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.
Overall, I think that PolitiFact Virginia does a pretty good job in sorting out the lies from the truth among Virginia politicians. Unfortunately, PolitiFact doesn't always do a good job. For instance, I recently wrote about PolitiFact rating an audacious claim by Bob McDonnell on supposedly "balancing" Virginia's budget as "barely true." Wait a second, how can something that's totally false, by PolitiFact's own analysis, be "barely true?" Got me.
In a newsletter to his 5th District constituents, Hurt detailed his efforts to cut the Environmental Protection Agency's budget. The freshman congressman wrote he is "a co-sponsor of H.R. 153, which would prohibit any funds at the EPA from being used to implement a cap-and-trade system that would harm our agriculture and manufacturing sectors, destroy over 50,000 jobs in Virginia, and amount to a job-crushing national energy tax when we can least afford it."
If you wade down into the PolitiFact article, you'll find that, in fact, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office clearly says that although jobs in carbon-intensive fuels like coal would probably decrease, employment would "increase in sectors that require fewer emissions, such as nuclear, solar and wind power," resulting in "only a small effect on total employment" overall.
In addition, if you wade further into PolitiFact's analysis of Hurt's outright lie, you'll also find that Hurt cited "solely from a short report by the National Association of Manufacturer...an opponent of the legislation." Yeah, that's really credible (not)!
Apparently, in PolitiFact Virginia's world, as long as you can attribute something to a "study," even a completely biased and phony one by opponents of the very thing they're supposedly "studying," PolitiFact Virginia won't just outright say it's false. Lame.
In reality, as Harvard economist Jeffrey Frankel points out, "the NAM analysis ignores the jobs that would be created due to a growth in new, non-emission technologies." The bottom line, as Frankel explains, is that "most economists would agree...the jobs created would approximately equal the jobs lost."
To summarize: there's no indication whatsoever, at least from anyone unbiased and knowledgeable, that Hurt's claim about cap-and-trade "destroy[ing] over 50,000 jobs in Virginia" is in the slightest bit true. So why the extremely lenient, "barely true" rating from PolitiFact Virginia? This one should be "pants on fire" all the way!
As I talk to voters here in Virginia's 5th Congressional district, creating jobs is obviously one of their top concerns. It's hard to explain Robert Hurt's jobs "plan" to them, because it's completely nonsensical:
Cut taxes for the rich, adding $700 billion to the national debt
Keep encouraging companies to send jobs overseas by protecting their tax loopholes
Roll back regulations on the industries that caused the economic collapse
Just got done watching Rep. Tom Perriello debate Robert Hurt on WCAV CBS 19 Charlottesville. Now that was a thing of beauty. I'm hoping there will be video shortly. For now, here are some tweets (including my own) from the butt-kicking Tom just delivered. Enjoy!
I'm planning to watch Tom Perriello debate Robert Hurt on WSLS starting at 6 pm. I'm also going to try and live blog it. We'll see how it goes, technically speaking, but my prediction is that Tom Perriello will kick Robert Hurt's butt all over the stage. Stay tuned! :)
6:01 pm: Welcoming the candidates, hopefully they'll get going right away since this only 1/2 hour (why so short?).
6:02 pm: No opening or closing statements, no timekeeper, no rules. Wild!
6:03 pm: First question, the budget, should we balance it. Both say "yes." WSLS points out, only 13% of budget goes to discretionary spending. So, how do you balance the budget? Hurt - surprised to hear Perriello in favor of balanced budget, supposedly said that was unrealistic, that's a "slap in the face." Hurt says we have to "make tough decisions," "get into entitlement spending," "make health care cost less, not more." Attacks Obama and Pelosi for "jamming down our throats" health care bill. Not in favor of raising taxes or cutting defense.
