Gov. Scrooge Bob McDonnell just finished presenting his budget for Virginia, and it’s as bad or worse than most of us thought it would be. A few lowlights:

*There are no new revenues in the budget {UPDATE: I’m informed that there’s an increased drivers license fee, which could raise a few million dollars a year — still utterly inconsequential in the context of an $85 billion two-year budget, but it’s worth mentioning for accuracy’s sake) which means that everything’s a zero-sum game. Remember that, as you analyze the budget: if there’s an increase in one area, there has to be a decrease in another.

*No new revenues also means continuing to starve transportation (have fun stewing in gridlock for many more years to come), failing to replace federal “stimulus” funds that are now ending, and absolutely nailing Medicaid (“$258.6 million saved by not funding inflation costs for hospital rates under Medicaid“).

*The budget hurts kids, foolishly and counterproductively taking “$81 million from gutting Democratic former Gov. Tim Kaine’s Virginia Preschool Initiative.” That’s really, really stupid, as pre-k is one of the most effective ways to get kids learning early. Why on earth would McDonnell cut that?

*Meanwhile, note that the wealthiest Virginians and most powerful corporations aren’t asked to pay any more. And note that there are no cuts to corporate welfare (e.g., coal, movies, wine, you name it — even the space industry gets some holiday goodies!) in this budget, despite the fact that this largesse costs Virginia tens of millions (or more) per year, for mostly no good public policy reason. Priorities, priorities, I suppose.

Bottom line: this is a classic Teapublican’t budget — hurting the poor, the elderly, the young, the most vulnerable, while protecting the gravy train rich people and corporations are riding on. It’s disgusting, but it’s also not surprising, given that this IS the Republican Way after all. Ebenezer Scrooge had nothing on these guys when it comes to cold-heartedness and selfishness.

P.S. The House Democrats’ press release is on the “flip.” I’m not sure how they can “vow” anything, given that there are only 32 of them in the 100-member House of Delegates, but alrighty…

House Democrats Vow to Protect Critical Needs in State Budget

Richmond, VA-House Democrats offered measured reactions to the Governor’s budget proposal as outlined during the Joint Finance Committee meeting this morning.

“This is the first opportunity we’ve had to see the complete budget and not just the pieces that have been released by the Governor over the past few weeks. This budget deserves a thorough review to ensure that essential state services including education, law enforcement, health care, and transportation are properly funded,” said Minority Leader, David J.Toscano.

House Democrats reiterated the concerns expressed during last year’s budget debate that the Governor’s transportation initiatives will be funded at the expense of essential state services like education. “While we need to review the details of the budget,” said Toscano, “the Governor’s initial proposals appear to divert nearly $110 million dollars from critical funding needs in the areas of education and public safety, and impose serious financial demands on localities at a time of severe fiscal stress. Those pressures will ultimately affect the services Virginia citizens use in their hometowns and the taxes they pay to maintain them.”

“Our children must be prepared for a 21st-century economy, and that begins with a world-class education from pre-kindergarten through college. We will scrutinize every line in this budget to ensure that education dollars aren’t being diverted to other areas such as road funding,” said Caucus Chairman Mark Sickles. “We need to move the state forward with serious, sustainable transportation proposals that don’t come at the expense of our kids and schools.”

“This budget is a starting point for a conversation that will take place in the upcoming legislative session,” said Delegate Ken Plum, Caucus Chairman Emeritus. “Last session, House Democrats fought to restore proposed cuts to education, sheriffs, and health care services. We are prepared to fight to ensure that these priorities, the priorities of all Virginians, are reflected in the final budget – and that it won’t hurt the working families that are vital to keeping Virginia’s economy strong.”

Here are a few Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, December 19.

*McDonnell to unveil two-year budget

*McDonnell: St. Nick with pension, bonus, higher ed goodies; budget may expose his inner Grinch

*Paul leads in Iowa (Newt Gingrich implodes, looks like Mitt Romney will be the Republican’t nominee next year.)

*House to vote Monday on payroll tax cut bill (Let’s see if we get what some are calling the “Tea Party Tax Increase.”)

*Senate approves nearly $27 million for Craney Island (Remember when Felix Macacawitz used Craney Island as a trick question against Jim Webb in a debate in 2006? Now, Senator Webb’s helping to pour money into the marine terminal’s capacity. Gotta love it.)

