This piece ran a few days ago in the Northern Virginia Daily, one of the two main newspapers in the District in which I am running for Virginia state senate against the Republican incumbent, Mark Obenshain.

Recently I was invited to speak to a group whose purpose is to make the relationship between business and government in Virginia as good as it can be. I share that goal.

At the same time, as I told that group, in our times it would not be right for me to do what most politicians would do with such an opportunity: i.e. tell the audience just what they wanted to hear. I felt it important to say what most needs saying.

Being a strong believer in free markets, I said, I appreciate the role that business has played in making America great. So government policies should not unduly burden free markets.

But I went on to say that, “My concern for Virginia today, and indeed for America, has less to do with how government is interfering with free markets than with how the power of corporate money is interfering with the proper functioning of our democracy.”

I then gave an example of what the optimal relationship between business and government would not include:

“It would not include having a giant corporation – a monopoly not held in check by market competition — buying so much control over Virginia’s government that, in the past two years, it has been able to get our General Assembly to pass laws that take literally hundreds of millions of dollars that rightly belong to average Virginians and to put into its corporate coffers.”

I was talking, of course, about Dominion Power — the largest corporate donor to our legislators — buying what is obviously undue influence over members of both parties.

The oath that our founders put into the Constitution shows clearly that what they wanted for us to defend, above all, is not the flag, not even the homeland. It is, rather, the system of government they gave us-government by and for the people.

That’s why I regard it as the first duty of an American patriot to protect the gift our founders gave us, and restore to the people our rightful power over the government.

Thus, while part of government’s job is to create a good environment for businesses to prosper, part of the responsibility of business is to welcome, not resist, government’s efforts to protect the good of all by addressing problems that market forces, by themselves, are unable to address.

Economists have recognized for generations the problem of what they call “externalities.” These are costs and benefits that are imposed on the system as a whole and do not relate specifically to the interests of the buyers and sellers in the market.  

For example, the market by itself has a blind spot when it comes to things like pollution of the air we breathe or the water we drink.  

Now we face the most serious externality in human history. I’m talking about the problem of climate change.

In the face of this vitally important challenge, the role being played by some mighty corporations has been disgraceful. As is now well-documented, much corporate money has been spent to deceive people into believing what the companies themselves know is not true. They don’t want Americans to heed the urgent warnings that 97% of the world’s best experts in the field are issuing about this growing crisis.

With our children and grandchildren depending on us now to act responsibly to protect them, here in Virginia that same corporate money has bought the help of politicians in blocking our taking even easy and prudent measures.

This is unacceptable. In dealing with climate change, we all should be guided by the central moral principle of Christianity: the Golden Rule.  

If we were in the position of our children and grandchildren, how would we want for those wielding power over our future – by their actions and their inactions, whether in government or in business-to do unto us?

A “good” relationship between government and business, therefore, has a vital moral dimension.  It involves not only government aiding business in its important role of creating American prosperity. But it also calls for business to facilitate, rather than resist, government regulation of business when the public good requires it.

“Sometimes, self-interest, which the free market is so good at harnessing,” I told this business group in conclusion, “has to be held in check by judgments made on behalf of the whole and translated into action by a democratically elected government.

“The sometimes conflicting demands of freedom and order have always needed to be sorted out with wisdom. Our founders understood that. So must we.”

April Moore is running for the Virginia State Senate in the 26th District, which includes Shenandoah, Warren, Page, and Rappahannock Counties, as well as northern Rockingham County and the city of Harrisonburg .

Donald Trump stuck a stick into a hornets nest when he made his disgraceful comments about Senator John Mc Cain’s service to America.

The first people to call Trump out were Democrats, including Hillary Clinton. There is, if Twitter is to be believed, considerable support for Trump’s remarks among the far right wing of the party.

Democrats and Progressives have considerable experience being on the receiving end of GOP slanders and name calling, which is what GOPers do in the absence of facts or rational suggestions.  

We don’t much like it.

John McCain is quite able to defend himself, squatting comfortably if not too safely in the Senate. After an indecently long interval, the GOP elite (represented by the Klown Kar, except Ted Cruz) rose up in protest as well.  

There is a supreme irony here, in that even the GOP elite really doesn’t seem to like the use of the Swift Boat Beatdown, at least when applied  to one of their own.

The “base” doesn’t see it that way:  deliberately dumbed down by 40 years GOP policy telling them

–that the world is simple, that truth is only in black and white (applicable to print, not people)

–given the power, through gerrymandered districts, to command the Republican primaries, made a force to be reckoned with

It thinks this counts as reasonable political commentary.

John Kerry and Max Cleland are properly cited as victims of swift-boating.  There is one more “swift-boated” Democrat, smeared by a Republican, and not usually mentioned in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s comments on Senator John McCain.

Tammy Duckworth, Democratic Congress critter from Illinois.

Ms. Duckworth apparently rang every contemptible cowardly bell in the heads of the GOP hierarchy:

1.  Female (good only in their minds as a semen depository, or a forced incubator)

2. Born in Thailand (though of an American father, to a birther that makes her somehow “not American”)

3. Asian American (yellow menace threatening the purity of the white race)

4. Fluent in Thai, Bahassa, and Indonesian (uppity educated broad, plus she has a phD)

5.  Combat veteran (makes the yeah-rah neo-cons who never served look bad)

6.  Former Illinois Dept of Veterans Affairs appointee, specializing in working to improve benefits to disabled veterans, something the neo-cons would prefer we not even think about.

