See below for a video by VA Del. Jessica Anderson (D-James City/Williamsburg/New Kent), which does a great job debunking just SOME of the reams of utter bullsh** being spewed around by right wingers these days about Gov. Abigail Spanberger, Virginia Democrats, etc. In short, they’ve worked themselves up into a frenzy (something they are very good at doing) with all kinds of wild claims about purported “unhinged liberal policies” (including supposed massive tax increases of all sorts), an alleged “Marxist agenda,” “unrestricted abortion,” “gun confiscation,” “eliminating minimum sentences for pedophiles and rapists,” etc, etc. Except that, as Del. Anderson explains:
“So, here’s the deal. There is a lot of conversation happening on mainstream media from my delegate colleagues on the other side of the aisle and they’re really hyping up the bills that have been introduced by various delegates in the Democratic party and making this very wild assumption that one, the governor endorses every piece of policy that has been introduced factually incorrect. I did not vet any of my pieces of legislation that I introduced with the governor. So, I mean, technically, she wasn’t even the governor when I introduced them. So, there’s that. But they’re also making the assumption that every piece of policy is also fully endorsed by the entirety of the party. And the reality is we all come to the General Assembly with our own individual ideas, with our own concept to serve our constituents and our districts. That does not mean that we are uniformally and unilaterally going to agree with each other. That does not mean that every bill that gets introduced because it’s introduced by a Democrat is going to get across the finish line, get out of the House, hell even get into a subcommittee to be voted on.”
Exactly right; perhaps some of these folks might want to go back to Schoolhouse Rock and learn how the legislative process works? Also, of course, it would be great if they’d get their facts straight about the bills – not laws, mind you – they’re freaking out about? Because in most cases, they’re making wild leaps of illogic, getting basic facts badly wrong, etc. For more on this, see below for the video by Del. Anderson, as well as for a transcript (bolding added by me for emphasis) of some of her remarks.
Oh, and by the way, it would be great if a lot more Democrats wouldn’t just let the right wingers run wild for days or weeks on end (remember “CRT” back in 2021 and how Dems didn’t want to push back because it might “give it oxygen?” uh, guys? it HAD oxygen!), spreading their b.s. as it spreads all over right-wing media and even leaks into “mainstream” media, and instead FIGHT BACK, as Del. Anderson does here. Yeah, I know, what a concept…
“Okay, this assumption is so wild, and so wild in fact that our current president said this. ‘Glenn was a friend of mine, Glenn Youngkin, and worked so hard on cutting taxes. This woman [Abigail Spanberger] came in and in one swoop she raised everything up higher than it ever was. I don’t understand it. I mean, people voted for the Democrat, but she came in and she raised and I’ll work with her like I work with everyone else. But she came into Virginia, raised everything to a point like…taxes that nobody ever even heard of before. [Anderson: No, she hasn’t]. And I don’t understand how do people get elected with this kind of philosophy. This is only in the very modern age. You know, I grew up and I’ve always heard politicians, we’ll cut taxes, we’ll cut.’
He also goes on to say at the end, they win because they cheat. We didn’t. The reality is every special election, Virginia’s elections, New Jersey’s elections, New York’s elections, California’s election, every election that has happened over the last year and some change since this man has been in office, have overwhelmingly gone to the Democratic Party because people are really concerned about what is happening.
There’s a lot of things to be concerned about. And we just saw last night in a special election for a Senate race that went to Trump 17 points in 2024, just went to the Democratic candidate for the state senate in Texas in one of the reddest states. So I mean, the evidence is clear people are not happy with the actions of this administration.
The bills that have been introduced do not mean that the governor who just got elected and who has been in office all of two weeks and a day has endorsed them, let alone looked at them, let alone made them a reality as the president is acclaiming here. She…hasn’t signed a single piece of legislation, because nothing has crossed over to the other side of the General Assembly, and many things haven’t even been docketed to get a singular vote on them.
One of the biggest ones that is the talking point is a bill that was introduced with the possibility of expanding sales tax on certain services, say like subscriptions that you use for like Netflix or whatever. That bill has not been docketed. That bill has not been docketed. There’s not been a single vote taken on that bill.
It is also worth noting that Wren Williams, who is a delegate on the right, posted this graphic. Okay, it’s like brought by Virginia Democrats, $347 a month in big yellow print, that really draws your eyes. And then it shows 21 subscriptions. And if you actually read this, it says that if this bill – that again has not been docketed, has not gotten a single vote, and has not been publicly endorsed by the governor – if it passes the House and then by some miracle passes the Senate and gets signed into law by the governor, you would pay $18 extra per month on these 21 services. So if you have these 21 services right now, you are paying $329 a month as it stands. So, like he wants you to think, look, they’re going to make you pay $347. You are paying $329 if you have all these services.
Like, this is ragebait. And I get it. Like, they’re real good at convincing their base and getting them all riled up, making them think that these things are definitely going to happen or they’ve already happened when they haven’t. So much so that when we do introduce really solid policy that is, you know, something that they actually support, they won’t even own that fact.”
