Yearly Archives: 2012

The bottom line, as always, is that we need a resolution of the "fiscal cliff," or whatever you want to call it, but a BAD deal is worse than NO deal at all. We'll see...

As we move into 2013, it is important to take a moment and reflect on what we accomplished (and what we didn't) this past year.  It is amazing how many victories we achieved and with your help we can have even better 2013.  

Here, then, are our Top 10 Virginia environmental stories, both the good and the bad.  Expect several of these fights to continue into 2013

1.  The re-election of President Obama and Election of Tim Kaine to the Senate - Voters rejected climate deniers Romney and Allen despite BIG Coal and BIG Oil attack ads!

2. Uranium mining defeated in 2012  No bill introduced in the 2012 General Assembly Session but Governor McDonnell spends $1.2 million of taxpayer money in support of new regulations to allow uranium mining. Fight resumes in 2013 General Assembly Session  

3. ODEC Coal Plant in Surry County is defeated in September!  Potomac River Coal Plant in Alexandria closes Oct 1!

4. George Washington National Forest supports fracking ban in the forest (but frackers are working to allow fracking behind the scenes). Stadium Woods saved on the Virginia Tech campus for now.

5. EPA finalizes Mercury Rule that prompts Dominion and AEP to retire several old, obsolete and dirty coal plants.

6. Support for Offshore Wind in Virginia Grows American Wind Energy Association holds its Annual Conference in Virginia Beach, federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management process moves forward on Virginia lease block

7.  Public transit advances across Virginia:  Loudoun County votes to extend the Silver Line; Arlington and Fairfax approve the Columbia Pike transit line from the Pentagon to Baileys Crossroads/Skyline and Virginia Beach referendum on the extension of the Tide Light rail passes by 60%.

8. Governor McDonnell attempts to open up a 50 mile long corridor in southwest Virginia to mountaintop removal coal mining in the name of the Coalfields Expressway-a strip coal mine masquerading as a road.   Virginia's largest coal company, Alpha Natural Resources, named as the highway contractor.  Governor McDonnell attempts ram new US 460 highway thru southeastern Virginia. Sierra Club continues to fight both these boondoggle projects

9. Virginia General Assembly votes to further weaken Virginia's renewable energy law while Dominion rips off rate payers $76 million for phantom renewable energy.

10. State Corporation Commission approves Dominion's first solar project, a 30 MW pilot solar project. but NJ already has 900 MW installed--30 times what Dominion even proposes as a pilot.    

Of all people, you'd figure that Ken Cuccinelli is about as pure a right wingnut as it's humanly possible to be in this world. You'd also figure that Cuckoo would be beyond criticism from his right-wingnut base. But no, apparently not, based on the reaction on his Facebook pages to his 'Skins-Cowboys party last night at Buffalo Wild Wings in Manassas.

What's wrong with Buffalo Wild Wings, you might be wondering? Are the wings not spicy enough? Too spicy? The beer not cold enough? The TV screens not big enough? Not enough parking? Some other atrocity of modern existence? Nope, it's far, far worse than that. Check out the comments.

*"Ken... we are your base. Eric Cantor holds his parties in anti gun locations... as a result I supported Wayne Powell .... first time I have ever voted against a republican.... you can move the event to a pro gun place. You can even have it at my house..."

*"I am a former Republican unit chairman who is tired of being sold out by country club rinos. Ken is not a rino......yet. Time for the Tea Party to stand its ground."

*"He should have chosen a pro constitution buisness. Here we have a so called defender of the constitution patronizing and calling for his supporters to also patronize this anti 2nd amendment buisness. This voter has a problem with that."

*"As a long time supporter of Ken, I am quite disappointed in his choice of restaurants and will not be attending. I hope Ken chooses better next time!"

*"Won't give gun banning BWW a dime! They can go out of business, no matter how good their food is! Sic Semper Tyrannis!"

That's right, as right wing as Ken Kookinelli is, there are people in his "base" who are even further to the right, if you can believe that. How many of these people there are out there, it's hard to say, but they sure didn't waste any time giving Cuckoo a piece of their Teapublican minds about holding an event at an "anti 2nd amendment" "gun free zone." Fun times, can't wait for the Republican LG and AG races next year, let alone the Republican Party of Virginia's nominating convention and the general election campaign. On second though, can we just stay in 2012, at least in terms of Virginia politics, and not proceed to 2013?  

Many people, including UVA Professor Larry Sabato, have noted the "three decades-long Virginia trend to elect a governor opposite to the party of the president." Thus, as Sabato explains, "for eight consecutive elections [since 1977], Virginia has elected a Republican governor every time a Democrat was in the White House or a Democratic governor every time a Republican occupied the Oval Office." Why has this been the case? In Sabato's view, it's "a natural early-midterm reaction, a kind of snapback, which reflects the natural American tendency to want to check and balance power." To his credit, Sabato emphasizes that "this voting pattern is a tendency, not an iron rule of politics," and that "[the] string...will be broken at some point."

