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.
David Axelrod, President Obama's political strategist, was interviewed by NPR's Steve Inskeep this morning:
INSKEEP: What do you think has happened im the states that the president, somewhat unexpectedly in some cases, won in 2008 where he seems to be in deep trouble now, Indiana, North Carolina and Virginia, all states that he won in 2008 and it would be hard to find an analyst who is certain that the president is going to win all 3 of those states again?
AXELROD: Well, look, I think certainty is a hard thing to come by in American politics ...
INSKEEP: I think it'd be hard to find an analyst who thinks you have a good shot.
Let's just look at the numbers here. In 2008, President Obama beat John McCain by 7.2%. Obama is currently leading Mitt Romney in national polls by 4.4%. In Virginia, the latest poll from Mason Dixon on January 18 shows Obama leading Romney 45% to 44%. In North Carolina, a January 8 poll from Democratic-aligned PPP had Obama leading Romney 46% to 45%, while a January 11 poll from GOP-aligned Civitas had Romney leading Obama 48% to 39%. There has been no presidential polling that I can find in Indiana.
Do the "analysts" Steve Inskeep talks to work for the Republican Party? Who else would be telling Inskeep, "Obama's leading in Virginia? He has no shot!" And the trends are moving briskly in Obama's favor. Job growth just hit a two-year high. Mitt Romney's favorability numbers have been tanking incredibly hard for a month now, while President Obama's approval rating has been improving for five straight months.
Here are a few Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, February 2. Also, check out the video about how Willard doesn't give a rat's hindquarters about the poor OR about the middle class. Nope, he's 100% about the top 1%. And last but not least, see the video in the comments section of President Obama announcing "African Americans for Obama" in African-American history month.
P.S. Oh yeah, again speaking of rabid (in this case, rabidly anti-"illegal immigrant"), Corey Stewart will run for lieutenant governor. With that news, Republicans are almost certainly headed towards their most radical, extremist ticket in Virginia history. We'd better get our game faces on - and soon - if we want to stop them!
In an effort to shed some light on how helpful some of President Obama's "socialist" policies have been for thousands of homeowners in Virginia, let me point to some quick data under the Making Home Affordable (MHA) Program for a deeper insight. Under President Obama, the MHA Program offers a number of programs that helps Virginia's homeowners pay their monthly mortgage payments in these tough economic times. The Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), the Principle Reduction Alternative (PRA), and the Second Lien Modification Program (2MP) are just three examples in the arsenal of programs available to help Virginia's economically struggling homeowners meet their monthly mortgage payments.
Since its creation in 2009 up till November 2011, HAMP has assisted a total of 19,584 homeowners in Virginia. In effect, then, without the big bad federal government stepping in under President Obama's leadership, close to 20,000 Virginians may have been forced to sell their homes or go into considerably higher debt. That's kind of a big deal.
Some folks will see these numbers and shrug them off as a fluke or somehow untied to the direct policy leadership of President Obama. For those folks, they are probably already lost. But for the "independents" of Virginia, it should be clear that if Willard Romney had his way, these nearly 20,000 homeowners would have been "fired, my friend" (are homes people too, Mitt? People occupy them and they are a source of material gain...) In the world of Willard, economic failure is also a seemingly moral failure, a failure that the government should not attempt to alleviate with social programs. If only everyone were born with a silver spoon in their mouth, oh what a wonderful Bain Capitalistic world it would be, right Mitt?
Here are a few Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, February 1. Also, thanks to The Richmonder for the excellent video of yesterday's protect our vote rally in Richmond.
P.S. And, of course, Willard won Florida, which means that he almost certainly will be the Teapublican nominee to lose to President Obama in November. Still, I hope that an increasingly angry, unhinged Newton Leroy takes it all the way to the convention, at which point the "Get Off My Lawn!!!" conspiracy theorist/racist (Ron Paul) runs as a third-party candidate, and President Obama wins a huge landslide on election day. Hey, a progressive can dream, can't he? :)
P.S. Also, check out Waldo Jaquith's article, Warren Olney is emblematic of what's wrong with modern journalism. Specifically, Waldo calls out the false equivalency and brain-dead "both sides" approach that has basically destroyed modern "journalism." It's really sad, and also very destructive to our democracy, but it's also the way things are at the moment, so we might as well acknowledge it and hopefully work to remedy the situation.
UPDATE: Could Newton Leroy pull a stunning upset of Willard "Mitt the Ripper" Romney in Florida? According to Insider Advantage this morning, it's a possibility. All I have to say to that is: pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease let it be so! ;)
Here are a few Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, January 28. Also, check out the video of President Obama's weekly address, on "his commitment to a renewal of American values...end the gridlock and start tackling the issues that matter -- without regard for personal ambition."
Here are a few Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, January 26. Also, note that Newton Leroy Gingrich had his keister handed to him last night, all but guaranteeing that Willard "Mitt" Romney will be the Teapublican't nominee to lose to President Obama in November. Maybe Newton will next run for president of the lunar colony he's planning on setting up? Heh.
Here are a few Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, January 24. Also, check out Willard "Mitt" Romney advocating what he calls "self deportation" (no, this is not a joke apparently) for illegal immigrants in this country. Is that sort of like how Willard "self deported" his assets to the Cayman Islands to avoid paying taxes on them? Heh.
In Virginia, our legislators appear more than willing to reward energy companies for not following the spirit of the law. Enter Dominion Virginia Power, a behemoth energy company in Virginia who will be receiving a $76 million performance incentive from rate payers over the next two years. Clearly, these actions of Dominion don't correspond with the spirit of Virginia's renewable energy law.
