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.
(Great to see Sen. McEachin posting here, welcome to a great progressive Democrat! - promoted by lowkell)
A bill that I introduced this year, which outlawed open carry of guns while drinking alcohol, failed in committee yesterday. Last year, this bill garnered unanimous support on the Senate floor. This year, Republicans hypocritically voted it down in committee.
I am outraged at the hypocrisy of my Republican colleagues. Last year, this bill passed the Senate with a 40 to nothing vote. Last year, we could come to the common sense agreement that guns and alcohol don't mix. Last year, we put the safety of Virginians ahead of a powerful gun lobby and political ambitions.
This year, apparently all that has changed. Virginians still recognize that guns and alcohol don't mix. It is still illegal to imbibe alcohol while carrying a gun with a concealed carry permit . It is still ridiculous that, somehow, it makes more sense to drink while carrying a gun openly. The only thing that has changed is Republican control and Republican partisan politics overcoming common sense and prioritizing the safety of Virginians.
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!
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.
Great stuff, check out in particular Del. Surovell's superb explanation (starting at 9:30) of what the Virginia Republicans' war on voting is all about, how it will work, and who will suffer because of it. As Del. Surovell says, it's all politics - an attempt by Republicans to suppress voter turnout of people who tend to lean Democratic - as there's never been a documented case of individual voter fraud in Virginia, and most likely never will be (Del. Surovell explains why that's the case).
It's a very sad day for the family of Matthew Geary. Geary, who ran for Commonwealth's Attorney in Henrico as the Republican nominee, was not only abandoned by his party during his campaign, but was verbally beaten and bruised...a perfect example of the politics of personal destruction in which the Republican Party is so willing to participate. We have to look no further than the current Republican Party Presidential primary between frontrunners Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich to see just how far they are willing to go to win.
In this instance, Republicans went so far as to solicit and support an "Independent" candidate to run against their nominee, Matthew Geary. Of course, the independent was not an independent at all, but Republican Bill Janis, the long-time House of Delegates member from Henrico County.
The unusual Republican Party abandonment of Geary is leading to a wholesale cleansing of longtime Republicans from Henrico County Republican Committee rolls, including the U.S. House majority leader, Rep. Eric I. Cantor, R-7th, several members of the county executive committee, and Henrico Republicans who have contributed to Janis or openly voiced support for him.
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! ;)
JLARC produced a report a few months back that looked at tax credits and special breaks in Virginia's tax code and attempted to evaluate their effectiveness. The finding that such tax credits equal 90% of the amount of taxes raised each year in Virginia has begun to spur legislators to remedial action, none of which look like they will succeed.
According to the Virginian-Pilot, Del. Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax) saw his bill, designed to shine some sunlight on exactly who gets tax breaks worth more than $1,000, shot down in committee even though two tea party advocates spoke in favor of it.
Dave Toscano (D-Charlottesville) had a sensible suggestion. JLARC found that one of the most egregious do-nothing tax breaks was intended to spur coal companies to increase employment, but at the same time jobs have continued to decline drastically in coal country. The credits cost the state $31 million in lost revenue in 2008. Toscano's bill to end that credit was killed on a unanimous vote after coal company lobbyists spoke against it.
That wasn't the only action on the coal corporate shakedown of the tax code, though. The coal tax break was scheduled to end in 2015. Quinn Israel (R-Bristol) tried to get approval to make the coal tax break perpetual. The committee wouldn't go that far, but it did something almost as bad. It decided to extend the coal tax credit until 2020.
Sadly, that's how the present system in Richmond works. Those who can afford armies of lobbyists and fat campaign contributions pretty much get exactly what they want, whether it makes fiscal sense or not. The rest of us? We aren't represented in the General Assembly as it now is operating. Governance for the good of the Commonwealth is a joke, and the joke is on us.
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."
This morning in the Republican-controlled Virginia House of Delegates, a nasty piece of voter disenfranchisement legislation, HB 9, passed out of committee on a 15-6 vote. Sponsored by Del. Mark Cole (R-Spotsylvania), this bill would effectively "suppress the vote of the elderly, the young, the poor and minorities," whil addressing the non-existent, figment-of-Republicans'-fevered-imaginations problem known as "voter fraud." Here's what ProgressVA has to say about this abomination. Also, check out the audio of Del. Cole admitting that he has no knowledge of any instances of voter fraud. Finally, check out what AARP Virginia thinks, which is that "Passing this measure could disenfranchise nearly one-fifth of the older population because nearly one in five people over age 65 do not have a government issued photo ID." Wow, I wonder what Republican seniors will think of this?!?
ProgressVA Statement on House Privileges and Elections Committee Vote to Report HB9
ProgressVA, a progressive advocacy organization, released the following statement from Executive Director Anna Scholl on the House Privileges and Elections Committee vote this morning to report HB to the full House. HB 9, sponsored by Delegate Mark Cole, would make it significantly harder for thousands of Virginians to vote.
