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Video: 8 Million Americans Have Signed Up for Healthcare Coverage on Exchanges

By
lowkell
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0

And that’s not even counting the millions of Americans who have gained coverage through expansion of Medicaid (not here in Virginia, due to Republicans’ politically-driven idiocy and viciousness), the hundreds of millions of Americans who now have more healthcare benefits and protections (e.g., no exclusions for preexisting conditions), the fact that healthcare costs are rising more slowly under the Affordable Care Act, etc., etc.

The bottom line, according to President Obama, is that “this thing is working.” That’s why Obama (and a lot of other people) finds it “strange that the Republican position on this law is still stuck in the same place that it has always been; they can’t bring themselves to admit hat the Affordable Care Act is working.” Thus, Republicans said: “nobody would sign up; they were wrong about that. They said it would be unaffordable for the country; they were wrong about that. They were wrong to keep trying to repeal a law that is working when they have no alternative answer for millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions who’d be denied coverage again or every woman who’d be charged more for just being a woman again.”

Republicans: wrong, wrong, wrong, and wrong some more. Sensing a pattern here? Meanwhile, let’s repeat for emphasis: the Affordable Care Act, aka “Obamacare,” is working. And that’s in SPITE of relentless Republican efforts to try to sabotage it, slow it down, make it less effective than it could be, you name it. Fortunately for the country, Republicans don’t control the White House or the U.S. Senate. Unfortunately for the country, they DO have the power to do quite a bit of damage. Which is about the only thing they’re good at, by the way. Remind me again: why does ANYONE vote for people who want Americans to go backwards and be worse off?

Michael Mann Hails VA Supreme Court Ruling as “victory for science…academic freedom”

By
lowkell
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0

Great news from former UVA professor and leading climate scientist Michael Mann. “ATI” stands for the “American Tradition Institute,” a group about which DeSmogBlog reports:

According to a 2010 filing with the IRS (PDF), ATI received $40,000 from its sister group ATP, which in turn is supported by oil, gas and coal interests.

It received another $5,000 from the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, a Virginia-based think tank that, according to ExxonSecrets, received over $1 million in funding from Exxon Mobil since 1998. Atlas also received $122,300 from the Koch foundations and $735,000 from the Pope foundation. [8]

[…]

An online petition hosted by the American Tradition Institute opposing cap and trade makes the following assertions about climate change: [2]

“… the claims of carbon-driven anthropogenic global warming (AGW) are unproven and are, in fact, contested by over 31,000 scientists…”

“… global temperatures have not risen since 2000 and data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration demonstrates that the earth has actually been cooling for the last 4 years…”

One of the leaders of ATI is one David Schnare, “a Virginia attorney” who was “involved in the ATI legal action seeking to let him and Horner review thousands of climatologist Michael Mann’s University of Virginia emails, including emails deemed exempt from FOIA.” (another one who was involved was none other than our friend, the bat****-crazy “Sideshow Bob” Marshall).

Among other things, Schnare has stated that environmental activists are “very sick people” who “quietly rejoice over the potential of millions (billions?) of starving people;” and that “the Scandinavian moose emits 2,100 kg of methane a year, equivalent to the green house gases emitted by an automobile trip of 13,000 km,” so “Thank goodness hunters shoot 35,000 of them each year.” Yeah, that’s the calibre of “argument” we’re dealing with here.

It might not be so insidious if ATI were just an isolated bunch of extremists. Instead, unfortunately, they are part of a massive, well-funded, not to mention evil effort to harass climate scientists, waste their time and prevent them from doing their urgently important work, and deny/minimize climate science in service of their fossil fuel industry masters. Not surprisingly, another big-time fossil fool, Ken Cuccinelli, also was a big player in all this, as were numerous right-wing publications and organizations, a few of which Mann is suing for defamation (if he wins, which is quite likely, I sincerely hope he sues a bunch more of them).

Bottom line: we should all celebrate, along with Michael Mann, this “victory for science, public university faculty, and academic freedom.” Hopefully, as Mann writes, this ruling “can serve as a precedent in other states confronting this same assault on public universities and their faculty.” I’d add the hope that this ruling, along with Mann’s likely victory in his defamation case, make these anti-science, anti-environment, fossil fuel tools think twice before they try anything like this again. More importantly, if we can clear out all the trolls in our path, we need to make rapid progress in combating climate change, first and foremost via a rapid transition off of fossil fuels and into a clean energy economy.  

Shad Plank Plunked

By
Dan Sullivan
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2

photo P4180899.jpgThis year’s version of the annual event just outside of Wakefield accomplished little. Though there was a hint of the lunacy usually present at Shad Planking; what there wasn’t was much of a crowd nor interest. The biggest symbol of the times was the state-maintained road to the event.