Perriello - Everything has to be on the table, "I've fought for that." Bipartisan budget commission. Hurt refused to support McDonnell on his balanced budget. We don't need politicians who think solutions fit on a bumper sticker, we need leaders. Balanced budget amendment will take 10 years to pass, we don't have 10 years. Find efficiency gains, "I've done it." Ran most efficient office in Virginia. We have to look at entitlements, defense, make tough choices.
Hurt - Don't raise retirement age. Find savings in healthcare costs. Problem is what he and Nancy Pelosi have given us is not health care reform. Market-based solutions into health care system. Allow insurance companies to sell policies across state lines, create competition, premiums now are going up.
Perriello - Hurt clearly hasn't been listening, premiums have been going through the roof for a long time. He'd raise taxes on small businesses. His plan would add $1 trillion to the national debt. Republican plan that just came out adds $4 trillion to the debt. We don't need to go back to tired policies that got us into this mess in the first place. His plan would cut payments to seniors, increase cost of prescription drugs.
Robert Hurt and Tom Perriello debate - finally! - this Wednesday night on WSLS. I'm looking forward to Perriello demonstrating that Hurt is nothing more than an empty suit. And a "cheesy" one at that! :)
"Robert Hurt is a typical out-of-touch career politician who will say anything to get elected. He's voted to raise 28 different taxes and fees while calling himself a fiscal conservative. Hurt's even backed plans that will raise utility rates. Perriello is focused on jobs and fighting for middle class Virginia families."
Yet another poll has the 5th Congressional District race between Rep. Tom Perriello (D), State Senator Robert Hurt (R), and Jeffrey Clark (I-Tea Party), to be a tossup between Perriello and Hurt. According to The Hill/ANGA, it's Hurt 45%-Perriello 44% among likely voters. This poll follows one by Custom Strategic Research, which has the race at Hurt 44%-Perriello 43%. Basically, at this point, the only polling outfit which has the 5th CD as anything but a tossup is SurveyUSA, which claims that Hurt leads Perriello by 23 points. That's becoming more and more of an "outlier" every day.
Meanwhile, as NLS points out, Glenn Nye trails by 6 points to Scott Rigell (42%-36%), despite running a campaign in which he's distanced himself from...well, basically being a Democrat. In contrast, Perriello has staunchly defended his progressive votes for his district, and it doesn't seem to be hurting him relative to conservadem Nye. If this result holds on election day, I hope that it does some serious damage to the concept that Democrats have to run away from what makes the Democrats in order to get elected in "swing" districts. As I've always believed, voters don't have to agree with a candidate on everything, as long as they believe the person has integrity and really believes what he or she is advocating. That's Tom Perriello to a "t." Glenn Nye? Not so much.
Another day, another poll (other than SurveyUSA) indicates a tossup race in Virginia's 5th Congressional district.
A survey of likely voters in Virginia's 5th Congressional District reveals a deadlocked race with Democrat Tom Perriello receiving 43%, Republican Robert Hurt 44% and Independent candidate Jeff Clark barely registering with 1% in the initial trial heat.
A representative sample of 500 likely voters was interviewed live, by telephone, from September 20 - 23, 2010...
The poll was commissioned by the League of Conservation Voters and the Service Employees International Union and conducted by Custom Strategic Research. According to the LCV:
Congressman Perriello's leadership in the House on clean energy issues has been unparalleled. We are encouraged by the results of this poll and will work hard to ensure that Congressman Perriello is re-elected so that he can continue working to bring clean energy jobs to Virginia and increase our national security.
The SEIU adds:
Tom Perriello has remained focused on three things - jobs, jobs and jobs - and his focus on the issues that matter to his district is paying off while Robert Hurt's refusal to hold a single town hall meeting is backfiring...Across the country, candidates who've focused on strengthening the middle class, as Perriello has with his Economic R.E.V.I.V.A.L. plan, are surging as we enter the last month of the election.
Hopefully, 5th CD independent candidate Jeff Clark has enough money to get this ad out there. No question, Republican candidate Robert Hurt deserves it in spades.
