League of Conservation Voters a “Radical” Organization? Yes Indeed, according to the RPV

Cross-posted fromhttp://bluevirginia.us/diary/10208/league-of-conservation-voters-a-radical-organization-yes-indeed-according-to-the-rpv">Blue Virginia

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According to the Republican Party of Virginia (RPV), protecting Virginia’s environment is a radically liberal thing to do, especially if it entails the Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate consulting with the League of Conservation Voters, that horrendous organization that has charged itself with conserving the natural beauty left in Virginia.

In its latest example of insanity, the Republican Party of Virginia “is reminding voters that Terry McAuliffe's experts at the anti-coal League of Conservation Voters have already praised the new regulations.” The regulations being referred to are those being enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), requiring new coal-burning power plants to limit the carbon dioxide that is released. According to the Republican Party of Virginia, the new coal-burning regulations will “kill jobs.”

But instead of throwing the full force of its rhetorical slime at Terry McAuliffe, the Republican Party of Virginia has settled for criticizing McAuliffe for being allies with the League of Conservation Voters, who has praised the new EPA regulations. For McAuliffe’s own part, he has said he’ll make a decision in the near future about whether to support the regulations or not.

Oftentimes I wonder whether or not the Republican Party has a secret (or not so secret) death wish for future generations of Americans and planetary inhabitants. I can’t quite wrap my head around the idea that a political party would be on the wrong side of just about every issue, not least of which is clean energy and global warming. Can Republicans read, do they care about anything or anyone but themselves?

No one that I’m aware of has argued that disrupting the coal industry’s workforce is an easy decision. These are individuals who have mouths to feed and mortgages to finance. But on the flip side of the coin is the fate of our entire planet. Yeah, it’s kind of a big deal.

If we continue down the road that King Coal has paved (with coal ash), life as we know it could be irrevocably disrupted. Unlike the fear that the Republican Party attempts to sow in the minds of Virginians and Americans, this consequence is very real and is getting more so by the day.

So while the Republican Party of Virginia continues to play games with the future of our planet, organizations like the League of Conservation Voters are trying to make sure that we have a planet to call home generations from now. If this is a “radical” thing to do, call me Karl Marx. 

I’m sorry Mr. Jackson but I am for real, Virginia’s corporate income tax is a necessary evil

In the midst of another unnecessary and blatantly harmful government shutdown, Virginia’s very own E.W. Jackson announced a brilliant proposal to ‘grow’ our economy: “do away with the corporate tax in Virginia.” Absolutely brilliant.

Twas at a political stop in Mechanicsville on Thursday that the minister from Chesapeake uttered these unfiltered words: “We [the Republican ticket for governor and lieutenant governor] support reducing the corporate income tax ... from six percent to four percent.” Jackson went on to add, “Now, this is something Ken won’t talk about, not because he’s not willing to, but because he’s only got four years, of course, and he’s term limited out.” Ken Cuccinelli won’t talk about it because it’s an idea founded by the wealthy, paid for by the wealthy, and will overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy.

But, you may argue, eliminating the corporate income tax would benefit Virginians of all socioeconomic stripes (or at least the middle class). If this is the case however, show me the evidence. Individuals on the right of the political spectrum like to assume that corporate income taxes inevitably fall on the consumer, the shareholder, and/or the employees of these corporations, but there is no consensus among economists as to who the tax burden ultimately falls on.

Theoretically, let’s suppose that corporate taxes in Virginia are eliminated. Do you think the corporations would stop prodding their paid-in-full politicians for economic breaks and kickbacks? Of course they wouldn’t, corporations would continue looking down every corner and unearthing every stone possible for the next best tax break. To add insult to injury, corporations would no doubt make the same arguments they make now: if the corporate tax isn’t lowered, we’ll have to ‘downsize’ our workforce and/or move to another location with better tax rates. In other words, the tax avoidance game would continue as before.

To say that corporate taxes create disincentives is no different than saying that our world isn’t perfect. To the progressive mind, government is constituted to allow individuals to pursue their role in the marketplace unmolested AND protect and assist those among us who, through little or no fault of their own, need some form of public assistance. As a minister, Jackson should be especially sensitive to the notion of assistance.

In other words, nothing that government does will ever please all parties. Government has been tasked with the unenviable job of attempting to do just that, however. The corporate income tax is one way that government attempts to give a little bit back to the individuals in our society who have difficulty providing for themselves while allowing the wealthy to play their money-making games. It’s not a perfect answer, but it’s the best that we’ve got. 

The Washington Post is toast and needs a new host: McAuliffe outshines Cuccinelli in every way

Yes indeed, Terry McAuliffe has been no Captain Planet during his gubernatorial campaign in Virginia, defining his opponent’s views on environmental issues instead of shining the spotlight on his own. But leave it to our so called progressive-minded friends at The Washington Post to criticize the Democratic Party candidate for his catty aversion to nailing himself down to many specific environment policies.

According to The Post, “But when pressed for detail about his own views, McAuliffe often sticks to broad outlines. Four years after his first run for governor, the Democrat has backed away from his opposition to coal-fired power, and he has newly embraced offshore drilling.” Indeed, one is truly hard-pressed to understand why a candidate for Virginia’s highest executive office would shield his ‘green’ views on the environment from an electorate who, on the whole, seems bafflingly uninterested in environmental issues.