There really wasn’t much in the way of genuine politics going on. It was more of an alumni meeting than a political rally; more of a gathering of cronies practicing the Virginia Way interrupted a couple of times by a couple of hecklers. It seems that the last few seasons of rowdies have driven away the attendees who used to come show some civil revelry on behalf of their candidates. And now, with no one in any race to rally around, the most demonstrative types stayed home; and that would leave a big hole in what had become this Ruritan charity event attendance.

Additionally the candidates themselves, apparently led by the Republicans, declared a tacit truce on the sign war; they realized surrender was the better part of valor in that battle. There were a few signs along the road, but not the plastering to which we’ve become accustomed; maybe a dozen on 460 coming in from Richmond.

And then there was that road. We’ve discussed here the slow strangling that the McDonnell administration orchestrated during his four years in office in the name of balancing the budget. Well, now it is manifest here. What has been a well-maintained macadam rural route has deteriorated. In fact, the last half mile or more to the event parking area entrance and everything beyond is now feathered with gravel to cover the potholes. It really is symbolic of the treatment of Virginia’s infrastructure, from schools and social programs to health care and public safety; not to mention the fraud perpetrated on the Virginia Retirement System when McDonnell announced that the unfunded obligations had been resolved.

There is more to discuss about what was less and that will come in a subsequent post. But if this level of enthusiasm is any indication of the turnout for this fall’s election, the margin will come down to the grassroots get-out-the-vote effort. Problem is, for both sides, yesterday showed the grassroots really haven’t been fertilized.

Virginia News Headlines: Thursday Morning

By
lowkell
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1

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, April 17.

*Three dead in east Ukraine, Putin warns of ‘abyss’ (Dangerous situation.)

*Putin Asserts Right to Use Force in Ukraine (“President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Thursday said that he had parliamentary authorization to invade Ukraine, but that he hoped that it would not be necessary.”)

*Rand and Ron Paul ride to the rescue for Bundy in Nevada standoff with feds (Supporting a violent, lawless, anti-government extremist? That should automatically eliminate Rand Paul from consideration for higher office. It also confirms yet again that Ron Paul is a maniac.)

*Paul Krugman slams “Obamacare truther” Joe Scarborough for “vile” accusations (“The Times columnist is not amused with the MSNBC host’s claim that the White House is trying to ‘cook the books'”)

*Hundreds Missing After Ferry Sinks Off South Korea

*Va. transportation plan makes debut Wednesday (“Virginia’s six-year transportation plan totals $13.1 billion, with $9.9 billion earmarked for highway construction.” Stupid; the vast majority of money should NOT be going to encourage more fossil fuel consumption and sprawl.)

*Our view: Calling out long-distance critics (“Did Alaska Attorney General Michael Geraghty blush when he signed onto a lawsuit suggesting that the Environmental Protection Agency is overreaching, or might one day do so, by working with states to clean up the Chesapeake Bay?”)

*Coordinate better on Chesapeake line (“Political candidates on both sides of the Virginia-North Carolina line are expressing hopes for major economic development, particularly high-tech businesses, along the U.S. 17 corridor. But so far officials in Chesapeake and their counterparts in Camden County haven’t talked about how they might coordinate their efforts.”)

*Money leaders emerge in pair of Va. primaries for open congressional seats

*Today’s top opinion: No account (“The Times-Dispatch supports Marketplace Virginia. If Obamacare did not exist and Marketplace were seen as a way to increase access to private health insurance, we suspect it would pass. A case could be made that Marketplace does not belong in the budget, but Virginia has moved beyond that argument. A yes to a budget that includes Marketplace Virginia marks the proper step.”)

*Sen. Warner takes part in traditional shad planking

*A week after election, anti-streetcar candidate in Arlington makes move on transit funds (Utter idiocy; get this guy outta here in November!)

*Brat reports $42,417 on hand to Cantor’s $2 million (Looks like a huge mismatch on paper.)

*Troubled Silver Line project hits another hurdle as leader resigns

*High winds could leave cargo ship aground in bay for days

*7 W&L students lash out at honoring of Robert E. Lee

*McAuliffe to replace commissioner among five Port Authority board members (“Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s move comes just over two weeks after he publicly telegraphed port board upheaval during a speech before the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce.”)