UPDATE: Clark also blasts Hurt (see after the "fold") for, essentially, subverting the Constitution, particularly the 1st Amendment. Clark adds that Hurt isn't a real conservative.
It is unacceptable for a candidate seeking public office to not only refuse to facilitate informed decision-making by Virginia's voters but to actually impede the democratic process. Such are the consequences of your continued refusal to participate in any candidate debates in which independent candidate Jeffrey Clark is a participant, which stands in sharp contrast to Mr. Perriello, who has repeatedly expressed his willingness to engage both you and Mr. Clark in debates.
Your repeated dismissal of Mr. Clark's campaign as lacking viability is presumptuous and short-sighted. Virginia's voters do not need your campaign to determine the viability of other candidates. Rather, what they need is an opportunity to decide for themselves...
By consistently undermining a critical component of the political process - the opportunity for voters to educate themselves on the various candidates seeking election - you are doing a great disservice to the Commonwealth...
[...]
Whatever the cost to your own individual candidacy, we urge you to bear the cost in furtherance of transcendent First Amendment values and in faith that where all ideas are allowed to compete, the best ones will be adopted on the strength of their own merits.
The Rutherford Institute adds that Hurt is demonstrating either "a dismal understanding of the First Amendment's values of 'uninhibited, robust' debate and the free marketplace of ideas, or a lack of commitment to upholding the document that Abraham Lincoln referred to as the 'only safeguard of our liberties."
By the way, this is from the same group that wrote letters to Tom Perriello, protesting his office location as a (supposed) violation of their 1st Amendment rights, since they had to protest on the sidewalk not in the parking lot (after months of blocking all the parking spaces). Now, they're after Robert Hurt for his "dismal understanding" of the 1st Amendment and his contempt for Democracy in general. Fun times in the 5th CD.
The fact that Robert Hurt refuses to answer this question (earlier today in Washington, DC), or any question, on "free trade" agreements is very telling. Perhaps it's because Hurt supports "free trade," yet people in Southside hate it because they believe it's responsible for their factories moving overseas, their jobs going to China, etc? Yet Robert Hurt apparently cares more about appeasing big business, the Chamber of Commerce, and right-wing political interests with his free trade/limited government talk. For instance, Hurt opposed legislation "to close the tax loophole for multinational corporations that encourages sending jobs overseas." And Hurt won't give a clear answer on whether or not he supports the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement. Given how many debates he's skipping, Hurt's refusal to answer basic questions about where he stands on the issues is not surprising. However, it's got to be infuriating to the people of the 5th CD, who most certainly have a right to know.
Is the 5th CD race between Tom Perriello, Jeff Clark, and that other guy (Rob, Rob, Rob...whatever his name is - ha) a statistical tie? According to a newpoll, it looks that way.
The new poll, conducted by Benenson Strategy Group for Perriello's campaign, showed Hurt leading, 46 percent to 44 percent, with independent candidate Jeffrey Clark picking up 4 percent, and 5 percent undecided. The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 4.9 percent...
In other news, the cowardly Republican candidate has backed out of yet another debate, this time in Danville on October 26. How do you spell "pathetic loser?" H-U-R-T.
At his town hall meeting in Charlottesville, Rep. Tom Perriello discussed innovative ideas to reduce dependency on foreign oil. This includes revolutionary improvements in vehicle efficiency like those being developed by Oliver Kuttner's Lynchburg-based Edison 2 team who is currently in contention for the $10 million X-prize for a vehicle that gets over 100 mpg.
Great stuff, and it's particularly impressive how knowledgeable Tom Perriello is about it. Now, close your ideas and try to imagine Robert Hurt speaking like this. Not happening for ya? Nope, didn't think so. That's probably because, so far in this campaign, all Hurt's demonstrated is an ability to mouth mindless right-wingnut talking points, and/or whatever Chris "Swift Boat" LaCivita tells him to say. Is that really the kind of person 5th CD residents want to represent them in Congress, especially when they have such an outstanding Congressman right now in Tom Perriello? I sure hope not.
