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Mark Obenshain Continues to Intentionally Misrepresent His Record

By
lowkell
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2

From the Mark Herring for Attorney General campaign:

Ken Cuccinelli’s hand-picked successor misleads Virginians about his views on investigation of climate change scientist and former UVA Professor Michael Mann

Tea Party candidate and Ken Cuccinelli’s hand-picked successor Mark Obenshain continues to travel around the Commonwealth saying anything he can in hopes Virginians won’t notice his out-of-the-mainstream record in the state Senate.

According to The Washington Post and the Daily Press, Obenshain said he didn’t support Ken Cuccinelli’s crusade against climate change scientist and former University of Virginia professor Michael Mann.

The only problem…Obenshain did.

On February 3, 2011 – just ten months after Ken Cuccinelli began his crusade against Mann – Mark Obenshain stood up on the floor and led the charge to defeat a bill that would have prevented the Attorney General from issuing civil investigative demands to a Virginia Public institution of higher education when the claim relates to a matter of academic inquiry or research.

During the floor debate, the co-patrons of the bill clearly stated that this bill was aimed at preventing a situation similar to what Cuccinelli did to the University of Virginia. Senator Obenshain stood and encouraged members to defeat it. The narrowly tailored bill, would have prevented civil actions like the one Cuccinelli took against Mann.

The bill passed the Senate with bi-partisan support. Democrats and Republicans believed what Ken Cuccinelli had done was not right.

But not Senator Obenshain.

Senator Obenshain said, “stripping every attorney general of this power is simply wrong.” 

Prior to his Tea Party convention in which he and E.W. Jackson won their nomination by winning over the most extreme members of the far-right in Virginia, Senator Obenshain reportedly told Republican blogger and chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Virginia D.J. McGuire that he supported Cuccinelli’s actions.

McGuire posted on his blog, “I met Mark Obenshain” and “asked him my simple, straightforward litmus test for AG candidates: ‘Will you pursue the EPA lawsuit and Michael Mann case until all legal avenues are exhausted.’  His answer: ‘Absolutely.’”

It once again appears Senator Mark Obenshain is not telling the whole truth about his record. 

Cantor Destroys Representative Democracy

By
Elaine in Roanoke
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7



Late at night on September 30, Republicans on the House Rules Committee changed the standing rules of the House so that the only member allowed to call up the Senate’s clean government funding bill for a vote was Eric Cantor or whoever he designated to do so. That rule pretty much guaranteed that the government would shut down with no recourse for any other duly elected member to call for a vote.

Before the Republicans on that committee took away representative democracy, under the standing rules of the House (Rule 22, section 4) any member could have called for a vote to amend the House version and thus pass the Senate clean CR that had been sent to the House. Representative democracy was eliminated so that the Tea Party and “Cruzite crazies” could force a government shutdown. So, as of September 30, Cantor, or anyone he anoints, has control over the entire House. Other members are subject to his whims. Meanwhile, Virginia is the #1 state harmed by the government shutdown, a shutdown induced by the insanity gripping House Republicans, aided and abetted by Cantor.  

Virginia News Headlines: Sunday Morning

By
lowkell
-
3

Here are a few Virginia and national news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, October 13. Also see Sen. Mark Warner talking about Tea Party Republicans’ “fundamental lack of understanding of how government or economics works,” and how messing with “the full faith and credit of America” would be an absolute disaster.

*Senate leaders take over government shutdown talks

*Cruz crushes field in presidential straw poll at Values Voters Summit (Absolute proof that Cruz is an extremist nutjob. And remember, Ken Cuccinelli said we need MORE Ted Cruzes in Congress! My god…)

*Ross Douthat: The Kurtz Republicans

*Maureen Dowd: A Mad Tea Party

*Top 10 states hurt by the government shutdown (And clocking at #1 is…Virginia. Thanks a LOT Tea Party Republicans like Ken Cuccinelli’s pal Ted Cruz!)