*Virginia Tech pays fine for failure to warn during rampage

*Longtime F.C. Political Activist, Photographer Drew Kleibrink Dies (“Longtime Falls Church political activist and photographer Drew Kleibrink died Friday reportedly of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the age of 56”)

*The warmup is a bit slow, but it looks like a fine Easter weekend in store

As If On Cue, Racist Nutjob Donald Trump Says He’s a “Fan” of Barbara Comstock

By
lowkell
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2

Perfect timing for racist nutjob Donald Trump to weigh in, just hours after the editorial, Northern Virginia lurches to the right, appeared in this morning’s Washington Post:

Ms. Comstock also supported legislation that would have required women seeking abortions to undergo transvaginal ultrasounds. She backed a measure intended to outlaw abortion by granting individual rights to an embryo from the moment of conception. She voted to repeal a law limiting handgun purchases to one per month. And she opposes expanding Medicaid, which would provide health coverage for up to 400,000 uninsured Virginians.

[…]

Being a sycophant to Mr. Limbaugh is bad enough; it’s even worse when the sycophancy is based on a fabrication…

Ms. Comstock’s past primary votes are her business. But by jockeying to appeal to the most extreme fringe of the electorate, Republicans run the risk of alienating centrist, level-headed and educated voters in the 10th District.

Of course, Trump is just the latest in a long line of extremists, warmongers, bigots, and right-wing hate radio hosts to endorse Comstock. The question is, will 10th CD voters lurch to the right, as the Post warned this morning, or will it elect the sane, sensible, capable John Foust in November? Is this like THE easiest rhetorical question ever? LOL

Virginia 1Q2014 Fundraising Numbers Coming In…

By
lowkell
-
5

I’ll update this as more numbers come in.

U.S. Senate

Sen. Mark Warner: $4,528,330 in receipts, $7,161,950 cash on hand.

Ed Gillespie: $2.2 million in receipts according to press reports.

2nd CD

Rep. Scott Rigell: $994,478 in receipts, $665,310 cash on hand (also $549,500 in debt)

Suzanne Patrick: $301,587 in receipts, $195,832 cash on hand.

8th CD Dems

Don Beyer: $672,104 in receipts, $449,637 cash on hand.

Bruce Shuttleworth: $57,188 in receipts, MINUS $23,258 cash on hand. The initial report on the FEC website was incorrect. The Shuttleworth campaign has submitted an amended report indicating receipts of $332,188 (including $275,000 in loans to himself), and cash on hand of $252,276.

Mark Levine: $322,808 in receipts (of which $250,000 was a loan to himself), $299,278 cash on hand.

Lavern Chatman: $298,697 in receipts (including a $20,000 loan and a $100,000 donation to herself), $213,468 cash on hand.

Bill Euille: $214,572 in receipts, $173,509 cash on hand.

Patrick Hope: $186,534 in receipts (including a $10,000 loan to himself), $138,733 cash on hand

Adam Ebbin: $178,800 in receipts, $114,879 cash on hand.

Charniele Herring: $121,315 in receipts, $89,675 cash on hand

Derek Hyra: $26,049 in receipts, $14,470 cash on hand.

P.S. Mark Sickles, who withdrew from the race, ended with $15,360 cash on hand. Alfonso Lopez, who also withdrew from the race, had receipts of $79,904 (including an $8,000 loan to himself) and cash on hand of $63,630.

10th CD

John Foust: $775,761 in receipts (including $250,000 loaned to himself), $626,544 cash on hand

Barbara Comstock: $761,354 in receipts (including $93,632 apparently loaned to herself), $520,030 cash on hand.

Howard Lind: $140,838 in receipts (including an apparent $120,000 loan to himself), $38,313 cash on hand.

Robert Wasinger: $82,742 in receipts, $9,302 cash on hand.

Bob Marshall: $55,240 in receipts, $40,862 cash on hand.

Shad Planking Kerplunk

By
Dan Sullivan
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6

Shad Planking photo 140414Wakefieldmap_zps3268f662.jpg The shad are running and Virginia politicians will swim with them today. Last year Democratic candidates gave the Wakefield Ruritan event a cold shoulder. The event’s organizers made an insincere attempt to dampen the tea party spirit, discouraging stars and bars. This is a charity event, they cried, after all.

This year Virginia’s senior Senator Mark Warner will deliver the keynote and his almost certain Republican opponent will make one of his rare public appearances. It will be informative seeing if Team Warner laid the groundwork for a more civil and less homogeneous atmosphere than this annual carnival for reactionaries nourishes. Earlier this year, they stumbled out of the block when, despite refusing to commit to Democratic events closer in than 60 days, they accepted the Shad Planking appearance well in advance. Maybe, tied to an old playbook, they failed to notice that last year’s Democratic statewide success demonstrated the irrelevance of the event. One would hope that the acceptance came with some assurance that the event would be more civil, sane, and inclusive.

The impact of the “traditional” sign war has diminished considerably since the Kaine and Webb surprises during the past decade. When this became a war of paid “volunteers” it was no longer a genuine indicator of anything more than a campaign bankroll. And if the intent is to make this event relevant, where is the outreach from the Ruritan Club or encouragement from more progressive constituents to draw in displays and support from the Democratic Party, the NAACP, or the LGBT community?

