Of all the words spoken about NC’s diabolical vote suppression bill [get link to entire bill], few have included a discussion of vote supression TeaPublican style.
True the Vote is a Tea Party spin-off geared toward stripiing voters from the voting rolls. You no doubt remember the infamous Katherine Harris doing her dirty work in Florida back in 2000. True the vote is worse.
Do you know about Atif Qarni? Well, you ought to! Challenging incumbent Bob Marshall to represent HD-13, Qarni is on the side of LGBT rights! You heard right, Manassas Park and Prince William County residents have a chance to replace Delegate Bob Marshall with somebody who will never say “sodomy is not a civil right,” will never lead an effort to block a gay person from becoming a district judge, and will never introduce an amendment to ban gay marriage in the state of Virginia. You guessed it…you can thank incumbent Bob Marshall for the Marshall-Newman Amendment that bans same-sex marriage in the Commonwealth. Delegate Marshall has been called one of the most homophobic and gay hating members of the Virginia General Assembly. Thankfully Atif Qarni is on the scene. He looks at LGBT rights through a completely difference lens. For starters, if elected, Atif Qarni will work to repeal the very Amendment that Bob Marshall wrote. He “will support efforts to extend full and equal recognition to same-sex marriages.” Phew – that would be a change. Getting Qarni elected would be symbolic of Virginia’s path toward the future. After all, we can’t stay stuck in the dark ages forever. Qarni supports legislation to protect state employees from discrimination, and believes that we must have policies in place that ensure that children are not bullied based on their real or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or expression. And, when asked if he supports second-parent adoptions, he said “both parents in a same-sex couple deserve to have legal parental rights of their child. Children also deserve to have two legal parents as well, just like in a straight couple family.” In short, Qarni is an outspoken supporter of the LGBT community. He won’t let us down. Replacing Bob Marshall in the House of Delegates would be very valuable on the path toward LGBT equality. Qarni needs your support. Vote for him on November 5th. Join Atif Qarni for a special event on Friday, October 11 at 5 p.m. Wanna make last minute plans for Saturday? Volunteer with the Qarni campaign at 10AM. We’d love to have you join us. Sign up here! –
See more at: http://evadvocates.org/blog/meet-the-candidates-atif-qarni/#sthash.7VkoJoM1.dpuf
Repeatedly, we are told by both the TeaPublicans and the media that Democrats won’t negotiate. But they do and have. Moreover, they have compromised far more than most people realize. When describing the hostage-taking TeaPublicans’ behavior, we justifiably used words like extortion and blackmail, to describe what they and Boehner are doing. Yes, we should call them out for their treasonous economic terrorism. But we inadvertently failed to fully inform voters about the actual budget. We don’t use those numbers to show what has really happened. It would be nice if reporters actually did their job. But they won’t, so we must. We’ll do it with a little help from Taegan Goddard’s blog and the chart above from Michale Linden and Harry Stein of the Center for American Progress I’ll cut to the chase, as the authors say, the Continuing Resolution (CR) is already a compromise. The numbers come from OMB.
Harry Reid offered up nearly everything Paul Ryan wanted budget number-wise. It’s austerity on steroids. And it still isn’t enough for the TeaPublicans because they want to decimate the government and any of its non-military programs.
The figures on the chart pertain to “discretionary” spending, which is not to say the programs therein are all optional. Take a look at the numbers again:
The data are from the Office of Management and Budget. In billions of dollars:
1,203 Original Obama budget request
1,185 The 2010 budget
1,095 Paul Ryan’s original request
1,066 The debt ceiling compromise of 2011
1,058 2014 Senate budget (less than Paul Ryan’s original budget)
986 The 2013 Senate Continuing Resolution
967 The 2014 Ryan Budget
So there you have it. The Continuing Resolution is already a compromise. Harry Reid offered up Ryan-like austerity. Dems have been doing nearly all compromising (far too much of it) since the year 2000. But suggesting Obama and Harry Reid won’t compromise is quite possibly the lie of the century.
Nor, where blame is attributed, is there any equivalence between the TeaPublicans and Dems. Democrats are not to blame. This outrageous budget standoff is a dangerous grandstand by a cadre of John Birch Society-type tinfoil hat ideologues, who are so far to the “right” of Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater, those two historical figures look liberal.