Who's paying for this bonus, anyways? Dominion's residential customers are paying for this bonus while Dominion continues to fill the commonwealth's air with pollutants from natural gas, biomass, coal, and well, you name it. The situation could not be anymore backwards.
Dominion VA Power has stated publicly that it wishes to move in the direction of clean energy. But actions speak louder than words and so far Dominion has an appallingly dismal record of sticking to its public declarations. Would you trust a compulsive liar with safeguarding your energy future?
The bottom line is it's all about the revenue for Dominion. Until our legislators in the VA General Assembly and the executive force Dominion VA Power to finally cede to the spirit of the renewable energy law in Virginia, Dominion will continue to thwart our laws while it further taxes its already financially-strapped customers (and makes them less healthy).
Here are a few Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, January 23. Also, check out the excellent video of Tim Kaine's campaign office opening in Richmond yesterday, shot by The Richmonder. Great stuff.
P.S. Also see Why Romney can't win by GMU Professor Mark Rozell and our own Paul Goldman
P.P.S. Finally, it turns out that more people started receiving food stamps under President George W. Bush than under President Obama. Oh, and of course it's extremely important to point out that most of those additions under Obama were the result of a serious recession that began under Bush. Now that the Obama Recovery is underway, the number of people receiving food stamps is declining. In other words, Newt Gingrich is both borderline racist and also factually wrong.
Here are a few Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, January 22. Also, check out the video of Willard "Mitt" Romney claiming that Virginia and South Carolina are "neighboring" states. Maybe Willard bought up North Carolina and liquidated it, returning a hefty profit for shareholders? Heh.
UPDATE: Whoops, I missed Gov. McDonnell punts on roads plan, in which the Post eviscerates Bob McDonnell's utter spinelessness and lack of leadership on Virginia's transportation mess. Instead of fighting "the anti-tax ideologues who dominate the Republican Party," McDonnell "opted out of the fight and punted on the state's most pressing challenge." I'd add that he also wasted his time gallavanting around South Carolina, auditioning for Willard's running mate, instead of buckling down and focusing on Virginia's pressing needs. FAIL.
Here are a few Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for this snowy, icy Saturday morning, January 21. Drive carefully! (Note for Arlington Democrats: The County Board caucus is proceeding normally today at Kenmore Middle School from 11 am to 7 pm, so if you haven't voted yet, please do). Also, check out President Obama talking about the "series of steps he's taken without the help of Congress to grow the economy and create jobs -- including a new strategy aimed at boosting tourism introduced this week." Great work, G'Obama!
P.S. Also, see *Newt expands South Carolina lead ("Although one night poll results should always be interpreted with caution, he led the final night of the field period by a 40-26 margin." Go Newt, beat Willard! Why do I want Newt to win? Because of stories like this one.)
Here are a few Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, January 20. Also, check out the video depicting the wild lies by Republican'ts about supposed "thousands" or even "hundreds of thousands" of jobs from the Keystone XL pipeline. The reality? According to TransCanada itself, we're talking hundreds of temporary jobs to build the pipeline, and then...basically nada. How do Rush, Faux "News" et al get from "hundreds" to "hundreds of thousands?" The same way they do everything else: they just outright make stuff up, and the gullible/pathetic media repeats their lies. Why do they do it? In large part because they're bought and paid for by Big Oil. Government of the corporations, by the corporations, for the corporations, combined with the Big Lie -- that's the Republican't way.
There's a ton of reaction this afternoon pouring in regarding President Obama's decision on the proposed Keystone XL Canadian tar sands project. The statement from the White House is available here (basically, it blames "the arbitrary nature of a deadline that prevented the State Department from gathering the information necessary to approve the project and protect the American people"). Also, keep in mind that this project would have created no jobs, and in fact might have caused a net loss in jobs, according to an independent study by Cornell University researchers. Basically, this thing is a boondoggle for Big Oil, combined with really bad news for the environment, for absolutely no good reason. Other than that, it's freakin' brilliant! LOL
Anyway, here are reactions by Virginian politicians and environmental groups, starting with Rep. Jim Moran, with whom I agree 100% on this. I'll add more as I see them, or as you let me know about them in the comments section. Thanks.
Moran Statement on Denial of the Keystone XL Pipeline Application
Washington, DC - Congressman Jim Moran, Ranking Member on the Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, released the following statement on the Obama Administration's decision on the Keystone XL Pipeline:
"I applaud President Obama's decision to deny the application for the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline. Our collective national interests, whether economic, environmental, or national security, would be better served by reducing our addiction to fossil fuels. Instead, we should be investing in safer, cleaner energy sources of the future like wind and solar power. A robust investment in clean energy promotes thousands of higher-tech, higher paying jobs. Building a pipeline to tap one of the dirtiest sources of fuel and the few temporary jobs it might create are not in our nation's best long term interests."
Here are a few Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, January 18. Also, check out Sen. Donald McEachin's statement regarding the Republicans' partisan Congressional redistricting plan on the "flip."
Here are a few Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, January 17. Also, if you haven't seen it, make sure you read Andrew Sullivan's How Obama's Long Game Will Outsmart His Critics. Great stuff.
P.S. Also see FACT CHECK: Distortions in GOP debate (This is only a tiny sampling of the falsehoods, distortions, and outright lies in last night's hatefest. It was truly a disgusting spectacle, with the candidates' egged on by a howling (South Carolina Republican) mob to greater and greater heights of viciousness and ignorance. What a party!
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