So what will today provide? Boney fish, cold beer, and the themes that Senator Warner will employ to shore up and broaden his own constituency, an impressive coalition of common interests. This could also provide the national bellwether for the Democratic strategy that will be used to counter this year’s onslaught by Republican reactionaries against the Affordable Care Act. There couldn’t be a more promising petri dish.  

Virginia News Headlines: Wednesday Morning

By
lowkell
-
2

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, April 16. Also check out Krystal Ball as she rips violent extremist Cliven Bundy, his gang of thugs, and the right wingnuts who back him as a so-called “patriot” (which he is absolutely NOT!).

*Hank Aaron, Braves get racist heat after interview comments (“‘Back then they had hoods,’ Aaron said. ‘Now they have neckties and starched shirts.'” Hank Aaron, of course, is exactly right.)

*Ukraine on the brink as troops take on rebels

*Bloomberg Plans a $50 Million Challenge to the N.R.A.

*ABC News’ rightward lurch (“Within the last few months, ABC’s hired Bill Kristol, Laura Ingraham and Ray Kelly. Why?”)

*Northern Virginia lurches to the right (“Ms. Comstock apparently believes that sucking up to Mr. Limbaugh, a vicious polemicist with a flair for toxic misogyny, gives her an aura of respectability.”)

*With still months to go, Virginia Senate race raking in millions (“The campaign of U.S. Sen. Mark Warner has already raised $11.2 million, while Ed Gillespie has raised $2.2 million since mid-January.”)

*Va. Speaker: Medicaid germane to budget, House GOP still opposed (What a pathetic joke.)

*Why Virginia Republicans are smiling (According to far-right-wing hackazoid Jennifer Rubin, Virginia Republicans are happy because Ed Gillespie raised a bunch of money. Meanwhile, of course, they continue to send $5 million per day of OUR money out of state. Priorities, priorities…)

*County Still Reviewing Sky-High Real Estate Assessments (This situation is unacceptable. Arlingtonians need answers and we need transparency – now!)

*McAuliffe’s PAC off to fast start, with $254,000 raised in two weeks

*Schapiro: In health fight, both sides told what they want to hear (I really like Jeff Schapiro, but PLEASE spare us the “both sides” false equivalency framing. Thank you.)

*We remember: A list of events to commemorate the Virginia Tech shootings

*After Dorsey incident, Trammell calls for security change (“Councilwoman says the panel should consider a stronger police presence in the wake of a dustup between a staff member and an armed activist.”)

*Cold today with a freeze threat tonight (“Like a bad dream, winter is back. A freeze is possible tonight before we warm up.”)

Video: Don Beyer “Blue Cup Song,” Live Version; Howard Dean, Don Beyer Speeches

By
lowkell
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11

Here’s an excellent live version of the Don Beyer “blue cup song,” from earlier this evening in Arlington. Around 200 people attended the event with Howard Dean; more video to come – including speeches by Beyer and Dean – when it uploads to YouTube. Meanwhile, enjoy the song!

Patrick Hope Thanks Beyer, but Calls for Release to Come Sooner, Date Back Five Years

By
Jarrod Nagurka
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0

Gov. Howard Dean, campaigning for Beyer, agrees releasing tax returns important for candidates running for federal office

At a press conference on Monday, Patrick Hope made five years of tax returns available to members of the media. “Transparency is something that is very important in politics,” Hope said at the time. Hope also called on all nine of his opponents to release their returns.

On Tuesday, businessman and candidate Donald S. Beyer, Jr. announced that he would make one year’s worth of returns available to the media on May 15.

“While I thank Don for responding to my call for transparency, I hope he is able to make these returns available sooner and dating back for five years instead of one,” said Hope. “The people we seek to represent deserve to know everything about us, which is why I chose to release my returns now instead of waiting until we are less than one month out from the election.”

Today, former Governor Howard Dean (D-VT) will join Beyer for an event in Arlington. Dean has been an outspoken advocate for releasing tax returns in the past, and did so in his own 2004 presidential campaign. Dean has made the following remarks about other candidates not releasing returns in the past:

“Not giving out the tax returns is a huge mistake.” (8/16/12) CBS News

“What is [candidate] trying to hide?… the American people have a right to know about the well documented links between his political career and [candidate]’s business ventures.” (8/21/08) Statement via Huffington Post

“As long as [candidate]’s got his tax returns hidden, it’s going to be fatal… by not seeming trustworthy.” (7/31/12) NBC Politics

###

Media Contact:

Jarrod Nagurka

jarrod@hopeforcongress.com

(703) 473-5097

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