*‘Dream big’ Gov. McDonnell tells VSU graduates (For his part, McDonnell’s dreaming of being somebody’s – anybody’s – running mate in 2012. Heh.)

*Va. uranium mining report to be released this afternoon

*Building a smaller, smarter state government (An editorial by Bob McDonnell’s friend the corrupt, Nixon-era “Jew counter,” who was forced to pay a large fine for ripping of the Connecticut state pension fund.)

*Rift on Arlandria development exposes political fault lines on Alexandria City Council (Ah, local politics…so calm and peaceful, unlike Congress. LOL — not!)

*‘Sick customers’ cause 5 percent of Metro delays

*Secondary Payloads Lower Cost of Satellite Launches

*Redskins put a hurt on Giants’ playoff hopes, Grossman throws TD pass in 23-10 win

*Forecast: Winter chill doesn’t last long

P.S. Thanks to Sue Langley for the photo from the FCDC Holiday Party. For lots more photos by Sue, see here.

UPDATE: Also, see Kim Jong-il’s death: an uneasy legacy. On the one hand, good riddance to an evil freak. On the other hand, could this lead to instability in the Korean Peninsula? Stay tuned…

(Thought provoking, very well informed, thanks for this diary! – promoted by lowkell)

Earlier today, Lowell brought to our attention the enthusiasm gap between Virginia Democrats and our Republican colleagues as we close out 2011 and look ahead to 2012 and 2013. Republican candidates are coming out of the Tea Party woodwork to prepare for statewide runs in 2013, while the Democratic side is silent. I joined the comments to promote discussion of several observations I have on the matter, but I wanted to pull them all together in a diary to get more discussion and throw out some more controversial thoughts.

First, 800 pound gorilla in the room is the Junior Senator from Virginia, soon to be Senior Senator, and former “His Excellency” Mark Warner.

There is a push in the party to get Warner to return to Richmond in 2013 as the only way to reverse the party’s fortunes after setbacks in 2009 and 2011. You can see my comment on this possibility here. For this diary I’ll just say that until we get a clear statement from Warner one way or another I wouldn’t count on the Democratic lead up to 2013 to come alive with announcements.

Next, to borrow from Lowell, “why would any sane Democrat WANT to be governor of Virginia?”  

The best case scenario for any Democratic gubernatorial candidate in 2013 would be to win (duh) and have a strong Lt. Governor candidate who also wins and helps secure control of a 20-20 State Senate (without risking any special elections that could cost the party). Picking up control of the House of Delegates isn’t a best case scenario, it’s utopian! Even the realistic best case scenario forces the next Democratic Governor to deal with a Republican House of Delegates, much like Time Kaine during his last two years.

If the Democratic candidate for Governor wins in 2013 he or she will spend most of the time blocking bad Republican proposals, not building strong Democratic legislative victories. That’s just a rational expectation, one that argues that the important issue in 2013 is less about finding the most bold forward-thinking champion and more about finding the candidate who will be most serious about party building in the long term.

The announcement of former Congressman Perriello that he will be working at CAP for at least the next year, if not more, tends to indicate that we won’t have much of a choice going into 2013 about finding the most bold forward-thinking champion. So let’s now dwell on that point.

To borrow heavily from my comments (See here and here), forward-thinking Democrats should be more concerned about finding a strong champion for Lt. Governor so that we have the best candidate available in 2017 and someone who can spend at least two years at the power table in Richmond brokering deals and ensuring the Commonwealth doesn’t entirely go off the rails.

The biggest challenge to Virginia Democrats, one I’ve conveniently neglected in my comments, is the strong challenge to my rosy assumptions (hopes?) that our party can make steady gains throughout the next decade in the House of Delegates.

In 2001, the first post-Republican gerrymandering election in Virginia, only one Republican incumbent was defeated by a Democrat, when Jack Rust was defeated by Chap Petersen. We lost scores of other seats that year because of gerrymandering. Not a good year.

Two years later, in 2003, not a single incumbent Republican State Senator was defeated (we lost one seat with Byrne’s retirement), and only a single incumbent Republican Delegate was defeated (Tom Bolvin defeated by Mark Sickles). We gained three additional open seats and lost another seat due to the retirement of an incumbent.