I agree with Professor Sabato that the 8-elections-in-a-row string is "not iron rule of politics," and that it's bound to "be broken at some point." But I wanted to take it a step further than that, so I went back and looked at those gubernatorial elections since 1977. What I found should pretty much debunk the myth of Virginia always voting opposite of the party in the White House.

For starters, check out this graphic of the president's net approval rating right before Virginia's gubernatorial election in each year since 1977. Notice something? Like, for instance, that Virginia voted opposite the party in the White House even when presidents had high net approval ratings? That, of course, would make zero sense - logically, psychologically, or any other way. Follow me past the "fold" for more.

Here are a few Virginia (and national) news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, December 31 (New Year's Eve).

*Hillary Clinton hospitalized with blood clot (Scary. Get well soon!)
*Senate negotiators yet to reach 'fiscal cliff' deal as clock winds down
*As 'fiscal cliff' looms, Republicans have no political incentive to make deal with Obama
*Brewing Up Confusion (Paul Krugman nails it; Starbucks CEO should stick to coffee...)
*Short-Term Thinking Yields Impasse in U.S. Fiscal Crisis (Is our political system even capable of dealing with long-term challenges, from the budget to infrastructure to global warming to whatever? I certainly don't see it.)
*From partisan perspective, 'cliff' may not be that scary
*Obama's repeat win in Va. showed 2008 was no fluke
*Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama Most Admired in 2012
*The 8 Elections to Watch in 2013
*Never a dull moment as 2012 sees fierce political battles from start to finish
*Republican party is 'devoid of a soul', says Jon Huntsman
*Editorial: Who's ready for $8 per gallon milk ("If Congress fails to pass a farm bill extension, dairy prices will increase substantially.")
*Editorial: Bench the Tebow bill ("Home-schooled students shouldn't get a pass from the rules on participation in public school activities.")
*Virginia seen as good for business
*Possible restrictions, safety concerns drive up sales at Virginia gun show
*Report: Virginia isn't prepared for major storm in Hampton Roads
*Study: Arlington population to drop 10 percent by 2040
*Prince William to get a second newspaper; Times Community Media launches Prince William Times
*Crystal City streetcar plans underway
*Redskins vs. Cowboys: Washington captures NFC East, beats Dallas 28-18

P.S. Also see The flaws in the NRA's school-security proposal, which cites studies and evidence - I know, who cares about stuff like that, right? - to argue that arming "school resource officers" is a bad idea. ("There are clear drawbacks to having armed guards in schools. Implementing such a policy would actually put more youth at risk and might divert attention away from a robust discussion of, and progress on, gun control. Instead, we should reconsider our school security policies, drawing on the available evidence of what works and what doesn't.")

When our children are wondering why we didn't solve the climate crisis when we had the chance, I'm sure they'll be thankful we took the time to try to gut their retirement benefits.

This morning I watched Meet The Press host David Gregory and his panel not only agree Social Security and Medicare must be cut, but to brainstorm aloud strategy for making it happen. This very same panel had just gotten done unanimously agreeing that objective journalists are not allowed to say that Republicans are the problem in Washington. But they were now designing their very own political campaign.

Despite massive public opposition to social safety net cuts, why did these champions of objectivity assume gutting the social safety net is as American as apple pie?

Because people in the insular, wealthy world of Beltway politics will never need to put off a trip to the grocery store until their Social Security check arrives. The threat of going hungry could never compare to the alleged threat of the budget deficit.

Here are a few excerpts from the interview.

"The offers that I've made to them have been so fair that a lot of Democrats get mad at me. ... I offered to make some significant changes to our entitlement programs ... They [Republicans] say that their biggest priority is making sure that we deal with the deficit in a serious way. But the way they're behaving is that their only priority is making sure that tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans are protected. That seems to be their only overriding, unifying theme..."

I finally decided that discretion is the better part of valor, and that I would not press my luck after my 2012 political forecasting success. Instead, for 2013, I'm going to list a dozen things to keep an eye on next year in Virginia politics. Please feel free to add your own items in the comments section. Thanks.

1. The marquee political race of 2013 will be, by far and away, the Virginia gubernatorial race between Terry McAuliffe and Ken Cuccinelli. The things to watch here are whether Bill Bolling throws his hat in the ring as an independent, whether Cuccinelli even bothers to try and reposition himself towards the "center" (good luck with THAT one!), and how strong a campaign McAuliffe runs, given that he's mostly been a behind-the-scenes guy and a businessman, not a politician, for his entire adult life. The other thing to watch out for is whether either "side" seems particularly energized as 2013 proceeds; e.g., will there be a "wave" for either the "blue" or "red" teams in 2013? Right now, I simply have no idea.