*Republicans With a Death-Wish Are Holding U.S. to Ransom (I’m actually starting to wonder if John Boehner is trying to kill the Tea Party, even if it brings down the Republican Party – not to mention the world economy – in the process.)

*Daily Press – For governor: McAuliffe (“We believe Terry McAuliffe is the best choice for Virginia. He will work to bridge party divides and find common ground to move our state forward. And that’s what Virginia needs.”)

*Washington Post Endorsement: Terry McAuliffe for Virginia governor (“Terry McAuliffe, his flaws notwithstanding, represents continuity in a state that has been well served by comity, compromise and political coexistence between the parties. Mr. Cuccinelli, the most partisan, truculent and doctrinaire attorney general in memory, represents an assault on those same customs.”)

*Fates of many Va. abortion clinics in limbo ahead of strict new rules (They’re actually women’s health clinics, abortion being just one of the many services they provide.)

*Schapiro: Of all Republicans, it’s Cuccinelli who’s losing the base

*San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro Campaigns For Terry McAuliffe in Woodbridge

*Herring says he would undo actions of Cuccinelli if elected AG (“Herring said he wants to reverse legal opinions relating to access to abortion and gays and lesbians that Cuccinelli signed.”)

*Campaign giving hints at changing political climate (“Compared to 2009, Republican candidate Ken Cuccinelli’s campaign funding lagged Gov. Bob McDonnell’s pre-Labor Day total by 18 percent, while Terry McAuliffe was 87 percent ahead of 2009 Democratic candidate Creigh Deeds.”)

*Let’s just skip the debates (I agree that they’re basically a complete waste of time, especially if the format allows the candidates to blather on and on without the “moderator” doing anything, like perhaps jumping in occasionally to say “that’s not true” or whatever?)

*Shutdown stymies efforts to contact representatives

*AG candidates say office should be non-partisan (“Herring hopes that as voters tune in they will see Obenshain as a Cuccinelli-style politician.” Which happens to be true; Obenshain has said that Cuccinelli would be his role model as Attorney General, that they are two peas in a pod philosophically, etc.)

*D.C. area forecast: Still damp and still searching for sun

*Semyon Varlamov stymies old team as Colorado handles Capitals

E.W. Jackson, the Anti-Environmental Candidate for Lieutenant Governor

By
Progressive86
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0

Luckily for Ralph Northam, the senator’s environmental positions appear ‘radically liberal’ in comparison to his drive-the-planet-into-the-ground opponent for lieutenant governor, E.W. Jackson. Not only are Jackson’s political positions on the environment inimical to its preservation, Jackson represents the wing-nut group of conservatives in Virginia whose primary forte is cooking up conspiracy theories regarding every level of government.

Jackson has argued, for instance, that the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality is a puppet of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ‘killing’ Virginia’s coal-mining sector as a result. While Jackson may believe it’s just good politics, a part of me also thinks that Jackson actually believes some of the far-fetched conspiracy theories that he spins out for the mainstream media to print across its front pages.

 

While Northam may not be the environmentally concerned Virginian’s first choice for lieutenant governor, he represents a candidate who environmentally concerned Virginians can work with to ensure that our environment is not disregarded for the ubiquitous quest of ‘economic growth’. The first thing we can do as Virginians who care about the environment is urge political candidates like Ralph Northam to start talking about the environment in terms that make its intrinsic worth clear.

Jackson, for instance, speaks as if refusing to dig anymore coal out of the ground has no value in and of itself. Just as the government has put a value on an individual life, the environment can also be valued in a similar way. But Democratic representatives in Virginia have been slow to embrace the idea that the environment is more than a foundation for productive units. Members of Virginia’s Democratic Party have also fallen in the “economic development” dogma regarding nature, a similar framework for viewing environmental worth that many within Virginia’s Republican Party share. That is, the environment is only as good as its tangible economic benefits.

