Here are a few Virginia (and national) news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, September 30. Also see the video of John Boehner saying a few months ago that “trying to put Obamacare on [the government funding] vehicle risks shutting down the government; that’s not what our goal is.” So much for that!

*Shutdown could be ‘tsunami’ for D.C. (“More than 700,000 federal jobs could be affected by a closure, and the Washington area could lose up to $200 million a day if the zoo, museums and other government-funded attractions are shuttered.”)

*Economists fear fallout from potential shutdown, default (All because Teapublicans are throwing a world-class hissy fit over “Obamacare.” These people are a bad joke.)

*What The Republican ‘Compromise’ Of Delaying Obamacare For A Year Would Do To The Economy

*Texas First Lady Calls Abortion ‘A Woman’s Right’

*Justice Department to sue North Carolina over its voting law

*Government shutdown: John Boehner’s pivotal moment

*Government shutdown could affect Virginia race

*Kaine: Let’s have Obamacare debate – but not now

*Immigration reform not heard in Virginia gubernatorial race

*Lawyers want to use Virginia as same-sex marriage test case

*Virginia’s GOP lieutenant governor candidate, E.W. Jackson, is too extreme (“Mr. Jackson is an embarrassment to the Republican Party, which nominated him in a sparsely attended party convention based on little more than stirring oratory. If elected, he would be an embarrassment to Virginians.”)

*Herring focuses on his opponent’s familiarity (“Herring, the Democratic candidate, is making the case that Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli – now the Republican candidate for governor – has spent his four years in office pursuing a rigidly conservative ideological agenda and that Mark Obenshain, the Republican candidate for attorney general, would do likewise.”)

*Editorial: A win for tolerance (RTD: “To its credit, the Virginia Beach City Council voted 9-1 to approve the mosque. That was the right call, in keeping with the country’s tradition of religious liberty – and a proper rebuke to the small-minded minority who can’t seem to grasp a core American value.”)

*Obenshain a candidate who avoids controversy (Just look at his record and you’ll see that Obenshain votes like EW Jackson talks. He’s also said that crazy Ken Cuccinelli is the Attorney General he’d model himself after.)

*Bay cleanup effort needs farmers’ help

*A sunny week with a taste of summer

*Johnson looks back on ‘fun journey’ as the Nats lose his last game as manager

The “Secretary of Explaining S***” nails this one.

The Republican Party is “begging for America to fail” by rooting for President Obama’s signature health care law to fail, former President Bill Clinton said during an interview for “This Week” with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos.

“I’ve never seen a time – can you remember a time in your lifetime when a major political party was just sitting around, begging for America to fail … I don’t know what’s going to happen. But I’ll be shocked if it fails,” Clinton, who attempted during his first term as president to overhaul the country’s healthcare system in the early 1990s, said during an interview taped Thursday in New York while the annual Clinton Global Initiative was taking place.

And here in Virginia, just remember that every single Republican House member voted last night to shut down the government, severely harming the people they ostensibly represent. In reality, of course, what’s going on is that these Republicans are: a) rigid, right-wing ideologues from the Ken Cuccinelli/EW Jackson/Mark Obenshain teahadist wing of the part; and b) concerned above all about not being primaried from their “right” in their  otherwise safe, gerrymandered (by themselves), incumbent-protection districts. Lovely little game they’ve got going there, huh? All at OUR EXPENSE, sad to say. The question, as always? Why does anyone in his or her right mind vote for these nihilists who want America to fail, as Bill Clinton puts it?

Here are a few Virginia (and national) news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, September 29. Also, check out the photo, courtesy of the Democratic Business Council of NOVA, of our own Teddy Goodson, “an iconic local Fairfax Democrat who has worked tirelessly on behalf of the Democratic Party of Virginia and many candidates within it, [and who] is headed for Texas.” Good luck to Teddy, give Rick Perry and his ilk some hell for us! 🙂

*House pushes U.S. to the edge of a shutdown (That would be “House Republicans,” of course.)

*GOP adds ‘conscience clause’ to spending bill (Great, throw abortion into the mix, just to make it absolutely certain there can be no agreement on the budget. Nice job, Tea Party Republicans!)