In 2005, with Tim Kaine winning, we again defeated only one incumbent Republican Delegate (Dick Black defeated by David Poisson). We netted four seats, but this was again due to open seats. And then there was Waddell’s race, which I view as a very unusual local situation.

In 2007, when we finally won the State Senate, we knocked off three Republican State Senators and picked up a fourth seat because the Republican primary vote was crazy enough to reject Marty Williams. In the House of Delegates we defeated one incumbent Republican Delegate and picked up three open seats. And Waddell lost.

I don’t even need to bring up 2009 and 2011 . . .

The challenge for Virginia Democrats is defeating Republican incumbents, instead of just winning open seats. Our best year was 2007 with the defeat of three incumbent State Senators. We’ve never managed to defeat more than one incumbent Republican Delegate a year in the last decade!

We did well winning open seats over the last decade, but the Virginia House Democrats need to step up their game if we want to have a hope of becoming relevant by the end of the decade. No one would be surprised by that verdict, I know many in Richmond already feel the same way and are looking for ways to improve their game in the future.

I’ll end with these, more far fetched, observations.

Winning in 2013 may be difficult, but I believe that a strong performance by Obama and Kaine next year will show Virginia Democrats that we can chart a way back to statewide victory. In both 2001 and 2005 we knocked off incumbent Republican delegates by combining strong Gubernatorial performance in the district with aggressive candidates. I believe there are a number of Delegate districts where Obama performed well in 2008, will do well well in 2012, are trending Democratic and will favor us in 2013, but are arguably not on the radar of the state party right now. It’s important for the netroots to start now in playing a role in recruiting strong forward-thinking Democratic challengers in these sorts of districts.

Virginia Democrats are already talking about targeting the 12th (Blacksburg), 87th (where Kondratick only narrowly lost), and 93rd (Williamsburg). If we were only able to pick up three seats in 2013 I think that would still be a good year, but I think if we work now to expand the playing field it will help the party pick up more seats. Even though we’ve only knocked off only one incumbent and picked up around three open seats a cycle, we have also seriously contested a handful of other races to ensure the Republicans aren’t able to focus all of their resources in just a few seats.

In order to generate further controversy and discussion, I’m going to throw out some names that I’d like to see run in 2013. Please join the list. Consider it a Dream Team.

Bobby Scott.

Phil Forgit.

Aneesh Chopra.

Your choice here!

See after the “flip” for Ken Cuckoo-nelli’s latest “Compass” (note: bolding added by me for emphasis). It’s a particularly amusing edition, with highlights including:

*Kookinelli discusses the “private agreement” between Bob McDonnell and Bill Bolling, stating that he was “was unaware of the agreement before it was announced, and…had no role in its development.”

*Despite this deal, Cuckoo-nelli says that he will remain “allies in governance” with Bolling, “even if we will be competitors in politics in 2013.” Awwwww.

*He reemphasizes that he’s not a “waiting my turn” kinda guy, that in fact this would violate some sort of conservative principles regarding “free markets and open competition” (in reality, of course, the Republicans are all about crony capitalism, corporate welfare, and anything BUT “free markets and open competition,” but whatever…)

*He will “begin the campaign {for governor} gradually,” whatever that means, as he focuses on the “most important election…in our lifetimes” (no, not his race for governor, but the 2012 presidential and U.S. Senate races, presumably)

*He argues that if other state AGs can continue doing their jobs while running for governor, then he can too. So there!

Anyway, enjoy the latest “Compass.” Just remember that in Cuccinelli’s case, that “compass” always points to the extreme right.

December 18, 2011

Dear Fellow Virginians,

Time seems to be getting shorter and shorter, so the Compass will reflect that a bit, but here goes.

Four quick initial thoughts on the Governor’s race… in chronological order.  First, back in 2008, then-Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling and

then-Attorney General Bob McDonnell made a private agreement. They agreed that Bob would run for Governor in 2009 and Bill would run in 2013.  Part

of the deal of course was that in exchange for Bill stepping back in 2009, Bob McDonnell would support Bill Bolling for Governor in 2013.  I was unaware of the agreement before it was announced, and I had no role in its development.

The Governor will uphold his deal with the Lt. Governor.  My working relationship with the Governor is not going to suffer during the remainder of my tenure.  Additionally, I am as readily available and willing to work with the Lt. Governor as ever. We are all allies in governance today and always, even if we will be competitors in politics in 2013.