There is nothing wrong in believing a healthy environment is a ‘stand alone’ good. For E.W. Jackson and his republican running mates, however, the environment appears as little more than a stepping stone that is either limitless, unimportant, or both. It is the ultimate irony that the economic growth that political candidates like Jackson claim to so ardently support is ultimately undermined by their careless political positions towards the environment.  

L.A. Times Bans Climate Deniers – When Will the Rest of the Media Follow Suit?

By
kindler
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1

Cross-posted at Daily Kos

This past week, the Los Angeles Times took a little-noticed step that could have a profound impact on your children’s and grandchildren’s future: it decided to ban climate change deniers from its pages.  If this step catches on and spreads to other media outlets, it could finally lead us away from the distraction of the phony, manufactured “debate” over the existence and causes of the global climate disruption and actually get down to the real work of confronting this challenge.  

Editor Paul Thorton was admirably simple and direct on this point:

[W]hen deciding which letters should run among hundreds on such weighty matters as climate change, I must rely on the experts — in other words, those scientists with advanced degrees who undertake tedious research and rigorous peer review.

And those scientists have provided ample evidence that human activity is indeed linked to climate change. Just last month, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — a body made up of the world’s top climate scientists — said it was 95% certain that we fossil-fuel-burning humans are driving global warming. The debate right now isn’t whether this evidence exists (clearly, it does) but what this evidence means for us.

Simply put, I do my best to keep errors of fact off the letters page; when one does run, a correction is published. Saying “there’s no sign humans have caused climate change” is not stating an opinion, it’s asserting a factual inaccuracy.  [Emphasis added]

Newspapers not printing “factual inaccuracies” – what a concept!

Now, let me be clear: I am sympathetic to the conflict that media outlets face, between publishing or airing the unvarnished truth on the one hand, and showing “balance” on the other. There are often reasons to err on the side of assuming that we don’t know enough about the facts that we should allow ample room for debate on them.  On economics, for example, not so much is settled (perhaps why so few economists predicted the Great Recession).  So open debate on such topics makes sense – though it still should be a conversation based on facts, not just blind devotion to ideology.  

But legitimate science operates on very different methods and assumptions.  Scientists do not simply sit in coffee houses and debate each other like French philosophers – they get out into the field, gather data and prove or disprove their premises.  Just having an “opinion” by itself isn’t worth a whole lot in science.

If you doubt that science works that way, just look around you at all the technologies you are using.  It is not debatable that electricity flows into your computer and it is engineered to enable certain outcomes.  It is not debatable that the internal combustion engine or battery of your car operates according to the laws of physics.  It is not debatable that gravity keeps you planted on the earth.  Having a different opinion on the matter will not erase any of these clearly observable facts.  The science behind these technologies has been proven.

Of course, the scientific theories that our tinfoil-hatted friends most like to deny – climate change and evolution – are not as visible and hence easier for those who don’t do much reading to say don’t exist.  But just like the theories that led to the development of computers, HVAC systems, cars, airplanes, biotechnology, etc., these theories have been proven to a very high confidence level through application of the scientific method.  

The evidence that climate change is happening and is due to human activities is vast, from ice cores to tree rings to atmospheric composition to air, ground and water temperatures over hundreds of years to impacts from coral reefs to melting glaciers and Arctic permafrost to changing dates for flower blooms to first frosts to changing weather patterns worldwide.  It’s a large enough body of work to have convinced 97% of scientists in this field to conclude that it’s real – not as a matter of random opinion, but as a judgment on a large and growing body of demonstrated facts.  

So just endlessly rehashing a debate created and paid for by the Koch brothers, Exxon-Mobil and other fossil fuel industry interests for their own financial interests – following the example of the tobacco industry, and using many of the same masters of deception, like the Heartland Institute – is not the proper role for the media.  Such a debate, rather than shedding more light on the issue, leads to more confusion and obfuscation about the proven facts.