It’s truly unfortunate that political candidates like McAuliffe feel the need to shy away from reasonable environmental policies for fear of sinking their campaigns, but that’s the way it is in Virginia. What would The Washington Post have Mr. McAuliffe do, break down into a lyrical rapture about how great clean energy is? He was the owner of a “green” automobile company. I think we can discern how Mr. McAuliffe feels about ‘greening’ Virginia.   

Not even The Washington Post could stand a four year governorship by Ken Cuccinelli, the sultan of extreme hypocrisy and radical positions. The Washington Post might have a lot more gubernatorial headlines to cover were Cuccinelli elected, but this Janus-faced monolith would no doubt write scathing rebuttal after rebuttal in what would become a conservative harem for Cuccinelli’s far-right fantasies.

If anyone at the Post truly believes that Cuccinelli would be a boon for Virginia in any way, I would love to debate them. In this contest for governor, the choice is clear who is the better candidate, even if McAuliffe hasn’t been as forthcoming about his environmental views as Virginians (and the Post) would like him to be. 

U.S. Census Bureau tells Virginians what we already knew: household income on the downs

The U.S. Census Bureau recently confirmed what many Virginians have felt since Republican Party political representatives began carrying out their brazen attempt to send the U.S. towards economic collapse: Virginia’s household income has been shrinking.

In 2012, Virginia’s median household income declined by more than 2 percent, “the most significant drop in the country at a time when most states saw their incomes go flat.” Add to this uplifting news the continued inexcusable antics of Congressional Republicans who are pulling America’s government towards a shutdown and you have a perfect set up for the demise of a dream that once was: America’s middle-class.

Through the thick of the b/s, rhetorical flourishes, embellishments, and outright falsehoods, there lies an undeniable outcome of America’s congressional woes: it’s crushing America’s middle-class into a non-entity and leaving the wealthy even more well off.

In Virginia, the economic consequences of the Republican Party’s never ending desire to “defund Obamacare” have been even starker than in the rest of the country. According to the director of the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University, “Virginia is very vulnerable to cuts in federal spending because roughly a third of its economy is tied to the federal government.”   And for those who didn’t lose their job as a result of the GOP’s lack of concern, they most likely took a pay cut to “offset” the less than robust economic times.

Never before in the modern history of our country has a congressional body sought to undermine the welfare of so many Americans just so it can supposedly drain the life out of a law that passed both houses of Congress and was signed by the president. If there is anything worth getting upset about, it’s watching as half-crazed demagogues tilt the most powerful country in human history towards a precipice that it may not be able to avoid going over.  

Virginia Beach’s mayor gives Terry McAuliffe a crucial Republican Party nod of support

According to Virginia Beach’s mayor, Will Sessoms, the decision to back a Democratic Party candidate for governor was “agonizing” and it marked the first time that the Republican mayor has ever swung his support behind a Democrat for the top spot on the executive side of government. Sessoms endorsement of McAuliffe on Tuesday should be the final domino that pushes Virginians of all political persuasions towards voting for Terry McAuliffe in November.

According to Sessoms, “After my conversations both with Cuccinelli and with Terry, it’s clear as day that I think Terry is going to be very responsive to the needs of this city, and that’s what it’s all about for me.” That’s right my fellow brothers and sisters of Virginia, “clear as day” that Terry McAuliffe will be responsive to the needs of Virginia Beach. But, you may be asking, what about my city, or county, or suburb, and so forth?

On the one hand, you have a candidate whose primary message has been create, build, and grow as a community and as an economy (i.e., Terry McAuliffe). And then there’s Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who has made his claim to fame as a candidate more than willing to raze government and government services to the ground while contradictorily expanding government in areas that will meet his own social agenda.

It’s clear why Mayor Sessoms chose to support Terry McAuliffe for governor of Virginia. McAuliffe has a positive vision of what Virginia should look like during his tenure and into the foreseeable future. Cuccinelli, by contrast, appears to only concern himself with how much of Virginia’s taxpaying dollars he can throw away while claiming to support fiscally conservative political policies.  

Cuccinelli’s “bully” pulpit won’t save his flailing campaign anymore than his extreme policies

It’s always rich when Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli attempts to tar and feather his political opponents with the very less-than-savory personal attributes that he himself possesses. Such was the case on Monday, when Cuccinelli jumped on a report alleging that Democratic Party candidate for governor, Terry McAuliffe, “pressured” a business group not to endorse the attorney general, calling McAuliffe a “bully.”

At a luncheon fundraiser, Cuccinelli said, “It was very un-Virginian, which might suit their candidate well. But that is not how politics should be done in Virginia. We saw an interesting example of what he [would] have to look forward to in a Gov. McAuliffe.” Yes, the prospects of a governor engaging in politics is truly frightening, Mr. Cuccinelli. Good observation!