Second, while I would note that some have complained to me about not “waiting my turn,” I didn’t get in a line and I am not in the habit of

trying to stifle competition.  I’m certainly not going to stifle it myself.

In the Republican Party, we talk all the time about the importance of free markets and open competition.  It seems to me that if we don’t practice what we preach, we won’t have much credibility with others.  Not sticking to our principles has done our party enormous damage over the last 10 years or so (it gave us the current President), and these are traps I have continually fought against in my time in politics and government.  I don’t intend to change that when the time comes to elect our next Governor.

And lastly under this second point, I only recently made the decision that I intend to run for Governor in 2013.  It was not something that I showed up in the AG’s office to do. Much of what I have learned and observed from the unique vantage point of an Attorney General has influenced my decision.

Third, when I do begin to campaign for Governor, I’ll begin the campaign gradually.  When we do begin the race I would appreciate it if you’d email Noah Wall on my campaign (Noah@Cuccinelli.com) and let him know your contact info as well as some ideas of what you would be willing to do.

Thank you in advance!  Something everyone can do right now is simply pray for us over the next few months as we prepare to embark on this new

journey.

The reason for the gradual nature of the campaign of course is that 2012 is the most important election in which we are ever going to be involved

in our lifetimes.  The stakes have never been higher, and my political work will reflect that.  I hope all of you are ready to pitch in next

year, as Virginia will be at ground zero as one of the most important swing states in the country.

Fourth, I have let it be known that, when I do begin to campaign for Governor, I will not step down as Attorney General. While other Virginia Attorneys General before me have resigned to run for Governor, its important to know that Virginia is the only state with such a tradition. No other state does this.  Why?

Because AGs in other states are perfectly capable of doing their jobs while running for office (whether for re-election, Governor, or whatever). I am too.

Would I have resigned to run for re-election?  No.  Then why resign when we get in the Governor’s race?

I said when I was running for AG in 2009 that I fully expected to serve out my term, and I made such comments in the absence of a commitment to

run or not run for any particular office.

It will be a long road, and our journey will commence gradually as it relates to the Governor’s race.  And throughout it all, my top priority

will remain being the best Attorney General I can be for Virginia so long as I am honored to hold this office.

There will be more to say on this subject later, but as for now, it’s on to 2012!

Sincerely,

Ken Cuccinelli, II

Attorney General of Virginia

Here are a few Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, December 18. By the way, I agree with George Clooney on his quote to the right (click to “embiggen”). How about you?

*House GOP revolts on payroll deal (Eric Can’tor and his merry band of extremists/wackos in the House of Representatives appear well on their way towards screwing up the payroll tax cut deal that just passed the Senate overwhelmingly, meaning a possible tax increase on the vast majority of Americans in 2012. Great job, guys!)

*Virginia’s ticking pension time bomb )

*Bill earmarks $26.8 million for Craney Island expansion

*McDonnell’s budget to increase spending, not taxes (“McDonnell’s budget, however, is likely to contain cuts to services and programs that are sure to draw sharp criticism.”)

*Schapiro: McDonnell’s nightmare before Christmas

*McDonnell’s expected $78 billion budget to define his legacy

*Keeping a Promise to Virginia’s State Retirees

*Warner setting his sights on debt

*Publisher refuses to submit schoolbooks to Va. education dept.

*Global-warming skeptics in tidal Virginia (Proof that the paranoid and ignorant, if they’re loud enough, can actually influence policy. That’s highly unfortunate, but sadly, it’s always been that way and probably always will be. What’s really scary is that these people have, de facto, taken over the U.S. House of Representatives and have largely stymied the U.S. Senate. Now THAT is a problem.)

*Alexandria City Council approves Arlandia development

*Six avoid jail in Radford University hazing death

*Goochland farmers help residents in ‘food deserts’

P.S. Oh yeah, and it looks like Newt is toast, with his poll numbers plummeting, with the endorsement by SC Gov. Nikki Haley of Mitt Romney, and with the Des Moines Register endorsement of Romney. It’s a shame, because Newt would have been an incredibly weak general election candidate against Barack Obama, probably losing in a landslide of Goldwater-esque proportions. Now, I still think Obama will beat Romney (see the Iowa Electronic Markets, which also favors Obama over Romney), but it will be much tougher. Looks like we’ll be busy in 2012!