As Paul Thornton said so well, it is not the media’s job to print “errors of fact” – on the contrary, it is the role of editors to keep such errors out of their paper, broadcast or postings.  It is time for all other leading media outlets – like the Washington Post and New York Times – to take a hard look at what the L.A. Times is doing here and ask why they are not doing the same.  

Many of our current political problems trace back to the media’s willingness to give empty hype the same billing as proven facts.  It’s why our problems never seem to move toward resolution, but just get caught up in endless, pointless, frustrating debates without a referee calling “BS” on anyone.  All opinions are treated equally, even when they are demonstrably based on lies.  

If the media wants to go back to its role of promoting truth over falsehood, they should begin with the small step the L.A. Times has taken, of telling climate change deniers to go spread their propaganda someplace else.  We can’t afford endless debates over facts about which the scientific community has expressed 95% certainty.  It’s time to move on to the business of dealing with global climate disruption, because the scientific debate on the big questions has been over for quite some time now.

Cuccinelli Touts Endorsement by Racist, Anti-Semitic Nut Who Says Social Security Unconstitutional

By
lowkell
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6

Add a racist and anti-Semite who believes Social Security is unconstitutional to the list of Ken Cuccinelli supporters (along with right-wing hate radio host Mark Levin, government shutdown architect Ted Cruz, corrupt/far-right-wing South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, the Duggars freak show, and raging Islamophobe Mike Huckabee. Why do I say these things about Ron Paul? Because, uh, they’re facts? Check it out:

*Ron Paul to be keynote speaker at anti-Semitic conference

*10 Most Shocking Ideas in the New Ron Paul Newsletters (e.g., “The newsletters, both the Ron Paul Survival Report and the Ron Paul Political Report, defend eugenics advocate Jared Taylor and former Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott, infamous for calling her team’s players ‘million dollar n—-s,’ saying ‘sneaky goddam Jews are all alike’ and ‘only fruits wear earrings,’ and praising Hitler’s role in Germany.”)

*Paul’s also a rabid homophobe, as these quotes make clear (e.g., “A 1993 Survival Report denounces accusations against the Branch Davidian religious sect’s leader David Koresh for molesting a young girl, writing, ‘How dare the Clinton administration talk about sexual deviance? Its officials could have had their own float in the Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Parade.'”)

*Paul believes Social Security is unconstitutional and a “giant Ponzi scheme.” Paul’s fought for years to phase it out.

*Paul advocates nonviolent tax resistance.

*Paul rejects the core American principle of separation of church and state.

*Ron Paul casts lot with extremists, conspiracy theorists (“The advisory board of the outspoken libertarian’s new organization is stacked with members of the far right”)

*Paul is a conspiracy theorist on a wide range of subjects. For instance, he erroneously claimed that “a secret conspiracy composed of the Security and Prosperity Partnership and a cabal of foreign companies is behind plans to build a NAFTA Superhighway as the first step toward creating a North American Union.”

*Paul also claimed that there are “25,000 individuals that have used offices of powers” (including in Congress) who “believe in one world government” and have plans to undermine national “sovereignty” and set up a “dictatorship.”

*His newsletter wrote reams of bigoted stuff like, “If you have ever been robbed by a black teenaged male, you know how unbelievably fleet-footed they can be;” that “gays ‘enjoy the attention and pity that comes with being sick,’ referring to AIDS;” and “The criminals who terrorized our cities – in riots and on every non-riot day – are not exclusively young black males, but they largely are.” And no, it’s “implausible” that Paul could allow “so many derogatory statements…into his publications, [while] insisting he knew nothing about them.”

Anyway, this is just a small sampling of the bigotry, extremism, and lunacy spewing from Ron Paul. Believe me, there is TONS more where that came from (just use “teh Google” and see for yourself). Now, Ken Cuccinelli says he’s “thrilled” to have Paul’s support. Does that mean Cuccinelli is “thrilled” with Paul’s extremist positions on pretty much every issue over the years? If not, which issues does Cuccinelli disagree with Paul on exactly? Inquiring minds want to know!