What Cuccinelli bemoans as ‘bullying’ is nothing more than what the Western world calls politics. That’s right, when you play this game of ultimate secular power you’re in it to win it. If pressuring business groups is the worst offense that McAuliffe has committed on his pathway to Virginia’s Executive Mansion, I’m more than happy to lend him my support. God only knows how many devils Cuccinelli has sold his soul to in order to advance his odious political career.

Secondly, the “report” could be entirely false, something that the Cuccinelli campaign and Cuccinelli himself appear to have entirely discounted. Must be politics…

What is sad and amusing to me about Cuccinelli’s new political spectacle is that he’s attempting one of the oldest political tricks in the book: act like you’re winning, or going to be in the lead shortly, and spook your opponent. As has happened throughout the entire campaign for governor, however, Cuccinelli will somehow find a way to shoot himself in the foot (figuratively speaking, of course) and fall even farther down the rabbit hole of political obscurity.

Fortunately, Virginians don’t need to wait until Cuccinelli makes another verbal gaft or inappropriate behavior (e.g., taking thousands of dollars in stocks from a political donor, and…, and…). One only needs to look at this one fact: Cuccinelli has been running for Virginia governor while still acting as the attorney general of Virginia, an act that even the less-than-ethical Bob McDonnell said he wouldn’t do. If the ethics poster-boy, McDonnell, wouldn’t do it, what does that say about Cuccinelli? 

Tab surrounding ‘food embezzlement’ bigger than originally thought as new attorneys enter fray

The Richmond Times Dispatch said it succinctly, “Tab Grows.” If you’re a tax-paying Virginian (like me) you should be outraged (like me) by the continuous overspending of our money on high-powered legal teams, all in the name of a case about allegedly stolen food.

On July 11, ThompsonMcMullan’s attorney William W. Tunner was hired to act as counsel for the Virginia State Police in handling responses to Freedom of Information Act requests, “or other inquiries, investigations, or proceedings which flow from or are related to” the case involving Mr. Todd Schneider’s food embezzlement case.

In addition to Mr. Tunner’s hiring, attorney William Dinkin of the law firm Stone, Cardwell & Dinkin was hired to represent the Virginia police investigator working on the case against Mr. Schneider and the related federal and state gift probe of Bob McDonnell.

Regardless of who the lawyer or the law firm is in this case, they’re all getting paid more in an hour than what many Virginians make in the course of an eight-hour work day. All of the defendants and suspects in this case deserve a competent counsel, but up to $250 an hour goes far beyond a reasonable amount for taxpayers to spend.

So forgive me if I sound like the case levied against former Executive Mansion chef Todd Schneider is an unimportant affair that does not warrant the kind of legal spending that Virginia’s government has found comfortable dispensing. In the grand scheme of things, Mr. Schneider’s case is not important in terms of what is actually at stake for the people of Virginia. The legal case that could be forthcoming against Gov. 

Bob McDonnell however would be an important case for Virginia.

But Mr. Schneider’s case HAS become important to Virginians because the price-tag for this case continues to run sky-high. It’s a shame that Virginia government officials didn’t get the memo that fragrant spending of taxpayer dollars will no longer be tolerated, especially in economic times of ‘recovery’. 

Winds of hypocrisy catching up with Dominion VA Power

Cross-posted fromhttp://bluevirginia.us/diary/10159/winds-of-hypocrisy-catching-up-with-dominion-va-power">Blue Virginia

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While wind power continues to grow across the country, the winds of hypocrisy have blanketed the Commonwealth of Virginia in the form of Dominion Virginia Power. While Virginia’s energy Goliath leased close to 113,000 acres of the Atlantic Ocean off Virginia Beach to supposedly construct an offshore wind farm, “their statements and company documents showed they have no intention of building anything larger than a small, two-turbine offshore test project unless the costs come down.” Did I also mention that Dominion Virginia Power’s executives are liars?

On the one hand, it’s impressive that Dominion Virginia Power would go to such great lengths to deceive the people of Virginia into believing that it was serious about Virginia’s future. During a six-round auction held by the Department of the Interior, Dominion managed to outbid Apex Virginia Offshore Wind with a $1.6 million winning bid to build wind turbines 27 miles off of Virginia’s coast. As it turns out, Dominion’s investment in Virginia’s energy future was nothing more than an investment in protecting Dominion’s virtual monopoly on large-scale renewable energy efforts off Virginia’s coast.

By staving off serious competitors from actually following through on building large scale wind farms, Dominion Virginia Power has fortified its comfortable place as Virginia’s fossil fuel distribution king. That is, a push towards renewable forms of energy like wind power would disrupt Dominion’s current business model and potentially reduce its profits in the short run.

What has been abandoned by Dominion and its political puppets, then, is the future of Virginia’s energy needs, ecosystem, and the welfare of its people in favor of Dominion’s own narrow interests. As long as Virginians and their political representatives remain apathetic about this unnecessary situation, business as usual will remain business as usual for Dominion.

To demand that Dominion Virginia Power begin investing more heavily in renewable energy is not to request that Dominion forego all attempts at turning a profit in Virginia. Dominion has been given a privileged position in Virginia’s energy infrastructure by the people of Virginia through their elected representatives and as such, has a responsibility to look out for the welfare of Virginians in addition to turning a profit every quarter.

