Here are a few Virginia (and national) news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, January 4.

*Va.’s phony concern for health hits women’s rights (Actually, it’s T-Bob’s and Kookinelli’s phony concern, not all of Virginia’s…)

*Good Riddance to Rottenest Congress in History (What did the American people expect when they put the insane, extremist Tea Partiers in charge of the House? I mean, DUH!)

*The clowns of Capitol Hill

*Boehner returns as speaker by three votes

*What’s missing from the cliff debate: Growth (I’d argue that there’s a lot more missing, starting with an agreed-upon vision of where we want our country to go. Also, there was no serious talk about tax reform, which is badly needed, or the concept of taxing greenhouse gas emissions, even as global warming is BY FAR the #1 threat to humanity. What a cluster@#$@#).

*Battles of the Budget (“The centrist fantasy of a Grand Bargain on the budget never had a chance. Even if some kind of bargain had supposedly been reached, key players would soon have reneged on the deal – probably the next time a Republican occupied the White House.’)

*Kaine sworn in as Virginia’s new U.S. senator

*Kaine: “There’s so much work to be done”

*As foes mount for Dragas, friends emerge, too (Once again, Mark Warner baffles me; why on earth would he go to bat for Dragas, after she’s done so much damage to UVA, and given her utter incompetence, tone-deafness, etc?)

*Va. gun sales surged to new record in 2012 (Brilliant, huh?)

*Goodlatte again introduces balanced budget amendments (Stupid.)

*Governor McDonnell unveils education package

*McDonnell declares 2013 “The Year of the Teacher” (And by that he really means “The Year of SCREWING OVER the Teacher”)

*Sen. Warner Petition to Reform Filibuster Rule

*On Filibuster Reform, Advocates Claim Momentum

*Delegate brings back Tebow bill for another four downs (We need to deny Rob Bell a first down on this one.)

*Portsmouth is riskiest to kids in region for lead poisoning (Not good, especially when you consider Crime Is at its Lowest Level in 50 Years. A Simple Molecule May Be the Reason Why.)

*Eastern Shore Del. Lewis open to Va. Senate bid

*Chastised Dulles Rail board cuts back dramatically on travel

*EPA ruling to regulate Fairfax creek overturned (The judge is a George W. Bush appointee, and Ken Kookinelli fought for this ruling. ‘Nuff said, except that the Fairfax County Board’s Democrats made a big mistake here, both on the merits and also on the politics. #FAIL all around.)

*Norfolk center requires vetting

*Loudoun Board to Eugene Delgaudio: ‘No committees for you. Two years.’

*Editorial: Prepare for the worst weather (“It’s only a matter of time until a major hurricane hits Hampton Roads, and Virginia isn’t ready for evacuees.”)

*Tysons may be booming, but Tysons Forest is closer to staying unpaved

Now that the new Congress has been sworn in I thought I’d make a list of its worst members.

1. John Boehner.  He cries so often one has to wonder if its alcohol “speaking.”  Read here too. Today he said he will not do any more negotiating with the President. Got news for him.  Obama doesn’t need to talk to Boehner. But if Boehner won’t do his job, stop his pay.

2. Eric Can’t-or.  I don’t have to tell you why. You know. A more cynical and pitiful excuse for a human being doesn’t exist.

3. Michele Bachmann. In two words, lunatic liar. She just makes stuff up. It ought to be a crime to lie as often as she does.

4. Rep. Darrel Issa (R-CA). Investigate is his middle name. His invent-a-scandal office operates nonstop. His point is to try to bring the administration to a standstill. And he’s a fine one to criticize anyone (snark). His efforts smack of abuse of power.

5. Joe Barton (R-TX). He apologized to BP for President Obama. Who will apologize for him?

6. Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI). He is nicknamed the dictator by other members of Congress. Enough said.

7. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). He is so ignorant he still doesn’t get that Ayn Rand has nothing to tell any one about economics. His so-called budget should be grounds for him to be ousted from office. He is so ruthless even Catholic bishops opposed his draconian policies which would hurt the poor. Paul Ryan’s “budget” was a manifesto for discredited trickle down theory, which renders him worse than stupid.  He’s an incompetent relic. He has no mastery of national issues. Too awful for Congress.  And that is saying a lot.

8. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) is a buffoon. If he compares the President to Hitler one more time he should have to write the history of WW2 on the chalkboard 1,000 time.  He should have been run out long ago. Read more here.

9. Sarah Palin buddy, extremist Tea Party hack Rep. Renee Elmers (R-NC). Representative is an oxymoron when used in her title.  She refuses to meet with constituents, debate her opponent, have town halls, or give interviews.  She is unresponsive to constituents.  Instead she meets with business leaders and says that is her job. She should be run out of the House.

10. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC).  According to The Nation, he wanted to make weapons grade uranium easier to move around and thus endanger Americans… Small wonder. He’s also one of the top 2% in Congress for donations from the nuclear industry. And he is the top recipient of pharmaceutical and health care products money.