UPDATE: Paul argued this past Thursday that the government “shutdown is not a real problem… As far as default goes, we’re always going to pay the interest. That’s just a fake argument.”

The Power of Standing Up to Bullies

By
Andy Schmookler
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6

( – promoted by lowkell)

As I write this, there is a shred of uncertainty about whether President Obama will continue until the end standing firm on his position that there will be no concessions made to hostage-takers. I hope he gives not an inch on that.

Regardless, the unfolding of this crisis proves quite clearly that the best way to disempower the dark spirit that drives these right-wing bullies is to take the right stand and then stand one’s ground.

Here once again we see a recapitulation of the drama leading up to the Civil War.

It would be very easy to document, extensively, the proposition that the South of the 1850s, in its conduct toward the North, and the Republican Party of the past fifteen years, in its conduct toward the Democrats, have been bullies.

Arguably, the Northerners of the years before the Civil War were less cowed by the Southern bullies than the Democrats of our times have been by the Republicans. But the Southerners believed that, though the North might complain about the South’s breaking up of the Union, when push came to shove they would back down. The Yankee might get upset and sue you, one Southerner said, but he won’t fight.

What they hadn’t counted on was the extraordinary quality of character of Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln was an unusually humane and conciliatory person. That came through in all his communications to the South prior to the outbreak of the war. But he was also resolute.

On certain essential points, he was not going to yield: 1) he would not bother slavery where it was already established, he said repeatedly, but he was resolved to oppose its expansion into new territory; 2) while he implored the Southerners to give him a chance to prove that he would respect their rights, he maintained that those rights did not include the right to unilaterally break up the Union he was obliged by oath to preserve.

Lincoln held out olive branches, and he did not attack. But neither did he retreat from the ground he clearly staked out. He did not yield Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, in the first state to secede, and he did not allow the men stationed there to be starved out. But he did not try to fortify it for a fight, and it was not he but Jefferson Davis who gave the order that commenced the violence that would last for four years.

And that would destroy the Slave Power the Southern bullies had set out to advance.

By staking out morally defensible ground, and then standing up to the bullies, President Lincoln made himself into the rock on which the bullies — becoming reckless, over-reaching — would founder.

Now, in America, another president has (so far) finally — after caving time and again — stood his ground. The Republicans, it seems, gave no credence to President Obama’s repeated statements that he would not pay any ransom demanded by bullying extortionists.

So the bullies kept on coming, counting on the president’s being intimidated. But President Obama — having staked out an appropriate position in defense of the American constitutional order — stood firm against the attack.

And once again, the bullies are destroying themselves. (“We could be witnessing the death throes of the Republican Party,” writes John B. Judis yesterday in The New Republic.)

It’s highly unlikely that this one battle will end the war, but it shows how those who would preserve the democratic constitutional system that is our heritage, should fight it. When the bullies come at you demanding you yield ground that should not be given them, stand firm.

Let their ship break apart on the reef of your steadfast resolve.

Andy Schmookler, recently the Democratic nominee for Congress from Virginia’s 6th District, is an award-winning author, political commentator, radio talk-show host, and teacher. His books include The Parable of the Tribes: The Problem of Power in Social Evolution. His website is at www.NoneSoBlind.org

Virginia News Headlines: Saturday Morning

By
lowkell
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2

Here are a few Virginia and national news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, October 12. Also see President Obama’s weekly address, in which he urgesd Congress to “pass a budget, put people back to work, and end this shutdown.” He adds that a default would impose a “Republican default tax” on all of us.

*GOP scrambles after Obama pans House plan (“New drafts ask for an immediate reopening of government, funding at sequestration levels, and increasing the debt limit through Jan. 31, 2014.”)

*White House, businesses press Republicans on debt

*Cruzification of the GOP (“So far, the fiscal showdown has been a bloodbath for Republicans.”)

*Star Scientific chief believed McDonnell was helping firm (And presumably Jonnie Williams thought the same “quid pro quo” was in effect with Ken Cuccinelli as well.)