It can no longer be argued that fossil fuel energy is in the best interest of Virginians or the planet. The consequences of fossil fuel energy on our planet have become so clear that even energy giants like Dominion have pretended to mitigate its use of fossil fuels vis-à-vis renewable energy. Dominion’s false promises, however, must come to an end and the people of Virginia and their elected representatives must hold the executives at Dominion Virginia Power accountable for their deceit and their stubborn inability to do what is right for Virginia. The costs of the average Virginians energy bill may rise, but so too will our health care and insurance costs as a consequence of fossil fuel energy’s negative effects on Virginia’s ecosystem. 

What is the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium Authority? A Trojan horse for nuclear energy

In case you haven’t heard of it, the recently formed Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium Authority (VNECA) is a Trojan horse of nuclear proportions whose mission is to make “the Commonwealth a national and global leader in nuclear energy and serving as an interdisciplinary study, research, and information resource for the Commonwealth on nuclear energy issues.” All the while the VNECA works to achieve this lofty goal, many Virginians are none the wiser that such a consortium, with the power of the state at its back, even exists.

As a friend pointed out, the most troubling aspect (aside from its relative obscurity) of the VNECA is its membership, or who isn’t in its membership, namely representatives for the people of Virginia.

All the while the debate around lifting Virginia’s moratorium on uranium mining has been taking place, a serious and thorough discussion of just what the people of Virginia think about this issue has been absent.

The self-proclaimed gods of Virginia’s destiny, the business leaders, the energy giants, the self-concerned political ‘representatives’, have consistently attempted to sidestep that troublesome aspect of our society that are commonly known as “the people,” believing that their vision of Virginia’s future is far more worth pursuing than the “average Joe” on the street.

Most people who’ve been involved in the uranium debate in the U.S. know full well the powerful players who are attempting to make uranium mining and milling a reality in Virginia, but the prospects for economically viable uranium power is no closer today than it was a few years ago before the tragedy in Japan. This fact alone should lead Virginians of all pins and stripes to ask why we’re still even looking seriously at a radioactive element whose economic burden will ultimately fall on the people of Virginia.

It is highly ironic that while President Obama was vilified for his administration’s support of renewable energy ‘failures’ like Solyndra, Virginia’s representatives, bureaucrats, and pertinent energy giants have not been criticized for their constant diversion of money, resources, time, and attention to a form of energy that many Virginians clearly don’t want more of.  This is itself a scandal worthy of critical attention.

As long as there is money to be made, Virginians can be assured that the Virginia Uranium Inc.’s of the world will never be too far away from Virginia’s doorstep, scratching for the opportunity to dig up half of Virginia so they can fill their coffers and move on to the next viable state. Interested parties in digging up Virginia can also rest assured that as long as there are attempts to mine and mill uranium in Virginia, there will be unwavering resistance by a sizable portion of Virginia’s population. We love our state and we don’t want to leave it a radioactive mess for future generations to live in. 

It’s time for the Cuccinelli shuffle! Virginia’s AG shakes up his campaign team in last gasp effort

You can stir the kettle and add some more seasoning, but it doesn’t mean you’ll make a great stew! And so it is with Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s campaign for governor. The bombast that catapulted him onto the national stage as a half-baked libertarian seemed to have pushed his campaign for governor into an untenable corner that many Virginian’s appear disinclined to vote for.

In a too little, too late response to his drooping campaign, Cuccinelli elected to “shake up” his campaign’s staff a day before he also chose to donate $18,000 to a charity in an effort to wash away the memory and the corruptive scent left behind by his interactions with one wealthy campaign donor in particular.

As the Virginian-Pilot pointed out, many of these “distractions” have been of Cuccinelli’s own design. It was his choice to stay in office as attorney general instead of distancing himself from his pal Bob McDonnell and the numerous allegations of unethical, or even unlawful, behavior that have curled up around him. If not guilty in the first degree, Cuccinelli has become guilty by association in the minds of many Virginians.

It’s heartening to see that someone as clearly uninterested in governing responsibly as Ken Cuccinelli has been shrugged aside (at least for now) by the majority of Virginian’s who’ve been polled.

Things could of course change from now until November. The Republican Party has been good at stoking up the right amount of fear in the electorate to cajole a vote for the GOP candidate who seems like the key to some form of social or economic safety. McAuliffe will have to continue to withstand attacks for the horrific crime of being a businessman and making mistakes along the way. How dare he?

For Cuccinelli’s part, he’ll continue to pat himself on the back for being a long-lived public servant who knows the ropes of Virginia’s government (and consequently, how to subtly screw over the people of Virginia). In so doing, I hope that Virginians remember the man that gave back an $18,000 “gift” only after his chances at winning the governor’s seat dipped. Someone with integrity wouldn’t have taken the “gift” in the first place. 

Tom Steyer: the man, the myth, the billionaire, the man who chose to take down Cuccinelli

I confess that in my old age I’ve grown more sympathetic with the idea of less government in the lives of Americans, but one area that hasn’t changed are my views on the environment and the unequivocal need to take government action to stop its devastation. So when I hear Virginians bemoan the environmental funding of billionaire Tom Steyer, I’m once again reminded (as if I needed it) about the short-sightedness of the so-called ‘business friendly’ class of conservatives who seem intent on ‘raising the revenue’ while handing future generations a world worse off than what we inherited.

