Thursday, September 20, 2012

Unforced Errors: Romney’s Coal Campaign Another Campaign Disaster


As has been a common theme of the Mitt Romney campaign, seemingly sound political moves have turned into unequivocal political nightmares . In a new political ad that will run in swing states Virginia and Ohio, Team Romney pulled video footage from a recent Ohio rally that shows Ohio coal miners flanking the presidential candidate as the ad goes on to blast President Obama for “ruining the coal industry.”

Not only do many of the coal miners look unenthused about participating in the rally, they apparently had little reason to be. According to Politico, “they [the coal miners in the ad] were pulled out of the mine to join the Republican candidate” (i.e. forced to take the day off without pay). Do you mean to say that Romney forced workers out of a job (snark!)?[1]

Of course, the free market has ruined the coal industry, not President Obama[2]. Given Mitt Romney’s supposedly free market beliefs, one would think that the former Bain Capital CEO would have few qualms about the cheap flood of natural gas that has pushed coal to second-class status as a source of energy.

Wait, what’s that you say, Romney has taken advantage of federal subsides too? Yes, and here’s one instance out of many. As CEO of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, Romney “built it” with a little help from Uncle Sam. “What Romney doesn’t talk about [in TV ads his campaign ran during the 2012 summer Olympics] is how he succeeded in Utah with government help—lots of it—and how millions in assistance that he priced out of the feds ended up bankrolling subsidies, sweetheart deals, and giveaways for land developers and other well-connected Utahns.”[3]

Thus, when it comes to attacking President Obama on his coal policies, and implicitly his economic policies, Mitt Romney is hardly the man to be pointing the finger. In fact, Mitt Romney is just as hooked on the government kool-aid as the 47% percent that he recently disparaged in the now viral footage of his comments at a Florida fundraiser.[4]

Mitt Romney: a liar, a hypocrite, a coal-industry connected fat cat, and a foreign policy dunce, among other things. Does that sound like an attractive presidential candidate?
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Dominion’s home energy check-up program one small step towards real energy conservation


Dominion Virginia Power is going full-steam ahead with its “home energy check-up program” in a supposed effort to assist residential consumers save both money and energy.[1]

Dominion’s home energy check-up program offers duct testing and sealing, a home energy checkup, pump tune-ups and pump-upgrades.

As part of the home energy program, Dominion says that consumers will receive a personalized report with recommendations and findings for conserving energy. In addition, consumers will receive a one-time incentive on the average of $230 to make improvements based on the check-up results.[2]

Dominion claims that average incentives are $90 per unit for a residential heat pump tune-up program and $125 for the residential sealing and duct testing program.

Critics of Dominion, such as myself, have to hand it to Virginia’s largest utility, its leadership knows how to navigate public demands for efficient and renewable energy supplies that don’t undermine its profitability.

While Dominion Virginia Power’s new “check-up program” is a praiseworthy endeavor to cut energy consumption in Virginia, it’s only one piece of the energy efficiency puzzle.

Virginia is still lagging in the use of renewable sources of energy, instead relying largely upon fossil fuels to keep the trains running on time.[3]

In the past, Dominion has argued that transitioning to renewable sources of energy like wind and solar power is economically irrational. However, Dominion has been quick to grab clean energy credits by bringing in clean energy to Virginia from outside of the state.[4] THIS doesn’t make economic sense for Virginians.

Underneath Dominion’s energy conservation programs is a leadership that is still bent on relying upon fossil fuels. It’s like putting a band-aid over a wound you’re going to soon reopen; the bleeding is still occurring even if you’ve artificially covered it.

If Dominion Virginia Power is truly serious about conserving energy and saving Virginians money in the long run, its leadership will swiftly move towards in-state renewable forms of energy where feasible.

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Wednesday, September 19, 2012

King McDonnell attempts to subvert the democratic process in Pittsylvania County…again


Uranium mining in Southside Virginia abruptly became headline news again when it was discovered that Virginia Sen. Bill Stanley had been recorded telling Pittsylvania County Supervisor, Jerry A. Hagerman, that Gov. Bob McDonnell had requested the former to lobby the Pittsylvania Board of Supervisors to table a resolution on uranium mining at its September 4th meeting.[1]

Consequently, the proposed resolution on uranium mining was taken off of the board’s Sept. 4 meeting agenda.[2] Coincidence?