*Parker: The GOP must get rid of their hotheads (“Great job, Teddy! That would be Ted Cruz, the Texas senator who grabbed headlines by speaking for 21 hours against Obamacare. Cruz is…Ted bin Laden – the guy who hands out suicide vests and then goes to lunch.” Remember, Ken Kookinelli LOOOOVES Ted Cruz, wants more Ted Cruzes in Congress! Speaking of GOP “hotheads” – that’s Cooch to a “t”.)

*PolitiFact: Claim that McAuliffe threatened to shut down state government doesn’t add up (I’m not a fan of “PolitiFact” to put it mildly, in part because they’re so biased to the right, but this time they’re correct – Cuccinelli’s being utterly absurd again.)

*State has strong September revenue growth, but shutdown concerns linger

*Virginia voter registration deadline approaches

*TV’s Duggar family to campaign for Cuccinelli in Lynchburg (Right-wing freak show!)

*Ron Paul endorses Cuccinelli for governor (See Ron Paul to be keynote speaker at anti-Semitic conference and Ron Paul and the racist newsletters for just a taste of who Ron Paul is.)

*Regarding crazy bigot Ron Paul, also see 10 Most Shocking Ideas in the New Ron Paul Newsletters (“A new batch of Ron Paul newsletters makes it harder to buy the presidential candidate’s insistence he had nothing to do with them. From praise for racists to kooky AIDS theories, the most outrageous notions in this latest collection.”)

*Cuccinelli fundraiser co-host Tony Makris faced criticism for elephant hunt (“Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli II (R) is scheduled to hold an Alexandria fundraiser next week co-hosted by an NRA consultant whose hunting show was canceled last month after he killed an elephant on safari and then compared the hunt’s critics to Hitler.”)

*In attorney general’s race, a self-described successor to Cuccinelli faces his opposite (That’s all you need to know – vote Mark Herring on 11/5!)

*Cuccinelli’s light-rail slur against mayor: quid pro d’oh!

*Cuccinelli ad: McAuliffe investment in terminally ill ‘despicable’ (Now, reality: “Terry was one of hundreds of passive investors several years ago and had no idea about the horrible allegations against the defendant”)

*McAuliffe, Obenshain separately visit Hampton Roads Saturday

*Voice in the crowd: Rigell’s solution to end government shutdown (“The Virginia Beach Republican is proposing cutting some federal spending and raising more revenue as part of a larger plan to reduce deficit spending”)

*Dan Snyder continues to defend the indefensible (Just remember, Snyder’s a) a Ted Cruz-level jerk and b) a Republican. Any other questions?)

*Storm system finally losing steam, but drizzle likely to last until Monday

*All-day rain sets Washington records

From the Trenches, A Reminder: Don’t North Carolina Virginia

By
KathyinBlacksburg
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3

Here’s yet another example of how low you can go if you capitulate to the Tea Party and their benefactors in Virginia this November. North Carolina just reversed a despicable position that had meant North Carolina’s WIC recipients wouldn’t have help during the partial government shutdown. But it shouldn’t gone gone “there” in the first place. It’s a disgrace.

In the face of a partial government shutdown, those receiving food under the Women, Infants and Children Program (WIC) were left hung out to dry, or rather starve. Every other state in the nation gave their WIC recipients vouchers to buy food, but not North Carolina. And in true Tea Party form, Aldona Wos, the righteous radical wrong-wing horror that is the head of our state DHHS (who has crippled our state Medicaid program both by policy and incompetence) blamed guess whom?  Why the President of course.  

Every other state figured out how to deal during this crisis but not Aldona. Makes you wonder where Pat McCrory drudged up members of his administration, doesn’t it? Oh, yeh, they are the storm troopers of austerity and minions of Art Pope and Ayn Rand. But, it’s the President’s fault (not!). Her week-late and dollars-short no-can-do approach only gave way when she stood alone in the nation in Draconian contempt for the hungry.  Today, I am happy women and their children finally got their vouchers.  Otherwise, anyone who is happy with this admin has to want gross neglect and incompetence.