The irony of the most recent news coming from the Steyer camp is that Virginia’s public pension system has reportedly been investing over $732 million with a private equity firm connected to the financial billionaire. Who said money doesn’t grow on trees (get it?)?  

The Virginia Retirement System rated Hellman & Friedman LLC, a San Francisco-based investment firm managed by Steyer until 2012, one of its top ten money managers for private equity funds in 2012.

The relevance to Virginia’s voters on a more political level is Steyer’s funding of a multi-faceted effort to undermine Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s appeal to Virginia’s voters.

According to the Virginian-Pilot, Steyer has played a role in spending close to $1 million in attack ads against Ken Cuccinelli, ads which have caught the attention of Republican candidates and operatives who aren’t used to being the ones outspent on attack ads.

If ‘being green’ is being wrong, consider me the Jolly Green Giant. Contrary to what some individuals in the conservative camp seem to believe, Virginians can’t continue digging up dinosaur remains, dumping hazardous substances into bodies of water, opening up new mega-landfills for the importation of trash, or constructing new highway lanes in the hopes that this will magically ease traffic congestion. The list could go on.

What Steyer may realize, and what many of us in the environmentalist camp understand, is that all of the money in the world won’t be able to pick up the pieces of our environment once we’ve reached the critical stage of environmental devastation, and that stage may not be too far off. If Ken Cuccinelli had his way, I’m confident that critical stage would be reached sooner rather than later. 

Virginia taxpayers just paid a quarter of a million dollars on a criminal case about food theft

If Gov. Bob McDonnell’s former chef, Todd Schneider, actually did ‘embezzle food’, regardless of the reason, it can’t be more than a drop in the bucket compared to the ‘legal’ fees that McDonnell’s all-star teams of attorneys have cost the taxpayers of Virginia. And notice, dear reader, that I said “teams of attorneys,” not “team.”

According to the latest sludge report about Gov. McDonnell and his legal lieutenant, the Virginia Attorney General’s Office retained a second law firm in the criminal case against Todd Schneider, Baker & McKenzie, that has sent the taxpayers a $100,000 bill, so far.  

And in their infinite concern for Virginia’s money, the first law firm that was retained to defend Gov. Bob McDonnell, Eckert Seamans, has billed the taxpayers $143,598. If this were Gov. Barack Obama, half of the state (more or less) would be screaming for the governor’s immediate resignation!

According to the AG’s Office spokesman, Brian J. Gottstein, “the Attorney General’s Office had two roles in the Todd Schneider embezzlement case: one as the prosecutor of Todd Schneider and one as counsel to potential witnesses in the case acting in their official state capacity — the governor and his staff.”

While I can’t argue that the attorney general made the wrong move to hire independent legal counsels to pursue the prosecution of former Executive Mansion chef Todd Schneider, what I am arguing is that the attorney general and his office did a poor job of “bargain shopping” for a well-priced and competent set of legal teams.

It is up to AG Ken Cuccinelli to explain why the case against Schneider will most likely run over the half-million dollar mark before the case is all said and done. While the AG’s campaign for governor has stressed economic frugality, Cuccinelli has shown little restraint in throwing away thousands of dollars on a case that, frankly, doesn’t mean a whole lot to the proverbial Virginian on the street.

This latest story of hypocrisy on the part of McDonnell and Cuccinelli once again illustrates a major reason why Ken Cuccinelli was dead in the water from the word “go” when he entered the race for governor and another reason why McDonnell should resign his position as governor of our state. Then again, who knows, maybe Virginians will get billed for McDonnell’s resignation party, too.

When extreme met extreme: National Rifle Association endorses E.W. Jackson for Lt. Gov in VA

The National Rifle Association’s (NRA) political wing added to its portfolio of actions not to take by endorsing Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, E.W. Jackson.  In its statement of endorsement, the NRA noted Jackson’s support of gun owners’ rights stemming from a candidate questionnaire the Chesapeake minister filled out for the gun-obsessed organization.

In response to the NRA’s endorsement, Jackson stated that the association is "a bulwark against those who seek to infringe upon our citizen’s 2nd Amendment rights" and pledged to "boldly advocate" for those rights "at every opportunity." One could also argue that the NRA is a bulwark against rational debate regarding reasonable gun control in the U.S., potentially depriving thousands of Americans of their lives through senseless gun violence.

Not content with sucking up to a potentially colossal political donor and campaign supporter, Jackson also sought to shed a spotlight on the difference between his views on guns and those of his Democratic opponent for lieutenant governor, Sen. Ralph Northam (D-Norfolk).

According to Jackson, "There could not be a sharper contrast between myself and my opponent on this issue.” Indeed, there is a big gulf between these two individuals. On the one side there is sensibility (Sen. Northam), and on the other side there is…E.W. Jackson.