2. The Republican battles for LG and AG should be fascinating, as a bunch of mostly right wingnuts battles it out for the support of a tiny percentage of Virginia Republicans at a convention that skews hard right. The question is not whether this will get crazy and (right-wing) extreme, but more HOW crazy and (right-wing) extreme it will get. Personally, I'm rooting for these people making themselves completely unelectable in the general, a la Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock. Let's hope...

3. On the Democratic side, it looks like the only interesting primary - and yes, it's a primary, not a convention - will be for LG, between Sen. Ralph Northam and former Kaine and Obama technology guru Aneesh Chopra. How will this race play out? Will it be focused on: a) ideological differences of any kind; b) electability arguments; c) appeals to different geographical regions of the state; or d) other? How much will endorsements matter in this race (Northam seems to have an early edge on this front)?  What about money (Chopra seems to have a big, early edge there)? Will this race stay civil, or will it get rough as often happens in intra-party contests? Stay tuned.

4. Will Bolling reconcile in any way with Cuccinelli, or will their mutual antipathy only deepen in 2013? If the latter occurs, which I tend to believe is more likely, will Bolling go so far as to endorse McAuliffe or to run himself? How much clout does Bolling have, anyway, given that most Virginians don't even know who he is? I guess we'll find out in coming months.

Here are a few Virginia (and national) news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, December 30.

*'Come together' breaks Washington apart ("The two parties are not equivalent right now. The two sides are not the same. If you want Washington to come together, you need to make it painful for those who are breaking it apart. Telling both sides to come together when it's predominantly one side breaking the negotiations apart actually makes it easier on those who're refusing to compromise.")
*Lawmakers trade 'fiscal cliff' offers into the night
*'Cliff' looms for Va. as well, report warns
*With no 'cliff' deal in sight, sequestration all but certain
*Why the Economy Needs Tax Reform ("The main problem is that the current tax code is incapable of raising the revenue needed to pay for the goods and services of government." and "The big obstacle to comprehensive tax reform is the persistent Republican myth that spending cuts alone can achieve economic and budget goals.")
*Virginia's Senators Waiting for 'Fiscal Cliff' Vote
*Schapiro: New Year's wish list for the Va. Capitol crowd ("Dominion chief Tom Farrell: To run the General Assembly as the wholly owned Dominion subsidiary it is rather than the charity it's become.")
*'Apolitical' Webb leaves Senate with legacy of action
*Tracking McDonnell's campaign promises
*Va. tea parties yet to score statewide victory
*McDonnell's "Solution" That Solves Nothing ("We elected him to lead, to be bold, to make government work. We didn't elect him to cave into the know-nothings of his own party.")
*Editorial: The right limits on gun rights
*The region's top five stories of 2012
*A turning point for death penalty?
*House District #58
*Taxes and the Urban Mobility Revolution (Interesting article by James Bacon, in part about Tim Hugo's idea, completely brain dead in my opinion, to eliminate Virginia's gasoline tax and replace it with a 0.9% increase in the state sales tax. Blech.)
*Hampton Roads officials: 2012 'a terrific year' for job creation
*Based in Norfolk, PETA leader can still rattle cages worldwide
*D.C. area forecast: Cold wind today with a few chances for flakes this week

North Carolina Governor- Elect, Pat McCrory ran as a pretend moderate.  But he was a stealth Tea Party candidate. During the campaign, there was:

* Little mention of his 29 years at Duke Energy;
* Zero mention of his leading an Americans for Prosperity Bus Tour in 2010;
* No mention of what he did at his most recent job. He worked at two law firms, but isn't a lawyer. So, at his most recent stints with law firms, he most likely he was a lobbyist. But he refused to say and no one seemed to give a damn.

But, had they paid attention, voters should have known. McCrory said he would cut the state budget in half over ten years! That is a devastating plan for North Carolina's citizens, made worse by the fact that today the budget is less as a percentage of the state's GDP than in 2004. And he promised to take advantage of the resources "under our feet and off our shore." In other words, drill, baby drill; and frack, baby frack.  Otherwise, he had nothing to propose. And he said little of substance. Instead he looked into the TV camera with feigned sincerity, squinted, and pretended he'd work across the aisle to solve North Carolina's problems. Not quite.

Now Pat McCrory cannot even pretend moderation.  He appointed failed politician and big donor to NC Republican politicians, Art Pope, to be North Carolina's Deputy Director of the Budget. Constitutionally, the Governor is the Budget Director. This is almost like appointing Grover Norquist or the Koch brothers. Art Pope himself wanted to achieve higher office, but though he served in the House of Delegates, his one attempt at one of the top two elected officials failed. Instead, the NC version of the Koch Brothers has funded the Tea Party, served as a director of Peter Peterson's Americans for Prosperity (for the 1%) Foundation, and is the wizard behind the so-called John Locke Foundation and Civitas. Is it any wonder McCrory was involved in an AFP bus tour?  He's Tea Party through and through.