frankoanderson

Fairfax County residents will have a referendum on their ballot this November regarding a 4% tax on prepared foods.  70% of the revenue from...

The latest message from Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (VA-10) is something I'd expect from one of those right-wing outfits like NewsMax, or from a more...

I'm very disappointed in the Republicans of Virginia's 11th Congressional District. As it turns out, they couldn't get it together to nominate a candidate...

(cross-posted at frankoanderson.com) Some analysts are predicting serious soul-searching in the Republican Party in the event that Trump is the nominee and if he loses...

Written by Carol Allen Edited by Frank Anderson Right wing front group is challenging voter rolls in multiple states Fairfax County is a subject of the group's...

Tonight I attended the debate between Democratic School Board Member Kathy Smith and Republican Tea Party Member John Guevara, candidates for the Sully District seat on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. Sitting on the western edge of the county alongside Dulles Airport, with about 130,000 residents, Sully is one of the most rapidly growing and changing parts of the Commonwealth. This race is a chance for Democrats to pick up an open seat in a district currently represented by a Republican, retiring Supervisor Michael Frey -- who also was the debate moderator.

I have to say that I was surprised when the debate turned ugly, thanks to Mr. Guevara's comments (which I will address later). For most of the time things were relatively civil and Guevara came across as a polished candidate who seemed committed to a drama-free event. But I guess he couldn't resist throwing some red meat to his supporters so, as they say, the gloves came off.

Supervisor Frey remarked on the large crowd, which neared 100 people -- quite a feat for an obscure political debate taking place before Labor Day. I doubt that there were many undecided voters in attendance. This appeared to be an exercise in candidates and parties getting their supporters out. Us Democrats had a good crowd, with elected officials and many top party activists in attendance. The Republicans clearly had sounded the alarm for the Tea Party folks to come out.

April 1st, 2015

WASHINGTON, DC - After mounting pressure from conservative bloggers, radio talk show hosts and Tea Party members, a tearful President Obama admitted today that Republicans were right all along about their unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud.

"My fellow Americans," the President began, "and especially those who didn't support me, I want to offer my deepest apologies for stealing not one, but two elections."

"We had you going there, making people think that ACORN was essentially defunct by 2012, but in reality they just went underground to support my re-election."

It was unclear what prompted the sudden announcement, as absolutely no evidence of widespread voter fraud has ever been found, but sources believed that conservative activist and videographer James O'Keefe was about to uncover a major revelation.

Obama credited illegal immigrants, ghost voters, double voters, underage voters, out-of-state voters, voters named Mickey Mouse, the Black Panthers and George Soros as key to his 2012 victory in swing states such as Virginia.  "And if it weren't for the work of a rag-tag band of nonpartisan concerned citizens," Obama continued, "we would've been able to run for a third term."

Mitt Romney could not be reached for comment, as the former Republican nominee was reported to be in flight for Washington to claim the mantle that so rightfully belonged to him.

As of press time, Obama was planning a special trip to Trump Tower to make an announcement regarding his birth certificate.

Yesterday morning, Republican Party of Virginia Chair John Whitbeck tweeted an invitation (now deleted, but pictured here) to the March 19th "Beyond Benghazi" fundraiser with Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC). Less than 30 minutes later, it was reported that Gowdy had pulled out of the event. By the afternoon, the RPV issued a statement that they had cancelled the event.

Not only is this a huge embarrassment to Republican Party of Virginia, it's possible that they're forced to pay thousands of dollars to the venue for cancelling the event on such short notice.

With the event page still up on the Republican Party of Virginia's website, I checked to see just what they had gotten themselves into with the cancellation.  Turns out that the Ballroom they were to use at the Richmond Convention Center holds up to 500 people. Since the event was less than a month away, according to food & beverage provider Aramark's cancellation policy, RPV still has to pay 50% of the catering costs, and lose the non-refundable prepaid amounts plus the 25% deposit, which would be based on food, labor, 19% service charges, table setups and 11% taxes. Let's not forget any costs for renting the room itself plus the VIP reception room, and who knows how much they're in the hole for. I wouldn't be surprised if it was in the tens of thousands of dollars.  For a party that's already in debt and beset with internal strife, it's no wonder they're trying their best to squash any news of the magnitude of this incredible blunder, both on a PR and a financial scale.

Are there any RPV staffers still around that they can fire for this?  If I were a member or donor, I'd be calling for Whitbeck's head.  Imagine if you'd paid $5000 to be an event sponsor and now you'll have to get your money refunded. Would you ever donate to these crackpots again?

Today Del. Barbara Comstock announced that the Independent Women's Voice (IWV) -- which is by no means independent or "mainstream," as they claim -- presented her with the 2014 Healthcare Leadership Award.

Who is the IWV? An anti-Obamacare right wing front group who established The Repeal Pledge, which Barbara Comstock signed.  What's so insidious about this pledge is that Comstock is promising, if elected, to let IWVdecide what legislation she will support:

The Repeal Pledge's Advisory Board... will determine which legislative efforts are legitimate for the purpose of this pledge.

This candidate for Congress is vowing to take orders from an anonymous advisory board.  After refusing to answer questions from the media or the general public, and shunning nonpartisan organizations like the AARP, this comes as no surprise.

I was astounded by what my local Republicans wrote on the subject of Labor Day.  These days I guess I shouldn't be surprised (after all, they did invite us to join the Tea Party's "Boycott Labor Day" event in 2012), but this time their message was so full of contempt for working Americans, so disdainful of the tradition of the holiday, and so deliberately misleading -- that I felt compelled to respond.

First of all, today isn't a day of rest and relaxation for everyone.  If you go to the grocery store or the gas station today, the folks working there are struggling like you and me.  And they have to work nights, weekends and holidays if they want to earn a living.  Having worked in various industries such as foodservice and retail, even digging ditches for minimum wage, I understand that sometimes you have to do whatever you can to get by. This is something the Republicans don't seem to understand.

In the Republicans' world, the President doesn't actually have "respect for the value of work" - despite the fact that he is fighting for an increase in the minimum wage, in other words, paying people for the value of their work, which Republicans oppose.  They believe we want a society where "a growing underclass lives on the government dole" and that we would deny people the self-respect of knowing they're pulling their own weight.