It is curious to me how a so-called “man of God” could advocate so forcefully for instruments that can lead to so much human harm. My assumption is that an individual of true faith in the Christian God would be more inclined to “turn the other cheek” and not worry so much about the harm that can befall us in this life or devices that can cause so much harm.

Jackson is, of course, an insincere demagogue like his running mate, Ken Cuccinelli. Neither of these individuals seems to have a shred of integrity and will, therefore, pay lip service to any association or cause that will leap frog them into their desired positions of political power.

As for the NRA, chalk another one up on the actions not to take list as it continues to drive a wedge 

between Americans who believe in the right to bear arms (with exceptions) and Americans who see no room for exceptions in the gun control debate. 

Ken Cuccinelli’s campaign for governor couldn’t find the truth if the sun were its flashlight

The political candidate is a reflection of his or her political ads and in the case of Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, at least one of his political ads is full of misleading details, inaccurate suggestions, and subtly unflattering character critiques.

After allegations were made in Mother Jones magazine that some of individuals quoted in a political ad run by the Cuccinelli campaign for Virginia governor, a firestorm has grown around Cuccinelli and how his campaign has used political ads in this campaign. Subsequently, Cuccinelli’s attempt to take the heat off of his own character and political views has failed drastically.

The political ad in question run by Cuccinelli essentially attempts to peg Democratic candidate for Virginia governor, Terry McAuliffe, as a Mitt Romney-like economic and political insider whose life of privilege is far outside that of the average Virginian. How can such an individual, the ad suggests, be elected to represent the Average Joe Virginian after “walking away with millions”?

The truth is, of course, different from the story that the Cuccinelli campaign has attempted to spin. The Washington Post notes the following:  “But McAuliffe was only an investor, and had nothing to do with the management, or mismanagement, of the company [Global Crossing].  Winnick—who earned at least $700 million from his sales of Global Crossing stock—was never charged with any criminal wrong-doing; the SEC staff wanted to pursue civil charges over the company’s accounting practices but they were overruled by SEC commissioners.”

Unfortunately for Cuccinelli and his campaign, the attorney general didn’t learn the lessons of his boss, Bob McDonnell: The quickest way to derail your political career and/or campaign is to lie to the people of Virginia and commit to behaviors that you know are wrong. In other words, Cuccinelli didn’t fall far from the sordid tree that Bob McDonnell spurred to life. 

Benefit of the doubt: The Virginian-Pilot reluctantly endorses Terry McAuliffe for governor

While The Virginian-Pilot isn’t the biggest power broker in Virginia politics, its recent endorsement of Democratic Party candidate for governor, Terry McAuliffe, represents an important stepping stone for the one-time Democratic Party fundraising wizard. Although McAuliffe continues to hold a comfortable lead in the public opinion polls over his Republican Party challenger, Ken Cuccinelli, political commentators and mainstream news media outlets have been shy about throwing their support behind one of these men (or Robert Sarvis).

The difficulty McAuliffe has had getting traction among Virginia’s ‘elite’ political commentators was directly reflected in the Pilot’s unflattering endorsement of McAuliffe for Virginia governor.  The following unabridged quote comes from Sunday’s endorsement of McAuliffe: “Like his opponents, he supports drilling for oil and gas off Virginia's coast, a position that needlessly risks two of this region's biggest economic engines: the military and tourism. He is saddled with baggage after decades as a fundraiser in national party politics, as a businessman whose political and financial interests frequently intertwine and as someone whose connections to powerful figures have proven as much a liability as an asset.” This kind of endorsement probably wasn’t what McAuliffe had in mind.

The endorsement also demonstrates the wholly undesirable prospect of a Cuccinelli tenure as governor of Virginia. Among the many oddities of Cuccinelli and his campaign for governor is the tension between his libertarian rhetoric and his deeply conservative social views. On the one hand, Cuccinelli claims that less government is good government, while holding firm to the idea of government as a tool to implement what the attorney general sees as desirable social goals. Clearly, then, Cuccinelli is no libertarian who favors a less active government, at least in social policy.

While Mr. McAuliffe may not be the perfect candidate for Virginia governor, he is the best candidate that Virginian’s have to choose from, and no one can say for sure whether or not McAuliffe will be a boon or a bane in Virginia’s Executive Mansion. After the McDonnell/Cuccinelli era, however, I’m more than willing to give McAuliffe the benefit of the doubt. So too, it seems, is The Virginian-Pilot. 

Bob McDonnell’s legal fees approaching absurd as Virginia’s taxpayers continue to foot the bill

As Gov. Bob McDonnell’s tax-payer funded legal fees continue to add up, the reasons why McDonnell should resign from office grow in parallel fashion. Over the month of June alone, McDonnell’s team of private attorneys racked up a $90,068 bill, bringing the total McDonnell welfare costs to $143,500.

The private attorneys were hired by Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli in April to “assist” the governor in the embezzlement case McDonnell has been embroiled in with his former chef. While Cuccinelli wisely decided that defending McDonnell would present a conflict of interest, he certainly spared no expense finding McDonnell some of the highest priced lawyers in the state. The so-called conservatives Cuccinelli and McDonnell apparently have no trouble throwing away the taxpayers’ money.

