NRA Gave Virginia Republicans Nearly $10,000 Last Week Alone

We all know that today’s Republican Party is a wholly owned subsidiary of powerful corporate interests — the fossil fuel industry, the Koch brothers network, and of course the gun industry.

Now obviously, none of these corporate interests donate out of the goodness of their “hearts” – if they were “people my friends” and had hearts, that is.  Instead, what  they want in exchange is for the recipients of their largess do their bidding, whether by voting their way or by blocking legislation that the corporate interests don’t like. Here in Virginia, we saw a classic example of that back in early July, when “The Virginia Legislature Held a Special Session to Pass Gun Control. Then State Republicans Pulled a Mitch McConnell.”

…the session ended after just 90 minutes, with the state’s GOP-controlled general assembly adjourning without voting on any of the dozens of gun control bills introduced by members of both parties. The Washington Post reported that the state Senate and House of Delegates voted to adjourn the session until November 18—right after the state’s midterm elections.

Perhaps as a reward, the National Rifle Association (NRA) has been busy helping out their Virginia Republican pals, including this past week, when they donated nearly $10,000 to their favorite Republican candidates. That money included:

• $1,292 to pay canvassers in Del. Roxann Robinson’s, Speaker Kirk Cox’s, Sen. Bill DeSteph’s, Del. Nick Freitas’, and Del. Barry Knight’s districts.
• $1,034 to pay phone bankers in Del. Roxann Robinson’s and Del. Rob Bloxom’s districts.
• $308 to pay canvassers in Del. Roxann Robinson’s, Speaker Kirk Cox’s, Sen. Bill DeSteph’s, Del. Nick Freitas’, and Del. Barry Knight’s districts.
•  $222 to pay canvassers in Del. Roxann Robinson’s, Speaker Kirk Cox’s, and Del. Nick Freitas’ districts
• $6,772 on door hangers to distribute in Del. Roxann Robinson’s, Kirk Cox’s, Bill DeSteph’s, Sen. Bryce Reeves’, Paul Milde’s, Del. Glenn Davis’, Del. Rob Bloxom’s, Del. Chris Stolle’s, and Del. Barry Knight’s districts.
• spent $6,772 on door hangers to distribute in Roxann Robinson’s, Kirk Cox’s, Bill DeSteph’s, Sen. Bryce Reeves’, Paul Milde’s, Del. Glenn Davis’, Del. Rob Bloxom’s, Del. Chris Stolle’s, and Del. Barry Knight’s districts.

Shweet, eh? Unless, of course, you want a Virginia General Assembly that actually does something to rein in the scourge of gun violence, that is. Just a reminder of why it matters that you vote on November 5 – for Democrats, up and down the ballot.