"We're deeply disappointed by this vote to advance unnecessary legislation that will make it harder for thousands of registered Virginia voters to cast a ballot. Both Delegate Cole, the sponsor of this measure, and Justin Reimer of the State Board of Elections have admitted during debate on this bill that they know of no documented cases of the voter fraud. Quite simply, our voting system isn't broke, so why on earth are our representatives advancing unneeded and potentially expensive solutions to "fix" it? Voting is a fundamental American right and freedom. Making it harder for Virginians to vote in order to fix a problem that doesn't exist is a waste of the legislature's time and taxpayer money."
Background:
During a January 12th meeting of the House Privileges and Elections Committee Elections Subcommittee, Del. Sickles inquired as to whether Del. Cole was aware of any instances of voter fraud, which HB 9 is designed to combat. He responded "No, not to my knowledge." (Audio of that meeting is available online.)
During the House Privileges and Elections Committee hearing this morning, Delegate Alexander asked Justin Reimer of the State Board of Elections: "Do you have a quantified number, do you receive numbers from the registrars or others that report to you that they have had voter identification fraud at their polling places?" Mr. Reimer responded: "Delegate, I have no specific statistics on that.{
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 Thursday, January 26. Also, check out this brilliant video by Newsweek/The Daily Beast's Michelle Goldberg, entitled, "The Case Against Liberal Despair." I couldn't agree more.
P.S. Also see When Fact Checkers Go Bad...Very Bad, as PolitiFiction...er, PolitiFact fouls up again. Guys, is it really THAT hard to simply fact check a statement like "created x jobs in x months?" It either IS true or it is NOT true? Sheesh.)
(Great diary, VERY helpful - thank you! - promoted by lowkell)
Lowell already brought to our attention the good news that the courts handed the Republicans a defeat in the first round of what may prove to be a long legal fight over redistricting in Virginia. I am no legal scholar, but I was excited by the news that the judge dismissed the Republican argument that "shall" doesn't really mean "shall" and found that the group of Virginia citizens had standing for the lawsuit to move forward. But Governor McDonnell is moving forward with the same incumbent protection plan that the House Republicans (with a few unfortunate Democratic allies) pushed through last year in 2011. With redistricting still a big question mark moving forward, just months away from the November election, I wanted to take some time to sort through the entire mess. Where we've been, where we are, and where we're going.
Where We've Been Going back over a decade ago, Virginia Republicans in 2001 had the "privilege" of controlling redistricting for the first time in the modern era. They leveraged this advantage into pressuring Virgil Goode, already a Democrat-In-Name-Only who had voted to impeach President Clinton, to officially leave the party and begin to caucus with the GOP. They also worked to shore up newly elected Congressman Randy Forbes in the 4th, who had won a special election by a very close margin.
Below, I've calculated the partisan lean of the post-2000 census drawn district based on the 2000 Presidential numbers relative to the national average. So a R +6 district is one in which George W. Bush ran 6 points ahead of his national showing (47.87%, or rounded to 48%), which as we all know was less than Al Gore's popular vote national...
I know we're all focused on the State of the Union address, but this is pretty important too: Round #1 in the legal battle over Virginia's Republcian-favored Congressional redistricting plan goes to the good guys. :) Click here for the full order by Judge Richard D. Taylor, Jr. of the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond. The conclusion is as follows:
For the reasons previously stated, the Court finds that the Plaintiffs have standing to bring this action, that this matter is ripe for decision, that the doctrines of separation of powers and sovereign immunity do not preclude it from deciding this matter, and that the language of Article II, Section 6, of the Constitution of Virginia speaks in mandatory, not directory, terms. Accordingly, the Defendants' Motion to Dismiss is DENIED and their Plea in Bar of Sovereign Immunity is OVERRULED.
In short, we won the first step of the redistricting lawsuit, probably many more steps to go but great news nonetheless. Now, back to the SOTU!
AARP Virginia has posted new video of seniors speaking out against two bills that would discriminate older Virginians. SB 1 and HB 9 would add new requirements that would specifically make it harder for seniors to vote. Nearly one in five people over 65 don't have government issued photo IDs, and these bills would force these seniors to vote via provisional ballots.
Because provisional ballots aren't counted on Election Day, this means that these older voter's voices likely won't be heard until after victory is declared or someone concedes-making these seniors feel like their votes don't count.
Furthermore, SB 1 and HB 9 are trying to fix a problem that doesn't even exist. There is no evidence in voter fraud whatsoever, and on top of that it will cost millions to implement in a time when we are slashing education budgets and struggling to find transportation funding.
According to Wes Hester's fine reporting this morning in the RTD, it would appear the General Assembly, or at least the House of Delegates, is prepared to defy the clear warning issued earlier this month from federal Judge John A. Gibney. Did anyone read what he said about the issues raised in the lawsuit by then presidential candidate Rick Perry and crew?
To be fair, this may not be the intention of leading GOP lawmakers Mark Cole and Chris Jones. They have introduced dueling legislation to clean up the ballot access mess now existing for the Senate primary. As of January 1, when signature gathering commenced, the new Congressional district lines required by redistricting had not been approved. Heck, no legislation had even passed the GA.
Under VA law, a Senate hopeful must get 10,000 valid signatures, with at least 400 coming from each of the state's 11 Congressional districts, to get on the ballot.
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