For McDonnell’s former chef, Todd Schneider, vindication may be soon at hand as his claims that McDonnell and family received gifts from Star Scientific’s CEO, Jonnie R. Williams Sr., appear to be a smoking gun at this point.

For Virginia’s taxpayers and voters, more generally, vindication may not be so readily at hand. It isn’t likely that the ‘McDonnell tab’ will be stopped anytime soon and what is spent on McDonnell and his all-star team of lawyers won’t be reimbursed unless McDonnell finds a few more wealthy friends and a giving spirit.

Ultimately, it is the trust that McDonnell stole which is the biggest disappointment. In our age of cynicism, it’s difficult for a lot of Virginians to believe in the honesty and integrity of their elected representatives, and McDonnell is a perfect example of why.

I recall vividly the image that McDonnell attempted to paint of himself as a practical conservative with a strong emphasis on integrity and family values, and so forth. Wouldn't you know it, McDonnell appears to be the exact opposite of the image he attempted to project of himself.

In the end, I really have one question for McDonnell: was it really worth it?  

Rep. Eric Cantor’s idea of tightening the budgetary purse is entering another conflict in Syria

As America prepares for yet another conflict in the Middle East, U.S. Representative Eric Cantor (VA-7^th) has cast a crucial “aye” nod of support for the use of our military’s mighty war machine in Syria. After President Obama announced on Saturday that he would be putting the power of war squarely back into the court of the U.S. Congress, it was widely seen as a huge gamble that has turned out to be a huge victory so far for the president.

As the Richmond Times pointed out, however, not all of Virginia’s congressional representatives are pro-military conflict in Syria. Rep. J. Randy Forbes, (VA-4th), a member of the Armed Services Committee, stated he has “no intention of voting to authorize American intervention in Syria.”

Rep. Cantor’s “nay” show of support for military action in Syria could have spelled the death-knell for President Obama’s aspirations to severely weaken or topple President Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria. Instead, Rep. Cantor acquiesced, and I can only imagine that this means there is compelling evidence for Syria’s use of chemical weapons.

The primary argument for intervention has been, and continues to be, Syria’s alleged use of chemical weapons on its own citizens. The argument strikes me as odd because it implies that governments who kill their own people without chemical weapons are somehow off the hook in terms of U.S. military intervention. 

So if Regime A in East Asia decides to massacre a portion of its own population, does the U.S. military only intervene if and when chemical weapons are used?

The point is that the people of Syria’s suffering is a tragedy by anyone’s account. But what makes Syria any different than North Korea, the Chinese repression of Tibetan’s, or the Sudan, just to name a few repressive governments. At what point do we say enough people have been killed and/or repressed, and who is going to make that decision? Should the U.S. military intervene in all of these countries?

Lastly, who’s to say that U.S. military intervention won’t cause even more bloodshed in the short or long run? We have too often been led into military excursions by our political ‘leaders’ without a comprehensive game plan or understanding of the hornet’s nest we’re crawling into.

I am not for military intervention overseas in this context because ultimately, I don’t see many positive outcomes and the more we ‘go after bad guys’ in distant countries, the more we avert our gaze from domestic issues that we should be resolving. 

50 years after the March on Washington, its message may not be the most effective anymore

50 years after Martin Luther King headlined the “March on Washington,” America has made great strides in protecting and promoting equal rights for all of our country’s citizens. As the recent “March on Richmond” on September 2, 2013 demonstrated however, the reality of the past is still not forgotten, nor have all of the manifestations of America’s racial history been overcome.

Among the marchers on Monday was Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor, Senator Ralph Northam, a candidate who has consistently stood up for equal rights in Virginia. Sen. Northam’s challenger for Lieutenant Governor on the Republican side of the ticket is the controversial E.W. Jackson.

I’ve often heard that the battle for African-American equality is over, it was won long ago. I’ve seen enough with my own eyes, however, to know that this assertion isn’t true. From just about day one of America’s beginning, individuals of black skin were separated from ‘whites’ and marked as inferior peoples.  The legacy of this separation, and the policies and prejudices which informed it, linger on to our own present in a variety of subtle and not so subtle ways.

On the 50^th Anniversary of the March on Washington, the ultimate symbol of common humanity may be slipping alongside the latest Tweet of Miley Cyrus’ racey stage performance and the thousands of other marches that go on throughout the country every year for one cause or another.  The March on Washington was an historical event, but maybe it’s time for something new and historical to reignite the dream of those marchers in August 1963. 

Virginia’s Bob McDonnell touts ‘low’ gasoline prices in the commonwealth compared to the country

As Virginia’s governor, Bob McDonnell, claws his way through another day in office, he has been quick to point out some of his administrations perceived benefits for the state of Virginia, including Virginia’s comparatively low prices for gasoline.

According to a statement released from Gov. McDonnell’s office, “Gas prices are falling across the commonwealth, and that is good news for Virginians.” The implication that McDonnell is attempting to make in his statement is that his “signature” transportation funding law that passed in the 2013 General Assembly has reduced the price of gas for individuals across Virginia.

McDonnell added, “After nearly three decades of gridlock, we came together this year and passed a historic bipartisan transportation funding solution, which reduced the tax on gas, and now motorists are seeing the results at the pump.”