Exactly, this Republican refusal to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act is outrageous, disgraceful, any other adjective you can come up with. And they say they’re not waging a war on women? Yeah right!

HERRING:  FAILURE TO REAUTHORIZE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT A ‘DISGRACE’



Challenges Republican Opponents To Break With Cuccinelli And Demand Congress Reauthorize The Violence Against Women Act In 2013

Leesburg – Democratic candidate for Attorney General State Senator Mark Herring (Loudoun & Fairfax) released the following statement today following the failure of the US House of Representatives to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).  The reauthorization, which passed the Senate on a strong bipartisan vote, would have extended domestic violence protections to 30 million more women not covered under the original law:

“It is a disgrace that Majority Leader Eric Cantor and the Republican majority in the House of Representatives adjourned the 112th Congress by failing to even hold a vote on protecting women who are victims of domestic violence.”

Herring noted that in January of 2012, the National Association of Attorneys General sent a letter to Congress signed by 53 state and territorial Attorneys General calling on the Congress to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli was not among the signatories, one of only three states and territorial Attorneys General not to sign on.

“As Virginia’s Attorney General, I would not have hesitated to sign that letter.  I challenge my Republican opponents, Delegate Rob Bell and Senator Mark Obenshain, to join me in demanding that Congressman Cantor and the Republican majority in the House of Representatives reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act in the opening days of the 113th Congress.”

The letter stated in part, “Reauthorizing VAWA will send a clear message that this country does not tolerate violence against women and show Congress’ commitment to reducing domestic violence, protecting women from sexual assault and securing justice for victims.”

“Virginia deserves an Attorney General who will stand up for women and their rights and will advocate on behalf of those who are victims of domestic violence,” Herring stated. “That is what I’ve done in the state Senate, sponsoring legislation that strengthened penalties for strangulation, one of the most lethal forms of domestic violence and I proudly served on the Governor’s Domestic Violence Response and Advisory Board.”

According to the Office Of the Attorney General’s 2011 Annual Report on Domestic and Sexual Violence, in 2010, there were almost 62,000 calls to domestic and sexual violence hotlines across the state. At least 166 men, women, and children lost their lives to domestic violence, representing a 19.4% increase in family and intimate partner homicides from 2009 to 2010. A total of 6,261 adults and children received 188,982 nights of emergency or temporary shelter due to domestic violence; however, 2,571 families requesting shelter services were turned away due to lack of shelter space. Magistrates and judges issued a total of 35,846 emergency protective orders across the Commonwealth to protect the immediate health and safety of victims and their family members.

The report highlights how important the issue of domestic and sexual violence is and details the progress Virginia has made through legislation and through new initiatives. Virginia has received $4.7 million in Federal grants under the Violence Against Women Act since 2010.

The following statement is from Loudoun County Democratic Committee Chair Evan Macbeth, “in response to the news that the Loudoun Board of Supervisors finally has taken action against Sterling Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio, shutting him out of Committees for 2013.”

LCDC Supports BOS Move to Block Delgaudio from Committees

Last night, the Loudoun Board of Supervisors stripped Sterling Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio of his committee assignments. LCDC Chair Evan Macbeth made the following statement in response to this action:

“Serious allegations of wrongdoing were lodged against Sterling Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio last March, and revealed to Board Chairman Scott York within days. Chairman York sat on those allegations for six months, revealing them in public only after the Washington Post splashed them across the front page in September. At that time, the Loudoun County Democratic Committee called for Delgaudio’s resignation and, failing that, called for York and the Board to strip Delgaudio of his Committee assignments. The Board ignored our calls and rallied around Delgaudio.

As the allegations against Delgaudio simmered and garnered continuing media attention — investigations were started and stopped, York admitted he hid evidence — the LCDC continually called for Delgaudio to be stripped of his Committee assignments. The Board stood silent.

In mid-November, one Supervisor — Shawn Williams from Broad Run — agreed with the LCDC, and proposed to take action. He was shut down by York’s procedural move. No other Supervisor joined with Williams and stood against Delgaudio.

Now, four months after the serious allegations surfaced publicly — 10 months after they landed on York’s desk — the Board finally has moved against Delgaudio, failing to assign him to any Committees for 2013.

While I applaud the Board’s actions, the delays and excuses of the past four months have raised a cloud of suspicion that the members of the Loudoun Board of Supervisors care more about their personal power and political allegiances than  they do about good government and the appearances of improprieties.

I want to believe this action against Delgaudio marks the beginning of new era for this Board, but experience warns me not to get my hopes up.”