*Shutdown: the House GOP’s ‘touch-the-stove’ moment (Let’s hope they a) get burned; b) it hurts badly; and c) they never forget it.)

*Shutdown crisis rooted in GOP’s budget (“Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) bears a big responsibility.” The guy’s an Ayn Rand-loving extremist, what else would we expect?)

*On cusp of shutdown, House conservatives excited, say they are doing the right thing (Sure, if by “right thing” the Teahadists mean “trashing the United States of America.”)

*By any name a danger to us (“Rising seas and recurrent flooding pose serious and complex challenges for policymakers. The coming General Assembly session will provide a chance for the first real and substantive discussion aimed at addressing them.” But they won’t with Republicans in charge…ugh.)

*Virginia has a few ways to cope with shutdown (Anyone who votes to shut down the government is basically plunging a knife in the back of Virginia.)

*Emails show AG staffer continued advising energy companies after office learned of communications (“Whether the communications continued with AG Ken Cuccinelli’s knowledge remains a mystery because his office refuses to say when he personally learned of the emails or when he officially shut down the staffer’s contact with the corporate attorneys.” We’ll take that as a “yes, Cuccinelli knew, but of course doesn’t want to talk about it.” What a slimeball.)

*National stakes in Virginia’s gubernatorial race (But the most important stakes are right here in Virginia, where Ken Cuccinelli and his Tea Party brethren would totally trash the state.)

*Schapiro: Other governors have had on-the-job training (“To achieve the governorship is to enter rarified ranks, more so, if one is a virgin to government – as Westmoreland Davis was in 1917; Linwood Holton was in 1969; and Mark Warner was in 2001. Because of the times and political conditions, the non-Richmond résumés of this trio were, for the most part, a plus.” So Cooch is wrong yet AGAIN – you do NOT need to have served as LG or AG to be an excellent governor of Virginia, like Linwood Holton and Mark Warner were.)

*Cuccinelli highlights Obamacare fight (Yep, Cuccinelli’s Tea Party all the way, if that wasn’t clear already…)

*A Vote for Sarvis Not Wasted – If You’d Like to See a Viable Third Party in Virginia (Sarvis seems like a great option for the Ron/Rand Paul wing of the Republican party, no doubt.)

*Action in McDonnell probe not expected before November election

*Today’s top opinion: Rock the boat (“…the General Assembly needs to impose tighter controls on how legislators can spend the money donated to their political campaigns. “)

*What price education (“Issues must be addressed so in-state students can afford to go to college”)

*As a Confederate battle flag rises along I-95, an American flag is unfurled in Richmond (I just watched the movie “Lincoln” last night. It’s astounding to me that people still feel the need/desire to fly the Confederate flag, a century and a half later.)

*Fabulous fall weather streak continues (“Any morning cloudiness should clear out for a mostly sunny day with blue skies”)

*Nationals defeat Diamondbacks 2-0

Remember, this is the esteemed, world-renowned scientist (of the utmost integrity, I might add) who fossil-fuel-tool and all-around-nutjob Ken Cuccinelli launched what the Washington Post called a “witch hunt” against. Do you really need any more information to rule out Cuckoo for higher office, or really elective office of ANY kind? By the way, even though Cuccinelli would prefer to remain an ignoramus, the rest of us don’t have to be. So, here are “15 Things You Should Know About The New IPCC Report On Climate Science” – read it and weep demand action from your elected officials immediately!

P.S. Those dire consequences include “9°F Warming For U.S., Faster Sea Rise, More Extreme Weather, Permafrost Collapse.” Hey, a few more years of coal is worth all that, right, even if all coal brings to communities is poverty, health problems, and misery, while extracting the vast majority of the wealth for powerful coal companies and their shareholders? Such a deal!

So, earlier today the extremist nutjobs in the House of Representatives opted for the path of no compromise. I know, it’s shocking isn’t it, coming from Teahadists? In short, their “plan” would “include a one-year delay in the health-care law, which is set to take effect next month.” In other words, a total non-starter, “poison pill,” whatever you want to call it – and they full well know it. So, with that, they’ve basically declared war on America’s economy, on our government, and on our system of government. Remember, what they are trying to do is eviscerate/demolish a law that was duly passed by Congress, duly signed into law and declared constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, and duly voted on by the American people in the elections of 2012 (when Democrats won the White House, and also won a million more votes than Republicans for the House of Representatives). Plus, the overwhelming majority of Americans say they do NOT want to shut down the government over “Obamacare.” So, Republicans are anti-democratic (small “d”) on all counts.