As with so much else related to McDonnell, outward appearances are deceiving. It is unclear if McDonnell’s proposal of transferring Virginia’s 17.5 cent-per-gallon tax to a 3.5 percent wholesale tax on gas is changing the price of this Jurassic commodity. What is clear is that while McDonnell continues to tout the supposedly low prices of gasoline in Virginia, per gallon prices for gas have quickly edged upwards over the past week.

In highlighting McDonnell’s transportation package, the ‘gov’ may be trying to accomplish a few objectives. First, putting a spotlight on McDonnell’s premier legislation may take Virginia’s mind off of (if only a little bit) the scandal collecting more steam around Gov. McDonnell.

Second, McDonnell may be using his remaining time in office to shape his own image as a successful bipartisan governor. While posterity should look upon McDonnell’s administration as an unequivocal failure in light of ‘gift-gate’, McDonnell is doing his utmost to ensure that he gets some of his own words and views put into the historical record.

Lastly, there is of course the possibility that McDonnell still thinks he has a political future and is operating with his next political office in mind. This is the year of political comebacks, right? For the sake of the governor’s remaining shred of integrity, I hope this isn’t the case.

The next few months will tell if McDonnell is a man desperately clutching for political straws or attempting to put back the pieces he can of his fractured ‘legacy’ before the final trumpet sounds on his time as governor of Virginia. 

Bob McDonnell must resign his post as governor of Virginia amid new evidence of his guilt

Virginia’s blue-eyed, unmanned aerial drone loving governor, Bob McDonnell, lost any justification for remaining in office after the most recent revelation that he knew about financial assistance and gifts provided by Jonnie R. Williams Sr., Star Scientifics’ CEO. Prior to this ‘discovery’, McDonnell’s defense lawyers argued to federal prosecutors that Virginia’s staggering governor had been “kept in the dark” about the gifts given to his family by Williams.

Now, however, Bob McDonnell has no room to defend himself on the grounds of ignorance regarding the gifts his family received from Star Scientifics’ CEO. The Washington Post gives one example: “McDonnell (R) was present at a charity auction in 2011 when the chief executive of Star Scientific, which makes a dietary supplement, successfully bid on a fashion tour of New York for the governor’s wife in front of a crowd of onlookers, witnesses said.”

With McDonnell’s most clever defense now in the gutter, it’s difficult to imagine how the governor can reason his way into staying on as Virginia’s chief executive. Not only would McDonnell’s resignation spare the people of Virginia any further embarrassment, it may also spare Bob McDonnell from some of the public scrutiny that will surely befall him if he remains Virginia’s governor. In other words, if McDonnell steps down as governor, he may take some of the spotlight away from the embarrassing details of his relationship with Jonnie Williams Sr.

Up till this point, the majority of both major political parties in Virginia have been cautious about calling for McDonnell’s resignation. There is, however, no further justification for not calling on McDonnell to resign. It is as clear now as it has ever been that Bob McDonnell took financial contributions and gifts in return for political favors (i.e., McDonnell broke the law and the integrity of his office).

So much for the positive legacy of Bob McDonnell. 

Virginia Uranium Inc. far outspends its peers on lobbying efforts over the past year

Virginia Uranium Inc. (VUI), like its pal in the Executive Mansion (i.e., Bob McDonnell), can’t seem to get much love from Virginia’s government given the huge amount of money the company spent on lobbying members of the General Assembly in 2013.

According to the Virginia Public Access Project, an independent compiler of political spending in Virginia, VUI not only spent more on lobbying than anyone else in Virginia, it did so without achieving its goal: lifting the moratorium on uranium mining.

Over the past year, VUI spent over $572,000 on lobbying efforts, nearly double the amount spent by Dominion Virginia Power, who spent $300,000. Altria came in at a respectable third place in total spending with $274,000.

VUI’s attempts to lift the moratorium are far from over, however. Virginian’s caught a glimpse of one arm of VUI’s continuing strategy to ‘win over’ Virginian’s and their elected representatives a few months ago.

It appears for now, VUI’s public relations campaign will aggressively attempt to polish its image and that of uranium mining to undermine arguments made by concerned Virginians regarding the acute and long-term consequences that uranium mining poses to Southside Virginians and Virginia as a whole.

The burden of proof is in VUI’s court, though. VUI has to convincingly show the people of Virginia that uranium mining can be safely performed in our wet climate over the short and long term, that Virginia will reap the majority of the energy resources stemming from the mining of uranium, and that the benefits of uranium mining outweigh the stigma of this radioactive process and material.

To date, VUI has contented itself with pointing to incomparable case studies, speculative assumptions, and analyses carried out by subsidized or friendly third-party groups and individuals to back its case for mining uranium in Virginia. Fortunately, a number of concerned Virginians have refused to settle for these unsatisfactory pieces of evidence.

For anyone who has ever doubted the ability of a David to overcome the political spending power of a Goliath, the people of Virginia once again defeated VUI in a contest that the latter thought it had won before the political struggle began. While the ‘struggle’ is far from over, Virginians should take heart from this newly released information.