Extremist, shameless liars do not make good representatives at whatever level. Route out Republican liars/Tea Party apologists in Virginia races, both statewide candidates and those running for the GA. Then do a grand slam in the federal elections of 2014 and 2016. Our country depends on it.
From the DPVA:
Last month Ken Cuccinelli told a forum audience that he “supports the concept” of the Bi-County Parkway, that he “approved of the idea in theory,” and that he “thinks a connecting road is needed.”
In August 2013, WAMU reported, “Republican Ken Cuccinelli says he supports the concept of a new highway connecting the two counties, but is not happy with a proposed deal with the National Park Service. “We cannot be closing down major arteries as part of the trade off to expand transportation access in Northern Virginia,” Cuccinelli said. “We need to be opening more arteries, not closing them.'” [WAMU, 8/9/13]
Manassas Patch: Cuccinelli Said he “Approved of the Idea in Theory but Had Quibbles with Some of the Specifics”
In August 2013, the Manassas Patch reported, “Cucinelli took a much firmer position on the project, saying he approved the idea in theory, but had quibbles with some of the specifics. “I believe a significant connector there must take place,” he said. “But I’ll tell you that I’m appalled at the notion that closing roads is part of the trade off.'” [Manassas Patch, 8/10/13]
Inside Nova: Cuccinelli Said “He Thinks a Connecting Road is Needed”
In August 2013, InsideNova reported, “Some of the biggest reactions from the crowd of business leaders who filled the auditorium came when the candidates were asked about their position on the Bi-County Parkway, a controversial road proposed to connect western Prince William County to Loudoun County. Cuccinelli said he thinks a connecting road is needed, but drew applause from the audience when he said that he would not support a plan that would include closing Va. 234 and U.S. 29 in the Manassas National Battlefield Park.” [Inside Nova, 8/9/13]
You know, for years I’ve heard that although Ken Cuccinelli might be an extremist, nuts, and all that, he was: a) an ace politician, particularly at the “retail” level; and b) very, very smart. Then 2013 came along, and “a” pretty much went down the tubes, as Cuccinelli has run an inept, flailing, and ultimately LOSING campaign for governor. As for “b,” you’ve really got to wonder when you read stuff like this.
Virginia state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli accused former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe of lying about his record on women’s issues…
“Take birth control, my opponent is flat out lying and he knows he’s lying,” said Cuccinelli of a new ad McAuliffe’s campaign is running in the Virginia governor’s race. “I do not support government playing a role in adults’ choices about contraception. Just don’t, period. Haven’t in the past, he would like to say that I have, but I haven’t. And I’m committing to not doing that in the future.”
OK, so there are two possibilities here, neither flattering to Cuccinelli. Possibility #1 is that he’s just lying through his teeth, knows full well that he’s lying through his teeth, and just doesn’t care. In other words, he’ll say ANYTHING to get elected. Now, I certainly can believe that with most politicians, especially of the Republican persuasion, but Cuccinelli’s a “true believer” type, so I tend to think he actually might have convinced himself that he’s telling the truth on this.
Which, of course, he’s not. As Chris Cillizza notes in his article (which should have just outright stated that Cuccinelli is lying, but of course didn’t, because that would be…uh, real journalism or something), the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said about Cuccinelli’s “personhood” legislation that it “could limit women’s access to preventative health care and contraception, including birth control medication.” Don’t believe the American Congress of Obestetricians and Gynecologists? Well then, fine, here’s what Cooch’s actual constitutional amendment said:
OK, now you can’t get any clearer than that. Adding to the Virginia constitution that “the right to enjoyment of life” is “vested in each born and preborn human being from the moment of fertilization” clearly would do several things. First, it would criminalize abortion at any stage, for any reason (including rape or incest). Second, it would criminalize embryonic stem cell research. Third, it could criminalize in-vitro fertilization. And finally, it would criminalize several popular forms of contraception such as birth control pills and IUDs. None of this is a secret, by the way; two seconds of using “teh Google” will find a bunch of articles on this from reputable sources. So…does Ken Cuccinelli not know how to use the internet(s) either, since he’s obviously the anti-science, anti-technology, know-nothing candidate in this race?