In effect, what Bob McDonnell and his crony surrogates attempted to do was bypass the democratic process in Pittsylvania County and for now, they appear to have succeeded.

It’s the latest move in Gov. McDonnell’s bag of get-around-the-voter tricks[3] that began with his move to form the “Uranium Working Group” to “be certain that uranium mining can be conducted safely and responsibly.”  But if McDonnell’s goal, or that of the Republicans in the General Assembly, was to determine if uranium mining could be conducted “safely and responsibly,” one would have assumed that the National Academy of Sciences uranium mining study group would have been allowed to make recommendations on whether or not to lift the ban, given their findings and their expertise.  No such allowance was made, however.[4]

For McDonnell, “safely and responsibly” really meant “when voters have their backs turned and their eyes off of the uranium mining issue.”  Thus, the Republican Party strategy for removing the ban on uranium mining in Virginia is clear: wait the issue out until the resistance has waned.

McDonnell and company also leave another implicit message: democracy is only as valued as the ends it can confer for McDonnell and his friends in the business and political world. To hell with democracy if it creates barriers to reaching their goals!

Unluckily for McDonnell, his bad karma has repeatedly blown up in his face. Luckily for Virginians, there are still public officials who put the concerns of the community and the state above parochial and self-promoting interests.  

[2] http://www2.godanriver.com/news/2012/sep/17/stanley-says-he-misspoke-governor-denies-uranium-i-ar-2212898/
[3] http://www.readthereports.org/index.php/in-the-news/124-governor-mcdonnell-asks-general-assembly-to-keep-uranium-mining-moratorium-in-place-in-2012-session
[4] http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9RBPK9G1.htm
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New Public Policy Polling Virginia poll shows President Obama ahead of Mitt Romney


According to the most recent Public Policy Polling (PPP) Virginia poll, the incumbent president, Barack Obama, is up by 5 points, 51-46, against his Republican counterpart, Mitt Romney.[1] Consequently, President Obama appears to be on solid footing in Virginia for the upcoming election.

Over the past 9 times that PPP has polled this cycle, President Obama has been ahead of Romney by at least 4 points on all 9 of the polls. According to PPP, President Obama has been up by 5 points, 5 points, 8 points, and 8 points “over the course of the four surveys we’ve conducted in 2012.”[2]

In terms of trust on foreign policy and the economy, President Obama leads Romney 51-45 and 49-47, respectively.

Another interesting finding from the most recent PPP poll is that Democratic voters are more amped about the November election than Republicans are. This is in contrast to an enthusiasm gap that existed amongst Democratic Party voters not too long ago.

Lastly, Virginia voters think Mitt Romney should release 12 years of his tax returns by a 50/43 margin.[3] If you’re a Romney campaign staffer, abandon ship now.

While Virginia isn’t THE lab for testing President Obama’s popularity in swing states, it’s pretty close. If Virginia can be swayed in President Obama’s favor, there’s a good chance that he can win in other key swing states as well.

One plus for the Republicans is that if President Obama wins reelection, the GOP can blame their uncharismatic and apparently untrusted presidential candidate for the loss, thereby giving the GOP’s leadership room to largely maintain their current policy platform. That’s one plus side to Romney’s presidential aspiration woes for the GOP.

Of course, the Republican Party could move to the political center instead of holding on for dear life to the edges of the far-right political spectrum.

After millions of dollars spent on advertisements and thousands of ads being continuously thrown on the television screens of America’s voters, the GOP and their allies still haven’t captured the votes of a majority of Americans. It’s because even conservative Americans may not agree with the policies and tactics being pursued by today’s Republican Party.
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Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Cuccinelli’s threatening memo sways Board of Health in favor of new abortion clinic regs


In an unambiguous setback for advocates of abortion-rights, the Virginia Board of Health voted 13-2 in favor of assuming regulations that mandate existing abortion clinics in Virginia be regulated like new hospitals[1].  