Congratulations to Tim Kaine, a U.S. Senator as of his swearing-in around noon today, and best of luck in this crazy Congress! Also, as I’ve written previously, I feel that Jim Webb accomplished a lot in 6 years, infinitely more than his predecessor did in his term in the Senate. I thank him for running and for once again serving his country. Of course, there were a lot of frustrations over the past 6 years, particularly the fact that Webb’s excellent criminal justice system reform legislation didn’t make it into law (despite overwhelming support from across the political spectrum). Still, as I said, he accomplished a good amount, more than most Senators. I hope Jim Webb enjoys his life out of the U.S. Senate, and continues to fight for a country in which “the health of our society is measured at its base, NOT at its apex.”

P.S. Needless to say, we also need Tim Kaine to fight for working people, the middle class, investments in crucial human and physical capital to make our country strong and prosperous going forward, and of course action on clean energy and global warming. We’ll be watching…

UPDATE 12:05 pm: I’m watching on CSPAN as new Senators are sworn in.

UPDATE 12:20 pm: Tim Kaine was sworn in a few minutes ago, with Jim Webb and Mark Warner standing behind him.

Here are a few Virginia (and national) news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, January 3.

*Chris Christie Rips House GOP For Blocking Sandy Relief: ‘Shame On You’

*The Fiscal Cliff Deal, By The Numbers

*Obama Wasn’t Rolled. He Won! (I’m not sure I agree 100%, but it’s a interesting, persuasive analysis.)

*House GOP blocks Violence Against Women Act (Bottom line: the House GOP is a bunch of extremists, wackos, fanatics, etc.)

*Boehner tells GOP he’s through negotiating one-on-one with Obama (Time for a good cry, John? Waaaaaaaaah!!!)

*Thanks To Gerrymandering, Democrats Would Need To Win The Popular Vote By Over 7 Percent To Take Back The House (Ahhhh…”Democracy,” ain’t it grand?)

*Editorial: A lukewarm toast to 2013 (“Congress avoided the fiscal cliff, but real solutions remain just out of reach.”)

*VA Representatives: Fiscal Cliff Bill Only a Temporary Solution

*Kaine to be sworn in today at U.S. Senate

*Bolling testing waters for independent run (Once again, the Post comes in with this story long after Blue Virginia had it. And, as usual, they don’t mention that fact. What a paper!)

*Local Coverage Loses in Revamped Washington Times (Meanwhile, the Moonie Times seems to be ditching Virginia political coverage as well. With the Daily Press largely behind a firewall, that leaves…Julian Walker of the Virginian Pilot, Michael Sluss of the Roanoke Times, Jeff Schapiro of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Steve Contorno of the far-far-far-right-wing Washington Examiner, and a handful of Virginia political blogs – like this one.)

*Jeff’s Notes: 2013 legislative preview

*Attorney general asks court to block release of Wolfe

*Virginia Supreme Court should revisit pretrial disclosure rules

*Virginia joins pro-life wave with abortion clinic rules

*Public forum slated for state budget questions

*Md., Va. lawmakers to go different ways on guns

*U.S. tax credit to benefit wind power in Va.

*Post-holiday round-up: Cuccinelli and Kaine add staff, abortion clinic rules approved

*Arlington’s Favola opposes U.Va. rector reappointment (Nice, I’m very glad to see this, now everyone else needs to join Sen. Favola and toss Dragas off the UVA board as soon as possible.)

*Unmanned military planes fly over parts of South Hampton Roads

*Skeptics still concerned over remake for traffic-choked Tysons Corner

*Foundation report: Health of Chesapeake Bay slightly better

*Virginia Beach hopes possible NBA deal tips off funding quest

*Arlington official seeks to limit plastic bags, bottles

*Supervisors vote Williams vice chair, Delgaudio off committees

Democratic Lieutenant Governor candidate and State Senator Ralph Northam (D-Hampton Roads) blasts away at Gov. McDonnell’s approval – when nobody was paying attention, without a public announcement, “on the Friday between the Christmas and New Year’s holidays” – (can we say “McDonnell’s a coward?”) of harsh new restrictions on women’s reproductive health providers in Virginia.

The approval of strict new regulations on medical facilities that provide vital health care to women in Virginia, shows that Bob McDonnell and Ken Cuccinelli are lock step with the partisan agenda that brought women’s rights under attack this past year in the Virginia Legislature.  I led the fight against those efforts in the Virginia Senate and plan to continue this fight when the legislature convenes next week.

Meanwhile, Virginia Health Commissioner Karen Remley, who resigned her position over this issue back in October, has endorsed Sen. Northam. See the “flip” for her statement. It will be interesting to see how much of the 2013 General Assembly session, and also the 2013 Virginia elections, will center on “social issues” like the Republican war on women. Of course, if Republicans keep trying to keep women from being able to make their own decisions regarding their health and their bodies, it’s a high likelihood they will be a HUGE issue, and rightfully so!

I have known Ralph Northam for over twenty years- from the clinical setting to the General Assembly.  In every situation he demonstrates respect and honesty. He is a staunch believer in equal rights for all – women, children, elders-and he understands the government should never overreach in any situation – potentially compromising these very important rights that make us the country we are.