Again, one possibility is that Ken Cuccinelli understands full well what his “personhood” amendment would do, and is simply lying through his teeth. Then there’s another, perhaps more charitable, explanation (Possibility #2): he’s an idiot. I mean, after all, this IS the same guy who apparently can’t comprehend something as simple as the greenhouse effect (c’mon, a 3rd grader can easily understand this one) and “denies” science he doesn’t “like.” And this is the same guy who didn’t see anything unusual about some slimeball/grifter approaching him with $1,000 turkey dinners, so he obviously doesn’t have any common sense or “street smarts” either (or, again, he could have just been lying through his teeth again). In this case, as the top-rated comment on Chris Cillizza’s article puts it: “Does he really not understand anything about science?…He’s either lying or stupid, neither of which are qualities I want in a governor.”
So what do you think? Is Ken Cuccinelli: a) a liar; b) an idiot; or c) both? Personally, I’m still leaning towards “a,” but starting to think that “c” might make the best sense of this guy – a liar AND an idiot (what a combo!).
From John Bell for Delegate:
We thought we had settled these fights years ago. But no matter how much progress we think we’ve made, there are still politicians fighting everyday to take us back in time. One of those politicians is David Ramadan, who told voters in 2011 that taking away reproductive rights was one of the main reasons he ran for office.
Please help spread the word by sharing this video and click here to give what you can today to keep this ad on the air.
We can’t let David Ramadan’s extreme agenda win. We need your help to stand up to protect women’s health care and women’s rights. But to do that, we need to make sure people know the truth about David Ramadan’s record on these issues.
David Ramadan is doing all he can to hide a record on women’s health care that includes voting to ban common forms of birth control, voting to force invasive and unnecessary ultrasounds, and even saying he wanted to force women get a permission slip from their husbands before making medical decisions.
Please help spread the word by sharing this video
( – promoted by lowkell)
Andrew Sullivan writes:
How does one party that has lost two presidential elections and a Supreme Court case – as well as two Senate elections – think it has the right to shut down the entire government and destroy the full faith and credit of the United States Treasury to get its way on universal healthcare now? I see no quid pro quo even. Just pure blackmail, resting on understandable and predictable public concern whenever a major reform is enacted. But what has to be resisted is any idea that this is government or politics as usual. It is an attack on the governance and the constitutional order of the United States.
Right on. But it should be recognized that this “attack on the governance and the constitutional order of the United States” — with Republicans using blackmail to extort powers that the American people have given, in recent elections, to the other major political party– is only the latest on a virtual war against the constitutional order of the United States that’s been waged from the right for what is now more than a decade.
So how far back does this right-wing war against the American democracy go?
I don’t believe the chronicle need go all the way back to Nixon’s crimes in Watergate, which nonetheless struck a blow against the fundamental idea that we are a nation of laws and not of men. Nor would I include the transgressions of Reagan and Co. in Iran & Company (followed by the pardons subsequently issued by Bush the First to give a free pass to those in the Reagan administration who’d been convicted of law-breaking), even though these events demonstrated a frightening willingness to run roughshod over the law and the separation of powers that may have been an early symptom of the power grabs to come.
Perhaps the place where the chronicle of this war on “the governance and constitutional order of the United States” should begin is the way the Republicans, in the age of Gingrich, revealed themselves to be determined, from the beginning of the Clinton presidency, to find a way to bring that president down, launching one bogus investigation after another until at last they found evidence of marital infidelity that they decided to inflate into a “high crime and misdemeanor” they could use to impeach the President of the United States.
Without doubt, however, the history of this war against the American democracy would focus hard on the presidency of George W. Bush. With enough impeachable offenses to fill a book –as several responsible observers demonstrated during that era with books like Elizabeth de la Vega’s UNITED STATES v. GEORGE W. BUSH ET AL.– the Republicans gave us with Bush the most lawless presidency in the history of the nation.
Now we are in the era of this anti-democratic party’s scandalous conduct while in opposition, during the Obama presidency– working to delegitimize the president (with birther lies), usurping power through an abuse of the filibuster, unprecedented outright obstructionism to cripple the government the people elected, a persistent disregard of public opinion and election results (except, of course, when those were supportive of the GOP agenda), suppression of voters’ rights at the state level, etc.