My response to all this? Very simple. I’ll let one of the greatest leaders ever – a Conservative (capital “C”) no less – explain. 🙂

P.S. Needless to say, Dems need to stay unified. If they do, they can win this. If they don’t…well, what’s that saying about “hanging separately?” (also, “united we stand, divided we fall”)

(I couldn’t agree more with Alfonso on this: energy efficiency is BY FAR the lowest of the “low-hanging fruit” in the world of energy. Virginia should be doing everything it can to encourage it, before we even CONSIDER building a new power plant fired by fossil fuels.   – promoted by lowkell)

Op-Ed Recently Submitted by Delegate Alfonso Lopez, Member of the Virginia House of Delegates Representing the 49th District.

A small improvement in energy efficiency can have a major impact on our daily lives. The benefits of energy efficiency are sometimes hard to see, but they are easy to measure. Homes that are not energy efficient impact health – resulting in increased risk for damp, moldy conditions, and cold temperatures, all of which can increase the risk for respiratory illnesses and asthma, especially among children.

They also impact property value – energy efficient homes have been shown to reduce the likelihood of foreclosure by 32 percent. And energy efficient homes reduce net costs to homeowners, who will otherwise pay more in monthly utility bills, and for the costs of repairs if inefficient building standards lead to further structural problems over time.

Using energy efficient building practices at the time of construction is far easier and less expensive than retrofitting the technologies later. This approach is especially important for first-time and lower-income home owners, who may not have as much financial flexibility to spend on upgrades, especially after financing the home itself.

The good news is that the Washington Metropolitan region has made some important strides in residential energy efficiency. The District of Columbia anticipates adoption of modernized building codes, and Maryland recently approved the same measures. Unfortunately, Virginia is at risk of missing out on a similar opportunity.

The District and Maryland are incorporating the 2012 industry standards developed by the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). In writing these standards, the IECC gained input from experts in energy efficiency, building design, and product performance, as well as state and local government officials, manufacturers, architects, and builders.

The Virginia Board of Housing and Community Development is currently deliberating on changes to the Commonwealth’s building code. Many significant proposed IECC improvements for residential homes have been stripped from this year’s proposal.

The new building codes would increase insulation requirements and require objective testing for air leaks in new homes rather than visual inspections. Fully adopting the new building codes would create a 27.4 percent increase in energy efficiency and save on average $388 annually in energy costs to Virginia consumers. This means homeowners would save over $30 per month on their utility bills.

Indeed, the U.S. Department of Energy estimates that adopting the IECC standards would save the average Virginia household $5,836 over 30 years, which more than recovers the estimated $2,000 in upfront construction costs.

By implementing these new building codes, Virginia would also eliminate about 55.6 million metric tons of CO2 emissions over the next 20 years. This is equivalent to one year of emissions from 11.6 million cars. Updating the building code is a win-win for both Virginia consumers and the environment, but only if we fully implement the 2012 IECC.

The public comment period on this issue will end on Sept. 29. The Board of Housing and Community Development is expected to make a final decision for approval of the recommendations before the end of 2013. Comments can be sent to: Stephen W. Calhoun, Regulatory Coordinator, Department of Housing and Community Development, Main Street Centre, 600 East Main Street, Suite 300, Richmond, VA 23219, telephone 804-371-7000, fax 804-371-7090, TTY 804-371-7089, or emailed to steve.calhoun@dhcd.virginia.gov.

I hope you will join me in supporting the 2012 IECC by contacting the Board of Housing and Community Development, and also Governor McDonnell, who appointed 11 of the 14 members on the Board. Let’s ensure Virginia does the right thing for consumers, for the environment, and for our children’s future.

Alfonso Lopez is a Member of the Virginia General Assembly representing the 49th District in the House of Delegates. The 49th District includes parts of South Arlington and Eastern Fairfax.