Here are a few Virginia (and national) news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, September 29. Also, check out the photo, courtesy of the Democratic Business Council of NOVA, of our own Teddy Goodson, “an iconic local Fairfax Democrat who has worked tirelessly on behalf of the Democratic Party of Virginia and many candidates within it, [and who] is headed for Texas.” Good luck to Teddy, give Rick Perry and his ilk some hell for us! 🙂
*House pushes U.S. to the edge of a shutdown (That would be “House Republicans,” of course.)
*GOP adds ‘conscience clause’ to spending bill (Great, throw abortion into the mix, just to make it absolutely certain there can be no agreement on the budget. Nice job, Tea Party Republicans!)
*Shutdown: the House GOP’s ‘touch-the-stove’ moment (Let’s hope they a) get burned; b) it hurts badly; and c) they never forget it.)
*Shutdown crisis rooted in GOP’s budget (“Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) bears a big responsibility.” The guy’s an Ayn Rand-loving extremist, what else would we expect?)
*On cusp of shutdown, House conservatives excited, say they are doing the right thing (Sure, if by “right thing” the Teahadists mean “trashing the United States of America.”)
*By any name a danger to us (“Rising seas and recurrent flooding pose serious and complex challenges for policymakers. The coming General Assembly session will provide a chance for the first real and substantive discussion aimed at addressing them.” But they won’t with Republicans in charge…ugh.)
*Virginia has a few ways to cope with shutdown (Anyone who votes to shut down the government is basically plunging a knife in the back of Virginia.)
*Emails show AG staffer continued advising energy companies after office learned of communications (“Whether the communications continued with AG Ken Cuccinelli’s knowledge remains a mystery because his office refuses to say when he personally learned of the emails or when he officially shut down the staffer’s contact with the corporate attorneys.” We’ll take that as a “yes, Cuccinelli knew, but of course doesn’t want to talk about it.” What a slimeball.)
*National stakes in Virginia’s gubernatorial race (But the most important stakes are right here in Virginia, where Ken Cuccinelli and his Tea Party brethren would totally trash the state.)
*Schapiro: Other governors have had on-the-job training (“To achieve the governorship is to enter rarified ranks, more so, if one is a virgin to government – as Westmoreland Davis was in 1917; Linwood Holton was in 1969; and Mark Warner was in 2001. Because of the times and political conditions, the non-Richmond résumés of this trio were, for the most part, a plus.” So Cooch is wrong yet AGAIN – you do NOT need to have served as LG or AG to be an excellent governor of Virginia, like Linwood Holton and Mark Warner were.)
*Cuccinelli highlights Obamacare fight (Yep, Cuccinelli’s Tea Party all the way, if that wasn’t clear already…)
*A Vote for Sarvis Not Wasted – If You’d Like to See a Viable Third Party in Virginia (Sarvis seems like a great option for the Ron/Rand Paul wing of the Republican party, no doubt.)
*Action in McDonnell probe not expected before November election
*Today’s top opinion: Rock the boat (“…the General Assembly needs to impose tighter controls on how legislators can spend the money donated to their political campaigns. “)
*What price education (“Issues must be addressed so in-state students can afford to go to college”)
*As a Confederate battle flag rises along I-95, an American flag is unfurled in Richmond (I just watched the movie “Lincoln” last night. It’s astounding to me that people still feel the need/desire to fly the Confederate flag, a century and a half later.)
*Fabulous fall weather streak continues (“Any morning cloudiness should clear out for a mostly sunny day with blue skies”)
*Nationals defeat Diamondbacks 2-0