The current government shutdown is the fruit of but the latest use of blackmail –wielding threats to hurt the country if their political opponents will not yield to their demands– which is another of the practices of this anti-democratic outfit, that seems to care only about its own power, or perhaps even less rationally, to care only about filling our political arena with combat.
For any progressives out there still grumbling that Terry McAuliffe is not your type of Democrat, it’s time to pay attention to the actual positions the man is running on. Health care, education, transportation, jobs and economic development — and yes, energy and the environment.
Julie Carey of NBC 4 in Washington reported yesterday that Terry McAuliffe has now come out in support of President Obama’s proposed climate change rules. This is a courageous move, and a big deal that ought to make more those who care about these issues get off their butts and hit the streets to help Terry beat world-class climate denial conspiracy theorist Ken Cuccinelli.
Needless to say, Cuccinelli’s right wing allies are tripping all over each other to sputter nonsense in response about a “war on coal.” Lowell has done such a good job demolishing this phony talking point that I beg you to read his posts here and here and I’ll simply provide the headlines:
– Cheap natural gas is what’s destroying coal in the marketplace right now — you know, that “free market” that conservatives like to talk about, except when it’s in their political interest to oppose it?
– The US Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that EPA has not only the statutory authority but the responsibility to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.
– Climate change is happening, based on human activities, according to the published research of 97% of all scientists who’ve addressed the issue.
– While employment in the coal industry actually went up a bit during Obama’s administration, the long term downward trend has made it a much smaller factor in Virginia’s economy, representing about 5,000 coal mining jobs at the moment — out of a total workforce of around 4 million.
– Meanwhile, the most important factor in Virginia’s economy is the one that Cuccinelli (like all his Tea Party buddies) has spent his entire career attacking — the Federal government. And the renewable energy industry, particularly wind and solar, are growing dramatically as their prices continue to fall. Why not invest in the jobs of the future, while helping people transition away from the jobs of the past?
If you want to know what really drives Cuccinelli on this issue, then follow the money — as in the nearly three-quarters of a million dollars donated to his campaign by fossil fuel interests, including over $400,000 from coal industry barons to date.
What the Cuccinelli crowd really wants is to bring Virginia back to the musty old days when it was a backwater like West Virginia or Mississippi, ruled with an iron fist by industry titans who pay the politicians they own to keep the regulations in check. They can shed crocodile tears all they want about the people who work the coal jobs — even as they fight ferociously to cut off the health care and food of any who do get laid off — but what they’re really defending is the ability of the Big Coal barons to afford to keep their yachts, Ferraris and mistresses.
That’s the only “war” that the Tea Party ever really fights — to have a government that fully represents the interests of the 1%, while the rest of us suffer the ill effects of industries that are under-regulated and out of control. Better to have a governor like Terry McAuliffe, who’ll support regulation where necessary, while aggressively working to bring Virginians the jobs of the 21st century — not the 18th.
Now that the October 1st government shutdown has occurred, Kathleen Murphy has called on Del. Barbara Comstock and Ken Cuccinelli to lobby their fellow Republicans.
“If the Republicans in Congress follow the lead of the extreme right ideologues and continue the government shut down, the impact on Virginia’s economy and especially the 34th District will be devastating.” Murphy said from her office, “Our economy will be put at risk, as well as our country and thousands of Virginia Families. This action is reckless and irresponsible.”
Murphy went on to say, “I call on Cuccinelli and Comstock to demand that their fellow Republican Tea Party partisans stop playing games with the future of our country.”
Del. Barbara Comstock was one of 17 delegates to cast a no vote on the budget in The House of Delegates citing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as her excuse. The budget funded 1700 in-state tuition slots, a 2 percent pay raise for teachers, and critical funding for school repairs to name a few.
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Kathleen Murphy, a longtime McLean resident, member of the Human Services Council, and the Health Care Task Force, is running to represent the 34th district in the Virginia House of Delegates. The 34th district includes all of Great Falls, parts of McLean, Tysons, Wolf Trap, Vienna, Potomac Falls, and Sterling. More information about Kathleen Murphy can be found at www.kathleenmurphyfordelegate.com
