding to these groups says about his priorities.
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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.
Attorney General Cuccinelli had an interesting response to President Obama's jobs plan the other day, per 
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 
Attention, Ken Cuccinelli: A 
Busy investigating college professors at traditional colleges, Ken Cuccinelli is absent from the honor roll of Attorneys General out to put a halt to one of the largest fraud schemes in American history. Bilking the federal government and students out of billions of dollars doesn't appear on his radar screen.
The case of Ken Cuccinelli's unconstitutional harassment of climate scientist Michael Mann is now 