The conservative Chicago Tribune and the Daily Herald both endorsed her.

The utterly odious, vile incumbent, Joe Walsh decided that swift boating was a great idea. I might add that this cretin was a radio personality who suggested we secure the Mexican border with a moat and alligators.

He tried to lower the boom on Duckworth in July 2012, at a campaign event, when he accused Duckworth of politicizing her military service and injuries, saying “my God, that’s all she talks about. Our true heroes, the men and women who served us, it’s the last thing in the world they talk about.”

The woman missing  two legs and one arm. It’s pretty hard not to notice. Even for a TeaPublican.  

It is often the case that the most interesting read in the Sunday papers about Virginia politics comes from Jeff Schapiro of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Today is no exception, with his column, House Republicans’ nightmare scenario. Here are a few key points, with my thoughts, quibbles, etc.

*“Republicans stand a strong chance in November of holding the Virginia Senate, if not expanding their majority.”

Given the makeup of Virginia’s off/odd-year, which strongly favors Republicans, I sadly must agree with this analysis. I believe the analysis I did last August largely still holds: Dems need to hold all their incumbent districts, including some potentially tough ones (John Edwards, who is facing a Republican and a Dem-turned-independent; Chuck Colgan – who is retiring; possibly Lynwood Lewis, who only won by 11 votes in his last election), while picking up at least one seat (the best shots are the seat of retiring Sen. John Watkins in the Richmond area, and also the seat of crazy Sen. Dick Black in Loudoun/Prince William Counties). Democrats will also need to overcome Republicans’ initial money advantage. Again, it’s doable, but it’s not going to be easy.

*Schapiro argues that two issues — a review of parole and the Planned Parenthood “fetal organ-harvesting video – secretly made by abortion foes” — could “energize” the Republican vote this November.

I mostly don’t see that happening. For one thing, the right-wing base is almost always riled up about something or other, and a review of parole doesn’t seem to be of the magnitude to increase that significantly. As for the Planned Parenthood video, it’s hard for me to imagine that will be a big deal come November, especially since it really has nothing to do with Virginia politicians per se, and also because most Virginians presumably support the vast majority of work Planned Parenthood does – pap smears, mammograms, breast scancer screenings, HPV tests, birth control, and even abortion in most cases.

*Schapiro argues that the potential for court-ordered House of Delegates redistricting, combined with elections in November 2016, are “Speaker Bill Howell’s nightmare.”

Agreed. That would be the “perfect storm” against Howell, given that the electorate in a presidential year is almost COMPLETELY different (and far “bluer” than in the usual odd-year elections for House of Delegates) and could really put a dent in his 68-32 majority.

*How much of a dent? Schapiro notes that there “are 27 Republican-held House districts that Obama won in 2012 or lost narrowly” and implies that most or all of these districts could be competitive in the scenario noted above.

I agree to a point. By my count, there are 19 (not 27) Virginia HoD districts that were won by Barack Obama and/or Tim Kaine, yet are currently held by Republicans. I’d say that in the scenario outlined above – redistricting plus a November 2016 election for House of Delegates – Democrats could pick up a “slew” of seats, as Jeff Schapiro argues, just not quite as large a “slew” as 27 seats. A more realistic prediction, IMHO, would be 10-15 (actually, that’s probably too optimistic, although Schapiro also says “ten or a dozen seem possible,” so who knows), assuming great recruiting by Democrats, funding of those candidates, and a strong (3-5 points or more?) Democratic victory for president here in Virginia. That would potentially get Dems from 32 seats to 42-47 seats in the House of Delegates, within striking distance of 50, and definitely a force that the Republicans couldn’t just ignore or roll over at will, as they can now.

*Finally, Schapiro implies that Bill Howell himself could be vulnerable, given that “Obama got 49 percent in his district in 2012.”

Let’s hope that happens, and good riddance to the ALEC tool if it does.

Wow!!!!!!

Bernie sanders packed over 11,000 supporters last night for his town hall meeting last night in Phoenix, Arizona!  Sanders continues to exceed expectations, tapping into a vein of economic populism not seen in decades.  But a lot of work remains to be done!  

Bernie Sanders 2016 is organizing house parties on July 29, 2015 across the country.  To date, 1,800 house parties have been set up from coast to coast.  

In Virginia, there are 53 house parties and counting across the state arranged by volunteers on the ground in the following communities:

Abingdon

Accomack

Alexandria

Arlington

Blacksburg

Chesapeake

Charlotesville

Chiccoteague

Dahlgren

Falls Church

Franklin

Floyd

Fredericksburg

Front Royal

Harrisonburg

Independence

Lanexa

Lynchburg

Matthews

McLean

Melfa

Midlothian

Norfolk

Poquoson

Reston

Richmond

Roanoke

Salem

Sterling

Tazewell

Urbanna

Vienna

Warrenton

Williamsburg

Wise

Woodbridge

Yorktown

Wise

If you would like to attend a house party or arrange your own house party, use the link below to connect to the Sanders campaign website:

https://berniesanders.com/

Here are links to various Facebook pages across the state set up by volunteers across the state of Virginia:

https://www.facebook.com/pages…

https://www.facebook.com/NoVaF…

https://www.facebook.com/VA4Be…

http://www.meetup.com/Virginia…

#FeelTheBern!!!!!!!!!!!!

GO BERNIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!