Supporters of abortion-rights in Virginia stated that if the regulations remain in place, the upgrades required under new construction guidelines could force the closure of nearly 20 abortion clinics in the commonwealth due to costs.

For anti-abortion advocates, the decision was of course welcomed.

Disturbingly, at least one member of the Virginia Board of Health stated that members of the board felt “threatened” by a memo sent by the office of Attorney General (AG) Ken Cuccinelli[2]. The memo gave warning to board members that they could lose legal representation from the AG’s office if they went against its advice. In other words, the AG’s office used intimidation to sway the board in its corner of the issue.

The board had voted 7-4 in June to exempt existing abortion clinics from the new construction guidelines. Afterwards, the AG’s office refused to sign off on the regulations.

According to the AG’s office, the board does not have the authority to pass provisions that do not comply with the law passed in the 2011 General Assembly[3].

The clear infusion of politics into this issue by the AG’s office and Gov. Bob McDonnell has left the most recent vote by the board as open to controversy as the initial vote in June.

Both McDonnell and Cuccinelli both oppose abortion. Both also apparently believe that by shutting down Virginia’s abortion clinics de facto, women will magically be “better off.” But how making a service less accessible to women will make them “better off” is unclear.

What is clear is that women in Virginia will still seek abortions, regardless of its legality or difficulty. The new regulations only make it more difficult for women seeking abortions to have them done safely in the care of specialized abortion clinics.

Women are now less well off in Virginia thanks to the new abortion clinic regulations.
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Monday, September 17, 2012

Radford Board of Visitors passes new reg barring concealed guns in buildings & outdoor events


The Radford Board of Visitors took the unquestionably concerning step on Friday of banning concealed high-powered killing devices (i.e. guns) inside of campus buildings and outdoor school events.[1] The vote was 9-5 in favor of banning guns from university events outdoors as well as buildings.

However, individuals will still be able to carry guns on Radford’s grounds.

The vote at Radford comes a year after Virginia’s Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli announced that institutions must pass a regulation to limit the use of concealed guns by legal permit holders.[2]

As straight-forward as it seems, the new regulation may cause a good deal of confusion among concealed firearms permit holders, however. On the one hand, permit holders can have concealed firearms on school grounds, but they can’t bring those firearms inside of school buildings or to outdoor school events. Will there be a concealed firearm drop-off somewhere on campus?

Needless to say, this is another chapter in the ongoing debate over gun rights versus individual safety.[3]

Virginia may be one of the experimental playgrounds for this issue, to test the resolve of Americans to stand by one interpretation of the Constitution, or to cede to the idea that the Founding Fathers didn’t have automatic weapons in mind when that great document was written.
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Sunday, September 16, 2012

McDonnell announces new VDOT funds: federal government benefits VA again


On Thursday, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell announced that the Federal Highway Administration “reallocated” $52 million in federal transportation funds to the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT).[1] The funding comes from other states that did not use their own allocations of federal transportation funds.

If the federal money allocated to states cannot be committed to projects, then the uncommitted money is reallocated to states that have committed the entirety of their funding and have other projects ready to be started.

According to McDonnell, VDOT wants to use the additional funding mainly to repave portions of I-95 and I-85 in the Richmond area as well as I-264 in Hampton Roads.

For a governor who has frequently decried federal government overreach, McDonnell has been quick to accept the aid that the federal government has offered up. For example, the Recovery Act allocated $2.5 billion in stimulus relief to Virginia to “maintain crucial services for [Virginia] citizens.”[2]

Even though many members of the Republican Party are unwilling to say publicly that they benefit from federal largesse, the truth is that virtually every American does in one way or another.[3]  

For good or bad, better or worse, the federal government subsidizes various aspects of our lives and what’s more, many of us enjoy the fruits of these subsidies.

While politicians like Bob McDonnell decry government overreach and spending, how many of us would truly be better off if the federal government rolled back into the cocoon that it inhabited before Abraham Lincoln?

This is to argue that the federal government is not in and of itself a bad thing. It can be, however, when extreme politicians attempt to impose their narrow views of what the country should look like on everyone else.

We, the people, are the true bearers of our government’s actions. So if you perceive wrongful government actions, the answer is not to eliminate government, it’s to go about righting the wrongs.  
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