Gov. McDonnell cancels exclusive Republican news conference while sequestration lingers

Bob “didn’t mean to do that” McDonnell backtracked on yet another move when he made the obvious decision to cancel an exclusively Republican news conference scheduled for July 18.[1] The decision by McDonnell to cancel the Republican-only news conference came after Democrats from Virginia agreed to skip a meeting of the state’s congressional delegation and McDonnell.[2]

Even though the governor’s spokesman Tucker Martin proclaimed that McDonnell is “committed to holding a bipartisan joint delegation meeting,” the Democrats decided to take no part in it. According to a joint statement by U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Jim Webb (D-VA), and Reps. Jim Moran (D-8^th), Robert C. Scott (D-3^rd), and Gerald E. Connolly (D-11^th), “Today’s delegation meeting was derailed by Republican efforts to apply a partisan spin to the discussion and to the issues that face us.”[3]

The joint statement went on to explain that, “For decades, the Virginia congressional delegation has had a tradition of productive, bipartisan meetings with a long line of recent governors, Republican and Democrat.”

Who would have thought that members of the Republican Party would turn tradition on its head for political gain? Shocking!

But the bottom line is that Virginia’s congressional members need to hammer out ways to avoid the looming sequestration[4] that would, as Eric Cantor rightly pointed out[5], cripple Virginia’s prospects for job creation and damage the Virginia economy.

It’s true that in our present toxic political environment, it’s difficult for leaders to emerge. But if Virginia and the rest of the country’s congressional leaders intend to save our economy from an unnecessary economic hit, they’ll have to find a way to come together and work out a compromise solution. That will mean laying politics aside momentarily for the good of the country, as radical of an idea as it seems.

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[1] http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2012/jul/18/6/va-democratic-congressmen-skip-meeting-mcdonnell-c-ar-2066452/

[2] http://thehill.com/homenews/news/238751-mcdonnell-cantor-press-event-leads-to-uproar-in-va-delegation

[3] http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2012/jul/18/6/va-democratic-congressmen-skip-meeting-mcdonnell-c-ar-2066452/

[4] http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/19/us-usa-debt-congress-idUSBRE86I0RZ20120719

[5] http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2012/jul/18/6/va-democratic-congressmen-skip-meeting-mcdonnell-c-ar-2066452/