Amid all this, the governor (for the rich) Pat McCrory is outfitting his mansion’s bathrooms with marble and other enhancements priced at over a quarter of a million dollars (on the taxpayer’s dime). Let them eat nothing, while he luxuriates at our expense. Oh, yeh, and, remember, Pat McCrory cut unemployment benefits and refused free federal aid to add a half million more poor North Carolinians for Medicaid. So they don’t get it just because McCrory was spiting the President. How low can one go? You have to really hate the poor to behave like this. The program was free for three years and NC would have only had to pay 10% of the cost thereafter. Ditto Aldona Wos, who because of her contempt has no business running NC DHHS.

Please, don’t North Carolina Virginia.  It’s gonna take a generation to undo what harm they have done here in just a couple of years since the Tea Party took over the GA and one year since McCrory won the governor’s race.  Keep fighting, Virginia.  The margin needs widening.

Medicaid expansion and why it matters in Virginia

By
VA6thDem
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1

400,000. That is the number of Virginians that are estimated to be insured through Medicaid should the commonwealth decide to expand its Medicaid program. Lets put some numbers on that 400,000. These are people whose income levels are between 0 and 133% of poverty. In dollar terms that is $0 – $15,282 for a single individual and $0 – $31,322 for a family of four. Does anyone think that a single individual making $15,282 can afford any type of insurance? The answer is not only “no” but “Hell no”. Yet, it remains an ongoing discussion in this state. “Why” you may ask? Simple, its the most conservative element of Virginia’s General Assembly, the House of Delegates. It is somewhat amazing that the two rotating chairs are both from the Shenandoah Valley, Emmett Hanger from the Senate and Steve Landes from the House. Right now there is a split. The Senate is more inclined to reach some accommodation for expansion while the House is opposed. Think the US Senate and House. The House seems to be dominated by ideologues (or tea party types) while the Senate and its moderation is more of a traditional reflection of Virginia politics. How would you like to have the power to influence whether 400,000 needy Virginians got health insurance? The Staunton News Leader has stated that the failure to expand Medicaid is “immoral” yet Steve Landes has suggested that it will never be expanded! It seems that Landes’s major argument against expansion is that the Federal Government may decide not to foot as much of the bill as they have suggested they will. In other words, he is basing his opposition on “ifs” and “buts”. My response to this would be there is a chance if I leave my house everyday something could happen to me. However, that doesn’t prevent me from leaving my house. Medicaid expansion WILL create more jobs because it will provide reimbursements to hospitals and community-based centers that provide services to the uninsured that are used to getting very little or nothing in reimbursement. What happens when organizations, especially non-profits get more revenue? They hire more staff, give staff needed raises or purchase items and equipment that they need to become more efficient. That puts more money into our economy. More money into the economy means more jobs. Who cares if it is federal money, state money or private sector money? The result is the same. A New England Journal of Medicine study concluded that after two years, the expansion of Medicaid benefited the population – “Medicaid coverage generated no significant improvements in measured physical health outcomes in the first 2 years, but it did increase use of health care services, raise rates of diabetes detection and management, lower rates of depression, and reduce financial strain”. Diabetes and diabetes related conditions account for almost 20% of all hospital admissions. Doesn’t it make sense to treat these people in primary care environments rather than as inpatients in a hospital? The Staunton News Leader is correct, it IS immoral not to expand Medicaid. Everyone who calls themselves a Christian and many that do not know the story of the Good Samaritan. Those who oppose Medicaid expansion are those that choose not to see the person in need along the road. They are not going to help. They are in a position to make the most significant and important decision of their legislative careers and instead they are going to be swayed by a minority of ideologues who never care about those less fortunate than themselves. Together, we can “heal the sick, feed the hungry, clothe the poor”.

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