Republican Robert Hurt, who is running to oust Democratic Rep. Tom Perriello in Virginia's fifth district, will not be participating in a Sept. 19 debate hosted by the Cumberland County NAACP, taking issue with the fact that the third party candidate will also be there.
[...]
Perriello campaign spokesperson Jessica Barba sharply criticized Hurt for skipping the debate, saying Hurt "has turned his nose up to 5th district seniors, small business owners, and African-Americans in skipping the first three debates of the race. Voters have to wonder if Senator Hurt is so afraid of explaining his votes to raise taxes and utility rates that he continues to hide from questions about his record."
Good point by Jessica Barba; either Hurt is afraid to debate, or he's extremely confident and doesn't feel that he "needs" to. Either way, it's not acceptable. As Republican political strategist Mark McKinnon says in the HuffPo article, voters should "demand their representatives debate early and often...It ain't the law, but it sure as hell ought to be an obligation." Apparently, Robert Hurt doesn't see debating as an "obligation;" he sees it as purely optional.
P.S. In the HuffPo article, the Hurt campaign claims that "Robert has engaged in dozens of public debates in counties and cities all across the 5th District." Oh please, do tell - dates and locations of these "dozens of public debates?" What's that, you ask? Right, the sound of crickets chirping ("liar! liar!"), loud enough for everyone in the 5th CD to hear.
(UPDATE: Great new ad by Tom Perriello, love it! - promoted by lowkell)
I'm not sure quite what to make of this poll, showing that "Representative Tom Perriello is statistically tied with Republican candidate, Virginia State Senator Robert Hurt."
In the initial head-to-head in the race for Virginia's [5th] congressional district, Perriello is within the margin of error against Hurt, 42 to 44 percent. Clark received 6 percent. Conducted August 24-26, the poll surveyed 400 likely voters and has a 4.9 percent margin of error.
I mean, I hope it's true, but given that I wouldn't put much stock in a poll done for the National Republican Congressional Committee (and also given the SurveyUSA poll that showed Hurt leading 61%-35%), I'm not sure I should much stock in this one either. I'd at least like to see the "internals" on this one. How about you?
Over at Open Left, Mike Lux is out with his list of "the general election races I think matter the most to progressives." Coming in at #1 is Virginia's 5th Congressional District, home of Rep. Tom Perriello. I strongly endorse what Mike Lux has to say (bolding added by me for emphasis):
1. VA-5. Tom Perriello vs. Robert Hurt. I put this at the top because I think it is symbolically the most important race of the year: can a Democrat who voted with progressives on virtually every major issue from this kind of southern conservative working-class district win in a year like this? The odds are long, and Tom is behind right now, but if anyone can do it, he can. Perriello is a great campaigner who has raised a ton of money, and his appeal to values-based economic populism is compelling. Because Tom has raised so much money, other candidates probably need your contributions more, although as tough as this race is, he can still use help. But if there is anything else you can do, including recruiting volunteers and signing up to make calls, please do so.
To volunteer for Tom Perriello, please click here, and remember, you don't have to live in his district to help him out!
P.S. I don't think I can make this event (unfortunately), but this coming Sunday afternoon at 4 pm, Arlington County Treasurer Frank O'Leary is holding a pizza party for Perriello at "Casa O'Leary" at 239 North Highland Street. If you're interested in pizza with Perriello, click here.
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Overall, I think that 
As I talk to voters here in Virginia's 5th Congressional district, creating jobs is obviously one of their top concerns. It's hard to explain Robert Hurt's jobs "plan" to them, because it's completely nonsensical:
Another day, 
Gotta love 
Is the 5th CD race between Tom Perriello, Jeff Clark, and that other guy (Rob, Rob, Rob...whatever his name is - ha) a statistical tie? According to a 
I'm not sure quite what to make of 
Over at 
